twr

Got a shimmy felt in the steering wheel at between 42-57 mph. Took it to my local mbz dealership, he said he thought it was the tires. I replaced them w/ new michelins. Same problem. Had a similar problem w/ a 92 s420. Replaced all sorts of parts and the problem persisted. I read a service bulletin re: 92's w/ a shimmy. Indicated to replace front lower control arm bushings. Told this to the dealer, he said that does'nt apply to 97's. Whaddya think? I don't want to go on a wild part goose chase.

redcoupe

How many miles on the car?

twr

117k

13benz

there are several things that can make a car shimmy, might be loose wheel bearings, worn control arm bushings would do it, bad alignment, a ball joint, tie rods, tires that are out of round or unbalanced, and probaly some stuff i cant think of now.. guess the tires are ruled out. did he jack up the car and feel anything before he recomended you go out and buy tires?

twr

Yeah, he drove it and jacked it up. Said all front end parts were in spec "for a car this age." I even suggested he check the steering box which he did and again said it was in spec for a car this age. Maybe I need to take it to a front end shop. Do those shops usually speak MBZ? This problem seems like a hot potatoe to the Dealership. Why should a front end shimmy be so hard to track down? I was told by him at one point that "these cars have extremely sensitive front ends and are very picky about adjustment". What the heck does that mean!?

twr

Any other W140 owners had this problem and got it fixed? What did you do?

13benz

you could try jacking it up and check to see if anything is loose, make sure the car is sitting on jackstands that are away from the moving parts on the suspension, grab the tire and try to feel for slop in the wheel bearings, it will feel like the tire is not attached to the spindle very good, if that's ok then see how it feels moving side to side like you are turning the wheels to go around a corner, if something is loose you will probably feel it. side to side slop is usualy a tie rod or center drag link, if thats ok to check the ball get a bar under the tire and lift up, you will feel it pop if it is bad. the control arm bushings should not move side to side when you feel those, and the boss man at the tire shop where you bought your michelins can tell you a good front end shop, they may do it there even. and the brand your car should not be a problem for someone who does this kind of stuff all day. hope this helps.