acewalker

I noticed a noise in yesterday, when I started driving from a stop and was turning at the same time (left or right), a clicking/clunking sound from the front tires. After some inspection without removing the tires, I saw the upper control arm bushing completely off on the front left tire and also see a spring washer coming out of it. The noise also comes when I drive over a bump or dip and now it is prominent on flat roads when I am turning below 5 mph. I am also inclined towards issues with the tie-rods, sway bars or the bearing at this time.

My car is at 50k miles, a 2018 GLS 450.

Any other places I should check, will ask mechanic to check engine mounts as well to make sure these rubbers are not old.

BlownV8

That stinks. MB's are typically very consistent which means all the cars with these parts will most like suffer the same fate. The variables can be road and weather conditions. Where do you live and what are the road conditions?

chassis

The photos show a failed upper control arm ball joint boot. Grease can escape and dust, dirt and water can enter, leading to noise, steering wander and imprecision and tire wear - signs of ball joint failure.

Other joints may also be causing noise, but this boot has failed and the upper control arm should be replaced. The ball joint is not separately serviceable because the ball race is machined integrally into the forged aluminum upper control arm.

acewalker

Update: I took the vehicle to the shop and they were able to reproduce the issue and flat out saw the upper control arm broken. They are going to change that part.

Through further inspection they said the wheel bearings are broken and both front need to change. After speaking with insurance company and filing a claim, they sent in an adjuster to look at the issue and they did not find any play in the wheel bearings.

I did a test of myself by jacking the vehicle up and did not see any play either. The repair shop does say that the noise is coming from the wheel bearing and I should wait until the problem becomes worse and causes play in the wheel (my tires are going to take a hit!)

Am I risking loosing a wheel if the bearings latch and get stuck while I am on the road?

arsupisemnet

Find another shop. Clearly ripoff. You will hear once wheel bearing will start going out. Like driving on off-road tires with intensity increasing with a speed.