w203 C220 CDI 2001

[John Kerr]

This is my first Mercedes,I have had it now for nearly four months and its taking a lot of getting used too.I find the suspension very noisy,it crashes and thumps over even minor bumps and holes.I have replaced rear roll bar bushes and front drop links there doesnt seem to be any play in any of the suspension bushes I also get a bad smell from the climate control when first starting up.I bought an aerosol of anti bad smell from air con systems as recommended in a previous post but its still there.I'm thinking now it maybe the seal in the engine bay around the heater intake.Has anyone had similar problems who can help me sort these out.

Many thanks in advance John Kerr

 

[bitonw]

I got the same vehicle as you have only from 2003 but I don't have those issues. Why not going back to the dealer where you bought it and let him sort this out?

 

[jberks]

This is my first Mercedes,I have had it now for nearly four months and its taking a lot of getting used too.I find the suspension very noisy,it crashes and thumps over even minor bumps and holes.I have replaced rear roll bar bushes and front drop links there doesnt seem to be any play in any of the suspension bushes I also get a bad smell from the climate control when first starting up.I bought an aerosol of anti bad smell from air con systems as recommended in a previous post but its still there.I'm thinking now it maybe the seal in the engine bay around the heater intake.Has anyone had similar problems who can help me sort these out.

Many thanks in advance John Kerr

I've driven a few and they were fine. It does depend on what you've come from though as MBs are firmer than some cars. E.g Vauxhall are firmer than Ford, MB firmer than Renault etc. . With these things, I find the best idea is to do a comparison. Bob to a dealer and do a test drive of a similar model perhaps. Alternatively take it to an indie and have them road test it. They should know if its out.
On the aircon, have you replaced the filters?

 

[robbi-wan]

John,
Ref suspension 'crashes' , the castor arm bushes could be split/worn out.
rob

 

[mioba]

re: smell in AC, have you changed the pollen and or charcoal filters if applicable.

they hold alot of smelly stuff!

 

[John Kerr]

Many thanks for all your comments.I've had many cars in the past Lancia, BMW M Sport,my last vehicle was a Land Rover Discovery which I had for five years.My Merc at 80k crashes worse than a Transit van.I dont think I have ever driven a car as bad as this Merc I must just have a one off.

The bad smell. I have changed the pollen filter,I dont have the carbon ones under the glove box.It does smell like an engine smell,and it does normally happen when restarting a warm engine.

Once again,many thanks for your comments and I will have to have a closer look at the suspension bushes.I have to say my 10yr old BMW M Sport never has as much as a rattle.

John Kerr

 

[Uncle Benz]

The inner bushes on the front lower arms often lead to crashing over bumps on these. The bushes often look OK, but if they have never been replaced, I would look here first. I like the M tech suspension on BMW, but find tyre roar transmission into the cabin tedious on long motorway journeys.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

I go along with the comments about the front bushes's or torsion bars or whatever they are called. When I got my C it had done 30k and sounded like a transit van (I have posted elsewhere on this forum about it). I tried damping everything I could think of because it was difficult to determine exactly where the noise was coming from. I initially thought it was the back, then the front.

After about a month my remote locking broke (unreleated problem) so I checked the car in to have that fixed and asked them to look into the transit van sound effects. They changed the front torsion/ant-roll bars at a cost of £180 (it was still under warrantee so I didn't pay for it) but blimey what a difference!!! It makes the car MUCH quieter.

Suspension parts should not fail at such small mileages but apparently this is a very common failing on these so called "luxury" cars. There are very many posts on this subject and articles in magazines too (check the Top Gear web site). So, although this is wholly unacceptble you need to bite the bullet and have it changed. Trust me the difference is remarkable.

Like you I have had quite a few cars previously from Audi's to BMW's to Volvos and, although I enjoy driving the Merc and think it looks great, I find the actual build quality remarkably poor in comparrison.

 

[itass]

w203 smell air con

Hi
I have a c220 cdi 2001 and it also has a smell from the aircon / heating . I have also changed the pollen filter and used comma aircon refresher and still have the smell. A friend said it may be beacuase the air intake is near the battery under the bonnet and it get the smell from this area - anyone have any idea how to get rid of this smell ?

 

[hmang]

genuine merc pollen filters on my 2000 c 220 cdi have some sort of graphite / charcoal looking stuff sandwiched in the pleats.
cut an old one open and have a look.

pattern filters i tried did not and were just pleated paper.

the genuine filters deffo cut out an initial stale, almost damp smell that the pattern ones allowed through.

i will only fit genuine cabin / pollen filters now