adidadi

My newly acquired SL55 with 19" Brabus wheels, stock suspension feels like it wobbles when I floor it in 1st and 2nd. My 2003 SL with 19" AMG 3 piece wheels and stock suspension did not feel this way. Any ideas what may be going on?

phonetics

i have no idea

MB Fanatic

Crappy tires and are these knock off Brabus rims or what?

jmf003

My guess would be a loose suspension component, e.g. this discussion thread on toe links: https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/235233-toe-links.html

Hope you are able to track it down without too much work.

adidadi

Thanks jmf003, that seems to be exactly what is going on. However, having read the entire thread, including the destruction of one forum member's credibility, I still don't know how to fix the issue. Maybe someone can post it in layman's terms. Can MBZ dealer fix this issue, or do I need adjustable arms, or stiff bushings?

adidadi

They seem too high quality to be knock offs. Bought car from Benz dealer who said Brabus originally outfitted car when first sold on the showroom floor. Picture attached.

zen_racer

not the same car, I realize, but I had a similar problem when accelerating hard - the rear felt like it was swaying back and forth slightly, although not actually breaking traction or really fishtailing, but you really have to concentrate to hold it straight.

The thread linked to on here had some posts talking about differentials slipping the power from wheel to wheel, which was a similar explanation I heard from others when I complained about this myself.

I switched out my michelin PS2s for bridgestone pole positions earlier this year, and immediately that sway was gone.

I don't know if that was a tread pattern thing, a wheel balance thing, a mounting thing or what, but that sway is gone now.

adidadi

Sounds like it may well be the tires, since this car is stock other then wheels and tires. How frustrating to have to deal with this on a newly acquired car.

EXECMALIBU

If I undersatand correctly you moved up from an SL500 to an SL55 and this only happens when you jump on the gas?

Then what you are feeling is the SL55 fishtailing trying to get traction!

If the SL55 was a Brabus modified car the fishtailing would be even worse with a modified ECU (more power)!

My wife often asks why does your SL65 feel so stange when I accelerate agressively...

adidadi

I had an SL55 sold it and just replaced it with 2005 SL55. It does NOT feel more powerful then my 03 did, so I doubt Brabus did additional mods. Not sure. But the effect is not fishtailing. It is a wiggle. My other car NEVER had this. I am thinking it may be the tires as others have suggested or heavier wheels. Toe links may be a culprit too, but have no idea what they are. I may have to bring it in for a complete check. Very surprised about how poorly this newer car handles on acceleration.

BrabusTrojanSL

The Brabus rims are lighter than the AMGs, so its not the weight. My guess would also be the tires. They might need replacing or they are off balance and need to be re-aligned.

adidadi

Just had the car aligned and all 4 wheels balanced 2 days ago. However, the car pulls to the right. They say the inside tread of the front wheels is worn out and needs replacing soon. Rears appear to be fine. I am at a loss to what it is for sure.

zen_racer

guess there's just some crazy camber on the fronts?

jmf003

Sorry to leave you hanging, adidadi. Out of town guests visiting.

Here's a picture of the Renntech toe links:



You can see a few pics of the standard SL55 rear suspension in the attached .gif file.

If you're highly motivated and really careful, you can jack up your SL55, set it on blocks or jack stands, and compare your suspension to the pictures. Anything that's bent, twisted, torn, or missing would be bad.

As I would remind my 20 year old son, be sure to set the care on blocks or jack stands if you're going to be underneath. Don't trust the jack alone. (Father steps off soapbox.)

If you see something amiss, great! You can point it out to the service tech when you bring your car in. If you don't see anything you'll still want to bring the car in for the service tech to take a look. Clearly something is wrong with the suspension given the wobble you're experiencing.

Good luck getting to the bottom of it!

jmf003

At the risk of stating the obvious, the car should not pull to the right if its properly aligned. However gravity will cause your car to drift to the right if you're in the right lane of a crowned road. To test you'll need to find a truly flat road (many are crowned to drain water) or a flat surface such as a parking lot.

Again, good luck sorting it all out!

adidadi

jmf003, thanks for the great points. I mentioned the pulling to the right before and after the alignment. They didn't catch it apparently. Will see what the tire place says next week.

adidadi

Tire store mentions that Michelins tend to "Track" which means they follow their tread, which is what the wobble is.

zen_racer

so did you switch out the tires? If so, what did you go with?

adidadi

I just bought the car from a Mercedes dealer as a starmark certified car. It is far from certified. Front tires are shot, all wheels were out of balance, car was unaligned and pulls to the right, the left rear strut is shot and is leaking, the brakes squeak and so far that is my list. I want the dealership to replace the tires. i have to talk to them. I will go with tires from Just Tires who offer the warranty. Not sure which ones yet.

R230_Nicke

I have been following this thread with great interest since my car do the exact same thing.

And I think it must be the tires.

I used to have Pirelli P-Zero Rosso on Brabus monoblock VI. When I used those tires I did not have this problem.

But when i switched to Michelins PS2 on IForged daytonas the car begin to act like a snake..
I thought it was because I got more traction with wider tires but after this discussion I think it is the tires themselves that causes this behavior.

But I really don't mind since changing to PS2 shaved 0.2 seconds off my 0-60 time

Only question is:
Which tires to buy when these wear out?
That are as sticky as PS2 but without this behavior?
Size 305/30x19.

Nicke

theboogers

i added the toe links and lsd. made the wobble or snake feeling stop w/ michelins ps2's.

adidadi

I don't want to have to deal with toe links to fix a problem with tires. My car is still doing this. Any ideas how to solve this other then tires?

bltserv

With 18`s and stock Michelins NON PS2`s.
Mine didnt do the little shimmy.

But with 19`s and PS/2`s that are a little wider. 295`s rear.
I feel it when you hammer it hard. I think its tires personally.
It started right after they broke in.

sprins

A little correction here, the Brabus wheels are at least as heavy as the AMG wheels. When comparing the 19" Brabus to the 19" two-piece Style 4 AMG wheels. Compared to the new AMG forged wheels I assume the Brabus wheels are much heavier even.

See attachment.

adidadi

Exact same scenario. Michelin PS2 19" 295 rears and the wobble happens only when I hammer it.