S320 Judder above 70 mph

[Teshie]

Hi I'm hoping you good people can help me out with a problem on my S320 CDI W221 2008 I'm new to Mercedes ownership having owned the car for 2 weeks The issue is the car judders/ shakes at speeds above. 70 mph, below this it's as smooth as a babies rear. It's seems to runs smooth then shudder then smooth...etc All wheels have been balanced and the tyres are new I've searched the forum and on reading numerous posts I'm worried that it could be gearbox problems

 

[Teshie]

Hi I'm hoping you good people can help me out with a problem on my S320 CDI W221 2008 I'm new to Mercedes ownership having owned the car for 2 weeks The issue is the car judders/ shakes at speeds above. 70 mph, below this it's as smooth as a babies rear. It's seems to runs smooth then shudder then smooth...etc All wheels have been balanced and the tyres are new I've searched the forum and on reading numerous posts I'm worried that it could be gearbox problems Thanks

 

[Teshie]

Hi I'm hoping you good people can help me out with a problem on my S320 CDI W221 2008 I'm new to Mercedes ownership having owned the car for 2 weeks The issue is the car judders/ shakes at speeds above. 70 mph, below this it's as smooth as a babies rear. It's seems to runs smooth then shudder then smooth...etc All wheels have been balanced and the tyres are new I've searched the forum and on reading numerous posts I'm worried that it could be gearbox problems

 

[bandit500]

When juddering starts at 70+ mph take out of gear and let it Coast in neutral at tickover revs, if the juddering persists then it is prob a joint somewhere, however if it goes away it could be mounts or gearbox.

 

[Teshie]

When juddering starts at 70+ mph take out of gear and let it Coast in neutral at tickover revs, if the juddering persists then it is prob a joint somewhere, however if it goes away it could be mounts or gearbox.

How do you put the car in neutral at 70 mph without breaking it

 

[bandit500]

Just take foot off throttle and flick lever to N, it will just slip out of gear no problem, had the same vibration issues with mine, this was the test I was advised to do, luckily showed it was not gearbox.

 

[Twistedmind]

And slam it back into gear at 70 ????

Not advised.

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[V12]

And slam it back into gear at 70 ????

Not advised.

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

Why not?

 

[Teshie]

I've just given this a go as you suggested

As soon as I slipped it into neutral it goes silky smooth, so it would appear to be gearbox or drive train

 

[E270 Owner]

There's some old skool thought that shifting in/out of drive at speed will cause damage to the Gbox, this may have been true of some very early transmissions but even the early BorgWarner units were safe to do this to.

I have to sometimes slip in/out of D at speed to compare noise that a customer reported, and have never had a transmission explode or have the guts fall out of on the floor ........... yet.

IMHO its quite safe.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

What happens if you miss N and hit R instead, a big crunch noise and metal on the road, or does the box prevent this?

 

[E270 Owner]

Lol try it

It wont go in.
or
It goes in and is ignored by the ecu
depends what type of transmission.











.

 

[V12]

The OP has a car with an electronic selector. If the ECU doesn't think it's safe to re-engage drive then it won't.

I've never driven any Mercedes that had a problem with this method.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Lol try it

It wont go in.

Glad to hear that one can't select R going from D. However, I won't be trying it out just to see.

 

[Teshie]

Ive just been out for another test drive by myself (had the kids in the car on the previous test) This time the vibration does not disappear when in neutral so I presume it's not the box If it's not the box what can it be!!!! I've only had the car a fortnight and I'm contemplating taking it back for a full refund

 

[E270 Owner]

Ive just been out for another test drive by myself (had the kids in the car on the previous test) This time the vibration does not disappear when in neutral so I presume it's not the box If it's not the box what can it be!!!! I've only had the car a fortnight and I'm contemplating taking it back for a full refund

Its within your rights to do so, so long as you didn't buy it "Sold as seen and tested" no warranty.

 

[LTD]

I'd get the rear suspension arms checked.

I had a worn one on my S500 and it did what you report. More a wobble/shimmy but felt a bit 'juddery'.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Wheel bearings, tracking/geometry, wheel balancing?

But you said you've already had the wheels balanced. Were they done correctly?

I had mine done once on a miscalibrated machine, and I noticed a strange 'wobbling' feeling at speeds above about 60mph. After I had them rebalanced on a differerent (calibrated) machine, the problem disappeared immediately. I'd be tempted to have the balancing checked first.

 

[Teshie]

It's a funny sort of shudder/judder
It appears to start at the front of the car then progresses to my feet then up to my seat. It then clears and starts again
It's got me totally baffled????

 

[Teshie]

Wheel bearings, tracking/geometry, wheel balancing? But you said you've already had the wheels balanced. Were they done correctly? I had mine done once on a miscalibrated machine, and I noticed a strange 'wobbling' feeling at speeds above about 60mph. After I had them rebalanced on a differerent (calibrated) machine, the problem disappeared immediately. I'd be tempted to have the balancing checked first.

The wheels have been balanced twice now with no success
They are 20" AMG 5 spoke one has a slight dent in it but it balanced up with a bit of extra lead
I'm wondering if I should buy or borrow a set of wheels to see if the problem persists

From previous experience if a wheel was out of balance it would wobble constantly at a certain speed but you are able drive through this