Poor Handling

[Bryann]

Hello all

I have a 5 year old 203 c class 270cdi 40.000miles-sport suspension. Last year I had an issue with the car which went into Mercedes and came out with the steering wheel slightly mis aligned, rather than book it in again I took the car to a tyre fitting company and asked for the steering wheel to be realigned, I stated I did not want anything else touched just the wheel aligned this they did along with altering all my rear suspension and god knows what else, the so called technician told me he had used some sort of guage on the car as well as laser equipment for what reason I do not know needless to say the car was absolutely awful to drive from that day on, I do not know if anything was touched on the front end except the tracking to align the steering wheel. I took the car back and told the technician to put it right, this he did not by reverting back to its original setting but by altering it still further stating he had put everything within manufacturers tolerances. Due to unforseen circumstances I have been unable to attend to this problem until now however the car has gone into Mercedes and had 2 new front lower arm bushes replaced due to perished rubbers and oil leakage and 2 new rear springs due to one possibly broken as it was making a bong type of noise from the rear end, the car has come out of Merecedes and drives better except moves from side to side mainly at lower speeds like constantly running over speed bumps or as somone has said like being buffeted by the wind, plus if I run over a drain cover the car skips on the rear end. The car tends to find every bump in the road, it kind of reminds me of an old Citroen I had years ago with adjustable suspension which when raised would bounce along the road. I have not told Merecedes what the tyre company have done but feel I should.

My questions are, do you think this could be unrelated to what has been adjusted, could this be a shock absorber fault or bushes?. Could anyone tell me if the rear end is adjusted would this alter the tension of the moving parts on the suspension or indeed alter the handling? Can the front suspension ride height be altered? Do you think I should let Mercedes look at it or go back to the tyre fitting company and let them sort it out! Would it be possible to put the car suspension back to factory settings?

Tyres have 5mm tread on front and 4mm on the rear

I hope you can understand what I am talkng about and await any reply's with eager anticipation as I do not know which way to go

Many thanks

Bryan

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

I would bite the bullet and get a full steering geomtry carried out by mb.
They have the correct wheel alignment equipment and will be able to tell you exactly whats what.

The only adjustable part of the rear suspension is the track, all other angles are fixed, so i have no idea what you tyre place did?.

 

[Bryann]

Thank you for that, I will let MB carry out a full check.

Just one thing though, you say there is only one adjustment on the rear which is the track, is it possible if adjusted incorrectly would it cause the car to mess about on the rear end?

Regards

Bryan

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

Maybe, there must be something wrong some where, if the tracking is ok, then a worn bush, or a damaged suspension link can cause wandering. If the tyres are good quality and in good condition then that should rule them out. I good check over should pin point the fault.

 

[Bryann]

Ok, thank you.

Regards

Bryan

 

[grpar]

Bryann

Let us know how you get on. My 2004 C-class has a similar characteristic in that it tends to bobble from left to right and vice versa at the front end. It had various front end suspension bits replced by MB a week before warranty expired.

It's had the MB 4-wheel alignment which improved things slightly. But 5k miles later, and one more visit to MB, and the problem is still not diagnosed. Annoyingly on the day it went to MB the damned car drove beautifully - for once even I couldn't fault their diagnosis of "could not replicate". That lasted another day before it returned to its wicked ways.

If you get a diagnosis, I'd be grateful for an update. Like you I thought it was front springs or dampers, but MB assure me the dampers are sealed and are good for 70k miles. I suspect my dealer now thinks I'm more than a little odd.

 

[Bryann]

I will certainly let you know the outcome, I know my car and when things go wrong it can be so frustrating when you take the car to dealer and are told things do not go wrong like wheel bearings and dampers etc.

I personally think in part the bobbling about as you put it is a shock absorber on the way out, its enough to unsettle the handling I think. My problems started when the geometry was tampered with. I followed an 03 plate E class the other day on the motorway, one of the back wheels was bouncing continuously and the car was moving slightly from side to side, whilst mine is not bouncing it certainly doesn't like drain covers and small divets

Car going in to MB Wednesday week

Regards

Bryan

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

which mb Bryan??

 

[GEORGEROV]

Tyre pressures ok on the back?. Not too high?.

 

[Bryann]

I have checked pressure, but since my thread have followed my wife in the car and noticed N/S wheel slightly bouncing over bummps, think this may be shock absorber on the way out

Will mention to MB when car in

Bryan

 

[Bryann]

I have good news, took my car into MB of Winchester they have replaced both rear springs and skock absorbers, that alone improved the handling 60-70%, whilst in having work carried out they found a fault with one of the lower rear arms where the spring fits.
The car went back in today to have arm fitted what a difference, the car handles as it should no wobbling of jerking, the car rides all the bumps and dips in road I am so pleased I cannot thank MB of Winchester enough, the service is excellent. I began to think most of the symptoms were a figment of my imagination as one would with a car that has not too many miles on the clock, but now I know I was right to pursue it. I now know the adjustment made by tyre company had nothing to do with the handling, obviously it was a combination of springs, shockers and mainly a faulty lower rear arm.

I hope you get yours sorted grpar, if you think the car doesn't handle as it should then I would keep on the case

Thanks for everyone's input

Regards

Bryan

N.B The only thing I would like to mention is I have an old Sierra Saphire 2000E 130.000 miles, I have owned the car for 16 Years one clutch and a few sets of tyres!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bigtwin]

Your indep was quite right to do all that - the laser is the check for toe-in - they would have to do that to set it all up properly when winding the rod to centre the wheel.

Glad it's sorted.

 

[grpar]

I quizzed my friendly MB dealer about a faulty shocker (mine has a similar mileage to yours Bryann). They claim the shocks are sealed for life and are good for 80k miles minimum. Not convinced. But then again a visual inspection on the ramp (the standard fob-off) reveals nothing untoward. Well it wouldn't, would it. If only I lived somewhere other than London ......