ilko

I've owned my W211 only for a couple of months and except for the soft suspension I love the car.

One problem I've noticed with it is that when the car is cold there is a clanking sound from the front suspension when going over bumps and uneven surfaces at low speeds. It disappears after I've driven the car for a while and also at speeds over 35-40MPH.

The other issue is that generally the car pulls to the right at speeds under 70MPH. Yes, it's intermittent but it happens about 85-90% of the time on smooth roads. The car just had an alignment when I purchased it and I asked for a print out which looked really good.

After a decent amount of searching I had my shop tighten the bearings then replaced the front sway bar drop links, followed by upper and lower ball joints. Upon visual inspection after removal the old parts were still good (car has 80K miles on it). Then had another alignment. But the suspension refresh did not help - the noise is still there, and the car still pulls to the right.

At this point the only possible culprit would be the air suspension. Has anyone else experienced that? I would rather not have to go through the trouble of replacing the air springs unless I absolutely have to.

Thanks!

Manuyc

I have same problem. I think it is the upper shock mounts

MAN55LE

it's weird but make sure you have all the same tires and tire brand on the car bought my car and I had two different front tires on! Spray bushings with Wurth HHS-2000 ....Google it

jc115

same issue and its driving me nuts!!! dealer told me start with sway bar links and work my way to the $$$$ parts lol

ilko

That's really odd, though. I would think that if it was the mounts, the noise would be constant, yet it disappears after the car is warmed up.

Tires are the same - almost new Hankook Evo V12. I've checked them, no abnormal tire wear, pressures are the same, etc. Bushings were just replaced.

Quadcammer

I get this too actually ilko.

My understanding is that the upper strut mount on an airmatic car is actually inside the air strut.

I've replaced upper and lower control arms, swaybar links, and the swaybar itself.

A few other things to consider are inner and outer tie rods, and the airmatic strut itself.

G_Money

I find the car will pull ever so slightly to the right on crowned roads, which is most of them.

HeissRod

Tires can create a pull caused by internal construction, even though a visual inspection of the outside is ok. I would suggest swapping the front wheels to see if the pull moves to the other side. That is the cheapest and easiest test to do so you can rule out tires as the possible culprit. Hopefully your tires are asymmetrical and not directional.

ilko

Hey Oliver, I also have a hunch it's the air strut but they are not leaking and I really don't want to spend $1100 on the front Arnott struts just yet...

My tires are directional sadly but I might swap the front wheels on a dry day and take the car for a test drive...

55fanatic

Ive got the same issue, Ive had it aligned twice, had ball joint replaced, tie rods replaced, not sure what else is left. Still have a rattle, and pulls to the right

Quadcammer

yup, same spot for me. seems a waste to replace struts that aren't leaking, but its annoying as hell, especially when winter lasts half the damn year like it has this year.

ilko

Do you also have the pulling issue? Because I'm having a hard time seeing how a strut mount can make the car pull in one direction only. My thinking is that it would pull both left and right if it is malfunctioning.

Quadcammer

no, i don't have any pulling.

Shadow5501

My experience with both my AMGs is that sometimes they pull because the air suspension has settled slightly uneven from side to side. If one front side is lower than the other, you get a cross camber, which causes a pull. If this is the case, using the "raise car" button on the console to raise then lower car gets rid of the pull.

Of course, you could have a cold tire pull. My recently retired set of Michelin PSS did this a bit near the end of their life. On winter mornings the car would pull right. After a few minutes at speed or on warmer days the car tracked straight. Swapping the fronts right-to-left can help diagnose this.

I've got the front end rattle too. Think it's sway bar related, as I only get noise on uneven pavement - when each side of the front suspension compresses a different amount. Haven't looked into it yet.

Quadcammer

I get the clunking on fast undulations

C32owner

I have this same grinding/klunking noise when going over a speed bump.. I don't have any pulling though. I thought there is definitely something wrong with the front right strut, and eventually it failed, so I replaced with a new factory OEM front right air shock, thinking finally I can go over speed bumps without the klunk/grind, however to my dismay, its still there!!! So don't waste money on a new air shock yet!! There has to be something else.. I have had a dealer and an independent person look at it, and after visual inspection that cannot find any fault, it drives me nuts.. PS this klunk happens whether the car or hot or cold.. Its only over a speed hump though, not normal roads of course...

amg_w211

My issue: Front end low speed clunk when going over minor bumps, but at moderate or freeway speeds no noise.

Chasing this noise, I fruitlessly replaced the following (per my local dealer, which I now no longer trust and went w/ an independent mechanic): torsion arm, upper ball joint, lower ball joint, lower control arm. Noise was still present, if not worsening after all of the attempted remedies.

Finally, as suggested by others, used some Wurth HHS-K (high pressure, adhesive, high creep) grease on my sway bar bushings, and the clunk noise disappeared 95% on small road imperfections/bumps. However, over speed bumps, a decent clunk sound could be replicated. Will be replacing the sway bar (and the included bushings) as that's what is left to produce the front end noise, as both front shocks are less than 1.5 years old.

viz4575

Alright I got the same f****** problem and it's driving me nuts! Replaced almost everything except the strut, I had the wheel off the other day and if u pull up hard enough on the rotor u get the same clunks and sound as if u driving down the street..... Has anyone found a solution?

ilko

Mine went away as the weather warmed up. But now that it's cold again it is back

viz4575

It seems as it's Geting worse!! Off subject Ilko bulgarian?

ilko

viz4575

I az ...

act1v3x

Az sushto

I got the same problem with the clunk and the slight pull to the right. I was thinking the clunk would have something to do with the front sway bar bushings or at least that's what the dealer said after an inspection. Haven't replaced them yet but that's next on my list. As far as the pull goes I guess it makes sense that if the air struts are not evened out across the driver and passenger side it would create a pull. Not sure why it's always to the right though but I've seen my suspension being uneven when I'm parked. That might have something to do with the slight slope that I park on.

ilko

Thing is, I've measured the ride height and it's uniform. My struts are not uneven. No air leaks after I leave the car parked overnight, etc. I'm still planning on swapping the tires left to right and going on a test drive but my tires are directional and it's a PITA to go back and forth. In the meantime, there is no uneven tire wear after almost 2000 miles on them.

viren.89

lol I've got alignment done 3 times and I have the pulling to the right as well.

I thought I was the only one.

The MB foreman told me that this would worse if the roads are uneven and the wider the tire gets. Unfortunately he is right about the roads here.

I, however have no clunking sound whatsoever. The suspension is even - during the second alignment they checked it with Star.

So steering rack/pinion or that ?