Engine mounts

Arudge

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The engine on my W208 CLK is precariously perched on a scissor jack because i've pulled both the engine mounts out, due to vibration and a light knocking noise that was driving me nuts.

The problem is that they were not obviously damaged, they didn't have oil spewing out of them and they didn't look bad, but the movement on the passenger side was too sloppy for my liking.

The drivers side seems ok and is marked 'Boge', one of the four OEM suppliers that i have identified, along with Swag, Febi and Lemforder, for which the latter appears to be the brand of choice.

There is a perfusion of part numbers available and many websites conflict on what is suitable and what is not.

What i have found is that these mounts (certainly for mine) are not handed, but many sites suggest they are, but what they do have are different ratings, denoted by colour. A left mount may be softer than the right, although some sites will sell you a pair and suggest they are the same, there not. Along with some sites lumping all the various variants and suggesting there all suitable, they'll certainly fit, but work as intended? Maybe not.

What i've been unable to find out is the correlation between the part numbers and the colour codes, has anybody come across this at all?

Also, has anybody simply fitted a pair of engine mounts and been perfectly happy with them? I had read an account of one fella fitting W209 mounts on his W208 and experienced some vibration, so he'd clearly got the rating wrong, although he thought he was upgrading.

Obviously i'm trying to save money here, and as these mounts have a history of failure the information may be useful to others.
 

Submariner1

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Why not ask your dealer ?
Grangemouth will get the right ones ... probably £2 more thsn some dogy ebay varient that is 50% likely to be the wrong ones
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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Why not ask your dealer ?
Grangemouth will get the right ones ... probably £2 more thsn some dogy ebay varient that is 50% likely to be the wrong ones
I took both of the mounts to the Stourbridge MB dealership for assessment, they couldn't honestly tell me if they were serviceable or not, they wanted a new one to compare it with and there were none in the UK. I didn't want to commit myself to the purchase as i know were going to be looking at a fair amount of money, i wanted to learn more first.

As a comparator, i'd just bought two new genuine rear springs from them to replace the non genuine ones that were clearly wrong, i paid MB £130.
Now i know that my springs are 8.5 coils, 13.5mm section and rated Red. if i'd have known that before, and MB are not going to tell me, i could have gone online, not Ebay, had the choice of 21 OEM suppliers and paid less than £50.

Lemforder engine mounts retail online for £60 or thereabouts, Febi around £40. i will get a firm price from MB tomorrow but i'd hazard a guess, judging what the American forums are ranting about, around the £150 each mark, of which i need two.

The only reason i'm going to pay £300 for goods that i only need to pay £80 for is because i don't know what i'm buying, as i did with the springs, but this time i'll get it right as i have the originals, but i wanted to learn more before i purchased.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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423502e0.jpg



For those that may be interested, an image cribbed from our American friends. Excellent section straight through an engine mount clearly showing the internals.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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Prices in from MB were actually better than i expected but still pricey.

LH £102
RH £112.80

I've received two emails from quality aftermarket suppliers that were less than convincing, does anybody Know what they are talking about?

An old post from our dear friend Malcolm stated that there were some mounts better than original, i'm try to see what i can find out.
 

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^ Did you get a quote from MB Grangemouth or are those prices from your local dealer?
Grangemouth (and Newcastle) seem to heavily discount parts and are quick to deliver.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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^ Did you get a quote from MB Grangemouth or are those prices from your local dealer?
Grangemouth (and Newcastle) seem to heavily discount parts and are quick to deliver.
Those prices were from MB Stourbridge. I'll give Grangemouth a call tomorrow.

Cheers.
 

alexanderfoti

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YMMV but I always go with MB Oem for things that are rubber. Engine mounts, Guibos, sub frame bushes etc. There is a noticeable difference in damping quality with engine mounts.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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^ Did you get a quote from MB Grangemouth or are those prices from your local dealer?
Grangemouth (and Newcastle) seem to heavily discount parts and are quick to deliver.
Price was exactly the same, but certainly worth the phone call. Thanks again.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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YMMV but I always go with MB Oem for things that are rubber. Engine mounts, Guibos, sub frame bushes etc. There is a noticeable difference in damping quality with engine mounts.
I have read an awful lot about inferior engine mounts and i certainly don't want to go cheap......

But i find it infuriating that some can charge a such a premium over others for the same item, as illustrated in the link below.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motor-Gear...d=1508840529&sr=1-1&refinements=p_4:Lemförder

Mine are lemforder mounts, although there has been some concern that lemforder are now manufactured in China and therefor of a lower quality.

i appreciate you can overthink these things but i'm running out of funds, having already replaced the Torque converter, the TCU, the transmission, the drive couplings, the MAF, the supercharger, the rear springs, various bushings and other odds and sods i can't remember. Not to mention dodgy electrics causing sporadic miss fire and completed engine shutdown, once on Dart Moor, oh dear, oh dear indeed.

However....

I thought i'd got it all sorted, i'll get the wheels done and a set of decent tyres and we're done. I literally came away from the tyre shop with a knocking noise at tickover and wheel shake at 35 MPH, followed by a proper Victor Meldrew moment.

My car is rapidly becoming triggers broom.......

There are a lot of canals where i live.....But i really do like it, i like the way it drives, i like the way it's put together, it's clearly had a lot of thought and effort put into it, i just wish stuff would stop breaking and costing so much.

Sorry about all that, just had to get it off my chest, i'm sure you understand.

I'll almost certainly end up back at MB....again. I'll get a coffee out of them this time.

Cheers all.
 

LostKiwi

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Sorry about all that, just had to get it off my chest, i'm sure you understand.
Yep - totally get it. I was chasing problem after problem for a while on my 129. Now nearly at the end I hope. Thing is I absolutely love the car to drive.
 
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Arudge

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Now i've been able to consult the STAR EPC i can see that there has been an engine mount upgrade, which explains why i couldn't find a suitable mount from Lemforder through the after market suppliers. The numbers had changed, but only on the one.

I also found this resource for cross reference.

https://webcat.zf.com/?SPR=4

ZF were/are an OEM for Mercedes and if you put your vehicle details in the resource it will tell exactly
what they supplied, under what brand and the relevant brand part number and Mercedes part numbers.

I've ordered two Lemforder engine mounts from BuyCarParts.co.uk for £130 inc vat and postage. An £85 saving over MB for the exact same part that MB would supply. Not a massive saving i must admit but i leaned a lot along the way, not to mention i now know exactly who supplied the engine mounts, subframe mounts, tie rods, track rods, shock absorbers and springs, amongst other items i'm likely to need to replace in time.

I'd call that a result.
 
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Arudge

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The left engine mount (passenger side) that had changed is still used in the 208.345, which is the 193HP W208 (mines 208.344 163HP) and the W209.

I've no idea why it was pulled from mine, but i did find a post from one of our American freinds who put W209 mounts into a W208 and complained of vibration, so maybe that's why.

As an aside, my two mounts are different, different part numbers although they look the same.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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My new engine mounts duly arrived.


. Mount 1.jpg

Although not obvious the new mounts are a good 10mm taller than the old, i can only assume the old ones have collapsed a bit.

mount 2.jpg
The MB part numbers are clearly marked on the body. No MB star though, i presume the copyright doesn't allow that.
 

Steve@Avantgarde

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I have fitted a good few Leomforder engine mounts in my time and never had issues with them...all though some people tell me they have. I have a set fitted on my C320CDI. I have had no vibration issues.
 
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Arudge

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I rebuilt everything, and changed the supercharger oil whilst it was out. The new mounts were fiddly to get in and line up, they came out easy enough but putting them in needs patience.

The road test. Oh dear......

As we approached 30 MPH the steering wheel started to shake as it had before, along with the knocking and that irritating squeak.
I drove for 5 miles or so with speeds up to 70 MPH and the shaking all but went, another 5 miles and the knocking went, leaving me with just the squeak.

The new mounts had obviously settled in and are masking the original issue. You can still feel some vibration through the steering wheel but you have to look for it, and it's literally just between 29-32 MPH.

Something is loose/worn but I've no idea where to look.

Anybody got any idea's?
 

Ken_R

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I'd start with moving road wheels about. Examine tyres for bulges, etc.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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I'd start with moving road wheels about. Examine tyres for bulges, etc.
The shaking, knocking and squeak occurred suddenly about 6 weeks ago. My commute in was fine but going home it suddenly changed. I thought i'd lost a balancing weight of the front nearside wheel, i ignored it because i was due new tyres, so i decided to have the wheels repainted and new tyres all round fitted that week.

Not a jot of difference.

Because the noises appeared to be coming from the nearside front, i hit on the engine mounts because there are known to fail, but i was wrong. The wheel bearings needed a slight adjustment, but again, no difference.

Thanks for your input Ken.
 
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Arudge

Arudge

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Also had the tracking done as a matter of course.
 


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