[nhzruthless818]

So guys my 50-60mph viberation is back but only in the steering wheel if you take your hands off the steering wheel there is no vibration. Tie rods, lower ball joints steering dampener is fairly new i replaced them a year or two ago. Tires are balanced properly because i tested the wheels on 3 w140s and a w220. Shocks are new as well. I am fed up with it since my daily commute is at 50-60mph. Some parts i have bought yet to be installed upper control arms, lower control arms bushings, stabilizer links and bushings. I also have a spare set tie rods and idler arm kit. All parts used are oem. I want to sort this out before my repaint

 

[hamada128]

Sometimes I will have the same issue after the car has been sitting in the garage for few days. I think it is flat spots in the tires as it goes away after few mins of driving.

 

[Thom_7]

Something off with your brake rotors maybe? I'd say maybe check the bearings too but I feel like that would vibrate more than just the steering wheel.

 

[Joe-V12]

"Some parts i have bought yet to be installed upper control arms, lower control arms bushings, stabilizer links and bushings. I also have a spare set tie rods and idler arm kit. All parts used are oem. I want to sort this out before my repaint"

Do steering damper & steering idler arm bush. Cheap with most chance of fixing. Check for any loose balljoints while under there, maybe adjust steering box.

Yeah I'd hate to repaint & be stuck with that vibration.

 

[nhzruthless818]

Steering dampner is a year old and oem part. For the idler arm is it hard to replace i remember looking for a diy but came up empty. I have access to a shop with tools. Tires have no flat spots i drive my w140 daily 50 miles a day. I hava a feeling it may be the idler arm or lower control arm bushings. Some times the steering wanders a little bit or maybe i am tired from a 12 hour shift lol

 

[Joe-V12]

Idler arm & steering box prob needs adjustment too, these cars do not wander. Easy to check before removing parts.

Disclaimer: may not fix your vibration.

 

[anziani]

Harut,
Do you have a good MB alignment shop near you? Perhaps spending $80 on an alignment and having them look might be worthwhile.
Anziani

 

[daidnik]

Wheel Alignment/Mis-Alignment does not usually correlate with vibration.

Wheel balancing is a possibility, but seems unlikely as he had stated that he had checked wheels on other cars.

I'll throw out one other possibility that is harder to diagnose. This is possible wear in the rear drive axle(s).

If you get a drive axle with some notchy-ness in the knuckle, this can cause mechanical oscillations that will vary with speed and also with the viscosity of the lubricant in the joint.

It will also vary with angle of the axle shafts. SLS system reduces the variation in angle of the drive axles.

W140 is a car that runs so smooth that all these tiny imperfections become notable.

To eval the state of the drive axles, you can check sliding axle IN/OUT with car on an alignment setup, but car has to have been driven for a couple of hours to get lubricant all warmed up in the knuckles of the axles.

The other method is to remove the drive axles. It's really easy to diagnose then. It has the added benefit of re-packing/topping up of the MoS2 slurry mix and all that is required are new Oetiker clamps which are cheap; around $1.50 ea from MB.

You can also swap Left & Right axles to reverse the drive direction and extend the life of the axles that are ~$900 ea.

If it is the drive axles, then there will be vibrations as well that can correlate with little noises in plastic and maybe door seals; not just the steering wheel.

The W140 is a car with a standard of perfection that is so high that there almost always something that is not quite right or up to that 'original' standard of perfection at this age.

Pick your battles judiciously.

 

[nhzruthless818]

As of right now its just steering wheel. I had the car aligned he recommended lower control arms he said the bushings look old. He also broke one of my tierods (a brand new oem tierod) so i will replace the idler arm, tierods, lower control arm bushings, upper control arms, steering dampener and lower ball joints again and take it to mercedes dealer for alignment. I want to get everything dialed in before i spend $3000 for my repaint and install my lorinser bodykit and muffler. I also have japanese brake system i am going to install its silver calipers that say amg on them with drilled and slotted rotors and braided steel lines.