SteveE400

Just to circle back for the benefit of all the other frustrated owners, my noise was finally found and corrected. . . after nearly 5 1/2 years!

I was able to bring it in to my current servicing dealer when it was cold enough outside that the noise was very consistently heard. They put their "special problem" team on the job. It was not any of the things we originally suspected!

The problem turned out to be the anti-sway bar bushings, left front primarily. The way they localized the noise was to disconnect the anti-sway bar link from the lower control arm and drive the car. Silent! So, they took the gamble and just invested the time and money in replacing the front anti-sway bar under warranty. Problem solved. It has been several months now, and I have not heard a peep out of the front suspension yet!

The bushings are not replaceable. There is no approved way to lubricate them. You just have to replace the entire anti-sway bar, which, on a 4Matic, is quite a job, so many dealers will try to avoid doing it (or owners will try to avoid paying for it if out of warranty). I was lucky enough to have a good rapport with my SA and a dealer who wanted me to be happy and keep coming back for service work.

It is really too bad that the bushings cannot be changed without changing the entire bar. IIRC, the bushings on the LS430 were able to be replaced when needed. I guess you could try soaking them in Ru-Glide (old-school rubber lubricant) or silicone and see if it helps, but the MB-approved fix is a new anti-sway bar.

Jerseyjules

Same here, basically after replacing almost the e tire front suspension...lok

rjz2177

Jerseyjules

?????no context..

rjz2177

above are the pictures for my front lower control arms,,,,,, I have the squeaky noise sometimes when temp is cold outside like in the 30's. Do these control arms bushings Shown in my pictures below look fine? They are dry to the touch but doesn't look like they have leaked in the past and maybe the issue? Pictures below is for Part No.2 in the above diagram which I think it's called low front control arms.

Dealer saw them and didn't say a thing.

rjz2177

Also if these front control arms are the cause of the squeaky noise, would the CPO warranty cover them OR they are considered wearables like brakes?

S-Prihadi

Those bushing for the arm for true inspection must be removed.
They can make squeak as in kinda rubbery squeak when part of the rubber has a tear and rubber vs rubber sound you get.
When the tear of the rubber is big, you get more rubbery-mettalic "thud" sound.

Those bushings works on resistance to spin principle where the middle metal tube/insert ( where mounting bolt is at ) is casted into the rubber and the whole round rubber is casted to the arm big round diameter.
Sometimes the middle metal tube/insert can break free from the rubber mold, it will also squeak.

These are consumeable/wearable items but long term one.

rjz2177

Are these control arms filled with liquid like they used to have them and explains the sweating in the pictures? Otherwise; what could this liquid be all around and is it normal to have or some lubrication required to press the bushing in the arm? It is currently dry to the touch so whatever it is, it is aged.

Also is there a solid document/link someone can provide that says control arms are covered under CPO warranty or wearable and not covered. Of course my dealer says no even tough I got 45K miles and still under CPO Warranty.

S-Prihadi

I dont think the arm bushing is liquid filled.

rjz2177

Another observation is that today it was raining and when the suspensions is wet the ride is smooth like silky and no noise. When I got home I open the hood and with my hands lifted and dropped the car by holding the right side cross bracing bar and some small squeaks came out of the right shocks BUT the ride was so smooth and quiet like I just stated when it is raining. Couple questions:

1: Is it normal for the shocks to squeak a bit when you push up and down on one of the cross members under the hood?
2: Could the control arm bushing shown in picture above be torn and when it is wet the center bolt/tube gets lubricated and stops squeaking?
3: Could the sway bar be frozen tight like glued tight to the the sway bar mounts that when it is raining it gets loose and rotate, like it should be, eliminating the intermittent squeaky noise and making the ride so smooth like silk?

By the way I have the 19" AMG run flat tires while everyone knows their are hard mine feel like I'm driving on steel tires not rubber. Wonder if the sway bar is my problem per observation No.3 above? Again it is intermittent squeak that can't be duplicated when you really need it to show it to the dealer. Since if they don't hear they can't fix it and by the time the noise is constant I will be out of my CPO warranty.

Any input to the above three observation is very helpful from what everyone experienced.

Jerseyjules

Take off your sway bar end links and go for a ride. See if the noise is gone.b

rjz2177

Jersey: Thanks for the quick reply. Taking the sway links out for a test drive is not easy since the noise is intermittent and primarily when it is dry and cold outside. To make the diagnosis worse sometimes it only happens when you first drive the car under these outdoor conditions and one time it happened after a long drive for like 2-3 hours THAN it was REALLY LOUD which I never have a need for a long drive for hours with this car.

Any input on the first two Observations? Specifically; are the shocks supposed to make ANY light squeak when you rock the car hard while emergency brake are off? The reason I'm asking this for the left shock is that the dealer replaced my right shock (only one shock), both shocks bearings and shims; and the two front upper/rear control arms (those with the three anchors) last year for some rattling noise and by doing so those parts fixed that rattling noise last year.

That's the reason I'm thinking about my second observation above about the two other front lower control arms to be the issue since the rideability, in addition to the squeaking, is very hard like driving on steel tires. Unless; for this rideability issue is it possible that a defective sway bar & mounts that's frozen/stuck/glued together has anything to do with hard/stiff ride that you can feel every nick on the road?

Jerseyjules

A squeak can be a nightmare to isolate. Since everything moves together in suspension

pjw1967

Thanks to all for this thread. Our '14 ML350 2W developed a rubbing sound, Mostly in the front left. Dealer wants an obscene amt of money for struts, towers, upper and lower control arms. I looked at the bushings and they are dry. Gonna pull the left front tire off in the morning to see what I can see. Standby.

S-Prihadi

No 1 = NO
No 2 = POSSIBLE

No 3
Sway bar rubber mounts ( 2 ) does not work like arm's rubber bushing where an arm's rubber bushing fights a torsional/spinning force.
Sway bar metal itself is the one delivering opposite torsional resistance force between 2 wheels. So the rubber mounts are like "guide" mechanism only.
This should explain quite well : https://mechanicalboost.com/sway-bar/


You wrote :
The reason I'm asking this for the left shock is that the dealer replaced my right shock (only one shock), both shocks bearings and shims; and the two front upper/rear control arms (those with the three anchors) last year for some rattling noise and by doing so those parts fixed that rattling noise last year.

Are these 2 control arms you speak of ? CASTER and CAMBER arm.




It is not adviseable to replace only 1 damper/shock. It has to be both, unless car is brand new and one side has a defect in early mileage.

With lots of aftermarket arms like Lemforder, both caster and camber replaced last year if replaced with non genuine arms may not last very long or dimensional accuracy may not be very good.
I personally HATE Lemforder garbage quality for its rear damper top mount and that bad experience made me decided to never use Lemforder other components.


There are 2 more items able to make noise :
01. Steering end , the tie rod ball joint.
02. Lower ball joint, the L shape

See here : Post #6 and #7
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post8680185



Damper/strut has gas inside it to prevent its oil from foaming.
Even without oil leak, the gas can leak out and without gas, some hours of damper use, the then very foamy oil will make damper behave weird because air is compressible while oil is not.
Perhaps squeaky sound too.


All these discussed are long term ( high mileage ) but consumeable items, depending how bad your roads are and how you drive.

ahhl

wow...thanks for this thread
my gla 2022 4 months old, got squeking sound when going thru bump slowly. right rear most of the time. right front once a while. very annoyng.
could it be bushing. is it easily assessable from below to DIY

service centre no clue, or they pretend dont know.

rjz2177

Thanks for the detailed explanation how things work . The two Control Arms I mentioned above that the dealer replaced last year at 40K Miles with Genuine Parts were Part No.: 2053306710 labeled in your picture above as camber being towards the back but mine while its EClass it is W213 with multiple anchors. I used Lemforder on my other two MB's and I don't think I have an issue with them being german made and as close as they could be to MB parts - At least from what I experienced. Having said that which other manufacturer would you recommend for control arms other than Genuine MB Parts?

Back to the issue at hand...The Control Arms I'm referring to in my above post under No.2 being possible suspects and that I included pictures under post #29, while they are NOT liquid filled, they show liquid stain on the rear side of each arm but it is dry to the touch now, These are the front ones and in W213 they are Part: 2133302100 that you labeled above Caster.

Related to the link you provided above about 2 parts that make annoying noises; my noise is not knocking like that included in Post #6 nor like an old chalk noise on an old chalk board that you get from a ball joint like the one shown in Post No.7.

My noise is squeaking noise like when run your hand on a clean glass back and forth that ONLY when it is cold and dry outside it could be heard intermittently while going over a bump or driveway. Primarily during the first 5 minutes of driving AND/OR after 3-4 hours driving in cold dry conditions. I think it sounds like rubber against metal. Since it is intermittent, and not constant, while I only drive this car about 5K per year for the last 2 years; could it be the sway bar bushing got defective and now is too tight OR got frozen/glued to the stabilizer bar that when the bar slips inside the mounts it squeaks at certain temperature when it is cold; BUT when it rains, the water lubricate them and it stops squeaking.

The other weird side of this is that when it rains the ride does not only get quiet, but also the ride gets smooth like silk which I don't understand what the rain has to do with the ride comfort. Could the noise be related to the rideability being the reason I brought Item No.1 in my observation above and when the defective part gets lubricated BOTH the noise and ride comfort get addressed. What part could that be since I can't imagine how rain affects shocks. I'm not taking about going through puddles to get it quiet and have a comfortable ride, just normal rain and when the pavement and underside of the car gets wet than the problems go away. I know that I can drop it at the dealer and let them figure it out but I'm not looking for them to keep it there for a month in their parking lot to come back and say that they couldn't replicate the issue even though it is still under the CPO warranty. Any input what you guys experience in resolving your issues are welcomed.

S-Prihadi

Dang..........your car is W213, I thought W212. My bad.
You have what we call as double wishbone suspension for the front, well kind of, at least the top part is a double wishbone.
This is like the W211.

The creaking or squeaking potential is higher on your W213 suspension set up than my W212 with simple MacPhearson strut. The item #100 of W213 can squeak.
However your suspension is supposedly more superior for its camber maintaining quality during a cornering.





W212, rear wheel drive





So your dealer already replaced item 200 , A 2053306710 genuine MB. NOTE : Below is LEMFORDER, for reference only


Now you are worried of item 300, Caster Arm. A2133302100
https://www.ebay.com/itm/374269790579




If a simple rain water acts as lubricant, yes item #300 bushing can get water , but also can be the damper/strut and item, #100 wishbone arm , because the spinning tire can send water all the way up.
Yes the stabilizer 2 rubber mounts can wet with water too. https://mercbed.com/sklep/mercedes-e...retny-przedni/

Stabilizer 2 rubber mounts are not serviceable. The rubber is casted-dead with a locking dimple I believed, so it supposedly won't allow the metal sway bar to spin at all inside the rubber mounts.
Yes, this been known to squeak.



=====================



Still, item 300 caster arm work hard in your suspension system.


There is this unique case study of someone trying to track down his suspension noise , see below :

Guess what was the culprit ?
The main bolts securing the subframe was loose.




Since your W213 suspension is similar to W211, this is example of a squeak on W211.

His squeak comes from also item #300 caster arm's ball joint.
Mild worn out ball joint when installed and has working pressure or load on it, can squeak.
The video I showed you of my lower ball joint is when it is not having load applied, hence I can show knocking sound if the ball joint moved out of its travel range by hand force.
In reality, it will squeak first as first sign of wearing out and then knock if very worn out.


Ball joint squeak, general information.


My friend's Toyota Fortuner has squeak when steering wheel turning, while car is stationary is easy to hear. No knocking sound yet on the go, just squeak.
His lower control arm is a wishbone, its like our arms item 300 and 200 if being combined into a single arm.







Good luck troubleshooting............

rjz2177

Well....Still have 5 months into the CPO...Noise barely ever consistent to show it to the dealer...I give up at the moment till the noise is constant for the dealer to put his finger on it.

Just received Command update to 6.80, and increased tire pressure to 38 on all tires...any possible way that this update may have adjustment on the suspension to make it soft? It seems better now after i got it back from the dealership which is good news BUT driving me nuts of what changed unless the dealership lubricated some joint without telling me.

cetialpha5

Well if you want to make the suspension soft, try lowering the tire pressure down. Maybe 33-35. Having it at 38 must make it fell like you're driving on rocks, no give in the tire. I think having too low a pressure or too high makes it more likely to get bent/cracked rims or flat tires.

rjz2177

On the gas cap lid it says 35/38 front/rear. Dealer had it set at 35…. What tire pressure is correct for 19”AMG Run Flat tires on W213?

cetialpha5

Oh yeah, there's your problem right there, run flats make the car feel like they're on rocks. Lots of people switched to regular tires, but then it's a search to find either a dummy spare or a full size spare or some just wing it and go without a spare. Isn't there two sets of numbers? One is for normal driving and the other for high speed/loaded.

Left Coast Geek

if those are the wheels it came with, then the gas cap is correct.

you do know, btw, this is the W212 section, not W213 ?

rjz2177

I realized it’s the W212 forum after starting my posts but the similar squeaky noise apparently made it to W213 but with W212, some longer history exists that may shed a light on the issue. Run Flat are Run Flat and tire pressure list on the gas cap versus the driver’s door has the same principle…. My tire are the original ones and I think we have to stick to the upper limits of the gas cap pressures to get some flex rubber cushion over the hard sidewalls of Run Flat. The low end pressures will just leave the tire running on the hard steel like feeling side walls…. Isn’t ??

Left Coast Geek

most 212's don't have runflats (maybe 4matic's with different size front/rears do, I dunno).