Hi everyone,

Have a 2014 E63 AMG-S model. Car has been dealer maintained all through its ownership. I am the second owner and for about a year I have been having this slight groaning/creaking sound from the steering when turning at low speeds, but I do believe its at any speed, just not as noticeable at high speeds due to road noise. I have brought it to the dealer now almost 6 times and at this point they do not know what is wrong. They have changed the stabilizer bar, steering rack (twice), control arms, as well as fixing a differential leak. They have claimed twice that the noise is fixed, and after a few hours of driving, the noise is back. Noise is not too loud in the video, but it is definitely noticeable when in the car turning.

It really surprises me that the dealer does not know what is wrong at this point. Would be great if anyone had some ideas...thanks!

IMG_2881.MOV

How is your power steering fluid?

there is no power steering on this car

Have you looked into suspension top mount? Or suspension/strut components?

I'm guessing the bearing that is mounted under the tophat.

no power steering... this should be a collectible car.

Here No steering pump means it's an electrically assisted rack, isn't it?

this noise is loud enough not to be ignored.

It sounds like it's from the STEERING COLUMN BEARING inside the cockpit.
I can't hear anything from outside.


steering column ball bearing: -A: factory Dry -B: lubed!

Above is the steering column bearing that is nearly dry from factory...
Lube it with high-temp silicone grease so it won't have a chance to evaporate with summer heat.


now lubed ball bearings held by plastic race

Once the top bearing is lubeb test it, you may need to lube the telescopic section.

telescopic column

Hope this helps.

The large strut mount ball bearings also benefit from same high-temp lube. They make steering smooth and effortless like new.

dust cover on the shock tower

I have had on occasional noise for years when turning into parking spots or turnings to go up/down ramps in parking garages. It sounds like when you run your finger around the edge of a wine glass. A harmonic noise. I assumed it was the spring rubbing against the upper mount of the Mcpherson struts but it persisted when I replace the struts and top mounts. I didn't grease the spring though. It sounds more like brake noise to me but I am never on the brakes when it happens. I have CCB if that matters. Seems likely it's in the steering system somewhere. I was once told that a bad control arm bushing could cause an odd noise but not sure how that could be.

That doesn't sound anything like mine. I will try and record it soon.

I had that issue on a '13 GLK350. Turns out it was a worn (and dry) ball joint on a control arm. Replaced it (did the others too) and all fixed.

I disconnected the joint and found it quite loose and dry, thus the groan.

Test if the noise is coming from inside (steering column) or from outside (suspensions).

There's a collection of suspensions parts awaiting scheduled expiration.

Mercedes often blends multiple causes. Testing is the best way stay on track.