W219 cls55 rear suspension

[mrkrapez]

Hello!

I have been a very happy owner of a low mileage (58k) 2006 cls55 for the last year, it is fantastic. However just recently I have found the suspension to be lacking somewhat, particularly in the rear where it appears to roll about more than it used to. Added to this I get a small clunk-clunk when going over speed humps etc. My thoughts have instantly gone to the rear shocks, though upon checking there are no leaks and I have had my MB dealer look at them with no results.

I am still thinking they might be the culprit for both the handling and clunk symptoms. What do people think?

The car is obviously airmatic, with the sports buttons for setting the damping and ride height, should they be the problem what are my options with sourcing shocks on this, are they MB only, or can I source them as OE from elsewhere?

Any help gratefully received.

Kind Regards

Tim

 

[C240Sport97]

how old and how worn are your rear tyres?

when rear tyres start going or dying, the whole car begins to feel slightly skittish and unstable.

 

[donshl]

Rear subframe bushes? They might be worn or perished

 

[mrkrapez]

Thanks for the replys...

Tyres are pretty much brand new (1000 miles) goodyear eagle MO 18" all round. I have had the balance checked and alignment checked and all is spot on. As are the pressures.

I have heard about the subframe bushes, it there any way I can check?

Thanks so much for the quick responses. Apologies for my late reply.

 

[Major774]

I had a small clunk in the rear when I went over speed bumps, replaced both rear struts myself (not the air bags) and no more noise... Mine is a W211 so it will be similar.

One of my rear struts had misting of oil... so I guess it was beginning to leak slowly.

 

[b1g1an]

Mine also has a clunk but I narrowed it down to the tool/jack 'box' bouncing.

 

[mrkrapez]

I have checked the toolkit/jack etc and that is all contained nicely where it should be, so that is not the culprit.

The noise will happen even over a smooth speed hump, if I take it at any more than a few mph, maybe 10mph. The car also feels like it has a little jump sideways if I hit a bump/pothole mid corner.

I have got a price for sorting the rear subframe mounts through Mercland in Nuneaton, I have also got a price for getting the new shocks through the MD in Stratford Upon Avon.

The question is what are peoples money on? Normally I would jack the car up and play about with the subframe bushes to find out, but I have heard these are notoriously difficult to diagnose when they are on the car, and seeing as my shocks look fine I am a bit lost as to what to do/get done first.

 

[C240Sport97]

get a good tech to sit in the car and listen to the noise to try and properly diagnose the problem ..

no point just changing bits just in case

 

[merc85]

A friend of mine had a Rear trailing arm bush replaced on his w203 similar symptoms

 

[Alps]

rear subframe bushes is what I would get checked also

 

[mrkrapez]

So, many thanks for all of your ideas on this. To update I took the car to the MB dealer in Stratford Upon Avon, they had it up on the ramps checking everything and found nothing, we then went on a test drive but I could not replicate the noise on the roads we were on unfortunately... Noise still there !!

 

[Major774]

I am still thinking the rear struts... I bought mine from MB Gatwick.

Have you tried using an independent garage, hopefully noise might come up.

 

[whitenemesis]

Rear strut top mounts are prone to wear.