justinp95

So i got a new E55 2006 to be exact. It has a lot of clunking and squeaking on the driver front, which I believe to be the upper control arms. How difficult are these to replace? It also rides pretty rough, could those cause the rough ride? My wife's e320 rides much better. It also has a slight tick on the driver side which I thought may be the gas I used but I added some octane booster and its still ticking. Next ill try an oil change. Do these come in a staggered fitment also? Because all the tires are a 245 width... Also, how heavy is yalls steering? Mine seems pretty heavy. Thanks

2000UZJ

The AMG will ride rougher, it's the AMG version, not the standard boat Mercedes sells. Inspect the bushings up front. The sway bay bushes can develop a squeak. Ticking can be a number of things, get it on the rack and check it out. The steering is heavy on these cars, they have lots of castor from the factory. Almost feels like the power steering pump is on its way out

Rocman8

Sounds like unfortunately you bought a neglected one since they were too cheap to put the correct size tires on it. Probably needs lower ball joints, thrust arm bushings, sway bar, alignment. Steering supposed to be somewhat heavy and suspension supposed to be rougher compared to the standard models. The ticking most likely a lifter or maybe exhaust leak on the manifold (both fairly common on these).

Max.H

Congrats on the ride, But, it's a decade old car. It's far from new. Very far..

Enjoy it and maintain it right. It's going to be costly.

StarvingArtist

Both of my CLS's would tic from the oil pump chain. Drain the oil from the rear plug first, then drain the front plug into a clean black pan, if you see tiny flakes of aluminum it's the oil pump chain slapping the timing cover at idle. If the sound continues when you rev it, it's something else.

Hotsauce55

I find the M113 to be noisy. I would also recommend you go ahead & replace all the suspension at once, get good tires (if you don't already) & get an alignment. Then you can really enjoy the car.

I just ordered some tires, went with 245/40 up front & 275/35 out back

Get ready for some $ for sure

Jonny English

What wheels do you have? 245 all round are wrong for an E55 on stock 18's.
You should have 245x40 on 8.5j fronts and 265x35 on 9.5j rears

bbirdwell

Budget for about $1200 in labor, $1300 for front air springs, and about $500 for front control and thrust arms and upper ball joint replacement.

Oh yeah, in case no one told you, if you have no proof the fuel filter, fuel pumps, and fuel pump relay were replaced every 60,000 miles, budget another $1000 for those if you perform the work yourself. I will only say this once...you don't want to experience a failure of the fuel system on an elevated expressway in downtown rush hour traffic.

Welcome to the world of the W211 AMG...do NOT skimp on preventive maintenance!

bbirdwell

Tires are a staggered fitment.

Heavy feeling steering if you come from a world of maneuverable light-weight cars. The extreme caster on an MB makes it want to track in a straight line. If it starts to feel like a Miata you need to check the suspension; it's an indicator something is wrong; usually bushings and/or ball joints. At 100,000 miles, the suspension on my W211 needed a rebuild like a 1971 Cadillac; bad bushings, bad ball joints....

I like the car but it is maintenance intensive to keep on the road. I'll be diving into the rear suspension (again) in a couple of weeks.

justinp95

Ya, the tires are pretty close to done. Ill start with those and upper control arms. That should help with the ride for sure. Also, i forgot to mention there is some rough idling. It SEEMS to be better when it is D though so im not so sure its the motor mounts.

bbirdwell

You're going to have to decide on the trade-off between your time and your money. I decided to spend money on new control arms to reduce the labor hours required to replace the suspension parts. If you purchase replacement bushings and ball joints, it is cheaper for parts but if you do not have the capability to press in/out the bushings and ball joints it means extra hours of your time. Remove control arms one weekend, take off from work and drop off at machine shop, take off from work to pick up rebuilt control arms, then re-install the following weekend.

I ordered new control arms, pressed in KMac bushings, then took it to a shop and paid them to install the new control arms. I will replace the bushings and ball joints in the old control arms and place them on the shelf for future use.

FWIW, I had no problems (except blood, sweat, and tears) in replacing the motor mounts on my W210 E55. I took a look at the motor mounts on my W211 E55 and I happily paid the local independent shop to replace them while they were rebuilding the front suspension.

Mind you, this was only the 4th time in 22 years that I let someone else work on one of my cars. That should give you an idea of how difficult I regarded it.