vader14

In an effort to try to solve a whining nose coming from the rear of my car. Which has been going on for close to a year now. I have done the following repairs. I just broke the 100K mark.
Some of these items are regular maintenance items. However, I did some of these repairs ahead of schedule in efforts to figure out this issue.



Work Done on 2005 S55 AMG since June 2017

New Spark Plugs & wires (NKG)
Upper Control Arms (Lemforder)
Lower Rearward Control Arms (OE)
Ball Joints & thrust Arms (Lemforder)
Engine Mounts (Lemforder)
Transmission Mount 2x (1st.Lem/2nd OE)
Flex Discs (OE)
Drive shaft bearing,boot & mount (OE)
Front Inner & Outter tire rods (Lemforder)
Front Brake pads & rotors (Akebonno pads & Zimmerman Discs)
Front wheel bearings...Inner & outter (SKF/***)
Differential fluid change (Mobil??)
Radiaitor flush & fill (Mechanic broke radiator cap/needs to be replaced)

Replaced all 4 accumulators (OE)
ABC fluid flush/14 liters of fluid & filter (Pentision/OE filters)

All rear Control arms except /Thrust arms (OE)
Rear tire rods (Lemforder)
Rear knuckle bushings (Lemforder)
Rear wheel bearings (SKF/***)
Rear brake pads & rotors 2x
(1st. Akebonno Pads & Zimmerman Discs) (2nd. OE Pads & rotors)

Changed all cabin & charcoal filters
New Battery

Oil Change 2x
1st. Mobil 1 0w40

2nd. Liqui Moly Proline flush 2x
Ceratec Engine Addative 2x
Mercedes OEM Oil 5w40

Front Engine splash shield replaced 2x
Rear Engine splash shield
4 New Tires (Continental Extreme Contact DWS06)

Supercharger Tensioner & Pulley (OE)
Supercharger Belt (OE)
Double Pulley (OE)
Drive Belt Tensioner & Pulley (INA)
Pulley (INA)
Drive Belt (OE)

New AC Compressor (OE)
Rear Valve Block Serviced



Unfortunately, the issue is still there and I'm stumped to sat the least.


I really needs someone's expertise to try & help me solve this issue. I understand there is only so much you can tell me since we are online.

However, I'm hoping someone with vast knowledge of these cars can help me figure out this issue.


The noise I'm having only happens while slowing down and driving in the range between 0 to 20 mph. Anything above that, all is well. The noise is not brake dependent. It happens whether breaking or not... And it only happens between the 0 to 20MPH. The sound is a whining/squeal noise and can be pretty loud at times. It sounds like a freight train or a 18 wheeler truck making a stop. And can be pretty embarrassing at times..SMH


Initially, I took the car to the dealer and was told it was my rear brakes. I let them know I just recently changed the brakes & rotors a month prior. But was told, since it wasn't OE pads and rotors. I needed to replace them with Mercedes OE parts & that will stop the noise. I decided to replace them again since it was what was suggest by Mercedes. However,while driving home from the dealer, the car started to make the noise. Needless to say, I hadn't been back to the dealer since. And have been dealing with 2 independent mechanics and they both can't figure it out.


My assumption is, it's a bearing somewhere that needs to be replaced. But obviously I'm clueless as to what needs to be done to get this issue taken care of. The noise only happens while the car is moving forward. It never happens while in park.As time has gone on it just gets worse and worse. Almost to the point now where I don't want to drive the car at times. Other than this one issue the car drives like a dream.



While driving home today, the thought of my differential came to mind. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?? Could it be my differential??? If not ...WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE??

With the exception of this one issue. The car drives perfectly & is as smooth as butter. I never new a car with so much torque & power can drive so smooth.


PLEASE ANYBODY!!!!
All input is welcome, thank you.

ItalianJoe1

How are the parking brake shoes and hardware? It could be something in there that's making the noise as you slow down. In a safe place like a parking lot, try lightly engaging the parking brake when the noise happens, see if it changes it at all.

vader14

To be honest, i'm not sure.It does have that type of sound as if the parking brake is engaged. I mentioned that initially,but I was told it was OK. I will give it try tomorrow & see what happens.I definitely will report back with my findings.

Thank you

vader14

As suggested,Yesterday while in a parking garage. I stepped on the Emergency brake, then released it. I drove in the range I would hear the noise(0-20 mph)....And it was gone!!! I'm speechless! I've had this car looked at by several different mechanics and no one ever suggested anything like that . While driving the car today though, the noise started to come back. So I did the exact same thing once again, it went away!!!


Thank you so much for the suggestion Joe. I should have came to the forum with this issue when it first came up. Obviously hind sight is 20/20 but you live & learn.


Keeping all of that in mind… what exactly does that mean? Does that mean I need a new emergency brake? Or is there something else along with that I need to get checked out?
I have to say, this is major! This noise was a constant pain in the ***. Every single time I would slow down. I would hear the noise. It got to the point where I really did not want to drive the car anymore because it was embarrassing.

ItalianJoe1

Had a feeling that was gonna be it I've seen that enough times.

They are probably way out of adjustment. They never get used, and then the adjusters stick/don't self adjust.

Can be done through the lug bolt hole of the rotors, but i'd suggest having the rotor off and cleaning all the mounting points, lubricating anything that touches (basically a drum brake service lol), and properly adjusting them (i like to err on the tight side, as in almost not able to turn the rotor by hand when you're done). WIS doc attached

vader14

Thank you once again for the your assistance again, Joe. I had my parking brake serviced,everything is nice & quite.Hopefully it will stay that way. I definitely will report back & post after a week or so. Hopefully this post can help someone who comes across this issue. And won't have to go through the headache I had for almost 1 year.

ItalianJoe1

Happy to help, that's why I spend the time I do in these sections of the forum, if I can help sort out some stuff like this, it makes me happy. It's sad, but there are tons of technicians out there who just aren't very good at fixing cars, and when you said that they made you remove your quality aftermarket brakes to put OEM, I had a feeling that that is what you were dealing with. The reality is even cheap brakes won't squeal if lubricated and adjusted properly, it will be more effort and it may take periodic adjustment but it will be ok. When I see guys thinking 'Oh you gotta use factory or it's gonna be noisy', that's just lazy mechanics. I worked in a retail shop (Firestone) for years, and I put Wagner Thermoquiet pads on all manners of vehicles and my brake jobs never came back making noise, but I took the extra time to clean sliders, re-tension clips and shims, and adjust rears where needed. It's all about providing good service to the customer, but sadly the business model doesn't reward the tech for this, they are paid a low flat rate, so the incentive is to pump the job out quick and move on to the next one, and it has raised a generation of guys who don't actually know why something doesn't work or how to fix it, but they can replace parts quickly until they get lucky and solve the problem. Basic understanding can save time and prevent wasting the customer's time and money.

One thing I like to suggest, if you've had this issue, is to try to get in the habit of using your parking brake from time to time, to keep it working as designed. Once a week or so, engage it fully when you park somewhere. If the parts never move, they get stuck where they are. With normal use they tend to stay working correctly and quietly.

S430AMG

Not giving a F is powerful, extremely powerful (especially when owning a German car).

Sounds like it's most likely your rear dif, but who cares? Let the thing explode before you throw more money at a small problem.

ItalianJoe1

Did you read anything other than the first post?

vader14

With all do respect...what are you talking about? Who doesn't give an F? Who cares? I do...why do you think I posted my question here in the forum...smh. Did you even read the post before you commented? If you have nothing positive to contribute I would hope you'd keep your comments to yourself. Trust me, I know what it take to maintain a German car. I've had & have several. Not to mention this is my 3rd 220, so I know what it takes to keep things running.

vader14

I couldn't agree more with your post. I will be sure to use the parking brake more often since I have't used it regularly. I just wanted to report that all is well and the car is quiet again...Thanks again Joe for your help with this issue.It's appreciated more than you could ever know.

JohnLane