BetterTomorrow

When you picked up the car, what did the service invoice say that was done to the car? Actually I would assume you are keeping track of all service invoices regarding this issue? Was the car CPOed when you bought it? Did you not notice this issue when you test drove it? If it is going to be a long road ahead, I think perhaps you should start to cover all your basis.

Personally I would not buy a used MB from MB dealer if it is not CPOed. Why would they not bother with CPO-ing their own inventory. If the car is in good shape enough to CPO it with minimum expense, they would make sense to do it.

Is the sales person able to work with you on this (perhaps he/she could talk to service or talk to general manager)? Lastly perhaps you could try to record a video of this noise?

Diesel #2

I would have traded the car in for a brand new one about 43 posts ago. Take a little hit on the negative eq. At least you will be done with this headache plus all this uncomfortable back and forth with the dealer. Sounds like a pain, I would have jumped shipped.

PaulE550

Based on how the dealership has treated OP so far, why would he want to hand them more money as part of a trade in? If OP ends up just wanting to dump the car and take a financial hit in the process, I would expect he would certainly prefer to deal with a different MB dealership rather the people who have essentially told him to get lost at this point. Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't do any future business with a dealership, if they tried to treat me the same way they treated OP.

usautocustoms

I'm considering it. Found a CPO (Not at this dealership) 2014 e350 4matic 26k miles $32,000. Take it? Currently negotiating on mine. Is the 2014 a sound car? No known issues?

usautocustoms

A quick update. Absolutely no one has helped, including MBUSA. The noise is still there. I found another dealer took it in and explained all issues I've been having. Immediately the foreman came out and test drove it with me and immediately noticed the sound. The service is so much better. Less than a day he calls me to tell me he believes the drive shaft is in need of replacement, he's ordered the part and now we're waiting for it to be installed. The difference in service is a complete 360. It's starting to make sense that an out of balance shaft or bad shaft can definitely cause what I've been experiencing. These guys are so much more emphatetic it's unbelivable.

Diesel #2

Obviously he would trade it in elsewhere, i did not think that needed to be specified. Im sure he rather cut off his pinky then deal with those guys again.

Im really pulling for you on this one man, i certainly hope it is the driveshaft so you can be over this but i personally do not think it is the driveshaft from how you described it. But again good luck, i hate to see you throw more money into this without knowing for sure if that is the problem.

jdawg21

At this point if it isn't the driveshaft then this sounds like it's the end of the road. At least for me it would be. Again I can't remember your state but at this point there is WAY more then enough info and lack of fixes for multiple visits to the dealer so it's time for lemon law on this thing. Threaten that to mb or make them make you whole on the trade in, don't let the dealership push you to get rid of it because they know your sick of it and want out of the car. If they won't budge or help anymore at all then I regret to say I'd be done with the brand and find a new one. Good luck!

usautocustoms

Thanks guys. I do have an attorney reviewing my records as we speak. If it isn't resolved, this will definitely be a case going in. I won't let them get away with this. Lemon law process is in progress as I wait for the repair. The dealer mentioned that there is a visible wobble uneven wobble from the driveshaft and this is the reason they believe it could be it. We shall see

usautocustoms

They replaced the driveshaft and still occurring. My attorney is now filing against Mercedes Benz.

gesundbenz

Bought this car practically new with only 9,500 miles on the odometer. Original Contis made a racket, especially on the highway, almost like bad bearing noise. Had to turn up the radio to drown it out. Definitely ruined the quiet ride I expected in an E Class.
I was suspecting it was the tires and sure enough the problem magically disappeared when I changed all 4 tires.
The cure: Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+

nc211

I'm curious if this was ever figured out?

Realtor513

Hey guys, this is Usautocustoms... For some reason, I could no longer log in. In short, I went through every battle and even MBUSA denied my attorneys request to trade in the vehicle with assistance. I went through everything and Mercedes Benz left me hanging while the noise is still occurring. I will say that I will never buy another Mercedes EVER again. A company that could simply resolve this decided to just **** on their customer, who by the way have driven and owned 7 Benz previously.

With some of the responses about tires, that's not going to help as I've gone through 3 different sets and wheels with no change.

I do appreciate all your support, but now I guess I just have to go look for a BMW, Audi or even a Cadillac (Still Debating).

nc211

many thanks for coming back back to this thread with the update (albeit a sad update)!

I am curious, I saw a video of a guy actually adjusting the wheel bearing itself via a few very minor turns of an Allen wrench (not an Allen wrench, but can't recall the actual name). Do you know if that was ever tried on your car?

I used to have an old Lexus LS400 and spent countless hours chasing vibrations. The flex couplings on that driveshaft were replaced too, which didn't fix the problem I was having at that time. I can certainly appreciate your frustration with your Benz!

Im getting a bit of a rumbling in mine on that 60-70 mph range too (23k miles). I can everso slightly feel it in my steering wheel. It's fast (faster than an out of balance wheel or bent rim), which leads me to think it's something small and spinning quickly, and with the feel in the steering wheel exclusively, I'm thinking bearing adjustment. It's not bad, but certainly will be at some point. Brakes are all new OEM, so not rotor/pad related.

Realtor513

It could be anything at this point with mine, although both front and rear bearings were replaced, driveshaft was replaced, tires many times, wheels, even parking breaks were loosened, rotors were swapped for testing, nothing changed...

Now it is occurring at any speeds with smoother roads. Doesn't really sound like a bearing, it keeps increasing/decreasing rotational noise as your drive it and very noticeable on smooth roads... Kind of disappears on rough roads. I drove a Kia optima the other day and it drove smoother (SAD).

Realtor513

Also, not to mention many times balancing. I don't get much steering wheel feedback, it's just that rotational noise that is heard. I was showing a house to a client the other day and he also has a GLK and I told him about the issues and he immediately jumped and told me he was too having the same issues and that dealer can't find a cause... Who knows at this point.

nc211

im curious, does it change if it's raining or heavy snow? Any amount of moisture that might act as a lubricant to the wheels and or brakes?

I ask, because these cars appranetly don't have those pad spreading springs on the brakes. The pads just sit on those posts. When I changed my pads/rotors a couple of weeks ago, mine posts where so grimy that I could believe the pads weren't seized up. After I did my best to clean up those posts and put a little bit of silicone grease on them, I started to get the humming noise. I'm wondering if I should've just replaced those posts instead. I wonder if they're creating this harmonic noise now.

Im thinking bearing adjustment possibility from banging on the old rotors to get them to break loose with a rubber mallet.

Realtor513

Rain or not, if it's a smoother road you can hear it. I don't think grease could cause the humming? I was actually thinking of spreading grease along the wheels, bearing etc..

PaulE550

So whatever it is, it apparently is deteriorating rapidly as you are now getting the noise at any speed. Does the pitch of the noise rise and fall with the speed you are going or is the noise a constant tone?

Realtor513

Yes, noise follows the speed.

PaulE550

Well given the laundry list of things that have already been swapped out and failed to correct the problem, you're basically down to just a couple of things that change rotational speed and thus potentially would change the pitch of the sound you hear as the car speeds up or slows down. Since they have already swapped out the drive shaft and I assume they checked how it sounded while the car was up on the lift with the engine running, that should eliminate everything but what drives the wheels. You also had all four tires and wheels swapped, checked all the wheel bearings on all four wheels. So that really leaves just the mechanical aspect of the 4matic system and the transaxle assembly on the car. Both of which are only in motion when the car's wheels are turning under power.

I suppose you could take the car to a dyno shop and have them run the car up to speed for a bit and listen to see if you can determine where the sound is coming from. Clearly some out of the box thinking is called for since whatever MB does as standard troubleshooting isn't finding the problem. Since the noise if constant now, it should be fairly quick to identify what area of the car the sound is emanating from. Maybe even stick a go-pro camera under the chassis of the car while it's on the dyno to see if anything looks out of balance while the rear wheels are turning at speed. First point it at one rear wheel and then the other. Of course the front wheels won't be engaged, so you can't test them but it would at least isolate the problem to the back or front drive wheels. If the car runs quiet while it's on the dyno, then at least you know the problem is in the front.

The real question is how much more time and money do you really want to sink into this car? Kind of surprising to hear MB wasn't willing to do anything for you. Given the response you got from MB corporate, it seems they've washed their hands of the issue. So from my perspective, I would do what you're planning and just move to another brand. Plenty of other options out there these days. Let your attorney deal with MB under your state's lemon law.

nc211

I agree, thanks for responding and my apologies if I rehashed the bad experience! st the end of the day, they're all just man-made machines, and to error is human, as they say. At some point, the "life's too short" theory has to come into play when possible.

Quite frankley, the only car maker that I've ever personally known to produce a vehicle that was as smooth, quiet and near flawless at 100k as it was at 1 mile, is Toyota. I've had a 05' 4-Runner V8, an 03' Lexus GS430, and a 95' Lexus LS400 in my past, and currently have a 13' Highlander for the family booger bucket. With exception of the LS, all were/are near flawless. Toyota designs with a bit more tolerance and simplicity I guess which allows for easier wear patterns, but at the expense of driver engagement. The 95' LS had less tolerance though, which meant that if one thing was "off", it could be felt via a vibration, and on a vehicle that was unbelievably smooth and quiet, that vibration would drive you crazy!

If this W212 leads me down a similar path as you've been on, then it'll be replaced for sure and possibly with another V8 Lexus. This is my cruiser vehicle, so "boring" isn't a big issue for me. But classy is, which is what lead me to Benz.

Arrie

What a nightmare you have had and still have.


Sorry I'm late to this post but after listening to the video you had posted a link to on post #5 it sounds like tire noise against the road. This noise would be caused by the two driven axles fighting each other, i.e. there is too much speed difference between the axles for the 4-Matic center differential lock.


These cars have the simplest possible center differential lock design, which is basically just a spring loaded clutch disk. It has been set to hold certain amount of torque but if this setting for some reason is too high it will not let the lock to give and forces the axle speeds to the same and depending on tire pressures that determine tire diameter makes the axles fight between front and rear.


You mention that if you steer right or left the noise went down and if my guess of speed difference between axles is correct it means your front is faster than rear. Steering left and right means front tires have longer way to travel so it gives the front faster tires longer way to go and lessens the torque between the axles.


An easy way to check on this is to change tire pressures. If you add pressure to the rear tires it should increase the tire diameter and speed the rear axle up. Less pressure slows it down. You could experiment with this and if it helps then your real problem is with the center differential lock.


There are lots of writing about the center differential in this forum but I would not know how to find it but I remember some writing about some harsh methods to take some bite out of the center differential. This would be to jack the front wheels up and engage the emergency brake and then run the car with gear on for some 20 - 30 s. or so. This would keep rear wheels from spinning when front would pick-up all of the motion thru the center differential and wear that lock disk down a little bit.


If I had your issues this is what I would try as this part of your car is about the only place that has not been looked at yet.

nc211

This makes me think fluid flush too and more frequently. Where is the center diff in these cars, inside the transmission housing itself? I'm not sure because my experience with center diffs has been transfer cases via SUV which has been stand alone item outside of transmission housing. I do know from personal experience that switching diff gear oil to a top-shelf fully synthetic has made great differences in my past for quietness and smoothness of operations. On that old LS400 I had, I would get a funny but faint noise out of the back at certain speeds. Replaced the rear diff with Mobile 1 gear oil and it not only completely eliminated the noise, but made the car operate more smoothly in general. Felt like it took a little less effort to get moving.

Staying on this path, do you think this could be related to the jerkiness some of these cars have in their acceleration via the transmission?

obviously these cars didn't do these things when they were brand new, so something wear related is my thinking. Wrong or weak fluid chemistry could easily accelerate wear.

I remember when I bought my wife a Mazda 3GT sedan back in 2007 (automatic), the overwhelming advice from the web forum sites were to replace Ford's transmission fluid at around 10k miles with a good synthetic like Mobile 1. I did it at 8,000, and the OEM fluid was black as midnight and already stinking. Made a massive improvement in the car that lasted right up to the point of when I traded it in at 45k miles for another Lexus (GS430).

C230 Sport Coup

Wow, that's so screwed of Mercedes to not do anything in this situation.
Just an FYI, it seems there's a rash of problems with the rear differential bearings in the 4 matic models, and perhaps others,
previously with the W211 series, and now even with the W212. Just heard about a pinion bearing failing in a 2011 E350 4matic the other day.
The owner was able to purchase the needed bearings from benzexpert.com
which carries bearings for Mercedes differential and other useful parts for transmissions and transfer cases.
Check it out.

FattyMushroom

Hi usautocustoms, I am new in the forum and I know is it late to the POST but I got exactly the same road noise like you show in the video "Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 - Wheel Bearing Noise". After continue read your comment in the thread and find out it is dead end which is really upset me and feel sorry for your experience.

I did bring my card back to the dealer and asking for check the noise and the mechanic from the dealer drove car for a road test and tell me the noise may come from "rotor". Man, I don't believe him so I start search on the internet and find this thread.
I can here the noise when from speed 50-mph and the noise getting more obvious from higher speed. the easy way to hear the noise is to drive on a smooth road and speed up to 70 mph and release the gas to eliminate the sound from exhaust. and I paid $100 for check the noise. they also confirmed it is not wheel or tire problem.

Would you give me an update whether you got the problem solved or just sold the car?