[jwcinla]

My S500 coupe is experiencing a chassis vibration between 50 and 60mph. The vibration is more pronounced in the morning when the engine is cold. I originally thought it was coming from an unbalanced wheel. I have had the wheels re-balanced twice at two different places just to make sure and the problem is still there. It almost feel like a harmonic balancer in the engine may be out of balance. Is this possible? I do not know enough about Mercedes engines to know what might be happening. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jwcinla]

Re: 140 vibration

Join the club, my 92 has the same issue, MB spent weeks on it during the warranty period. The drive shaft, ball joints, bushings, steering damper and lots more were replaced. On some mornings it is smooth as glass on othe days the steering wheel moves back and forth. My service advisor, and shop manager said it was the "car" MB made some changes in ride height, there also have been opinions that it is the tires developing flat spots when sitting. Most recently I wasd told that replacing the lower control arm bushings with a newer version could fix it. The magic word is "could", new motor mounts did not make any difference. I am tempted to get rid of my Michelins, and try Firestones, they have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. I suspect tere is a fix, but no one has ever guaranteed it. My wife does not notice, but it does go away when it warms up. This vibration is common knowledge, search the threads.

Peter - It would definately appear that we are suffering from the same dilemma. I put a set of new wheels and tires on the car about five months ago and it did not change the status of the vibration. I also had the car lowered two months ago with H&R springs and that did not change anything. So I definately know it has nothing to do with either of those two things. As for the lower control arm bushings - I am assuming that you have not tried that yet. It definately is less pronounced once the car (or whatever) warms up. As for it happening under acceleration - I have not noticed that as a contributing characterisitic. It is almost like the front wheels are out of balance. Anything over 60, 70, 80 is as smooth as silk and there is no hint of a vibration anywhere. Do you know what the cost would be to change the control arm bushings? I will do a search and read some of the other posts. Thanks for replying.