car gyrating/vibration/shaking - Benzworld.org

mbenzz1 · 05-13-2004, 01:12 PM

Sorry to trouble you guys with this, but if I am not mistaken, I understand some early W140 ('92-'95) suffer from vibration/shaking problems.

(1) Has MB been able work out that problem by '96?
(2) Do those vibration occur under 40mph and disappear after hitting past 40 mph?
(3) Is there any cure? And what remedies have been effective?
I would appreciate your help.[:)]

Peter Guenther · 05-13-2004, 03:05 PM

Mostly with cold tires, new hydraulic lower contol arm bushings, new sway bar bushings, steering shock absorbers, Bridgestone tires do a better job, Micheelin MXVs are poor, have the tires road force balanced, 45/50mph seems to be the magic number, run pressures a little higher. I think the 96s have resolved the problem, MB lowered the car for some reason by less than a half inch. All MB dealers acknowledge the isssue no one has a single fix.
They replaced contol arms, drive shaft, and lots of things under warranty, last year I did the above and it is greatly reduced. There is another opinon that the tires turn on the rims, the Bridgestones have a "dot" so you can check to see if the have moved due to acceleration.

mbenzz1 · 05-13-2004, 05:13 PM

Thanks Peter. Your response is very helpful.
Just wanted to clarify, is the vibration when speed is below 45 or 50 mph (my impression is that car gyrates over 45 or 50 mph)?

You are right, the car has MXV4s. I am just a bit confused on "the tires turn[ing] on the rims, the Bridgestones have a "dot" so you can check to see if the have moved due to acceleration."

When you greatly reduced the gyration, is it still perceptible or almost not? Beyond a queasy feeling about having a 'poltergeisty' shaking car (and the slight annoyance of it, does it implicate any serious damage to the car? Thanks again.[:)]

Peter Guenther · 05-13-2004, 05:46 PM

45/50 is it kind of an oscillation that goes away. I lived with the problem for at least eight years, three dealers played with it. The dealer in Palm Beach spent a lot of time on it, upper control, drive shaft etc it would come back. The dealer in Chicago balanced it with the wheels on the car, by spinning them after the wheights were on. There were opinions about "flat spotting" There was some folks had a opinion not to lube the tires when installing them since the tire could turn on the wheel and throw off the balance when accelerating. I had three sets of Michelins Vs anh Hs,I had some balanced and before installing them rebalanced and the weights changed. The tire store had no answers, the most recent was changing tires to "Turanzas" no more MXVs,replaced bushings, steering damper. Will it finally solve the issue, it finally minimized mine for months, the tires ride a little rougher, I got a couple of extra pounds in them, and with the dot on the tire I can see if they moved since the dot is next to the valve stem. I have not seen that problem and have stomped on it. All my buddies at MB think it was the front end all along, changing the motor mounts changed nothing. They all recognize the problem!

mbenzz1 · 05-13-2004, 07:47 PM

Thanks again Peter. I am so sorry to hear about your trouble with the 'oscillation' over the years. Yet, it sounds like the matter has gotten better for you.
I have yet to detect a consistent perceptible problem but will let you know how things turn out (hopefully good).
[:)]

snik · 05-14-2004, 08:16 AM

I gave up fixing it, I just live with it

Benz-Friend · 05-14-2004, 09:16 AM

I'm somewhat relieved after reading this string. I purchased a set of inexpensive tires ("Nitto") and felt the the slight vibration was due to my penny-pinching. I'm glad that there may be a better answer.

mercS600 · 05-14-2004, 01:09 PM

I had the same on my 600sel and tried balancing wheels,tyres etc.Nothing worked so put it into the main stealers in Scarborough Yorkshire.Cured - it turned out to be the anti-roll bar bushes and linkages and now no more vibration/shaking etc![:D]

mbenzz1 · 05-14-2004, 03:43 PM

Thanks for your replies Peter, snik, Benz-Friend, merc600sec.

I wonder if the shaking occurs every time. Or are there times the car does not shake? Is the intensity of the shaking the same or stronger on other times?

Think for some shaking disappears for a while and then it returns. How long have you had the shaking stop merc600sec please?

I am happy to know Benz-Friend feels a bit better. To better and best times ahead,
Mbenzz1

Merc600sec · 05-19-2004, 04:35 AM

you need two people to do this , a smooth flat road,that you can get up to speed on, a flat bottomed metal dish,10inch pie dish 4inch sides and some water, start with 1 inch of water in bottom of dish, place dish on center arm rest, drive slowly off so as not to slop water about then observe when the vibe starts to generate riples, are they slow, or fast and at what speed, write down results next you have to move to position left +right to determin where it is worse, then front to rear use floor or dash-rear shelf. It takes a bit of time, but if you find out at what speed, and if its high or low frequency, we will have a better idea where to start to look for the problem. hope this helps[:p][}:)][=:)]