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The GL rigs are very sensitive to any wheel imbalance. I have GL550 w/21"s, and had problems with vibration @ 70mph+ . I found out through road force balancing at an experienced tire shop that the factory balance is ~30 lbs road force for each wheel. I then requested them to road force balance each wheel to within 10lbs (this was done on a Hunter 9700) . After balancing to within 10lbs road force, no more vibration. It did take some additional effort to get there . Two tires had to be re-mounted 3 times to achieve that. Most tire shops will target 25-30 road force as being "within spec". This just isn't good enough for the GL with air suspension.
Ironically enough, we test drove three 2015 GL 550’s in the past few months before buying ours. Two of them shook/vibrated a bit on the highway, with one of them having brand new tires mounted by Mercedes. The one we purchased has newer snow tires on it and is smooth as silk on the highway. Not sure if snow tires are designed for heavier loads?
What seems to be the all season tire of preference these days with good tread life and no vibrations?
I know this is an old thread but I have the same vibration around 70MPH on my 2015 GL450. 20-inch wheels, I switched from Pirelli to Michelin and it's still vibrating. I also have a jerky downshift around 20MPH. I thought this GL would be smooth and luxurious... it's at an independent mechanic this week for Service A and I'm looking forward to hearing about their diagnosis.
Good link and good reading, thanks for sharing it NaviTimer1. My local independent shop just did the 'road force balancing' yesterday and said each wheel was out of balance by more than an ounce - and they said that solved the vibration at 70MPH. Picking up the GL450 Monday and can't wait to drive it home.
Is it worth calling the local tire shop and complaining about how they mounted and balanced my new tires last month?
Thank you all for sharing your experiences and insights. I am new to this site and happy to find this thread. So glad to confirm that I am not imagining this unusual vibration. My 2019 C43 Sedan 4Matic has the vibration at 60 - 70 mph, which feels like a small electric toothbrush has been turned on in the steering wheel. Dealer service tech felt it and suggested a tire or wheel issue. Since the vibration does not vary without all within that speed range, and because it pulses as noted above - half-second on/half-second off - a tire/wheel problem is not likely, and I suggested the drive shaft (!). They said they would inspect that at next scheduled service. I hated the OE Conti RunFlats and just purchased 4 Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires, mounted and balanced by an excellent tire shop I have used for years. Vibration its sill there and exactly as it has always been since new. It is fascinating that it is not present below 60 mph or above 72 mph or so. I will post after the drive shaft inspection.
Just picked up a 2014 GL350 with the AMG wheels and have a similar issue. Interestingly, our 2014 ML with AMG wheels also noted some vibration around 70mph. Going to take ours to a shop that I personally know the owner for a proper tire balance and see if that helps the issue.
If road force checks out, there are two other things you can play with to see if they help.
One of them is indexing the wheels on the axle that is having the vibration. If its felt in the steering wheel, then rotate one of the front wheels 180 degrees on the rotor and retest, then try the other. If its felt in the seat, do this with the rear wheels. What we're trying to achieve here is matching the wheel balance to the rotor balance. Even though the two are balanced independently, they are not in balance as an assembly when bolted together. This sometimes can be felt as a vibration that comes and goes at a constant speed between 65-80mph.
The next item is tire pressure. Contrary to popular belief, lower air pressure in the the tires for comfort (30-32PSI), will not lessen vibrations. In fact a lot of the time if you use higher air pressures (37-40PSI), those pesky vibrations will go away. I have found that GL's do not like having the same pressure in all 4 tires. I believe the air suspension is sensitive to harmonic resonance between the front and rear axles. In this case, 2-3PSI higher in the rear can cancel that out.
Replacing the drive shaft has solved the vibration problem on my 2019 C43! My dealer was committed and kept the car for several weeks. They got the factory and corporate tech teams involved, and they confirmed that this is a known issue in the MB service database. They ordered and installed a new drive shaft (under warranty) and I am happy to report it worked! The vibration is 95% gone, and if I had not experienced it before, I would surely not notice it. I am sharing this good news to help any others who are experiencing the problem and may nee
I have the exact same problem with my 2021 C43 - vibration from the driveshaft at 73-80 Mph - tires are perfect. Can you share the dealership name and possibly the service advisor's name who fixed your car? Any information to help my local dealership expedite the repair would be very much appreciated. I've had the car for one month with only 2000 miles - can't believe this issue would not have been caught by quality control. Thank you in advance.
So happy my post may help someone! The replacement of the drive shaft on my 2019 C43 sedan was done by Carlton Motorcars, the Mercedes-Benz dealer in Greenville, SC (https://www.carltonmb.com). My service advisor, who is excellent, is Scott Gordon. I believe the technician who worked on my car was Steve (also excellent). In my case, the factory tech team sent a audio or vibration sensor device that the dealer team put in the car and drove it to "record" the vibration in some way. When the factory tech team received that reading, they authorized the replacement of the drive shaft. Good Luck!
So happy my post may help someone! The replacement of the drive shaft on my 2019 C43 sedan was done by Carlton Motorcars, the Mercedes-Benz dealer in Greenville, SC (https://www.carltonmb.com). My service advisor, who is excellent, is Scott Gordon. I believe the technician who worked on my car was Steve (also excellent). In my case, the factory tech team sent a audio or vibration sensor device that the dealer team put in the car and drove it to "record" the vibration in some way. When the factory tech team received that reading, they authorized the replacement of the drive shaft. Good Luck!
I went and found a tire shop with the Hunter Road Force machine, fixed my 72-75mph vibration. Thank you! $60 fix bout as good as it’ll get on this machine...
Glad to hear of your success. I, and others on this thread, haver started with the tires, and then the wheels, and the logical place to start. I have worked for a tire company for 25 years and was somewhat convinced that replacing the run-flat tire would solve the problem. For me, it did not. It's great when tire balancing or tire replacement resolves the problem. When the problem persists, and tires and wheels have been eliminated as the cause, several on this thread - including me - have found success with the replacement of the drive shaft on the C43 and related variants.
I went and found a tire shop with the Hunter Road Force machine, fixed my 72-75mph vibration. Thank you! $60 fix bout as good as it’ll get on this machine...
That's a good thing!
I may be wrong, but I am under the impression that ALL M-B shops are required to have Hunter 91xx Road Force balance machines. The newer ones are pretty idiot-proof.
I own the same model 2017 350 cdi, Brabus D6S packet and I have the same problem with vibrations from 100 kmh (70mph). It was such a strong vibration that it was extremely uncomfortable to drive a car.
I started working on troubleshooting and it really cost me a lot of money, so I decided to help all of you who deal mostly with tire nonsense.
I have 22 ”wheels on my gls with 295/35 tires. These wheels with a very low profile are very sensitive to vibrations and wheels and tires were the first thing I started to deal with.
1. changing winter tires to summer tires didn't help (continental Conti Sport Contact 6).
2. wheels professionally aligned, did not help.
3. borrowed a complete set of 20” wheels, did not help
4. the short cardan shaft was replaced, it didn't help
Cardan
5. Final - here we have an unexpected winner !!!
Transmission bearing OE A 166 240 11 18
After replacing this little *******, the vibrations decreased by 90% and I love this car again.
PS: Excuse me for my English, hopefully I will help others end their suffering. Please give feedback.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences and insights. I am new to this site and happy to find this thread. So glad to confirm that I am not imagining this unusual vibration. My 2019 C43 Sedan 4Matic has the vibration at 60 - 70 mph, which feels like a small electric toothbrush has been turned on in the steering wheel. Dealer service tech felt it and suggested a tire or wheel issue. Since the vibration does not vary without all within that speed range, and because it pulses as noted above - half-second on/half-second off - a tire/wheel problem is not likely, and I suggested the drive shaft (!). They said they would inspect that at next scheduled service. I hated the OE Conti RunFlats and just purchased 4 Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires, mounted and balanced by an excellent tire shop I have used for years. Vibration its sill there and exactly as it has always been since new. It is fascinating that it is not present below 60 mph or above 72 mph or so. I will post after the drive shaft inspection.
As the C43 and GL450 are two very, completely separate beasts, please be sure to post in the proper section.
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