houseofdiesel

2007 R320 (#2 of 3 for me) has a shake/vibration at lower speeds, 20-30mph and again at 35. Really felt under heavy loads-climbing steeper grades and or towing a trailer. I also had clunking sounds when turning left, replacing the left front cv axle solved that but still have the vibrations. I am going to pull the front driveshaft off the parts car next and have it checked and then install it, any other thoughts? Fluids are fine through out. No idea on engine mounts, kinda hard to get under there in my driveway. It is throttle related, not gear related and not rpm related so far that I have found, mostly speed and load related. It is slowly getting worse. No issues on the highway. Absolutely up front, left side.

Thanks

efzauner

bearing? does it reduce when you turn left, causing weight to shift to right side and get worse when you turn right, shifting weight back onto left front? Odd if you changed the front left axle already.

houseofdiesel

Much worse than a wheel bearing, the whole power train shakes/steering wheel a bit, you really feel it. I figured the outer cv joint was done and causing it but not the case. I did some tests this evening, it is under 2000 rpm. If you drop down gears and keep engine above 3000, no shake, but I never drive like that. Ever. Or at least the couple attempts it did not do it at higher rpms. I am thinking engine mounts? But why so much movement seems strange, to be that out of balance. Just passed 300 000 kms tonight. Not a lot of history on the vehicle, last owner gave me the bills back to 135k, but he pretty much refused everything but oil changes unless it was broken. So basically nothing has ever been done to it, I had to buy a parts car to fix it all...

chassis

Candidates:

- misfire
- halfshaft/CV joint
- engine mounts
- propshaft joints

Gas or diesel? Misfire should be easy to rule in or rule out. Smoke from the tailpipe? Check engine light?

Halfshaft is diagnosed by turning the wheel left or right at varying speeds and throttle positions (engine torque)

efzauner

Hello HofD! didnt realize it was you! You are normally the one giving out advice! I have 285K Km on mine and so far it has been very reliable. But at 15 years old I am in a maintain as cheeply as possible mode. I didnt change rear disks last time round just put in cheap pads for $25. (parts avatar)

Isolate the engine/transmission from the rest of the drivetrain by putting it in neutral at speed. Does it still do it?
Check the engine mounts for sure. I suggest a shop manual if you dont already have one. I have a Hayes and it is not bad I also used to have a subscription to Alldatadiy to get the full mercedes shop manual. costs less than $20 a year. well worth it.

houseofdiesel

R320 (diesel only). It only does it under heavy loads, low rpms. Our cottage is a steep hill, so steep you can coast down it in neutral and hit 50mph in a very short distance. Never feel a thing coasting. Under light throttle never feel much. But you cannot get up the hill without some heavy loads. Under load climbing it is very obvious. I lost my job with access to a hoist (was an auto technician part time on European vehicles) and getting under the R in my driveway is not easily done too much slope. Everything was tip top last March when it was last inspected aside from control arm bushings (front rear most ones) that were old and due, they are on the shelf waiting. Wondering what others have experienced or needed to replace.
This R (#2) was a cheap beater I bought in 2018, things are worn out on it that my #1 never had issues with, clearly how one cares for the these vehicles dictates one's experience owning it. I got another R this spring for parts, again it has stuff worn out on it that makes me wonder what people do to these vehicles...how one can treat a $60-80k vehicle like a throw away minivan is beyond me.

efzauner

sorry I dont know why I was thinking C class. I am on my second R also.. got rid of R320 at 200k km I did not want to deal with all the diesel emission problems. Current 2011 gas R350 is fine. Just replaced cv boot joiunt and repacked the cv joint. It comes apart! all the ***** can be removed!.

So far so good, apart from belts and come of the pulleys, water pump (waited to long for that, it died and spewed coolant at the postal kiosk 200 m from home!
Only things I have problems with are the blind spot sensor in back. Remote mirror motor and intermittent no key door opening and locking. Minor nuissance. 185k km.

Very odd problem that you have..

Could you tell us what problems you had, stuff you fixed from the Donor car? how much did you pay for it? Mine is only worth about $6K trade in... sad.

Ed

chassis

@houseofdiesel Smoke out the tailpipe? Check engine light is on?

houseofdiesel

What did I fix, I bought it cheap ($3000, book was $8000), air suspension pump was dead, trans oil cooler hose, park brake was missing. Interior out to replace all the park brake cables that were rusted out, treat the floors. Full tune up to fix what was never done (fuel filter, air filters, trans service), belt rollers. Major rust issues to deal with (not the painted body-rear wheel wells, rockers, jack points all hidden under covers and plastic). Since buying, one rear airbag, both rear brake calipers, one front air spring, front brake hoses, left front axle, exhaust flex section and front control arm bushings rear position, oil leaks. Also put 50k on it since buying, lots of towing.
In contrast the other one we bought 3 years old have done almost nothing but tender loving care, just filters, preventative and four air bags-it has 270k. Mice have forced me to park it, canbus electrical issues so that is why I bought the parts car which has 300k, paid $900. It was beat, tons of issues and owner put $15k in the last year on nothing really and gave up. Again suspension bushings worn, torn cv boots, brake hoses, rust in wheel wells. I consider myself lucky to have found 3 pretty much the same (options and 4 corner air suspension) diesel R class.

It is not an engine issue, no CEL, no misfires, it purrs-I am a diesel mechanic. Before doing the left front axle there was clunking when turning, problem fixed with oem used axle. I am thinking driveshaft (which must be common if Rockauto sells aftermarket ones, there has to be demand), maybe front differential (no idea what happens when they go bad but they do), engine mounts and perhaps a torque converter shudder or ? Transmission was serviced when I bought, will service again as the fluid was dark to stay on top of it. I will get it on a hoist for a closer look but with tire season upon us not an easy task finding a place with the time to properly diagnose, we suffer from 6 weeks of snow tire panic this time of year.

Todd Gormand

Sounds like it's the chain for the transfer case. They stretch and make a grinding noise on acceleration. Drain the oil and see if metal is in it. They can be sourced and replaced with transfer case is the car.

or it could be the torgue converter. Those have more of a shudderening at acceleration

my money is the transfer case chain. The diesels have so much torque it takes the out.
todd

houseofdiesel

I will check fluids again, all were done at purchase and I saw nothing of concern aside from transmission fluid being dark and old. Now I as play with it as my winter car (I am generally driving a work truck all summer) it is becoming apparent that it is low rpm high load situations, I never drive it hard and if I keep above 2500 nothing happens.
It is getting worse, will book some hoist time soon for some discoveries.
I have zero confidence in the local dealer network, they will point out everything but the problem and would invest more than a replacement vehicle would cost. I know the engine mounts are original and probably due, pretty much everything will need replacement if I went that route and be very poor. They are great parts replacement places, poor repair shops. There are so few of these R class around I have to go far to find a dealer I am confident in (Montreal is 2-2.5 hours to Duval a big dealer that was able to do reasonable fixes for my p/s leak top rack seal, half the cost of what Ottawa dealer quoted and Cornwall had the car and basically refused to do it after looking at it on the hoist) I have tried several dealers for things I was not willing to tackle, they simply do not fix cars anymore out of warranty.

Jamie Berenbaum

after reading your post, seems like we are separated at birth..
I send you a dm, i have all the same problems.
Who is your mechanic?

Jamie Berenbaum

2011 Bluetec
215kms
regular oil change
Has been shuddering for some time now, progressively getting worse.
When cruising i feel it and notice the tach bounce around a bit
Heading home last night, the car just died.
Cranks, but i feel the whole motor shake a lot and won't catch.
Suggestions?

houseofdiesel

I am my mechanic, I have worked off and on in shops for 25 years or in auto parts. In my area this one rare and unknown vehicle and the attitude of local dealers is replace not repair or get a new vehicle if you think its broken. I sadly cannot afford that way of thinking.
Yours sounds like an engine issue, sensor dying or fuel problem. A scan of the codes should give some clues.
Mine is a rotating mass out of balance issue, it varies when the steering wheel is moved (it can set it off), with speed, with rpm. Pretty sure axle or driveshaft. Replacement of those parts is very expensive to guess at. I may have more then one issue at hand, one steering related and one load related. Yes I know what I bought, these are very complex vehicles and one of one that fills the niche it is in.

efzauner

Jamie
In reply to your message to me.
Your setting do not allow messages...
have tried a few, and on recommendations of Taranch I have lately been to

owners name is Hassan
European Motorwerk
3900 Rue Jean-Talon O, Montréal, QC H3R 2G8 +15147373110

https://*******/maps/heC3MvxFrr1ff2ss9

But I do most of my repairs myself such as all brake work, most suspension work, water pump etc. replace CV boot/shaft, Rear airbags. I had him replace my alternator (because its a PITA and i was in a hurry) and do a transmission fluid change.

Good luck. Give Hassan a call with your symptoms.

Todd Gormand

It's not a service problem that fixes bad transfer case chain or differentials they just fail. The differentials whine and how. The transfer case is more or a shudder grinding gear slipping noise in the center of the car. It would really bad when you jump on it. Our shop has replace about a dozen forr our customers cars. I just was saying sometimes you can drain the oil and there is metal flakes in it. But not always the case. Have not seen drive shafts go bad on r classes. I have an 2008 r350 that's why I watch some forums. Good luck
also front axles can be reasonable look at getting ones made by GET. They are Chinese but some are lifetime warranty