W213 E220 2017 Brake Judder / Vibrations in steering wheel

[AKhan01]

Hello, W213 E220 amg line with 140,000 miles.

I have had brake judder / Steering shaking for a long time.

I changed genuine discs and pads twice before been advised to replace both front wheel bearings.

Replaces with new set of genuine discs and pads and after 300 miles the judder has returned!

What could it be

 

[Stratman]

Welcome to the Forum

It could be the mating faces of disc and hub are not scrupulously clean. A tiny bit of rust or scale trapped between them can be magnified at the disc rim and cause vibrations when braking. A surgical clean with wire brush and sand flap wheel should sort it. Another possibility, especially if you drive and brake gently is a build up of resins and suchlike on the disc and pad surfaces. An Italian brake tune up* will cure that.


*On a clear road accelerate to the speed limit and brake enthusiastically a few times.

 

[AKhan01]

Welcome to the Forum

It could be the mating faces of disc and hub are not scrupulously clean. A tiny bit of rust or scale trapped between them can be magnified at the disc rim and cause vibrations when braking. A surgical clean with wire brush and sand flap wheel should sort it. Another possibility, especially if you drive and brake gently is a build up of resins and suchlike on the disc and pad surfaces. An Italian brake tune up* will cure that.


*On a clear road accelerate to the speed limit and brake enthusiastically a few times.

Hi, thank you for the Welcome

I replaced the bearing and it comes with the hub so the hub on both sides front is new.

I will try the harsh braking and see if it clears it up but I’m honestly baffled as it seems smooth for 200/300 miles then judder starts again which means something is stuck or warping the discs.

The mechanic said to me the caliper doesnt seem to be the issue as his changed the discs & pads 3 times and they wind back everything fine.

Only other thing is when I’m driving on certain roads I can feel a very slight vibration at the steering wheel which maybe front control arms but I wouldn’t suspect them to warp the discs :/

when suspension bushes are inspected they say theres no play at all but just baffled at this point.

I am aware that some of the W213 E class’s do have this issue but nobody has solution to it.

Some say wheel bearing/hubs, front alloys, bushes, brake fluid, calipers, tyres.

I cant even sell the vehicle in this state so pretty much stuck!

 

[BfgSLKMan]

A hardy perenial problem, which I too have faced. Mileage dependant on your car, but I have just replaced the two steering arm outer tie rods and this has significantly reduced the "wobble" [both joints were life expired though after 80k miles). Do check the tracking and I fully agree with previous comments about scrupiously clean. I stil hav a slight wobble, but my car was TUV tested last week (German equivilant of MOT) and I asked the inspector to realy check the fornt suspension. Not only did it go on the wobble table to check all the joints, but he manually checked everything with a pry bar etc and confirmed a clean bill of health.

If you need guidance on changing tie rod ends then look at my youtube site (link in sig block)

 

[HITECH]

Hi, thank you for the Welcome

I replaced the bearing and it comes with the hub so the hub on both sides front is new.

I will try the harsh braking and see if it clears it up but I’m honestly baffled as it seems smooth for 200/300 miles then judder starts again which means something is stuck or warping the discs.

The mechanic said to me the caliper doesnt seem to be the issue as his changed the discs & pads 3 times and they wind back everything fine.

Only other thing is when I’m driving on certain roads I can feel a very slight vibration at the steering wheel which maybe front control arms but I wouldn’t suspect them to warp the discs :/

when suspension bushes are inspected they say theres no play at all but just baffled at this point.

I am aware that some of the W213 E class’s do have this issue but nobody has solution to it.

Some say wheel bearing/hubs, front alloys, bushes, brake fluid, calipers, tyres.

I cant even sell the vehicle in this state so pretty much stuck!

I get this on my car and did on the last one too. Yes the control arms look absolutely fine but in actual fact internally one of them will be shot. You will only find this when it is removed. I have to replace front control arms on my car once every year. When a balljoint is shot what happens when you break it osccilates forwards and backwards as you break . It will give you the false impressio n its disk/pads related because it happens when you break.
I usually use it as a sign to change the control arms. Both of them on the strut. It will be the right hand side. When the left hand side wears the car developes a metal rubbing noise when car rounds a rght hand bend . No noise when right hand side wears. Just this judder when breaking.

 

[AKhan01]

A hardy perenial problem, which I too have faced. Mileage dependant on your car, but I have just replaced the two steering arm outer tie rods and this has significantly reduced the "wobble" [both joints were life expired though after 80k miles). Do check the tracking and I fully agree with previous comments about scrupiously clean. I stil hav a slight wobble, but my car was TUV tested last week (German equivilant of MOT) and I asked the inspector to realy check the fornt suspension. Not only did it go on the wobble table to check all the joints, but he manually checked everything with a pry bar etc and confirmed a clean bill of health.

If you need guidance on changing tie rod ends then look at my youtube site (link in sig block)

Thank you,

I get this on my car and did on the last one too. Yes the control arms look absolutely fine but in actual fact internally one of them will be shot. You will only find this when it is removed. I have to replace front control arms on my car once every year. When a balljoint is shot what happens when you break it osccilates forwards and backwards as you break . It will give you the false impressio n its disk/pads related because it happens when you break.
I usually use it as a sign to change the control arms. Both of them on the strut. It will be the right hand side. When the left hand side wears the car developes a metal rubbing noise when car rounds a rght hand bend . No noise when right hand side wears. Just this judder when breaking.

Thank you for the information, this is definitely my next step. To get the control arms replaced as you mentioned I have been told you don’t know or feel a play until you remove them to see the bush perished.

I have attached an image and circled the arm I think it may be. Is that the right one? As mercedes suspension have a few arms.

Thanks once again

 

[Kerabo]

Hello, W213 E220 amg line with 140,000 miles.

I have had brake judder / Steering shaking for a long time.

I changed genuine discs and pads twice before been advised to replace both front wheel bearings.

Replaces with new set of genuine discs and pads and after 300 miles the judder has returned!

What could it be

I had the same problem. 2006 C220 Sport
changed the pads and discs twice and within 500 miles the judder was back.
I can’t see why but I changed the very corroded backplates and it’s been ok for about 8000 miles.
not sure if without the backplate they overheat?
i used good aftermarket parts

 

[BfgSLKMan]

Can you clarify what you mean by back plates - do you mean on the brake pads (or am I missing something here)? I am about to change the retaining pins and metal braked/spring thing as maybe the slightly old (corroded) original pins to not allow the pads to slide in and out freely. I've come to this conclusion as now its colder in the mornings brake jusdder has gone but comes back when it warmer (so it can't be the discs)- makes me think the pins are smaller as its cold so allow better movement of the pads. If it doesn't help then its only €15 spent!

 

[J0hnnyG]

I’ve had this problem recently. There seems to be a lot of people out there with the same issue judging by forum entries.

In my case the problem has been diagnosed as a buckle in the front wheel. The cause of the issue does seem to vary but it’s a worthwhile line of investigation for anyone else with the issue.

There is a Mercedes Service Bulletin for the issue too:

LI42.10-P-066910 AUG17 213 without AMG juddering/shuddering of the brakes at the front axle can be felt when braking, check the wheel assembly components disc brake & brake pad condition, wheel imbalance, suspension & steering parts, and wheel hub contact surface. If none of the components are visibly or measurably damaged replace brake pads

Hope that’s useful to someone.

 

[Kerabo]

It would need to be a large buckle to make it judder braking.

I used after market discs that were perfect for a few months and then the shake started. Replaced them 2 more times for free and the 3rd time I changed rotted backplates as well.
Can’t see how it’s connected but since then has been ok. 15000 miles ago.

 

[HITECH]

From my own experience it is one front control arm link sometimes including worn track rod end. A visual inspection will show you nothing as they appear ok. When one starts to wear the rest are pretty much on the way out too. Presently on my own c class. I have this maintenance to do as there is brake judder. It is from front right wheel so I will replace upper and lower control arms, the drop link and the track rod end. This is yearly maintenance or if your lucky 2 yrly maintenance. The problem with service & maintenance times they do not take into account the state of our roads which are quite shocking now.
I am not saying this is your problem. Giving you my own input on experience working on these cars. Buckled wheel? Possibly but doubtful. As I said before visual inspection will most of the time show nothing but maybe a deteriorated rubbergrease bush/cover (if your lucky).
Why change all components? Because you will be chasing your tail over the space of a few
Months changing each one, one at a time….