I recently purchased a MERCEDES-BENZ E220 AMG LINE BLUETEC AUT 2.1 diesel and there is a really loud droning noise coming from the front of car. The noise is really evident on a smooth road surface in speeds over 50mph. would anyone have on ideas what this could be> I have spoken to mechanic and he is unsure, I dont want to replace bearings, diffs etc and still have same issue. I have new tyres on car and i am replacing all brake discs and pads this week. Car at the minute is driving me insane as the noise is actually giving me an ear ache.

 

Either the road, tires, or alignment

 

did it do it with the old tires too?

is this car a 4matic AWD ?

 

Mine is a 2014 rear wheel drive car and it was also made the same sound with the old tyres.

 

cruise somewhat above the speed where the car makes this noise, and put it in neutral, let the rpm's drop to idle, does the pitch or character of the sound change with the engine RPM, or is it purely tied to road speed ?

if its tied to the engine speed, I'd be lookin ga tthe engine+transmission mounts, exhaust pipe holders, etc.

also while coasting at speed in N, very lightly apply the brakes, does the pitch or tone change ? if it ONLY changes with road speed, I'd be looking at the drive shaft... center bearing can make some pretty strange noises when they are failing. and if the flex disks are cracked, eeeek, change them out before they disintegrate, they can do a LOT of damage if they let go while you are driving.

 

Thanks for the good advice. When im driving tomorrow i will definitely give that a try and get back to you. Thanks again

 

oh, I left out, if the sound changes when you lightly apply the brakes while coasting at speed in neutral, then I'd be looking at the brake calibers and rotors.

 

Can i put an automatic into neutral at speed. Sorry for my ignorance, just dont want to damage the car further.

 

yes, let off on the throttle, slip it into neutral. you can slip it back into drive, then apply throttle, no harm no foul ... does the E220 have the joystick shifter on the steering column, like our USA non-AMG models do?

 

Yes, unsual and took a while to get used to. we are used to gear sticks on the floor in Ireland.

 

indeed, has taken me awhile to get used to that joystick shifter. remembering to push the park button. I go through my startup routine, and I have to look at it for a half minute to remember that I need to use the joystick to go into R or D. I drove sticks nearly exclusively up until the mid 90s, then mostly automatics since then

 

I drove my car today as you suggested and put the car into neutral while doing 80mph. I could still hear the droning noise coming from the front of the car. Also there did not seem to be any real change in sound when i applied the brakes while coasting.

 

ok, that suggests its wheel related somehow. i'm not 100% convinced its from the front of hte car however, I've had rear end or drive shaft noises SOUND like they are coming from the front.

if it was a low speed noise, I'd suggest driving with both driver side windows wide open next to a smooth concrete barrier wall, and listen to the car noises reflected off that wall, but at higher speeds the wind noise would raise havoc.

 

Thanks again for your knowledge and help. I will give this information to my mechanic on Saturday and hopefully this will help him out. Thanks again

 

I have the exact same issue going on with mine now. 2014, 4Matic, 53k miles. You can scratch off the mounts, as mine are all new. Only fluid not new is the front diff gear oil. But since RWD has the same issue, I’m thinking wheel bearing, driveshaft bearing, or another slightly bent rim or bad tire again. My tires are OE conti’s and in excellent shape. Car is perfectly aligned as well (can literally take my hands off the wheel at 80mph and it tracks perfectly straight. I started to notice it last November on a 2,000 road trip, which I’m doing again in two weeks.

I do think it’s either bearing on the wheel, center bearing on the driveshaft, or brake pad drag.

it’s going to the shop on Monday to figure it out. I’ll let you know if we get it fixed. I know exactly what you’re dealing with. Seems like front drivers side wheel (thinking bearing or brakes), but after a while your not sure if it isn’t directly under you around the transmission area (thinking prop shaft bearing or maybe flex disk tear).

I do not think it’s front diff. I think it’s either in the wheel, the wheel, or driveshaft. Again, mine has all new MB mounts for the trans and engine. But I wonder since the old trans mount was so compressed that it didn’t toss the driveshaft out of balance and accelerated that center bearing wear and tear. I’ll find out next week. These guys are good where I take it to. Told them to keep it as long as they need it, drive it at highway speed, just do whatever they need to figure it out. Mine is getting louder too. I have done the kick it to N at 80mph as well, and the sound doesn’t change. Nor does it really change with a gentle tap of the brakes. It’s a constant low decibel humming noise that shows up in the 50-80mph range.... no vibration in the car either, smooth as glass (once the tires warm up and soften out the flat spots after sitting for weeks at a time).

 

Tires, bearings or diff would be at the top of my list. Tires, unless you have a spare set or if rotating them makes any difference will be harder to check.

Wheel bearings can be checked for play and rotated for feel. Another trick is driving in a big circle or freeway on/off ramp. Helpful when it’s only on one side. It can alter to noise or eliminate it.

Diff is a difficult one, besides checking for obvious debris in the oil.

Prop shaft or center bearing can be tested by getting the rpms up 4-5k and letting off. If its out of balance or the bearing is shot you’ll feel and hear it in the trans tunnel.

 

Same here.... 2011 is when my daily is an "automatic", but too bad it was a Ford PowerSh-iet dual clutch, which I never knew until I got it, that it was actually a crappy in traffic jam ....solenoid operated manual transmission... LOL.

 

Is it possible you have a loose trim/seal around the windscreen or underbody that is vibrating as you say the noise starts above a certain speed?

 

i think the OP would agree that it’s more of humming noise and not something that would suggest a flapping noise. On mine, it actually start to go away at above 80. At 85, it cruises like a dream. Which keeps bringing me to wheel or bearing. It’ll be interesting to find out. I won’t be surprised one bit if it’s a slightly bent rim. Last time I had a sound like this, that’s what it ended up being. Just bent enough to harmonize at that speed and then go away. Given the dealership supposedly fixed it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just parked it on the rear passenger side and tried to balance it with weights. I have the tires rotated a few months ago and, thinking maybe that one is back on front again. Who knows, will find out next week though!

 

Took the car in yesterday. Guys drove it, hear it as well. Checked the prop shaft, all looks good. Bearings seem fine. They first thought time for mounts, but then realized they were new already. It all appears to be zeroing in on the wheel yet again. If it ends up being the rim, I think I am just going to ditch these AMG wheels and go with non-AMG. They’re starting to delaminate on the front in certain spots, and I’m damn sure not going to pay a 200% premium for the little AMG stamp when they can’t seem to take a pothole worth a damn. Maybe the rim, may just be the suspension setup of the car that puts too much pressure on the rim at pothole time. Either way, I’m looking at aftermarket knockoff styles now for all around just in case. The only time I’ve ever had this issue in the past - it’s always been the stupid Swiss cheese made AMG rim. The precious owner had lots of carfax entries for tire replacements as well (leased) and I can tell two of the 4 rims were replaced at one point due to the condition of the inside area of the wheel. Going to have the guys rotate the tires today and I am going to drive it myself. If the noise has relocated, then I’ll know, and in the garbage they will go...

 

Update - it’s not the rims. Two are still slightly bent, but barely. Balanced them out and put them on the back. I drove it. Still there coming from the front. Wheel bearings, flex discs on driveshaft seem fine too. Not yet sure about the prop bearing but isn’t showing normal symptoms. I am now leaning towards the front brakes...

The indi is suggesting a trip to the dealership to diagnose. I don’t want to do that because I am willing to bet they’ll say entire transmission, rear bumper, radio, windshield wipers. If it goes down the road of a transmission (which I really struggle with that idea), then this car goes bye bye. But I really don’t think that’s the issue. My transmission is silky smooth and operates flawlessly with no symptoms of any kind of trouble. I also struggle with the idea of the front differential since it the AWD is fixed with 55% on the rear and only 55k miles.

You pop the car in neutral at highway speed and it makes no difference.

but... when you apply the brakes, it takes maybe 3 seconds for the loud droning noise off the front rotors to appear, and the car yet again has that annoying shimmy. It’s leading me to the front rotors which now have 30k miles on them (along with the pads). I am leaning towards blanks and different pads to see if that fixes it.

 

My Indi asked for me to take to the dealership for second opinion before tossing parts at the car. Going tomorrow. I can tell you that if the diagnosis is a transmission, there will be a conversation had with Mercedes Benz on how a 7 year old transmission with only 55k miles on it and serviced for fluid and filter ahead of schedule with genuine parts from tip to tail could possibly go bad. Only answer I would accept is for MB to cover the cost entirely. Especially since I just threw down nearly $90k for their new GLS as well. Man I hope this does in this direction, I really really really don't want to go there. Even with the $4k I've spent on fixing things over the last year, I still love the car. But a transmission that is bad that has not been even remotely neglected or abused, is just a bridge too far for me to tolerate. Hopefully just borrowing trouble and it's a simple center bearing, or dragging caliper or something like that. Really hard for me to believe it can't be something wear and tear related like that, considering the car is a German Taxi that sees 4 times the mileage I've got on this gear box and differential setup with out issue.

 

well, that says its the brakes, probably the front ones. if you brake hard often, like aggressive driving on twisty mountain road, and such, 35k is not all unusual for the front brakes to be totally worn, or even quite a lot less mileage.

 

I have the same droning noise on my 2007 e320 diesel and I’m still trying to figure out what the solution is! So I took it for a spin last night and went through manual mode. I really pinned it down to this.. Gears 1-5 shift perfect and drove smooth as butter, when I hit 6th gear around 40mph on light throttle, the car just vibrates and shakes so bad. Even under load. It’s as if I am driving on unbalanced tires. It’s anytime it gets into 6th and 7th gear. Has anyone had that happen or know what the deal is?

I spent two weeks going back and forth between wheel bearing, ball joint, engine mounts, wheel balance, drive shaft, u joint, flex disc, differential, carrier bearing as alignment. All of which is in good shape!

I took the car to AAMCO, and they said it’s a bad transmission but couldn’t tell me what exactly was bad. So I am going for 2 more opinions... one at another transmission spot and another at an import specialist.

Help! I really want to keep the car but It’s not worth 4K to fix it.

 

that sure sounds like a bad transmission to me.

if its not been done in ages, you could *try* a drain trans + torque converter, drop pan, clean and change filter, refill, and see if that helps, but your symptoms sound like actual damage.

no way no how would I let Aamco or any other big chain shop touch it.

I would find a Mercedes or general european indie shop who's worked on that vintage Mercedes, and have them install a transmission from their preferred rebuilder, OR if you are in the USA (your profile doesn't say), get a rebuild from Sun Valley in southern California, and have a local import indie shop swap it and send your blown tranny back as the 'core'. around here, swapping a transm,ission is $1000-1200 labor, and a rebuild 7G is probably $3500 or something.

btw, a 2007 E320 is *NOT* a W212. I believe thats a post-facelift W211, and I do think it has an earlier version of the 7G transmission that our 212's have. A Sun Valley rebuild will be a better-than-original transmission as they update the things that fail.