S213 wheel shake

[Janchee]

All, I hope you can help with what might be the culprit of a very annoying problem.

When I drive the E220d estate (2016 plate), I can feel a very slight steering wheel shake/vibration. I've had it in a couple of garages, and no one can seem to find the fault. They say they've tested the bushes etc. They've rebalanced all four wheels and found no problems with them.

Fault:
1. Steering wheel shakes/vibrates at a high frequency. It's not major, however, if you let go of the steering wheel for a couple of seconds - you can see reference points moving rapidly.
2. The amplitude of vibration is not correlated to speed. i.e. it does not get worse or better. It seems constant.
3. It feels the best on very smooth roads. Can still feel the vibration though.
4. Sometimes when I start the car, put it in reverse and then turn the wheel - I feel a very faint click in the steering wheel. It will only happen once in a full lock and then not really appear again. Seems more apparent when it's cold.
5. Tyre pressures do not help dampen or change the vibration. I've had them on the lowest and on the highest: no change.

It honestly is driving me insane because it completely ruins what should be a lovely ride.

The last item to mention is that the car hit a pretty big pothole at the start of this year (NearS) and cracked my NSR alloy. I had this replaced and all seemed well. I don't know if a bush has been damaged and has slowly been wearing away over time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[LostKiwi]

Check your wheels for out of round.
Have a full 4 wheel alignment carried out (Wheels in motion near Aylesbury are the go to guys for this - they can fix it when no one else can).
Check diffmounts, propshaft mount, gearbox mount and engine mounts.

 

[Janchee]

Check your wheels for out of round.
Have a full 4 wheel alignment carried out (Wheels in motion near Aylesbury are the go to guys for this - they can fix it when no one else can).
Check diffmounts, propshaft mount, gearbox mount and engine mounts.

Yeah, that's exactly the sort of service I'm looking for to sort this problem. Just a bit far for Lincoln.

 

[Janchee]

As an update ... I’ve done some diagnosis.

The steering wheel click is felt through the steering wheel and not audible.
It only occurs when the brakes are being pressed ie reversing out of parking space
Click is ALWAYS when turning left hand down and mostly occurs when making the first turn from a straight wheel.
Seems to be between 45 and 90 deg for the click to occur
Cleaned the car yesterday and it was really bad this morning (for clicks) when I was moving the car. The car had also been sat in the sun for a couple of outs.

Any ideas would help. Replaced brake brake pads and discs with Simon a month or two back (member of this forum) and I’m unsure if we might of done something...

 

[joderest]

The click could be the brake pads moving in the calliper, does it do it if you do not touch the brakes ?, sometimes after market pads are very slightly different.
When you hit your pot hole and damaged the wheel, was the same tyre put back on ?
It could be you have a slightly deformed tyre, not enough to come up on balancing but enough to cause a slight shake.

 

[Oldspanners]

As an update ... I’ve done some diagnosis.

The steering wheel click is felt through the steering wheel and not audible.
It only occurs when the brakes are being pressed ie reversing out of parking space
Click is ALWAYS when turning left hand down and mostly occurs when making the first turn from a straight wheel.
Seems to be between 45 and 90 deg for the click to occur
Cleaned the car yesterday and it was really bad this morning (for clicks) when I was moving the car. The car had also been sat in the sun for a couple of outs.

Any ideas would help. Replaced brake brake pads and discs with Simon a month or two back (member of this forum) and I’m unsure if we might of done something...

I'd have a check around the universal joint on the steering column.

 

[LostKiwi]

I'd have a check around the universal joint on the steering column.

And check the wheel is tight on the column.

 

[Janchee]

The click could be the brake pads moving in the calliper, does it do it if you do not touch the brakes ?, sometimes after market pads are very slightly different.
When you hit your pot hole and damaged the wheel, was the same tyre put back on ?
It could be you have a slightly deformed tyre, not enough to come up on balancing but enough to cause a slight shake.

Yes it only happens when brakes are applied. All genuine Mercedes parts from dealer fitted. Also definitely at 45 deg left when it clicks.

Shake appeared when I took it to have all four wheels balanced and the new rear alloy put on. They seem to have put all the weights on the INNER side of the alloy with some weight. One side is 40g on just one inner section of the alloy. I can see from the previous balance that there used to be a 2-plane balance ... Think a trip to get them rebalanced again...

Regarding the steering wheel click I will look into the coupling on the column. It is intermittent and doesn’t always click.

 

[robmc52]

I would echo Lost Kiwi's advice about checking that the wheels are running true, jack up each in turn and see if the inside edges of the wheel is spinning straight and not out of round. I just balance a pencil on a couple of house bricks set next to the rim, with the point of the pencil a few mm away, and give the wheel a spin, you'll soon see if anything is out.

 

[Janchee]

Slight update:

Took the car to KWIK-fit to get the wheels rebalanced. I know a few people don’t rate the garages but it seems the one I have local is very good.

The mechanic was a pleasant guy and took it out for a spin. Said the wheels were definitely out of balance. He took the rear wheels off and balanced both of them. BOTH of them were well out and the mechanic was going nuts that all the weight was just on the inner side of the wheel.

Took it for a drive after and an immediate improvement oh my. He felt like the fronts didn’t need balancing however, I think they do. Taking it back on Friday 10am to get fronts done. The garage didn’t even charge me for the balance and said it was a gift for these uncertain times. Dropping a crate of beer in on Friday for the good work

My wheels had been ‘checked’ and rebalanced by two Independent garages. It was the first garage that brought this problem on! The second garage was a Mercedes specialist ...

To say ... I’m excited about getting the fronts balanced? (It’s a sad life I live!)

Again - Kudos to the KWIK-fit team in Gainsborough. Nice guys and very honest with you.

 

[LostKiwi]

Slight update:

Took the car to KWIK-fit to get the wheels rebalanced. I know a few people don’t rate the garages but it seems the one I have local is very good.

The mechanic was a pleasant guy and took it out for a spin. Said the wheels were definitely out of balance. He took the rear wheels off and balanced both of them. BOTH of them were well out and the mechanic was going nuts that all the weight was just on the inner side of the wheel.

Took it for a drive after and an immediate improvement oh my. He felt like the fronts didn’t need balancing however, I think they do. Taking it back on Friday 10am to get fronts done. The garage didn’t even charge me for the balance and said it was a gift for these uncertain times. Dropping a crate of beer in on Friday for the good work

My wheels had been ‘checked’ and rebalanced by two Independent garages. It was the first garage that brought this problem on! The second garage was a Mercedes specialist ...

To say ... I’m excited about getting the fronts balanced? (It’s a sad life I live!)

Again - Kudos to the KWIK-fit team in Gainsborough. Nice guys and very honest with you.

Glad you have a good one. Ours is rubbish. They tracked my r129 up to r230 specs as they 'couldn't find an r129 in their book'. I asked to look and found it.
Then they tried to tell me the camber wasn't adjustable so I showed him how to do it. Then we had the same discussion over castor and the same again at the rear. I practically did the tracking myself but they still charged full whack.
I wasn't impressed.

 

[Janchee]

Another update:

Fronts were rebalanced as well on Friday, again: both wheel out of balance

Mercedes drives much smoother now however, there is still a very tiny shake of the wheel. I'm starting to think it's the tires, however, it's so small I can live with it. Each tyre still has > 5mm so no point on replacing during the lockdown. I'll get the life out of the tires and then replace ... Unless one day I find a very good price for a set of Falkens! Then it will be good riddance to those nasty run-flats!

 

[Janchee]

Question to the forum: I’ve measured the height of each corner and I’ve found that the front left is slightly lower that the driver front at 0.5cm. Is this normal? (Passenger side)

Measured from the fender to central hub on the wheel. Repeated measurement 3 times with it being around 0.5cm lower when comparing front left to front right. Both sides of the rear are exactly the same

 

[JBell]

Unless one day I find a very good price for a set of Falkens! Then it will be good riddance to those nasty run-flats!

www.camskill.co.uk

Any tyre will be an improvement on run flats

 

[bembo449]

Ive known drivers side an cars be lower due to being driver only motors

 

[Janchee]

Ive known drivers side an cars be lower due to being driver only motors

Do mean the drivers side being higher?
I’ve seen some comments saying that it takes drivers weight into consideration so sets that side higher?

 

[Wighty]

Question to the forum: I’ve measured the height of each corner and I’ve found that the front left is slightly lower that the driver front at 0.5cm. Is this normal? (Passenger side)

Measured from the fender to central hub on the wheel. Repeated measurement 3 times with it being around 0.5cm lower when comparing front left to front right. Both sides of the rear are exactly the same

Broken spring ?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Broken spring ?

Yes could be especially as it’s the same side as the pothole damage, generally it’s the bottom tail end circa 3 inches that breaks off. On the 210 one went as I was walking to the car an unmistakable tensile breaking sound

 

[Janchee]

The merc was in the garage today for an inspection of steering and suspension. Nothing found and all springs are OK. They've said that my discs are 'warped' even though @bembo449 and I changed them not long ago! Starting to think somethings wrong with the hub or these genuine brake pads are tosh for leaving residue on the discs! I've not used the hold function at all, gently bedded in the brakes ...

They also think the Run flats may be the cause of partial brake judder due to pothole damage. Just looking at some Michelins ... £700 for PS4 on front and PS4S on the rear.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Can recommend MIchelin PS4 - Goodyear run flats seem ok on my son’s W213 probably the best run flats out there