Undiagnosed, rhythmic vibration

[Cirrus]

Morning all,

I've had my C207 E350 Coupe (2010) for a year now and been unable to solve a vibration that's most apparent on the highway at speeds between 70 and 80mph which comes and goes in a phased manner over say 3 second waves. You can feel it transition through the car and steering wheel alike.
I've had the wheels balanced 5 times now including new Goodyear Asymmetric 6s fitted all round to replace the Landsails so that is well and truly eliminated from the equation.

Currently waiting to get the car in with MB in Nottingham but due to their waiting time and my work I can't get it there until a month from now so I'm wondering if any of you have run into this problem before?

The car is at 148k and judging by the service history mainly driven highway miles between Warwick and Amsterdam (seems to have passed the sniffer dog test thankfully). I'm wondering about the prop shaft centre mount and/or bearing, and also noticed flex discs mentioned several times although this vibration is not load sensitive, or doesn't appear so.

The only other symptoms I have is that the car, despite alignment, seems to want to follow the camber of the road fairly keenly, to put it mildly. On the highway the steering wheel always wants to drop a couple of degrees to the left and take me out of lane and off the road. I'd imagine this is ultimately suspension related but it's a nuisance to constantly be correcting or holding the wheel.

Advice welcomed as always.

 

[Blobcat]

Engine mounts and/or prop shaft bearing
Pulling to left, swop front tyre left to right (assuming not directional tyres)

 

[brandwooddixon]

I suspect that with new tyres the on the car the pull to the left is more to do with the alignment being too close to factory spec. rather than that required for driving on the left.

MBs being camber sensitive is a much-discussed topic and I believe that the cure is a change of caster to correct it., without that it can be reduced but not eliminated.

There aren't many places that can reliably tune out the camber sensitivity. I've had a garage use a Hunter machine and leave it at the default setting for a US spec car!

 

[V6Matty]

First off, get away from the main dealership, use one of the two independent specialists in Nottingham as it will save you a lot of time and money.
Another option on the vibration at that speed could be the torque converter lock up clutch, it’s not something that usually fails but can cause off vibration when they do

 

[Cirrus]

Hi Matty, yes I use the two independents, mainly MercServe but MB Nottingham who are taking it in are the other in Lenton. I've only been to Merc main dealer for recalls although to be fair they have been very helpful.

I'll keep in mind the mentioned issues such as the TC lock-up clutch, engine mounts and prop centre mount and bearing, possibly the latter two I can visually check myself.

The camber is an interesting topic so I'll take that onboard too, although I'm surprised a well set up car should be so camber sensitive - not noticed it on any modern cars driven over the last few years.

Thanks for the advice all, hopefully I can tune this out (I did put a deposit on an Audi S6, C6 V10 but decided against it today, too much potential hassle).

 

[ajlsl600]

Engine mounts and/or prop shaft bearing
Pulling to left, swop front tyre left to right (assuming not directional tyres)

Have a good fumble about around prop bearing the bits for my clk were aboutv 45 quid access was a bit of ballache but problem solved.

 

[V6Matty]

Hi Matty, yes I use the two independents, mainly MercServe but MB Nottingham who are taking it in are the other in Lenton. I've only been to Merc main dealer for recalls although to be fair they have been very helpful.

I'll keep in mind the mentioned issues such as the TC lock-up clutch, engine mounts and prop centre mount and bearing, possibly the latter two I can visually check myself.

The camber is an interesting topic so I'll take that onboard too, although I'm surprised a well set up car should be so camber sensitive - not noticed it on any modern cars driven over the last few years.

Thanks for the advice all, hopefully I can tune this out (I did put a deposit on an Audi S6, C6 V10 but decided against it today, too much potential hassle).

You could try MB Center who are out near the racecourse, I’ve never had much of a good experience with the guys at lenton lane,

 

[DSK]

The MB centre near the racecourse is at the end of Little Tennis street. I use them for the w221 and Mercserve for the CLS.

Both are good to date.


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[Cirrus]

Excellent! Thanks guys I'll check the guys near the racecourse.

Will also raise the car today and see if I can jiggle the prop at the centre bearing.

 

[M80]

I went through the same / similar years ago.
For me it was at approx 1,800 revs the car auto box would slip, the revs would rise to around 2,000 for a second or two, with some associated vibes, then return to normal revs.

It wasn't constant, I couldn't associate it to load, or anything else for that matter. It slowly and subtlety got worse.

New mounts, different tyres / wheels, prop repaired twice, I authorised a TC refurb, none made a difference. My Indie didn't diagnose and was trying stuff rather to try and resolve.
After all had been done and failed I concluded it was auto box slip. The box had, apparently, been refurbed some 20k miles previous. Maybe in attempt to resolve the same issue??

I didn't think the hi miles 639 justified another box, I should've paid out as otherwise it was a good motor.
I 'think' that would have resolved it, I couldn't see there was anything else left to 'try'.

 

[alexanderfoti]

I have the same on my car. Only thing left is propshaft related, although constantly bending wheels on our crap roads doesnt help. If I load up the steering wheel it drops by 60-80%. (just a slight turn)

Any play in the suspension will amplify and vibes so make sure any ball joints, prop mounts etc are in tip top condition.

 

[Cirrus]

I have the same on my car. Only thing left is propshaft related, although constantly bending wheels on our crap roads doesnt help. If I load up the steering wheel it drops by 60-80%. (just a slight turn)

Any play in the suspension will amplify and vibes so make sure any ball joints, prop mounts etc are in tip top condition.

It's a faff isn't it. I'm going to borrow a lift tomorrow all being well as jacking the car up isn't allowing enough access, especially with the heat shields in the way.

I did notice a quite tired looking front flexi disc however.

 

[alexanderfoti]

It's a faff isn't it. I'm going to borrow a lift tomorrow all being well as jacking the car up isn't allowing enough access, especially with the heat shields in the way.

I did notice a quite tired looking front flexi disc however.
View attachment 80265

Yes, especially faffy when your doing 5 cars a day. The braing is willing but the energy levels don't match.

Forgot to mention, all mine are new, but that looks poor, definitely change that.

 

[M80]

If I load up the steering wheel it drops by 60-80%. (just a slight turn)

Could that indicate steering pump issue?
I guess you've considered that.

 

[alexanderfoti]

Could that indicate steering pump issue?
I guess you've considered that.

No, I have ball joint with play on the OSF. Turning the steering loads up this joint slightly, stopping the vibes.

 

[harrye500]

Could also be wheel bearings? Your indy will get to the bottom of it though I'm sure.