1995 Mercedes C220 Front Wheel fell off, Rusted through Lower control arm
I just wanted to warn people, Since Mercedes won't, (The front tires will fall off these cars while driving)That I lost my front driver side wheel in a parking lot... I didn't hit anything, The lower support arm rusted in half from the inside out..AND the other side lower support arm is in the same condition.. You see they are made of layers of stamped sheetmetal instead of solid steel like on my old 240d... so please Check your lower support arms ...It would have been dandy if it would have left loose on my daily drive on the interstate.... The way their built is they have a 3 inch large hole on top and the salt & water goes in the hole and soaks down to the lower ball joint area, and rusts from the inside out because they are hollow....Email me @( lsk7@psu.edu )for some shocking pictures
Ps: I have the front of the car on jackstands because I'm really afraid of the other side breaking off also...the people that I talked to at Mercedes USA were arrogant and were more worried about trying to get their notes right and
discrediting me rather than accessing that there my be a problem..This car was only driven 2 years in the winter..Again Please look at your cars, If you look closely at the pictures you can see the little bit of shiney metal that held on the front tire..
Lee
OMG... this is far worse than the spring perch problem on the w210's. I'll have to check if that is the same type of control arm on other models. This could be a really huge problem. Hey MB... read this forum.
I'm glad that you were not injured.
Peter
Of all the things I hated about my W202, I'm glad losing a wheel wasn't one of them. Glad you are fine. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". And you've posted a couple of very incriminating ones...
Where is home for you? That is some serious rust.
__________________
Scott in MD/DC
94 E320 Wagon (Just getting broken in)
95 C280 (RIP)
87 190E (Sold)
"There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes"
The car was from Virginia, and seldom used... I've had it in Pa. for 3 years and I kept it in the garage for the first winter, Drove it a little the second winter, and drove it alot this winter... there is really no way to wash out this part because if you look there is a 3" hole underneath the coil spring and the dirt, sand, mud ,salt, water, goes in and down the inside of the arm and is trapped there, even if you stuck a hose in there and rinsed the arm out it would still be holding the water
its called rust, its a driver maintenance issue not manufacturer design flaw
Hi DR.C36
I guess that I must have taken better care of My 1982 240d with 360,000 miles on it than I do with my seldom driven, Garage kept 1995 c220... I do all the maintenance on my cars, You can see my neglected Green C220 next to my unkept Blue 240D..
its called rust, its a driver maintenance issue not manufacturer design flaw.
How does a driver maintain the inside of a control arm that has no drain hole? The pictures show that the car is looked after. My E320 gets regular maintenance and no one has ever done anything to the control arms. Should we take the suspension apart every few months and rinse the control arms out, and then reassemble everything and get an alignment? Is this what you do? I don't know what maintenance can be done to front ends that are permanently lubricated other than to check shocks, alignment, wheel bearings, and such. This is all that they do to my car. That rust cannot be seen from the outside as it rusted from the inside-out. I know that I sound a little tense here... but I have had many, many vehicles over the years. None have ever had these kinds of serious structural issues. And, I am from New England. My E320 is getting checked out tomorrow at the local MB dealer for rust that is showing around the left front spring perch. It appears that the sealer-mastic was upgraded as a recall by MB. We are the second owners. If that was done (will be verified by checking the vin at dealer), then this shows that: 1.) MB knew that there was a problem and 2.) The re-seal of the perch did not work. I suppose that you will think that this is a "driver maintenance issue" also....
1995 Mercedes C220 Front Wheel fell off, Rusted through Lower control arm
its called rust, its a driver maintenance issue not manufacturer design flaw
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