E Class suspension

[WATSON]

Front suspension strut of myE300 collapsed today at 60mph.
Mercedes have offered to fix it (and the other side) FOC which is great but I find it unbelievable that this could happen on a 6 year old car. Apparently it's
caused by corrosion of the inner wing which no one could ever see or indeed expect to see.
MB Garage told me they have repaired 6 at least of these and there is now a modification.
The ABS sensor is also damaged.
This could have resulted in a serious accident - has anyone else experienced similar.
Does anyone think it's worth chasing them for the price of my hire car and having my Merc towed to them?

 

[BLONDIE]

Is your E300 a w210 model? If so, it is worth checking the whole vehicle over for corrosion.
Peal back door seal rubbers and check door frames.
Check bottoms of doors and wheel arches.
If possible check front subframe.
These areas all suffer badly with corrosion.

 

[television]

Is your E300 a w210 model? If so, it is worth checking the whole vehicle over for corrosion.
Peal back door seal rubbers and check door frames.
Check bottoms of doors and wheel arches.
If possible check front subframe.
These areas all suffer badly with corrosion.

It will be a 210.

 

[WATSON]

Thanks for that - yeah I have checked it over in fact the car is so clean it's remarkable but I must admit this experience has me seriously considering a C Class!

 

[daveenty]

Does anyone think it's worth chasing them for the price of my hire car and having my Merc towed to them?

Would have personally thought it was definitely worth it. It should be covered by a 30 year corrosion warranty and, as this is obviously a corrosion issue, the least they could do is make sure you're not out of pocket.

I know that a lot of the warranty pertains to FMBSH, but if I was a dealer I'd be falling over myself to apologise and make sure you felt satisfied. Unfortunately I'm not a dealer.

Good luck with it anyway, hope you get sorted.

 

[Uncle Benz]

It still surprises me that this fault has not appeared in the national press, or BBC's Watchdog. The potential for a major accident from this spring seat failure is very high. It may just be a matter of time.........

 

[television]

It still surprises me that this fault has not appeared in the national press, or BBC's Watchdog. The potential for a major accident from this spring seat failure is very high. It may just be a matter of time.........

Could it be that MB owners are of a gentle nature and do not make that much fuss when something as serious happens. As you say Uncle,this is a serious issue

 

[Parrot of Doom]

WATSON, the front springs are, at the top, held in position by a cup of metal which itself is spot welded to the chassis. These welds are then covered in a mastic to prevent rust.

What happens is the mastic sometimes isn't good enough to stop water getting behind it, and the metal starts to rust, leading to the eventual failure of the welds, or the metal.

Its a well known problem, the only way to check it before it happens is to remove the mastic.

 

[television]

WATSON, the front springs are, at the top, held in position by a cup of metal which itself is spot welded to the chassis. These welds are then covered in a mastic to prevent rust.

What happens is the mastic sometimes isn't good enough to stop water getting behind it, and the metal starts to rust, leading to the eventual failure of the welds, or the metal.

Its a well known problem, the only way to check it before it happens is to remove the mastic.

Would this be the same problem we got years back with the hard type of under seal, where water got in the cracks and did more harm than good as the water could never dry out. I thought no one uses that anymore.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Hi Watson. Watchdog did an artical last night about air brakes on Clio's and also asked me to go on the show a while back when I had trouble with my Volvo S40 jumping out of gear due to massive wheel tramping. I would suggest getting it fixed and all nicely paid for by MB and then contacting them. You may end up saving someone's life.

 

[kth286]

I think there is an update I read recently where Merc and the UK recall/safety people did some tests and the end result was that because the car would only fall in height by a (relatively) small amount without a front spring in place, and remain steerable it was not deemed to be a recall situation.

 

[muzzere320]

This has really got me thinking/worried. Were these things not galvanised? my 14 year old Porche does not have a trace of rust anywhere.

I can see I'm going to have to go over this car as if it were a 1970's Lancia

Does anyone have any pointers on where / how to look beyonf the info above?

Thanks in advance

ATB

 

[Bolide]

I think there is an update I read recently where Merc and the UK recall/safety people did some tests and the end result was that because the car would only fall in height by a (relatively) small amount without a front spring in place, and remain steerable it was not deemed to be a recall situation.

IIRC the same article said that Mercedes were replacing failed spring cups FOC. While they're at it you may as well get them to replace the rusty front crossmember as well


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

This has really got me thinking/worried. Were these things not galvanised? my 14 year old Porche does not have a trace of rust anywhere.

I can see I'm going to have to go over this car as if it were a 1970's Lancia

Does anyone have any pointers on where / how to look beyonf the info above?

Thanks in advance

ATB

sadly if you are newish to MB this will come as much as a shock to you as it did to me. No Mercs prior to 2004 aren't galvansied, and even post 2004 cars only have some bits galvanised.

Older e-class models have a bit of a rust problem. My c-class rusts wherever there is a stone chip. Personally I think this is obsolutely shocking on an expensive prestige car but others seem to think it is acceptable.

 

[muzzere320]

sadly if you are newish to MB this will come as much as a shock to you as it did to me. No Mercs prior to 2004 aren't galvansied, and even post 2004 cars only have some bits galvanised.

Older e-class models have a bit of a rust problem. My c-class rusts wherever there is a stone chip. Personally I think this is obsolutely shocking on an expensive prestige car but others seem to think it is acceptable.

I'm with you Neil it's utterly disgraceful & I'm now convinced I've spent my money on the wrong car, still I'm stuck with the ****** thing for the time being, so it'll have to be some good money after the bad to limit the damage.

Funny the thing is the last MB I had was in 1986, that was a new E200 which broke down so many times in the first week I sent it back. MB are the only cars I've had this kind of problem with and I'll never have another. Geat pity because the engine and gearbox are superb and it's quite comfy

ATB