This is a beta thread of the type we are considering for use in the new EGv107 reference library.


Comments are sought...

 

I like the layout. Everything I can remember seems to be there.
The TSAR has spoken.

 

I like it too. Clean and user friendly especially for noobs.

After seeing the updated frame I am going to tie the gussets together giving it more strength and the cleaner boxed look.

Great job Dave! Keep the ideas coming.

 

Fantastic Dave. This would have been of great assistance when I was attempting to have MBUSA pay for mine. Keep up the good work.

Jerry 1977 280SL

 

Aren't you pursuing reimbursement from MB? Keep us posted.

 

I thought I read somewhere that Euro owners have managed to get MB to apply the recall to their cars and get the Sub frame replaced / repaired. Is this true??

 

Board member ABQ450SLC persevered and was reimbursed by MBUSA for subframe repairs to his 450SLC Euro. He generously offers his experience to others who may need assistance. Contact him via PM.

Daryn has also stated his 280SLC was done under warranty, completely at the dealer's initiative.

 

Good thread and mine was indeed done at the dealer.

 

Do you think I would get any luck since that is the picture of my car with the subframe failure and the last two pictures of the 560SL frame were also mine (I was lucky enough to find that reinforced frame out of a 78 450SLC at a local junk yard.) How do I go about getting the money?
JOCONAB in San Jose Calif.

 

Joconab, I'd suggest you PM or email both Anovak and ABQ450SLC for advice on that. If Daryn still has any documentation he would be willing to copy to you that might also help. Any proof of warranty extended to owners of cars outside the 350/450 SL/SLC parameters can only bolster the case for your 380. I do believe Anovak's to be a 380SL.

 

Joconab, I do believe Anovak's to be a 380SL.

I hope you don't hold your beliefs too close to your heart.

Anovak sports a 280SL in his driveway.

 

Love to be in on the map thing...but don't know how, I clicked on the link and it took me to another and it is kinda confusing...I am not that literate with tech...I will try again later. I am joconabeuroparts on eBay if you guys need anything. I can also hunt your parts for you...just a scoop, hope y'all don't mind.

 

Thanks to Benzworld . . .

After reading the postings on several of the 'recall' threads, I took my 1980 450SL to Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead in Atlanta, to see what if anything MB might be willing to do. To be honest, I really wasn't taking it all that seriously, until I met with the service manager, who confirmed that MB will pick up the tab (parts+labor) to install the replacement subframe.

While I was there (yesterday) the service manager insisted I allow him to put the car on the lift to look it over, and it turned out that the subframe was indeed cracked. No telling what would have happened if I had continued to drive it . . . you good folks have my gratitude.

Also, a big thanks to Mercedes Benz of Buckhead, obviously the home of first-class customer service.

While they have the subframe out, I'll also have them replace the control-arm bushings and motor mounts, as suggested by a number of people on this board. You guys are the greatest :thumbsup:

 

After reading the postings on several of the 'recall' threads, I took my 1980 450SL to Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead in Atlanta, to see what if anything MB might be willing to do. To be honest, I really wasn't taking it all that seriously, until I met with the service manager, who confirmed that MB will pick up the tab (parts+labor) to install the replacement subframe.

While I was there (yesterday) the service manager insisted I allow him to put the car on the lift to look it over, and it turned out that the subframe was indeed cracked. No telling what would have happened if I had continued to drive it . . . you good folks have my gratitude.

Also, a big thanks to Mercedes Benz of Buckhead, obviously the home of first-class customer service.

While they have the subframe out, I'll also have them replace the control-arm bushings and motor mounts, as suggested by a number of people on this board. You guys are the greatest :thumbsup:

Wow. You must be living right. Me too I guess because I found my crack in the garage and not on the road.

May suggest that Dave and Dig ask for input from owners who have had this done and are willing to cooperate with others. Like when and where it was done. Did they have a hassle with MB?:thumbsup:

 

May suggest that Dave and Dig ask for input from owners who have had this done and are willing to cooperate with others. Like when and where it was done. Did they have a hassle with MB?

You just asked them.

 

I am planning on documenting with pics when I remove the subframe and DIY the repair.

 

One question

What is the Offical Mercedes Benz recall statment for the 107 subframe?
years?
makes?
parts?
labor?

 

This provides a partial answer. Not the official recall but a good explanation and opinion that MB was wrong in limiting the recall. I think that is why others have fought and been successful. I can't on my 280 because it has a rebuilt-prior salvage title so all warranties are void. But I will have fun doing DIY.

http://northernresource.com/mercedes/107-subframe-recall.htm

 

Rowdie did you go to mercedes and have them reject you or are you making assumptions? My car is also a salvage and mercedes honored the recall so it might be a case by case.

 

I may try then. I rebuilt a Dodge truck and they told me the warranty was void. I did assume all manufac would be the same. Thanks Daryn:thumbsup:

 

I went ARMED with print outs of the recall postings on here and waited to see what they say first then I said well take a look on here and see how many people are getting it done FOR FREE!

Course my car did not exist in the data base. So I am waiting to hear back from them after my car is Registered.

UPDATE:
As I type this they call and said they opened up a claim and results came in that my car was not on the campaign and not effected. I will double triple check with my mechanic.

I now have a VMI.

UPDATE:
Found a Bill for SUB FRAME MOUNTS installed in 1998 $600.41

 

OK I give p whats a VMI?

 

Vehicle Master Inquiry...tells all about your car... as regards service is which campaigns have been performed and which are pending. You'll get a list of installed options, too.
Normally they will not give it to you but maybe they will. On my other cars I had to send proof of Title (ownership) in order to get one mailed to me.

AKA Window Sticker.

 

Well done on the post and images.

Great description of what will remain as a potential failure point on these cars as long as they are still rolling.

A reinforcement job is probably prudent action to avoid future failures. I could join the chorus and lambaste Mercedes for their poor design or inconsistent execution of a major safety component, though I have been reassured by a SoCal MBZ dealer that the incidence of cracking were never very high and the total failures could be counted on the fingers of one hand over the course of some 25 years.

While I don't see any subframe cracking on the two R107 examples I have on hand, the updated subframe, ala 560SL from '86 onwards, looks to be easily approximated. A new subframe from the usual sources is an $800 proposition. Given the time commitment and cost, it's not worth it if you have an otherwise undamaged subframe, or a damaged subframe on a later car not covered by the recall (or just have a local dealer that doesn't care to fix it).

From the images, the gusset kit doesn't appear to have boxed in the tabs at all (two pieces a side, not a third member to join the gussets). The eyelets for the control arms appear to be another point of weakness unaddressed by the gussets. The particularly bad (rusted and cracked?) image could probably only be salvaged by cutting off the top of the tab and fabricating a new eyelet to weld on. For the boxing in that the gussets don't provide and get closer to the upgraded part without the same cost/complexity, another piece of flat steel, bent over sharply at the edges (or just plain flat and welded at the edges), would do a good job to bridge the gussets together. The two drainage holes seen in the image on the upgraded subframe shows the boxed in tabs should be retained.

From the images, I'd say the gusset kit is nothing special. With dimensions handy, you could probably fabricate these fairly easily and actually improve on them. Anyone have precise dimensions?

I have an acquaintance who is a professional welder that is still trying to convince me that he can TIG weld almost anything in-situ. I posed it to him today after seeing this post and he confidently stated he could weld up reinforcements with subframe in place. That would of course be preferable, considering the labor cost of disconnecting and dropping engine/trani out on the subframe, then dollying the engine/trani to work on the subframe all by itself.

While I would like to say I trust his work overall, welding isn't my expertise. If anyone has any further thoughts on TIGing the reinforcements in-situ, I'd like to hear it before volunteering my otherwise serviceable un-cracked subframe. If I take the plunge, I'll post images of the retrofit to '86 era "upgraded" boxed in subframe axle-carrier configuration.

 

Hi All,
Well, I know this is a ongoing condition and that some new owners my not know just what to look for. we have many pictures here available but I thought may just a couple more mite help idenitify the condition, therefore I have added 2 more. 1 = the old original frame that was removed and the second is the new factory up-graded replacement frame.
Jerry 1977 280SL (Euro)

 

Does anyone have dimensions on the gussets and the plate dimensions on the upgraded subframe? I am seeking out someone locally to take a ruler to the parts on hand, but local dealers aren't keeping such old shelf-warmer type parts and aren't willing to ship without a commitment to buy. While $130 or so for the gussets isn't ridiculous by MBZ standards, it's about $0.50 worth of mild steel, full dollar worth to fully box in the subframe axle carrier tabs per the 560SL subframe upgrade.

 

What luck!

An acquaintance and former employee of one of the local MBZ dealers who until recently had a gray market 500SL badged car came by with "gifts" today. He told me he had sold the car some weeks ago to cousin, well below value apparently and was now parting with the odds and ends left in his garage. Among the valuables, there there were; a bag of unused sub frame gussets! He had apparently intended to reinforce the subfame himself, had gone so far as to obtain the gussets from his former employer, then got cold feet on his welding abilities and sold the car with it's original (albeit un cracked) front subframe.

He had taken the car to the MBZ dealer before he purchased it with special directions given to inspect the subframe for any signs of stress cracks. The dealer had given the car a clean bill of health and stated no retrofit was required. If it had been, it was clear it would be at owners expense (though as a former employee, I'm sure he would have gotten a better than average deal). It's not clear what he might have known nor what he might simply have worried about that prompted him to get the gussets in the first place, but perhaps that's just as well.

With no R107 darkening his driveway anymore, we parted with several bits and pieces passed to me, including a fairly new looking wind noise deflector and some spare seat covers. These he quickly disgorged from his trunk and onto my driveway. It was clear from his expression that the prior sale of his garage toy and the elimination of surplus components was under orders from the woman of the house. With a baby on the way, it was clear she had invoked that most potent form of "imminent domain" with her rousing nesting instincts and attendant emotional distress, this leaving no other choice for any man seeking peace in the home, or at the very least, self preservation. I wish him well.

Observations of the gussets up close, for those who may still elect to make their own include that they are fairly nicely made. The transitions are nicely rounded to avoid stress buildup along sharp edges. While rather uncomplicated to copy, care needs to be taken when you heat the steel to bend it in the vice (which was my original plan) to form the angle of the lip.

Since this is an American site, dimensions all in inches:

1/8 mild steel stock, black enamel coated plain steel
4 1/16 inches in length
1 5/16 inches at the tallest dimension
3/8 L shaped bend on the long bottom dimension that is welded up to the subframe.

build the pairs as mirror images of each other. The left pair and right pair are of course, identical.

 

Subframe recall notice

I don't know if it helps, but I have a copy of the original subframe recall notice that was sent out to all R107 owners in the mid-90s.

I've scanned it and attached it here as a pdf file.

Hope this helps.

 

I'm new here and just came across this thread. I just inherited a '83 380sl and am wondering what exactly I should do in regards to the Subrame recall. Do I just go to the local dealership here in Albuquerque and ask them to look at it? Is there a way I can find out if this car has already been fixed? I found some recent paperwork from a mechanic saying what needs to be done to the car and subframe mount replacement was on that list. I've only had the car for a couple weeks and any help would be appreciated.

 

Do I just go to the local dealership here in Albuquerque and ask them to look at it?

The 380 isn't covered under the recall, only the US spec 450SLs.

 

Wow! This is the first I'm hearing of this. We've had our car since 1985 and have been at the same address the whole time. They sure can't have tried very hard to let owners know about the recall!

Edit: I've just been under the car. Looks like we received the updated 560SL subframe at some point.

Edit: I've found an invoice from 1990 where it mentions the center support needing to be taken care of because of cracking, but haven't found one for the actual work. I suppose I may have not received a copy if it was invoiced out to MBZ corporate. But anway, it's done and I'm sort of glad that it was a new subframe provided rather than the repair.

 

Hello,

For those of us who are unable to duplicate the Gussets, would somebody have the MB Gusset Kit part number? I have a R107 and a C107 which I wish to reinforce.

Thank you,
AM