matthewvee

Hello All,

I am new to this forum and thought it would be nice to share a pic of my 2013 E350 RWD since I'm asking for help with an issue that I am dealing with that is beyond my scope of knowledge. I really hate to come out of the gate with a problem, but this is a good one.

A few weeks ago I unfortunately hit a curb on a center divider with my driver’s side front wheel, due to an icy/slippery situation. I drove the car maybe 2 miles back to my house because after looking at the damage it seemed minor and only the wheel was scuffed, the tire did not even pop or lose air. On my way (about a mile into the drive) the car started making some odd noise like a vibration sound and I could feel it throughout the car. I assumed it could be the tire with some non-visible damage on the inside so I tossed the spare on, this did not solve the issue. I then jacked the car up to put the original wheel back on and noticed that it was difficult to spin the wheel, my assumption was that there was damage to the wheel bearing so I went ahead and ordered a whole new hub and bearing assembly. After replacing it the noise went away for about a mile and came back, I then noticed that the steering wheel wasn't perfectly straight, and this is when I thought to take it for an alignment. The alignment did not fix the new noise, but the tech said that there could be "major" damage to parts we can’t see and caused the new bearing to go bad. At this point I decided to just call the insurance co. and file a claim since this was technically an accident cause due to icy conditions. I can change a tire, do brakes, and a wheel bearing but beyond that steering systems and suspension are way past my level of repair and the tools I own. Now this is where I get lost and confused, at this point absolutely nothing makes sense to me from what I am being told and need some advice or need to know if anyone else has encountered such an issue? So I get a call from the service tech at my dealer and he says that they need to replace both front wheel bearings, which I can understand, maybe one wheel being off caused the other to have stress on the bearing and fail. Then he proceeds to tell me that even though the bearings are bad the noise IS NOT coming from the wheels but the transmission. At this point I am completely baffled, keep in mind the front drivers side wheel hit the curb and this is a RWD only car. The car didn't stop suddenly it just ran over the curb. I do not understand how this noise can be coming from the transmission? He then told the insurance adjuster that this is purely coincidental that the timing of the noise was exact with hitting the curb and this should not be covered by the claim, WTF?

My next step is to go down to the shop and try to figure this out firsthand, by having the mechanic show me. Am I being scammed to do more work or is it possible for this front wheel damage on a RWD to cause a transmission problem/noise similar to a wheel bearing humming? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Any suggestions to ask the tech would be very helpful?

Matt

bmwpowere36m3

I would take it to another shop for evaluation... I would suspect with curb impact of the front wheel (non-4matic car) the potential for:

• bent rim
• bent control arm/s
• bent strut
• power steering rack
• wheel bearing
• frame damage

If I felt a vibration after impact, first things I'd check for wheel runout/balance and then alignment.

DFWdude

I've shortened this run-on paragraph to get to my question. In running "over the curb" did you high center or scrape the transmission on the curb, too?

mtnman82

Have you checked the engine or tranny mounts?

What an a$$ for declaring to the adjuster that it could not possibly have been due to the accident. He should let the adjuster determine. If it is the engine or tranny mounts for example, that could definitely have been caused by running over the curb.

When the car is making the noise or you feel the vibration, have you tried putting it in neutral while the car is still moving to see if vibration or noise goes away or changes?

nc211

I have those exact same rims - and I’ve had the exact same humming noise. And I got led around by my dealer as well on all sorts of mystery BS. It spent 2 weeks in the dealership. They did this, they did that, and then they told me it was fixed. I picked it up, and on my drive home, guess what I listened too....

I then took it to an indi for a basic Pre Purchase Inspection. He came out, said everything on the car was perfect except one thing. Bright ne back to the garage, car was on the lift, spin the front wheels....and guess what....bent rim. Even though the dealership said they fixed the bent rim. I actually has two of them. And they charged my wheel warranty company for the repair. I called the warranty company and told them they got scammed by the dealership, rims were not touched. I then proceeded to have the indi fix the bent rims - drove home in utter silence...

I have the noise back again, and yes it can feel like it’s coming from the transmission area. But I have all new mounts, new fluids, gear oil in the diff’s, and so on.

moral of my story - you hit a curb. You have the infamous AMG rims that are made out of cheese - do not allow the dealership to touch that car again until you see it up in the air and someone spins those wheels in front of you. It’s an easy and cheap fix on those rims to bend them back ($150 if that). Heck, take it to a tire shop that has the road force machine (Hunter wheel balance system). That’ll usually find any bends on its own.

man, my dealership (and I’ll gladly advertise which craphole one it was - Tysons Corner, VA) screwed around with my car so badly, they actually cost me an addition $500 later on when it came time to replace the mounts and flush the transmission fluid and replace the trans filter about a year ago. They had completely over torqued one of the transmission pan bolts that holds the pan on, snapped it right off, and left it that way. My indi discovered it. I KNOW it was that dealer because my indi called me up and asked if I had been messing around with the transmission myself. I said no, and he said someone had and snapped the bolt. Someone had opened the pan up before. I knew right then and there it was Tysons and that 2 week visit to chase that noise you’ve got now too. They said they thought it was the transmission and changed the fluid. I didn’t believe them - and when my indi went to change the fluid a year later, he discovered the snapped bolt. We had to retap the hole. When he opened up the pan, the fluid looked ok - but they never changed the filter, even though they charged the CPO warranty for it.

Make sure you’re 110% positive it’s not a bent wheel before you do anything else. And find a guy at the gas station who’s driving an older Benz that appears to be well taken care of and ask him who his mechanic is - and call that guy!

edit - sorry I just read the entire thread and noticed you entries the spare too. I’d say wheel bearing myself. How are your brake calipers? Did you stand on the brakes when you curbed it? Maybe if your pads are too low the caliper piston is too far out and not retracting enough to allow the rotor to pass smoothly?

LILBENZ230

Are you sure?

Those look similar to both your rims and the updated ones on my 2016, but I believe those are not AMG rims. They look like replicas (no AMG badge I can see).

Still could have a bend, for sure.

nc211

well, you know what - you’re right! Great eye!!! I can’t see crap on this phone... those are “like” mine, not AMG. I thought they were because apparently my 2014 has 2013 rims somehow and saw him say his is a 2013 too.

being RWD, a can’t see how a curb kiss could cause any damage that would creat a humming noise beyond just the rim, bearing, or knocked the caliper out of whack. It’s got to be on that assembly is my best guess. The control arm bushing of the setup may have taken a shot too. But I doubt the cause is beyond that.

now if it had been 4Matic, well then it could get a little tricky with the driveshaft into the front diff and all of those bearing and whatnots.

op - id keep the focus on the wheel, bearing, and maybe a bushing in the suspension strip for that specific wheel.

bmwpowere36m3

The OPs post is like a novel and a lot of digest...

In re-reading it, he likely has/had multiple issues.

• Mentions putting on the spare soon after impact and it didn't help the "issue"
  • That's not to say the original wheel isn't bent or damaged, but maybe not the sole issue.
• Finds the wheel was hard to spin and replaces hub
  • This should be checked with the caliper or at least pads removed (as they can drag) to correctly asses
• Finds the steering wheel isn't straight and takes it in for alignment
  • An alignment check will only confirm that a component was damaged
  • Damaged component should be found and replaced and not simply adjusted to "cover up" mis-alignment

One point to mention on the wheel bearings, the front ones (non-4matic) are adjustable and care needs to be taken when greasing the hub, bearing and bearing cap (too little or much) and the proper "preload" of the bearing adjustment.

As DFWdude mentioned, is very possible there's more damage than the OP suspects and the "obvious" wheel/suspension/steering/bearing is not the cause of his perceived noise or vibration complaint.

KEY08

The wheels definitely appear to be aftermarket and not OEM. Which bodes the question as to "why where they changed out?". Perhaps this isn't the first curb slam with this car.