W212 Rear subframe corrosion

[Fastcar155]

That is the first tlme I've ever heard of one of these failed frames causing an accident.

The accident occured on an intelligent motorway and on the inside lane you are very close to the crash barrier.
In my case when with the failure the steering after the accident with the pictures of I have the steering wheel points to the right and the wheels pointing slightly left when the car came to a rest.I checked all the lights ( including head lights ) and the they worked , no lights cracked , sunroof worked. The car shell did it's job and protected the occupants, doors , bonnet , boot all opened and closed.My Mercedes-benz never missed a beat in 43000 miles , beautifully built and totally reliable.What concerns me that these sub frame issues are well know but nothing is being done about the issue.At the very least I believe that again from my understanding that the frames rot internally. An inspection panel should be provided so inspection can be part of the maintenance programme!

 

[geoffus]

You have pictures? Please show us.

 

[Mickw212]

Sub frame replaced today by Merc Shrewsbury. 10/10 to them.

 

[190]

The rear subframe failed on my car on the motorway.Car was written off.
I had no idea we had a problem until my daughter felt a thud through her feet and the car was going along the nearside crash barrier.The rear subframe was inspected a couple of years ago.The was 7 years old and spent half of its life in Southern Europe.
I would not drive the car.

When I traded my 15 year old W204 in for a Golf a few months back I mentioned that except for the rear brake pipe corrosion, it hadn't suffered from any of the other common W204 maladies including the subframe which still looked reasonably good in terms of lack of rust. I spoke too soon. 2 months on I checked the MOT status out of curiosity as you do and it failed comprehensively on subframe fractures even though it was driving fine when I traded it in. Looks like I dodged a bullet on that one as I was about to do a long motorway trip.