Andres Morejon

Hello, as the title suggests I have been getting a slow pulsing vibration throught the entire car (2005 E55) at speeds of about 60 and up. There's a small amount of steering shimmying but you can feel the vibration throughout the car. I've recently replaced motor and trans mounts. Outer tie rods, and the entire front suspension is pretty much less than a year old. I had a bent rim and had it fixed and 4 matching tires with good tread are on there. When I put the car in neutral at highway speed the vibration continues. I'm kind of stumped at this point. Anyone ever experienced something like this and have any pointers? Thanks

machild

You have done a lot to the car. Was this puise there before this work. Did it show up after one of the items replaced/repaired? If you have any shimmy in the steering wheel that should be found and resolved first since you know it exists and could be part of the pulse issue.

Andres Morejon

The pulse has been there since the beginning really. Can an alignment cause the shimmy? I replaced the outer tierods and haven't aligned it but I feel I should replace the inner tie rods since they are cheap and easy to do before I get it done

machild

A car out of front alignment can cause faster and uneven tire wear which can then cause shimmy. So, no, the alignment specifically does not cause it but the worn times from being out of alignment can cause it.

bbirdwell

Alignment takes priority over everything else. I've noticed on one of my e55's, since the tires are slightly different diameter that I get constructive/destructive interference due to the slight imbalance of the tires. When the slight imbalance matches I get the pulse and when the rotation takes them out of the constructive and into destructive interference it smooths out. If the tires are perfectly balanced it will not occur. Getting tires perfectly balanced however, I have discovered is not very easy to do. So I just learned to live with it.

You can see an example when you're looking into a swimming pool at the ripples of water and you're looking at the shadows at the bottom of the swimming pool. You will see shadows and then bright lines. That is destructive and constructive interference.

Andres Morejon

Got it aligned today. The shop said they couldn't do the camber (about -2deg on each side) but the toe and everything else is in spec. Vibration hasn't changed at all. I'm thinking MAYBE tires are somehow not balanced right and taking it to get rechecked tomorrow. I'm nearly out of ideas. If double checking the balances won't fix it I might head to the dealer for an inspection as a last resort.

Dokus

Check driveshaft support bearing.

I just fixed it on my cls 55. Had vibrations over 60 mph. Felt like tire vibration.

You need to take of the driveshaft so you might as well change the bearing while you there if you decide to try.

Andres Morejon

good idea! I've changed that in my dad's w210 but haven't considered that yet. If the rebalance dosent fix it that will be next and I will update when it's installed. Thank you!

Dokus

Make sure you get the right bearing. I suggest buying the bearing direct from Mercedes. There are different bearings. Several members have gotten the wrong bearing when buying from oe manufacturers. The bearing carrier you can get from anywhere.

See thread below for more info
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...r-bearing.html


Replace both flexdiscs while you're there.



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E55Greasemonkey

Don't rule out the u-joint for the driveshaft. Normally it requires replacement of the complete driveshaft but it's no longer available from MB. I found a place in Texas that rebuilds them though.

corvettekyle

I've been chasing a similar shimmy at hwy speeds usually worse when the car is cold, for me new lower control arms completely fixed issue. For alignment would suggest aftermarket camber arms, assuming you are lowered which is why you can't get in spec. -2* might not be as bad but all I could fit with my ride height was -3* and I was burning through rear tires in less than 10k miles

Andres Morejon

Update: I have now replaced my upper and lower ball joints and vibration persists (after alignment). Replaced both flex discs and bearing/carrier and vibration is now worse. I will take the driveshaft back down to make sure the bearing sits correctly in the carrier. I noticed these metal cone sleeves on each side of the bearing. Anyone know what they are needed for and if i can discard them or buy new ones? While its down does anyone have any advice with these kind of jobs? I had a C32 and i did this with no vibration after so my guess is the carrier not holding the bearing correctly. And how would I know if a U-joint is bad?

E55Greasemonkey

If you separated the two driveshaft halves, did you first mark them to ensure they were reassembled in the same place, otherwise you will lose the factory balance. U joint has to be checked with driveshaft removed, it should be smooth throughout it's range of motion. If it's stiff or there's a tight spot then it's worn.

Andres Morejon

Yes I marked everything as well as made sure the factory marks aligned as well. I will inspect the u-joints while it's out and see what I see.

Andres Morejon

Just as an update to anyone following, I have taken down my driveshaft again and everything seemed fine. I took out the bolts and retorqued them in a star pattern as a desperate attempt to fix this vibration. The pulsing vibration continues to happen after about 55-65mph and continues and gets slightly worse as speed increases. I really don't want to take it to a dealership for a diagnosis but I'm running out of ideas. The steering wheel shakes left and right ever so slightly even though everything is tight too. So seems maybe body related vibration? And help or hints would mean a ton. Thanks

Dokus

Have you checked your wheels, tires and wheelbearings?
just wrong psi in tires could create vibrations.

drothgeb

Had your wheels balanced any time recently?

Sulaco

I just went from old tires to new tires and the problem remains. Going to take some cues here and

1. get an alignment
2. replace some ball joints, control arms, etc

Andres Morejon

I've had an alignment and the entire front end suspension is new. Would a bearing be apparent with shaking the wheels? Maybe I need my wheels balanced again, never know who to trust I guess.

kevm14

The road force balance process should identify a bent wheel if that was the issue. So you could try that.

C_Note

You’ve thrown hundreds of dollars in parts at the car to no avail… take it somewhere to be diagnosed! Once you get a diagnosis, you can fix it yourself

Pmarino

Is there a sound, that goes along with the shimmy / vibration ?

MykhailoM

Check Inner & Outer Tie rod ends, they're getting worn out over time and have a gap or play of about 0.5 to 1 mm. As these parts controlling your tyres straight ahead position, they can send vibration on higher speeds. Also, Flex Discs that hold drive shaft, TWO of them, front and back.

Apollo90

I recently took my car to the dealer after chasing down a similar vibration that never got solved with balancing. They suggested that my front wheel bearings needed "adjusted" and re-lubed.

I didn't even know the wheel bearings were a serviceable part on this car. Rebuild kits are cheap. I wouldve done this my self but had the car in for a bunch of maintenance items and they covered the cost of the wheel bearing adjustment. Seems pretty simple though.

Jmatt07

I know this post is old; butndid you ever find the solution? My E55 is doing the same thing and i have seen several posts with similar issues and have yet to find a solution. My car already has new tires and just got rebalanced again and the vibration is still there.