Crash.! Bang.! Wallop.! An S-Class shouldn't be DOING that.!

[JEZ.S320L]

............ crunch and grind - all from the front suspension area. Straight in to an Indie. Diagnosis? A broken front spring I don't know if it is wise to, but I asked for BOTH front springs to be replaced, as I felt that one new spring and one old spring on the same axle, was asking for an inbalance somewhere in the geometry.

Anyway - booked in for tomorrow, quoted £480. How much would that cost at a Dealership, I wonder?

Will let the Forum know how it goes - and recommend, or not - as the case may be.

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

Common on the 140 jez.

They must be replaced in pairs anyway.

The price seems ok, however belive it or not, it is a very easy job to do if you have a big enough spring compressor.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Common on the 140 jez.

They must be replaced in pairs anyway.

The price seems ok, however belive it or not, it is a very easy job to do if you have a big enough spring compressor.

Thanks Ellsy, I have always thought in pairs - for example, I've NEVER replaced just ONE tyre (regardless of condition) in fact, I replaced all FOUR tyres at the same time on the ML, simply because I didn't want 2 different makes of tyres on a 4x4. Extreme, I know - but there it goes.
As for 'D-I-Y', I'm afraid I simply don't have the confidence, let alone the knowledge, or equipment to do that. I check tyre pressures, fluid levels, get them serviced/repaired and fill-up with fuel. That's it. After that, I simply enjoy driving them.!!

And yes - the 'Bomb site' makes me SMILE EVERY TIME.

 

[colechelle]

so thats common on the 140,s????????

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

Yes very, the bottom coil breaks off and it sits on the wishbone making clonking and banging noises.

Almost every one I see know has broken fronts.

 

[jibcl500]

Yes my W140 coop broke a spring last year, £80 each and an hour per side to fit.

easy when you have the compressor at hand. £480 sounds a lot though.

jib

 

[colechelle]

know its a fault on the 210,s and becoming a common fault on the 211,s but didnt know the early ones suffered from broken springs!!!!! old habits i guess!!!

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Yes very, the bottom coil breaks off and it sits on the wishbone making clonking and banging noises.

Almost every one I see know has broken fronts.

Spot on..! That's EXACTLY what the diagnosis was.

 

[jibcl500]

Its a common problem on all coil srung mercedes, my TE needed a coil on the front for the MOT, the wifes SLK has a slight lean to it at the moment so I suspect a coil, they alwas break at the bottom, if the coil looks banana shaped or bowed then the bottom has broken. Sometimes it hard to see that it has broken.

jib

 

[stumpy]

............ crunch and grind - all from the front suspension area. Straight in to an Indie. Diagnosis? A broken front spring I don't know if it is wise to, but I asked for BOTH front springs to be replaced, as I felt that one new spring and one old spring on the same axle, was asking for an inbalance somewhere in the geometry.

Anyway - booked in for tomorrow, quoted £480. How much would that cost at a Dealership, I wonder?

Will let the Forum know how it goes - and recommend, or not - as the case may be.

Just had new springs, struts and spheres on the Bentley - believe me, yours is a bargain!!!

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Just had new springs, struts and spheres on the Bentley - believe me, yours is a bargain!!!

Go - on. Name and shame PLEASE

 

[stumpy]

Had new spheres at the rear, got rid of the front 'active' ride, put some bilsteins and new springs on the front, and an ecu to fool the rear active ride. £3800 ! Then a few other bits taking it up to 4.5K . At an indy too.................gulp. The basturds didn't even use vaseline!

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Had new spheres at the rear, got rid of the front 'active' ride, put some bilsteins and new springs on the front, and an ecu to fool the rear active ride. £3800 ! Then a few other bits taking it up to 4.5K . At an indy too.................gulp. The basturds didn't even use vaseline!

Ouch Did they wear masks?

 

[100%Bitch]

Thanks Ellsy, I have always thought in pairs

..........:Oops:

 

[type49]

£480 still sounds like a lot, especially from an indie. Parts should be about £160, labour about 2/2.5 hours. Most dealers run a reduced labour rate for older cars at up to 40% off. So, you should be able to get it done at a dealer for about £320-350 + VAT.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

£480 still sounds like a lot, especially from an indie. Parts should be about £160, labour about 2/2.5 hours. Most dealers run a reduced labour rate for older cars at up to 40% off. So, you should be able to get it done at a dealer for about £320-350 + VAT.

Thanks type49. I will give the local dealership a call and get a quote, purely out of curiosity. In the meantime I will let the local indie do the repairs - as the garage is less than a 100m from the office.

 

[The Rock]

I've just had the front springs changed on my E300TD at a main dealer free of labour charge. I only paid for the springs (£46.30 +vat each.)
They did it for free because the car was in for a geometry check/setup and they said that one front spring was weak. I said I'd have them changed at a later date and they said they'd prefer to do the geometry check with new springs, hence the offer to do it for free. It can't be that hard a job if the main dealer says he'll do it for free, can it?

£480 does sound very expensive. I would have guessed approx £180 for labour and £120 for parts.

Rock

 

[Rory]

I've just had the front springs changed on my E300TD at a main dealer free of labour charge. I only paid for the springs (£46.30 +vat each.)
They did it for free because the car was in for a geometry check/setup and they said that one front spring was weak. I said I'd have them changed at a later date and they said they'd prefer to do the geometry check with new springs, hence the offer to do it for free. It can't be that hard a job if the main dealer says he'll do it for free, can it?

£480 does sound very expensive. I would have guessed approx £180 for labour and £120 for parts.

Rock

If it really takes a couple of hours or so then it's nothing short of astonishing that the dealer offered to do it free.

I read elsewhere that you had problems getting the geometry right - where they trying to compensate you for some previous disagreement?

 

[Just Phil]

you should get a quote from the local tyre depot, stapletons etc i bet it would be far cheaper

 

[harpoonlouis]

I snapped one on my 190D and I just found out my 300E has a snapped O/S/F in it's MOT, can't the Germans wind spring or something?

Maybe it's all the new speed humps in my village, a night-time trundle in the JCB looks like a summer project!

Anyone got a suggestion for spring merchant or are they pretty competitively priced?

If anyone is going DIY can I recommend the hydraulic spring compressor from Clarke's tools, brilliant!