ratzrod

Hello e55er's I am new to the world of MB. I jumped in with both feet and purchased a 2000 model. I have a whine from the rear of the car and I am curiuos if there is a history of carrier issues with these cars? I have been reading through all the posts in the forum and have not came across one yet. Thanks in advance for any help you guys throw my way.

mufc

I think the most likely culprit would be noise from the rear tyres. Check the condition of them by running your hand over the tread in a clockwise and counter clockwise direction , if they feel jagged or rough in one direction then you should get an alignment as the tyres are cupped . After the alignment the noise will not go away but it wont get worse. Second could be a wheel bearing and third something in the differential. Second and third possibilities are really not very common.
I have a similar issue currently with worn out Yokohama S drive tires. Will be buying Michelin next time.

Strigoi

Jack up the back of the car, secure it on jack stands and run it to see if it makes noise. If the whine isn't there than it's something with the rear or a wheel bearing. With the *** end lifted up it should be easy to pinpoint where it's coming from. Be sure to take the proper safety precautions if you decide to do this.

I'd expect it to be something in the rear before a wheel bearing though. They go straight to more of a grinding noise (at least when I've had them go bad on vehicles).

FWIW, my Durango started making a whining noise that I thought was just the tires. I was wrong and it is loud now and the rear needs to be rebuilt. It's been whining for at least 5,000 miles.

ratzrod

I guess I should have mentioned I put new tires on it already and that didn't help it at all. I have only owned the car for a few months and I have put tires on and put a new alignment on it as well. The car performs great but the whine is beginning to bother me. I will jack her up this weekend and see what I can find out. I have auto Xed for years and I am familiar with performance tires but this is a different noise. Thanks for the quick response. I was shunned for purchasing the car as all my buddies are M car drivers and I have to admit the M's are a great little car to track but after purchasing the AMG and showing a few of my friends the tail lights I love this machine. It has a few issues to sort out and I will be asking more questions I am sure. So again thanks for your patience and input as I work through the small stuff

Schweinhund

Welcome. These are great cars. Plus it'll be great to have a Chevy knuckle buster here on the forums (if that what ratzrod means).

Would help to know mileage.

Had you inspected the rear rims for any bends or dents, inside and out? Did you watch the tire guy at the balance machine to check for any unusual weights?

What speed(s) does the noise occur at?

Does the noise happen when accelerating slightly, decelerating slighlty, and/or in neutral coasting? This loads the driveline and can narrow down suspect components.

ratzrod

Yep you may assume the above. I have owned many muscle cars and old chevys. I guess I should have mention I put new tires on 3 weeks ago.
The noise is continuous and on get slightly quieter when off throttle. The old girl has 250k miles on her but she is still a race horse. She just needs a little TLC.

Nocturnal-G

250k on your E55?

ratzrod

Getting close to 260k. Scary

ratzrod

Got front brakes rotors coming whew!! Day aint cheap lol

Nocturnal-G

Highest mileage E55 I've ever heard of... glad to know our cars last.

desired_speeds

post some pics of this high mileage e55!

anyways, I'd start with a diff fluid change and possibly the center driveshaft support bearing if it hasn't ever been replaced.

dfreret

To add to this troubleshooting advice. In order to jack up the rear of the car on jack stands and run the car, you have to disable the ESP/BAS from under the hood. Otherwise the system will go bonkers. I will try to dig up the post where it explains exactly how to do this.

To add from my recent personal experience of the rear end noise and my rear wheel bearing going bad on my E55 in February, the sound my car made was more of a squeal with a slight grind, speed sensitive noise which got progressively worse until above 60 MPH. Then the noise went away ENTIRELY for about a month. Then the noise came back and was immediately worse and then poof, grinding halt, boom, pow, surprise. Dead on the side of the road with wheel almost completely falling off. New Rear end. (bearings, hubs,speed sensor, rotor, pads, axle) $$$$$$$$

Previously, when I had put the car up on jackstands to listen for the noise while troubleshooting, it did not make any noise because the wheels were not under the load of the car weight. If you don't have access to chassis ears to pinpoint the sound, take it to a shop which does. I could've saved a few thousand dollars in repair if I had pinpointed my RR bearing sooner with chassis ears.

With your high mileage, there is some other sound advice as to changing diff fluid and such.

ratzrod

Let see if that shows the mies

ratzrod

Its raining out so I will get some pictures tomorrow. She's looking pretty nasty right now. Got that shot this morning shows up better than I thought. So if there is any doubt these cars hold up very well. The interior needs the drivers head rest where it seam is at the bottom has separated. The steering wheel is worn on the left side and the dash has 3 small cracks at the passenger air bag. The body has a scrape on the rear bumper pass.corner and a very small spot on the drivers side rear quarter. So small if you have to look had to find. No rattles on the inside and no squeaks. So if I get the whine taken care of you would not know it had that many miles on it. So far I am impressed.

ratzrod

She aint perfect but she's payed for

ratzrod

That's better

Schweinhund

Looks great to me! Awesome 250K supercar.

A good way to check for bearings is lift the car on the frame, and grab the wheel- lift up and down and left to right and in and out. Should be no give, no pop or clunk.

A decent indy shop can spot suspension problems easily. In my case they found worn out front ball joints which I changed first, but turned out not be the problem.

If bearings are suspected, and you want to nail it, get a set of chassis microphones (ears).. Can be had on eBay or Amazon for under $200 for the wireless ones which are considered substantially better. A shop may have a set to use as well.

That being said, 250K is a lot of miles. I suppose bearings start to give at some point.

ratzrod

Okay. I did a low budget chassis ears using some tubing and tape (redneck) but at 50mph the noise is very prominent on the drivers side rear. Looks like I might have found my trouble. I will jack her up and see if the bearing is kaput. I will post when I confirm. Thanks for all the input guys.

Strigoi

I totally forgot about that. My friend did that when we were running mine on the lift trying to figure out the vibration it had. I can't remember what he unplugged to do it though.

ratzrod

I found one that states unplug the unit right behind the washer res. by lifting up and out. I haven't done that yet.

dfreret

That's correct. Here's the post with a picture. There is a white arrow pointing to it in this pic.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...ml#post3801856

ratzrod

Yep that's the one I was looking at.

ratzrod

282371 miles and still going! No leaks or drips and everything is still working. If any one ever doubted the reliability of the AMG then they need to drive this car. She hasn't missed a step and still teaches unsuspecting people on the interstate a few things. It makes my work commute very fun from time to time and even surprised me on just how quick she is at 80 plus mph.

snooozie

Time to mod it

ratzrod

I try to keep my hands out from under her skirt as she is getting up there in miles. I do all my modding on the really old girls that people have left to wither away. She spoils me daily and I let her rest of the weekend but she amazes people who can't believe she has that many miles. I thought of doing some exhaust work but if I start I won't stop and there would be a LS3 backed by a 6 speed (hint when she does lay down) under her skirt.