Smithy860
Active Member
pardon my ignorance (and eyesight) but what is that?
OneForTheRoad
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2015
- Messages
- 6,832
- Location
- uk.
- Car
- 2019 Glc coupe 350d was 2017 e350 c207 .. +65 ford kuga 2.0 cdi zetec awd..
Auxiliary battery capacitor pack for stop start functions.
ALFAitalia
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 7,371
- Location
- Bognor Regis
- Car
- 2010 Mercedes W212 E Class E350 CDI Sport, 2006 Mercedes W169 A Class A170.
Replaced both broken rear springs on the A Class for the MOT tomorrow. Both broke in the usual places. No noise or issues....but it is sitting more level now. I just thought the old springs were getting tired. Only took about 20 minutes a side.... apart from the wheel bolts you dont need to undo a single fixing to replace them!
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ALFAitalia
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 7,371
- Location
- Bognor Regis
- Car
- 2010 Mercedes W212 E Class E350 CDI Sport, 2006 Mercedes W169 A Class A170.
MOT passed....no advises.
slade1
MB Enthusiast
What sort of crap material do MB use on springs that rust like that? 64 year old 190B still has original springs covered with surface rust.
colinallcars
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2007
- Messages
- 986
- Car
- B180, SLK 230
I think the problem coincides with the banning of cadmium and similar metals in the alloy used to make the springs. Not just a MB problem.
ALFAitalia
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 7,371
- Location
- Bognor Regis
- Car
- 2010 Mercedes W212 E Class E350 CDI Sport, 2006 Mercedes W169 A Class A170.
Its not so much the material....its the bad design....the second coil up rests on the tail of the bottom coil which has a sharp edge....so it wears through the paint.....once there is no protection its only a matter of time before the next coil bouncing on it caused failure at that exact point. Exactly the same thing happens on both rear coils of my car....but that had done about 160k miles by then....the A Class has only done about 80....but it is about 18 years old.....so Im not complaining. New coils were only £30.06 delivered for the pair and about an hour of my time to fit!.....so no great issue. If they has just chamfered the very end of the coil instead of just leaving it as a sharp straight cut end it probably would have been fine. The break point is the only serious rust....the rest that looks like rust is a mainly just combination of red mud and evening sun!
Smithy860
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2020
- Messages
- 881
- Location
- Sittingbourne, Kent
- Car
- W221 S350L, R231 SL350 (both sold) & SL400 (current)
Panamericana grille fitted. I still have the original so I can always revert if/when required.
Before:
Before:
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
- Messages
- 4,475
- Location
- leicestershire
- Car
- R230 SL500 in teal blue, R231 SL500 in black. (Vauxhall insignia diesel now sold) Black Ford Mondeo
Looks good Slarti, but I'm biased as I have done the same 
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2020
- Messages
- 881
- Location
- Sittingbourne, Kent
- Car
- W221 S350L, R231 SL350 (both sold) & SL400 (current)
I know, I was following your threadsLooks good Slarti, but I'm biased as I have done the same
slade1
MB Enthusiast
It appears to be general trend, had broken springs on Ford Fusion and others
On Ponton there far more wraps and much thicker wire. The total amount wire used per spring as far greater. Less stress?
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Messages
- 29,514
- Location
- Mittel England
- Car
- Smart ForFour AMG Black Series Night Edition Premium Plus 125 Powered by Brabus
slade1
MB Enthusiast
7-8 years. I had an almost new one in East Africa for 7 years. No broken springs, plenty of shocks, on rough corrugated dirt roads, Strong cars.Great cars. How long have you had your Ponton?
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Messages
- 29,514
- Location
- Mittel England
- Car
- Smart ForFour AMG Black Series Night Edition Premium Plus 125 Powered by Brabus
Had one - well half of one, because it’s a Smart! - serviced, quite comprehensively! 
Read more: Smart Roadster Brabus Xclusive | Performance Lounge
Read more: Smart Roadster Brabus Xclusive | Performance Lounge
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Messages
- 29,514
- Location
- Mittel England
- Car
- Smart ForFour AMG Black Series Night Edition Premium Plus 125 Powered by Brabus
Occasionally the coolant level light pops up on one of our cars and then disappears for months. The level looked OK to my untrained eye, and as it doesn’t ever come back on I assumed that it was an error.
It’s happened a couple of times - but not every time - in the last month, most recently yesterday. It popped up immediately when I started the car today so I called in to the main dealer to check and top up.
The level looked OK, so they have run STAR diagnostics in case it was a sensor issue but no fault codes were present/ they have topped it up with just a dash in case it’s especially sensitive to level.
Anyone had something similar with coolant level?
It’s happened a couple of times - but not every time - in the last month, most recently yesterday. It popped up immediately when I started the car today so I called in to the main dealer to check and top up.
The level looked OK, so they have run STAR diagnostics in case it was a sensor issue but no fault codes were present/ they have topped it up with just a dash in case it’s especially sensitive to level.
Anyone had something similar with coolant level?
Sounds like the level sensor on the blink? Not sure whether that would throw an error though
Spent nearly £1400 on the Vito this week on routine stuff. 4 tyres (£588), service & MOT (£420), road tax (£335).
Only MOT advisory was for a very slight blow in the flexi section of the exhaust at the front ... if/when it gets worse they can cut it out and weld in a repair section. Not too bad for 17 years old and 170k miles.
Only MOT advisory was for a very slight blow in the flexi section of the exhaust at the front ... if/when it gets worse they can cut it out and weld in a repair section. Not too bad for 17 years old and 170k miles.
ChrisPDuck
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2022
- Messages
- 350
- Location
- Nottingham
- Car
- 2010 S212 E500, 2006 W221 S600, 1983 VW T25, 1984 Alfasud 1.5ti Green Cloverleaf
Today I had my winter tyres fitted to a spare set of rims at the local tyre place, ready to be fitted to the car when the time comes.
The tyres I fitted were a set that the previous owner threw in with the car, except that I replaced the front two because they didn't match each other. And I decided I couldn't be doing with swapping the tyres on the rims every winter and spring, so I bought a spare set of rims from an ebay auction. So even though the two front tyres that I replaced and the set of rims were each something of a bargain, those 'free' winter tyres have actually ended up costing me a fair bit!
The spare rims came complete with tyres that weren't worth keeping, so to get everything to the tyre place in one journey I had four complete wheels and four loose tyres all in the back of the car. I had to fold the rear seats down of course, but I was pleasantly surprised that they all went in - the S212 is really quite cavernous!
The tyres I fitted were a set that the previous owner threw in with the car, except that I replaced the front two because they didn't match each other. And I decided I couldn't be doing with swapping the tyres on the rims every winter and spring, so I bought a spare set of rims from an ebay auction. So even though the two front tyres that I replaced and the set of rims were each something of a bargain, those 'free' winter tyres have actually ended up costing me a fair bit!
The spare rims came complete with tyres that weren't worth keeping, so to get everything to the tyre place in one journey I had four complete wheels and four loose tyres all in the back of the car. I had to fold the rear seats down of course, but I was pleasantly surprised that they all went in - the S212 is really quite cavernous!
Wearsthefoxhat
MB Enthusiast
Took a nice drive out to a local ish Caffeine and Machine; “The Hut” for a cuppa and catch up with my nephew.
