We have a 2005 E320 4Matic W211. We recently did the following repairs:

• Replaced the driver's side lower control arm and ball joint assembly (genuine Mercedes part)
• Replaced the driver side axle (Parts Geek TRQ CSA82361)
• Replaced the front sway bar (genuine Mercedes part)
• Replaced the passenger side axle (Parts Geek TRQ CSA82314)

We got everything installed and took the car out for a quick test drive around the block and everything seems to work okay (suspension, steering, forward & reverse) with one exception. With the car in drive but stopped with your foot on the brake, there is a low "rumble", almost like you might hear if the motor mounts were loose or something. It's not a clanking or grinding or anything like that. I'd almost describe it like the noise you might hear in a manual transmission car when you engage the clutch but you're not giving it enough gas---just much gentler and without the lurching and shaking you'd get with clutch.

I'm not even sure where to look with this one. Any ideas?

 

It's the axle. Did you save the old ones? You can get a boot kit for the inner/outer. It's mentioned in a few other threads. Those cheap sub $100 axles just aren't made right. There's a reason MB charges $1000 an axle. The only vendor that's supposed to be good is GKN, but those axles are in the $300 range. That's why if the boot is just torn, you're better off putting on a new boot. The MB ones are around $40 and they come with a new bolt as you're not supposed to reuse the old one.

 

Well we're certainly open to the fact that it could be the after market axles but I'm still not tracking with how it could be making that noise when we're stopped. If we were moving and there was some kind of odd noise that makes sense to me but why would the low rumble be happening when we're not moving? What do you think is causing it?

 

You changed too many items at once. But basically the same thing happened to me, only I just changed the axle with a new Cardone one. After the axle change, the car had a vibration it didn't have before. I had save the old axle so I just got a boot kit for it and when I finally got around to changing it back, the vibration went away. When I changed the boot, the old joint was fine, just a torn boot. This won't work if the joint is bad, you'll know when it is taken apart. There's several other threads on here about it, just search for it.

 

So we spoke with the Mercedes dealership and they indicated that the "knuckle" also needs to be replaced when you replace the axles. Could that be causing the issue we're experiencing?

 

Don't know what they're referring to when talking about the knuckle. That's usually a pretty big piece of metal and it doesn't normally go. You're suppose to replace the axle bolt as it's supposed to be one time use bolt and the new boot comes with the bolt. They're just going to string you along. They probably have no idea because they don't use aftermarket axles, they only install MB parts.

Did you save the old axles? Maybe GKN isn't that good either.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...w211-help.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...le-advice.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...pictorial.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ic-owners.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...-not-help.html

 

Knuckle needs replacing! That's a good one. The knuckle is what everything attaches to. The brakes, the suspension arms, the axle, etc.. If they say the knuckle needs to be replaced, it means that there is some massive damage to it, like a huge crack or someone took a big sledge hammer to it and deformed it. Highly unlikely. I've seen cars with severe front end accidents, where the front wheel is torn off, but the knuckle is fine. Knuckles are designed to take extreme amounts of force, because many things in the front are attached to it.

Your dealer does not know and has probably suggested you replace the most expensive item there.

 

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to add to this thread as I've been through hell trying to fix this exact issue recently and finally got it figured it out. I've been an automotive tech for over 20 years and this was the most frustrating to fix on any of my cars I've owned. It's my first Mercedes ever and I still love it despite what i've been through.

Back in February, I bought a minor damaged very low mileage (24K) 2009 E350 4matic Elegance from Copart. I fixed everything from the accident, and then right after found the left front axle inner boot broken and leaking. I threw away the OEM axle. I replaced the axle with a Cardone new axle, and didn't notice any ill effects at first. In all of my years of working on cars, most aftermarket axles will be fine.

I then lowered it with Vogtland springs and Bilstein B4 shocks, then the vibration got WAY worse. A week later I found the right axle also had a torn inner boot and leaking badly. I threw away that axle as well. I then replaced both engine mounts, and the transmission mount with quality aftermarket parts. Then the vibration was 50% gone.

Afterwards, I went on the hellish journey of junk right side aftermarket axles that DID NOT work. I tried them all. GKN new, (surprising I know) DSS, GS-P, Trakmotive, and the Cardone left side. All of them would vibrate at idle and there would be a major wobble when taking off a lower speeds. On a last effort to save money, I also tried to re-boot a used OEM right side axle and did not find any suitable inner boot kits or clamps that worked. I found multiple threads on this issue saying it was the axles. However, my years of experience says that axles don't cause a vibration at idle. I was so wrong.

The ONLY solution for this problem is to buy OEM rebuilt GKN axles. Like I said earlier, there isn't an OEM inner boot kit available any longer that works. These axles look to have an OEM inner boot. I found them at RMEuropean (awesome company!) I installed these axles on both sides and there is now no difference in engine vibration when it is in park or drive.

The part numbers are:
Right - 211330180180
Left - 211330170180

Hope this helps!

 

I have learned to accept the rumble.