WARNING! Front springs snapping on 211's

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I had a front spring snap on a volvo 240 at about 40mph many many years ago, and didn't realise what had happened until the broken spring casued a blow out on the corresponding tyre. It had acted like a lathe and carved a huge track into the sidewall.

At the time, it didn't feel like a serious incident, evidenced by the fact I carried on driving oblivious. I was 18 though. I'd hope I'd at least stop if it happened now.
 
Do springs break a lot then or is this another area of expertise on MB excel at like guaranteed corrosion?

In the various 15 cars I've owned since 1994, I've never had it...
 
got fed up with wifes w211 springs snapped ... all kinds of probs bought a toyota! 100%%:dk:
 
Hi Olly , is that 1.8hrs each side, I thought better replace both while i'm at it.
thanks sil
A bit late to inform but cost me £85 in total for both fronts to be fitted.
 
Has anyone had a spring go whilst driving?

Hi had a loud pang/bang 6 weeks ago , thought exhaust had snapped a securing piece, or a new front spring had popped.Searched all over couldnt find anything until , changing rear near side tyre and noticed spring had snapped at lowest point and next level of coil was resting perfectly luckily for me no further damage had been done , so getting these changed after I source a price for rear springs and price to fit will probably not be higher than front springs? So yep mine went whilst driving with a passenger to boot , causing some alarm initially very loud and puzzled me for weeks:)
ps will change both sides.
 
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Talking to the techs and parts guys at Mercedes is revealing. Early (pre face lift) W211s and have a bad reputation for the regularity with which they break springs and front suspension units. This is in addition to numerous other failiings. The consensus is "keep your W124 on the road, its the last Mercedes worthy of the name".
 
hi just thought i,d stick my two pennies worth in. last night my sis phone me saying alarm on my 20007 e320 sport was going off (i leave my car on her drive) i never had the alarm go off by itself before so went to investigate as my sis lives about 50yds from me by the time i got to the car the alarm had reset, but my car was lopsided, the front drivers side spring had snapped setting off the alarm how wierd is that. i should be grateful it didnt snap whilst i was driving which was 2 hours previous !
 
We had springs snapped at 40k on a 3 year old C270 cdi, both fronts went.
My Dads C220 cdi has had both rears go at 50k
 
10k miles broken spring,buy quality merc!!

We had springs snapped at 40k on a 3 year old C270 cdi, both fronts went.
My Dads C220 cdi has had both rears go at 50k

My C180 had a broken spring at 32K miles (I thought this was pretty poor show for a so called quality car) from new, had both fronts renewed by Mercedes, 10K (4 years) careful miles later front spring broken, showed up at MOT. Contacted Mercedes and was advised springs were only guaranteed for 2 years irrespective of mileage. Needless to say Mercedes did not get the job, went to local mechanic, replaced only broken one ( no point in renewing both when garages use the pothole excuse for poor quality springs) supplied and fitted with 3 year warranty. I'm starting to question the reasoning for buying this brand, from problems with rust on body panels and inferior parts, the 3 pointed star is starting to lose its sparkle.
 
I have an E270cdi on a 53 plate with 159288 miles on it, got in it earlier tonight and as I came off the drive I heard a sound as if the front tyre was flat and steering was funny.
Got out and saw that the front osf wheel was rubbing on the wing :eek:
Reversed it back on the drive, after an inspection I saw that the bottom bit of the spring had snapped off.
The AA will be towing it to my usual garage in the morning, looks like 2 new springs as I believe it is best to change both on each axle.
Mercedes cars, don't you just love em? :crazy:
 
I had a Scenic that snapped a spring reversing out of the car park, spring ripped out the passenger tyre side wall :eek:, pleased I was only travelling slowly.

Had snapped springs on Granada (few years ago) and a Punto and Fiesta in the last 4 years.

And the CLK has suffered with them prior to me getting it.

I now keep a check on them.
 
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The more that I read this forum, the more I wonder whether I should just get rid of my Merc, and buy something Japanese instead. I bought a Merc because of a reputation for quality and reliability, but now I wish I'd looked here before buying.
 
Premature broken springs are pretty much a given on many makes of car nowadays not just Mercedes. Exacerbated by the prevalence of speed bumps and the practice of spreading salt and grit on the roads in winter. There are existing manufacturing finishing techniques which would markedly slow [ but not stop] such failures. However any company employing such techniques would place themselves at a competitive disadvantage to their rivals. For that reason this issue should be addressed on a Europe wide basis by legislation as a safety issue imho.
 
I have developed a squeek on driver side when I go over bumps or push down on it ....what do we think.
 
Are they expensive?
 

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