W211 Shock Absorber - Advice Please!

[Harry]

My E220 squeaks! The squeak comes from the front offside everytime i go over a bump. If the car is stationary and i push that part of the car up and down i can hear the squeak.

I am sure its the shock and wanted to know if anyone can give me an idea of what cost i should be expecting when i phone for a price (just so i can see if i am getting ripped off!)

This may sound silly but can i just take it to anyone like Kwik Fit or is this a Merc only job. Hopefully there is someone out there who has been down this road before.

Thanks in advance, Harry

 

[marcos]

I had this in mine and basically I crawled underneath and sprayed every rubber joint I could see with a teflon spray. It stopped squeaking and never came back. Might be worth a try.

 

[grober]

If your ever going to replace the shockers take a look at bilstein from ECP http://katalog.bilstein.de/. they are OEM for mercedes.

 

[ddentrec]

I hope it is the shock too.

But it could be the anti roll bushes or wishbones' bushes/bearings. My W203 squeeked over bumps - see this:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=28762

It has had front and rear suspension work under warranty totalling almost £2000 including new 'modified type' wishbones!!! And it still squeeks!

 

[Dieselman]

I'd go for either anti roll bar bushes or bottom ball joints. The dampers rarely squeak.

 

[Dieselman]

If your ever going to replace the shockers take a look at bilstein from ECP http://katalog.bilstein.de/. they are OEM for mercedes.

Apart from the majority which are Sachs-Boge.

 

[Harry]

I have had a local garage have the wheel off and check and they tell me that the lower wishbone ball joint needs replacing.

the ball joint is press fitted into the arm and the cost of the ball joint is approx £25.

apparently the dealer has many of these in stock so what does that tell you? that they are frequently ordered, must be a common problem.

anyway, good news for me is its not a pricey job. only had my merc since april and although its 3 yrs old its only done 40 odd thousand miles so i am not too impressed with the reliability.

i used to own an audi a4 and had done 130K miles and never had this kind of problem, not sure what that tells you. Still, thanks for the advice. Harry

 

[Satch]

Mine had to have the lower ball joints replaced to get through first MoT.

Done under warranty but what annoyed me was that at a service 4 months beforehand I had complained but was told "no fault found".

Informed that the parts specification has now been changed so that the problem should not recur so easily. we shall see.

 

[ddentrec]

Mine had to have the lower ball joints replaced to get through first MoT.

Done under warranty but what annoyed me was that at a service 4 months beforehand I had complained but was told "no fault found".

Informed that the parts specification has now been changed so that the problem should not recur so easily. we shall see.

I agree: my car's suspension failed 2 weeks after the B-Service: you really can't tell me that they did not notice there was a problem. Makes you wonder what a full MB history is really for.

On W203s, the early versions were notorious for front bushes/wishbones. Then the 2002 models onwards had 'modified' ones apparently. My W203 is a 2003 model: even so, the front and rear wishbones were replaced with the 'modified type' and with a 'modification kit'. Dealer seemed conversant with this type of problem.

Thw W211 may/may not have the same problem.

 

[Harry]

In the end my car ended up having the lower wishbone arm changed as the balljoint is 'push fitted' into the arm which means that you have to buy the entire unit even though a £20 ball joint is only gone.

Sounds very typical of Mercedes!

Where i live there are many speed bumps and before i had the lower arm changed i felt the bump through my spine no matter how slowly i drove over them, now i can barely feel the bump so its vastly improved the comfort.

The damage.... £240 inc VAT of which about £75 was labour and £125 for the part!