The wheels on the car go "wubba wubba wubba"...
 

Just rotated/balanced the tires on my 1999 W210 E300 Turbodiesel with 140k miles. Now I've got a "wubba wubba wubba" coming from the front end.

One of the ContiContactPro 215/55 R16 93H tires has gone down to the wear marks in less than 18k miles.

When was the last time it was aligned? Tire wear is usually an alignment problem.

We are certain no rims or suspension parts are bent and that the alignment is good, right?

I've had disappointing tire wear while having owned mine. I drive 30k freeway miles a year on my commute. I've done so for 24 years and am accustomed to 50-60K on a set of tires .

I have a hard time getting 35K on my E300 and I'm pretty easy on tires, brakes, etc.

Alignment checked at MBZValencia in September of 2006 haven't been curb-hopping, wheel scraping or off-roading so things should still be A-OK.

"wubba wubba wubba", huh? Well that's better than "WHOMP, WHOMP, WHOMP"!

I just had to say that I literally laughed out loud when I read the title of this thread. Been a long time since I've done that :D

Is the one tire that is down to the wear bars worn evenly, or just on one edge? 18k miles sure seems low for a tire to be worn out...

Does the steering wheel shake at all?

Check, check and check.

Smooth this morning, and then the balance rotation and "wubba wubba wubba". Taking it to another shop tomorrow.

The wear is really weird. Two tires are like new. Passenger front is worn on outside otherwise is fine and passenger rear is worn evenly down to wear marks. It just looks like it's been driven for 60k miles even though it has only 17k miles on it. Have been finding accounts of people having to replace Contis after only 16k-25k miles with average to easy driving.

Bop, bop, ah-do-bop, a lop, bam, boom,...
 

Tutti Frutti, all....

Er, no, that is a Little Richard song. But ya got me a good laugh.

Regards

Run-Em

I got a problem similar to this. I can't really describe the noise, but it does have the same rhythm to it. More of a metal to metal sound though, and it is only when i am turning right. Any thoughts on this one?

The noise you describe is often caused by a defect in the tire. It probably made the same noise before it was rotated but was in the back and therefore you didn't notice it. I'd bet if you spin it you will see a lateral sway or bump while it turns if you watch the tread. This is caused by a belt inside the tire breaking or shifting.

Most tires carry a warranty which covers this though the last set of Pirelli's I had they claimed it was caused by road hazard (pothole) and therefore only the selling dealer's road hazard warranty would cover it which they kindly did and replaced it. Still, I didn't like the Pirellis and went for Michelins last year and have been happy with them.

If you can't see the problem by the method I describe above, just mount the spare on one front side and drive, if it went away then it was the one you removed. If not, then it is the one which remains. Then you can go back to where you bought the tires and have them examine it more closely. You can balance a tire with a bubble or shifted belt, but it will still make that noise.

Also, you didn't say clearly where the worn tire WAS while it was wearing but if it was on the right rear then I can tell you I have noticed the exact same thing on my W210 and others too have said this. If it was on that corner the whole 18K miles it will wear much faster on the right side than on the left side, it has to do with the open differential. Now I rotate mine every 5K like clockwork to avoid that. See my old post here and the explanation for it at the end in post #6 and #7:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-wheels-tires/178147-w210-1998-e300-right-rear-tire-prematurely-wore-out.html

That was intended.

Worn evenly. It was on the right rear of the car.

Has for some time now. Even before I rotated and rebalanced.

Yes right rear tire was worn down. Will rotate more regularly.

Steering wheel shake is not normal, find a good alignment shop and have the alignment and front end components checked again. Last time I had that it turned out to be a bad tie-rod end.

That is exactly where I was going with that question...

Do the steering wheel shake and the "wubba, wubba, wubba" seem to be in sync? One shake for every wubba, or two shakes for every wubba, something like that? Or do the speed and frequency of the steering wheel shakes and the noise seem to be different?

The shaking is somewhat in sync with the noise, but it was there before the rotation. I will probably have the LCAs, front suspension and alignment done sometime in the next six months.

Sounds like it could be as many as 3 separate issues to me
1) a tire with bad rubber compound - shouldn't be worn out at less than 18k
2) alignment isn't right - steering wheel shouldn't be shaking
3) a tire with a separated belt or cord - the wubba, wubba, wubba, sound...