Loud clunk coming from front end when reversing

[Mike88]

Good morning all,

I'll give you a quick intro of myself as i am new to this group. First time MB owner, very satisfied so far, best car I've had, i absolutely love the car and i am looking forward to the invaluable knowledge being passed around on this group and i thank you all in advance.

Now to my problem,

When reversing out of a parking space/driveway and the steering wheel is either in the full left lock or full right lock or there abouts, there is a loud clunk coming from the front end somewhere. It only happens when the car has been sat for a period of time (overnight or a couple of hours). I first noticed it a week ago. My car is five years old and has 68,000 miles on the clock.

I searched a little bit last night through various MB groups and threads and it seems like it isn't an uncommon problem. However i couldn't find a definitive answer to the problem and a clear path to rectifying the fault. There was many ideas and experiences with hit and miss rectifications, but that golden solution was missing.

Have any of you wonderful people had this same problem and found a permanent solution? And should i be worried about this noise?

Yours gratefully,
Mike

 

[Jim W]

I get exactly the same from the front end of my new E63s 4Matic, only when it's cold or been parked for a few hours. I get several loud clunks in forward or reverse. It's embarrassing actually, passengers even ask me - what's that noise? Something's not right. It's going back to the dealer on Thursday to be checked out.

 

[Mike88]

Yep that sounds about right, i had my friend in the car today and he heard it too. Unfortunately the dealership i bought it from is in Cardiff so i can't go back up there to get it sorted. As i said in my original post it seems to be quite common in Mercs across the board. Let me know how your trip to the dealership goes

 

[Mike88]

i've just googled the problem again and i found a thread from this very website, the guy got the problem resolved by changing the tires. Apparently when the tires wear it affects the geometry of the tire when in full lock, and he had the incorrect side wall rating. My tires do have wear and was planning on replacing them after xmas. It will be ideal if all it is is requiring two new tires, i'll find out after xmas. Here's the link, suspension clunk noise

 

[Jim W]

On the E63s 4Matic it is definitely not tyre skipping. I look forward to the diagnosis from the dealer in a few days.

 

[Mike88]

Hiya Jim, any news from the dealer?

 

[optimusprime]

Last time i had a noise like this , it was the backing on the brake pads that had come away from the material,. it was sticking to the disc .And the noise was when the disc moved ,and it was hitting the caliper .

 

[Jim W]

Hiya Jim, any news from the dealer?

Yes, I took it to the dealer on Thursday and they kept it overnight. They swear to me it is tyre skip.
Their suggestion is to fit winter tyres because of the great the temperature difference between winter and summer! Really? in the south of England. I could understand the need in some countries, but it never gets that cold down here.

Then there's the cost winter tyres for this car at over £400 each. Then you really need a spare set of wheels. Yeah really. I dread to think how much another set of wheels would cost me that would look OK on my new E63s?
So I am going to live with it for the moment and ponder whether I want to keep this car when the warranty expires. Oh well, I've got 3 years to think about it.

 

[optimusprime]

Thats very funny .How can rubber make a noise.