Trainingdragon

Hello everyone. Having a little trouble with diagnosis of suspension noises on my 08 E63. Over bumps (say speed bumps) I get a creaking sound. I replaced the front thrust arms and sway bar links. Still have it. Bushings seem to look ok. Curious if anyone has any thoughts on what it could be? I suppose it could even be something unrelated to suspension making noise. Car has about 66,000 miles.

Possibilities:
Air struts??
Engine mounts??

Anybody run into this and can provide some advice?

Thanks

Yuille36

I have this same issue, front air struts were changed out as I had one fail, and both thrust arms have been replaced along with engine mounts. And I can tell you the issue still exists. I think that something just needs to be lubricated, possibly squeaky sway bar bushings. As ball joints are good, my mechanic always checks out the front and rear suspension for issues. But to be honest, I’ve never had this issue diagnosed, I just live with the minor squeak. But this time will be different, when it goes in for its next service.

Trainingdragon

Hi Yullie. Nice to chat with you again. Thanks for the reply. This is a tough one. My air shocks seem to still work just fine. I was thinking of replacing them to see if that solves the problem, but it's about $1,000 just for the fronts. I'm reluctant since I'm not convinced that's the issue. It's pretty annoying and definitely sounds like something's going to break. So far I haven't had any other replies besides yours. I did a quick search but didn't find any threads on this unless I missed them.

Hoping other W211 folks chime in.

Thanks

Yuille36

No problem always glad to help. I convinced that it bushings of some kind. Maybe upper wishbone bushings or sway bar bushings possibly sway bar end links. The only true way to tell, is to put the car on a lift and using a pry bar put tension to suspension parts to duplicate the squeak. Mine looks like something needs a little grease 🤔

machild

You may want to see if a friendly shop might let you use their chassis ears. This is a small device that has multiple small microphones that feed back to a single control box. You place the mics where you think the noise is coming from and then listen on the control box to determine which of the 4-6 mics are giving the sound the loudest. Keep relocating the mics until you know exactly where the noise is coming. Hope that helps.

hachiroku

the ball joints behind the front knuckle are key points which are hard to identify if failure exists. when i replaced mine recently they look perfect, but upon removal were pretty much seized. you do have low miles, so it may be difficult to easily identify the issue. i replaced all bushings and ball joints at the same time for safe measure.

Trainingdragon

Thanks Hachiroku. Would those ball joints lead to creaking over bumps (up and down motion)? The sound is like a creaking or sort of a squeak over bumps. Tough one.

Trainingdragon

This stuff is hard. It could even be part of the body or other components creaking. I tend to think suspension but not necessarily.

Dokus

Balljoints usually gives more of a knocking noise over bumps.

The w211 i used to own I had creeking coming from the front. It was the swaybar bushes. I just lubed them with silicone spray and it went away. Try it, if not. Keep lubing the other bushes.

Other guys here had creeking from the struts.

If you decide to replace all the control arm, balljoints and bushes you need common tools, balljoint separator and a ball joints handpress specific to the w211 or a stand alone press. Search eBay and you find

Trainingdragon

Thanks Dokus. Interesting info. I already replaced the thrust arm and sway bar end links. No change.

Hmmm. For the sway bar bushings, did you remove them and coat them with silicone spray or spay them in place? Any particular kind of silicone spray you recommend or just typical stuff?

Dokus

I sprayed only the visible part of the bushes. Removing the swaybar on w211 is time consuming. If you succeed with spraying you will have to replace the bushes further down the road but as long as the spray work and no other problems arise it's all good.

I sprayed once and it never creeked again for the year I had the car before I sold it. I used the typical generic stuff.

If it don't work, spray the other bushes as well before you start to replace parts since it's next to free.

Trainingdragon

Dokus, thanks for the advice. I'm going to try that.

Pauliefein

My E500 does the same thing, but only when temps are frigid. I suspect the control arm bushings are done. Good luck finding your squeak

sciroccor

hi. i have a 2007 e63 wagon. 123k. the first creaking sound was motor mounts. dealer wanted 1200$. i did it. do not try it without the offset wrench. SO much easier. also, do not use your own bolts of arbitrary length. i put one in that was too long and the oil leaked out from the motor mount!! there goes three hours!
years later, left side is sort of clunking/creaking going over speed bumps. i have ALL new suspension pieces except anti-roll bar (sway bar) rubber bushin

"my precious" Audi R8 wheels look good.
gs. examination shows rust underneath the rubber bushing. dealer wants an obscene amount to replace. perhaps, during covid times, i'll just do it.

it's easy to test motor mounts. have a friend look at the motor (in park) when you rev the it quickly. if the motor rocks a lot (your friend can see it), you need mounts. while doing it, change the tranny mount (it's probably not bad but it's not expensive and easy to do if you're already under the car.)

farkis644

Echoing others. I have done a ton of research on this and everything points to the sway bar bushings. Very common. Crappy thing is that the bushings are pressed on the bar so you have to buy the entire sway bar assembly. It can be found online for a reasonable price if you DIY. I don’t really know how much work it is but it doesn’t look fun.

I replaced basically everything except that. I lubed with wurth. Didn’t really work for me. It the cold, it’s def worse. It’s so f-ing annoying.

2MERKS

Sounds like the front axle. Not sure if you have "fixed" the problem. Check the rubber around it, and if torn or ripped time to replace. Just my humble opinion
2MERKS

cdk4219

Lower ball joints created the squeak in my 219 and 211 hard to diagnose but after greasing them with a needle adapter for the grease gun it immediately went away. They were shot when removed

bootykika

Would you happen to know the part #; thanks in advanced

RBE55

On my 08 E63 the creaking went away after I replaced the thrust arm along with the upper and lower control arm ball joints. I did all at once so I do not know which one exactly was the culprit. I can tell you that looks can be deceiving and you may not know that the balljoint is bad just by inspecting it.

SteveE400

My 2015 E400 has had a creaking noise from the left front area since new. Car has spent weeks at two different dealers. I demonstrated the noise to dealer #1 (selling dealer). He acknowledged that it is a noise that does not belong there. Had the car for 5 weeks. Couldn't diagnose and refused to escalate to MBNA.

Dealer #2 has had it two times to look at it. One time, it came back quiet. . . for a couple of weeks. Now they have it again, with plans to have their dealership "problem team" work on it. If they cannot fix for good, this will be my last MB.

SteveE400

Newest thought from Dealer #2 is that the "Thrust Rod Bushing" needs to be replaced. If I read the diagrams correctly, the "thrust rod" is what we old-timers call the lower control arm. Did I get that right?
If so, I have been directing both dealers to investigate this specific part for over 5 years! I guess that steel-spring suspension systems do not display error codes, thus the parts-swappers cannot figure them out. . .
I'm not impressed. When I had the W201 (bought new in 1988), the local MB dealer was the service example that all other brands sought to emulate. Now, I'd better not say what I'm thinking. Oh, and I am not in some small town with a two-car dealership. I am in the Chicago area, with numerous high-profile dealers. As Snoopy says. . . "Bleeech!"

almostordinary

Let me know if your noises are like these two:


Or


I replaced everything suspension related, and I mean everything until I just bit the bullet and bought new bilsteins in the front.

While the other updates were great, the air struts were just shot. Turned out one was an arnott and the other was a reman unit.

Trainingdragon

Hey Almostordinary. Thanks for the info and videos. Sorry to hear about your frustration.

Those are not the same noises mine is making. I only hear it at VERY low speeds, just a few MPH and usually going over bumps and going in and out of my driveway. It seems to be getting worse. It went from a squeak to little clunks and creaks now. I would hate to replace EVERYTHING, but that may be the only way to do truly solve it (MAYBE lol). It could always be part of the body creaking as well. I'll never find it if that's the case. Otherwise the car is great. I enjoy driving it. So much power

almostordinary

Yea man it drove me crazy, and I knew the components just needed a refresh, but the culprit for me ultimately turned out to be the shocks.

Also now one of the lower ball joints I replaced had a boot go bad and I am getting clunks when exiting my new steeper driveway, especially when I turn at the same time.

Already have a replacement, just waiting for better weather to tackle it. Easy to spot under the car, it may be your issue.

Trainingdragon

How were you able to spot bad ball joints by looking under the car. My understanding is that can be pretty hard to determine from a visual inspection.