Suspension side bounce
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Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2022
Posts: 49
Likes: 21
From: North Carolina
2011 E63 AMG, 2007 S550 AMG
Suspension side bounce
I have a ‘07 S550 RWD w126k miles. It drives great and tracks straight on smooth roads with even wear on tires. Last alignment at Mercedes was around 110k.
On uneven or bumpy surfaces, I'm getting side bounce to the point where my head is tilting from one side to the other constantly. It feels like it is coming from the rear suspension more than the front. The car has never been in any kind of serious accident that I am aware of.
Anyone else experience this or have thoughts on the best way to troubleshoot?
On uneven or bumpy surfaces, I'm getting side bounce to the point where my head is tilting from one side to the other constantly. It feels like it is coming from the rear suspension more than the front. The car has never been in any kind of serious accident that I am aware of.
Anyone else experience this or have thoughts on the best way to troubleshoot?
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Joined: Feb 2012
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From: Phoenix
222 S-65
Something or a collection of suspension parts are ready for replacement.
Front suspension lower arms X4 are ready if not replaced recently. Front Upper ball joints are due. There are rear suspension arms that die as well. She is old enough that the dampener function of an Airmatic strut can be going away. Or is your car equipped with ABC? You didn’t specify.
It is time she visited a competent mechanic for diagnosis.
Front suspension lower arms X4 are ready if not replaced recently. Front Upper ball joints are due. There are rear suspension arms that die as well. She is old enough that the dampener function of an Airmatic strut can be going away. Or is your car equipped with ABC? You didn’t specify.
It is time she visited a competent mechanic for diagnosis.
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S500
I don't really understand what this means
I'd start checking that the car on a level flat surface, is sitting at its correct ride height all around... Usually around 1.5" of clearance from the top of the tyre to the top of the wheel arch. If any are more than 1/2" different something needs checking.
This ride height is obtained from settings in the ecu compared to the THREE level sensors fitted to the car's suspension - and the amount of air a compressor feeds to each strut - the link rods connecting these sensors have plastic ball joints these magically seize to the metal ball, leading to bending / snapping brackets and misreadings of thus strange ride heights.
if you can wobble the link rod on the ball joints by hand and the ride heights seems OK, check out the condition of the mechanical parts of the suspension... a leaking worn damper might be the issue - the air only replaces the conventional better and more reliable steel spring fitted to real cars - everything else is conventional, but as is modern business practice the rubber bushings on cars for the last 30 years are made of self disintegrating nothingness
I'm getting side bounce to the point where my head is tilting
This ride height is obtained from settings in the ecu compared to the THREE level sensors fitted to the car's suspension - and the amount of air a compressor feeds to each strut - the link rods connecting these sensors have plastic ball joints these magically seize to the metal ball, leading to bending / snapping brackets and misreadings of thus strange ride heights.
if you can wobble the link rod on the ball joints by hand and the ride heights seems OK, check out the condition of the mechanical parts of the suspension... a leaking worn damper might be the issue - the air only replaces the conventional better and more reliable steel spring fitted to real cars - everything else is conventional, but as is modern business practice the rubber bushings on cars for the last 30 years are made of self disintegrating nothingness
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jan 2022
Posts: 49
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From: North Carolina
2011 E63 AMG, 2007 S550 AMG
JohnLane I’m in NC and don’t know if any good MB suspension specialists so I’ll have to do some research.
BOTUS The feeling is like there is an unsettling of the rear of the car…like it jumps a little when hitting a bump, sometimes left and sometimes right.
The tire to fender gaps look about the same all around but I’ll measure them on a level surface tonight to see how even they are.
I’ll also pull the wheels to look for leaking/wet dampers/struts. Where are the three level sensors located?
BOTUS The feeling is like there is an unsettling of the rear of the car…like it jumps a little when hitting a bump, sometimes left and sometimes right.
The tire to fender gaps look about the same all around but I’ll measure them on a level surface tonight to see how even they are.
I’ll also pull the wheels to look for leaking/wet dampers/struts. Where are the three level sensors located?
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S500
we had one the other day saying his seems strange at the back - as has mine all the time I have owned it (10 years and 28k miles)
one garage said the "diff bushes were gone", when I first got it at 42k miles, but having never done anything about it nor seen in these 10 years anything look wrong. Just last month a specialist merc indy took a look and didn't find anything - he even owns his own similar age 221 v12... all he said was my air tragic car with 18" wheels its a lot softer than his 19" wheeled ABC car
has it occurred to you the roads are now worse than most dirt tracks ever were years ago? they are where I live. or perhaps you found the S button and can feel a big difference ?
one garage said the "diff bushes were gone", when I first got it at 42k miles, but having never done anything about it nor seen in these 10 years anything look wrong. Just last month a specialist merc indy took a look and didn't find anything - he even owns his own similar age 221 v12... all he said was my air tragic car with 18" wheels its a lot softer than his 19" wheeled ABC car
has it occurred to you the roads are now worse than most dirt tracks ever were years ago? they are where I live. or perhaps you found the S button and can feel a big difference ?
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2022
Posts: 49
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From: North Carolina
2011 E63 AMG, 2007 S550 AMG
I measured the tire to fender gap and it is 2.5” in front and 2.0” in back and even on both sides. I live in NC and while some of the roads have gotten worse over the years in some parts of the country, it is definitely something with the S550 as my E63 and my wife’s vehicle doesn’t react the same on those same stretches of bumpy road. This was my Dad’s before he passed and it never used to react to bumps this way, even on worse roads up in MD. And not that this should matter but it has the AMG pkg 19” wheels.
I’ll get under it with a pry bar over the weekend and look for some shot bushings or ball joints. And try to look at the struts/dampers too.
I’ll get under it with a pry bar over the weekend and look for some shot bushings or ball joints. And try to look at the struts/dampers too.
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Joined: Oct 2010
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From: Southern US
2010 E550, 273 Engine: 2012 S550, 278 Engine
I measured the tire to fender gap and it is 2.5” in front and 2.0” in back and even on both sides. I live in NC and while some of the roads have gotten worse over the years in some parts of the country, it is definitely something with the S550 as my E63 and my wife’s vehicle doesn’t react the same on those same stretches of bumpy road. This was my Dad’s before he passed and it never used to react to bumps this way, even on worse roads up in MD. And not that this should matter but it has the AMG pkg 19” wheels.
I’ll get under it with a pry bar over the weekend and look for some shot bushings or ball joints. And try to look at the struts/dampers too.
I’ll get under it with a pry bar over the weekend and look for some shot bushings or ball joints. And try to look at the struts/dampers too.
Those tires had very weak side walls. I went with Nokian zLine A/S and it made a huge improvement. There is still very little of it left but not enough for me to start working on the suspension that I first planned to do.
Check that you have enough air pressure on your tires as this is important for the side wall strength against lateral movement.
You have E-class also like I have with 18” wheels. Go push both cars rears sideways and you can compare how they bounce. Mine shoved huge difference between them that made me to change away from those Michelins.
This S-class seems to be very sensitive for this sideways bouncing and I’m quite sure it is mostly tire side wall strength related. Before this 2012 model I had the same car 2013 model with 20” wheels and in that one I had none of the sideways bouncing that I could feel.
I’m not saying sideways bouncing does not indicate problems with suspension components but at least in my car the tires quality is a big player in this.
I measured the tire to fender gap and it is 2.5” in front and 2.0” in back and even on both sides. I live in NC and while some of the roads have gotten worse over the years in some parts of the country, it is definitely something with the S550 as my E63 and my wife’s vehicle doesn’t react the same on those same stretches of bumpy road. This was my Dad’s before he passed and it never used to react to bumps this way, even on worse roads up in MD. And not that this should matter but it has the AMG pkg 19” wheels.
I’ll get under it with a pry bar over the weekend and look for some shot bushings or ball joints. And try to look at the struts/dampers too.
I’ll get under it with a pry bar over the weekend and look for some shot bushings or ball joints. And try to look at the struts/dampers too.
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Joined: Aug 2005
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Similar problem with mine. But I know my rear left shock is tired, too stiff. So is one of the shocks is too slow to compress or let go, that wheel will pull when going over bumps and you will get that effect. Just because the air bladder is good, doesn't mean the shock is still good.
