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.

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.

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.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

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.

Tutti Frutti, all....

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

Regards

Run-Em

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1983 300SD - SPARKY THE DIESEL
2004 Audi TT 3.2 Quattro Roadster
1999 SLK - aka - LIL RED
1956 Chevy Nomad - aka - REAL MAD
1940 Ford dbl dr. Deluxe - aka - ORANGE U GLAD
1998 Kawasaki Nomad bike --

The front tire wearing on the outside has too much positive camber. If it was a toe issue, then it wouldn't be fine otherwise after wearing just on the outside as you described. The rear has perfect camber but the toe is out, probably toed in but which ever way it is excessively toed, the perfect camber allows the tire to wear evenly but at an unsatisfactory rapid rate as you described. I agree, even cheap tires should wear more than 30,000 miles and will if you have a good alignment on all four wheels. On your next alignment, do not let them touch those two tires still wearing like new. Have them work on only the two out of specs.

BenzDiesel

The tires are pretty bad now. I went to the shop that I bought them from and they agreed that they need to be replaced and using the treadlife warranty they will credit me $67/tire.

Lessons learned:
1) Make sure you have a good tire shop that will work with you.
2) Buy Continentals only with caution.

I will be replacing the Continentals with a new set of Michelin Pilot Exalto tires. I've been reading reviews and they seem like the best bet. I will also be sending the car in for a new alignment as soon as possible.

Presently the Continentals are fighting one another, much like the Goodyears before them. The car sounds like a truck due to the noisy tires.

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2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid SEL Premium (Sparky)
http://badges.fuelly.com/images/smallsig-us/193500.png

It's a car not a science experiment! Open the throttle!

Ah, yes, it was tires after all...it seems that tire quality today is pretty poor. It doesn't matter how much you spend either, and in fact, it seems the more you spend the worse the tires are. I am running Michelins on my E300 now (MXV Energy +4) and am very happy with them (so far). They have about 10K miles on them and still look about as they did when new and the ride is very smooth on the highway...not a hint of shake. I criss-cross rotate them every 5K to make sure the right rear doesn't wear prematurely as it did last time.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

"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

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?

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

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.

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?

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

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.

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?

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1996 E300 D
1992 300D
1990 Ford E-350 7.3 Diesel AKA "the Deep Fryer"