[2000 C280 Sport]

I got a 02 E320 with 90k on her. Strong good car. I have been having tons of road noise from 35mph+. I took it to the inde and we went on a road test. The tech says I need a wheel bearing on the passangers side. Is this a DIY Job? Should I just replace both of the front ones? How much are wheel bearings?

 

[aardvark]

Simple job, and it might just need repacked in grease. Either way it is a easy DIY.
Their relatively cheap. Try Autohaus.com probably less than $15 ea or so. Don't over torque em.

aardvark

 

[Check Codes]

If it's making noise and you're going in there, I'd replace both inner and outer bearings. (You have to pull the calipers and rotors and then the hub...so it's a lot of labor just to get there.) Only place I've found MB wheel grease is the stealer, though.

DIY on adjusting it up in the stickies. Pack the bearings just like any other car.

 

[aardvark]

Greg.
Ya really think MB grease is required? They are regular Timken style bearings, just like any other r.w.d. vehicle (like any Ford or Chev). Torque is a little different from what I understand. A Hi temp good quality grease to me seems adequate, unless you know something I don't.

aard

 

[Check Codes]

Greg.
Ya really think MB grease is required? They are regular Timken style bearings, just like any other r.w.d. vehicle (like any Ford or Chev). Torque is a little different from what I understand. A Hi temp good quality grease to me seems adequate, unless you know something I don't.

aard

Considering the stuff is rated for at least 100K miles, I'm happy to pay the extra few bucks for it. The pics of people's cars who've opened them at that mileage still shows the grease looking pretty good. And our OP is certainly atypical; it's rare to hear anything about a wheel bearing until well over 100K miles.

Even something like mobil1 I don't know it's longevity...is it critical? Probably not. But I know the MB stuff is good for another 100K and if I used something else I'd always wonder if I should pop it open sooner to check. But I wouldn't quibble with someone who wanted to use another premium bearing grease, after all that's the great thing about owning a car is getting to decide how you want to maintain it. :thumbsup:

 

[aardvark]

Another quick thought.
Get one tire off the ground and do the shake test. See if there is any slop or play in the individual wheel. Also spin the tire and all. Does is sound smooth? This is what any good mechanic would be doing first off before tearing into the job. It also isolates any noise to either bearings or brakes. Check your disks for grooves, look at your brake pad thickness. Is the brake rotor hanging up? Is the disk warped?

A visual inspection is worth more than we can give here.

aard

 

[aardvark]

Thanks Greg. Good point.
aard

 

[sokoloff]

What is probably more critical than the grease you use is not mixing two different types of greases. They may be incompatible. Clean out all of the old grease and use all the same type of grease. Mercedes is also very specific about the amount of grease to use. That's what's nice about the Mercedes grease in a toothpaste tube. It is pretty easy to measure out/figure out what the correct amount is. You don't just cram as much grease in there as it will hold. Too much grease can be as bad as to little.