(I am a female with no car knowledge-have always taken my car to the dealership) I've been reading the responses for over an hour. I am in shock. First, I will inform you that my 97' E320 has been to the shop every other week since November '05. I was driving my car and it felt like I had a flat tire. I pulled the car over and investigated. No flat. I was about 2 miles from my house but I knew something was wrong so I drove with the hazard lights on. I later inspected the car and noticed that the driver side was lower - it appeared that the front frame was sitting on the tire. I got on the internet Saturday and found this site. I started posting my questions. Long story short = someone mentioned spring perches. Sure enough, the dealership calls and its the spring perches. Estimated cost $1600. The dealer offered to pay 50%. They lead me to believe that they were doing it out of good faith since I've paid over $2500 dollars in repairs since Nov '05. I mentioned to my uncle who is an attorney and he feels that I should pay for the repairs then file a small claims case against the dealership. Before I do this I need for somene to answer this important question for me. Should the mercedes technician have seen the rust while replacing my front brakes and rotors?

benz1gal, I'm sorry to hear you're another victim. Good thing nobody got hurt. As to your question, it depends on whether the rust had made it to the surface. I think it's quite possible that your mechanic didn't notice anything suspicious even though he was working on that area of your car. A lot of times the rust is hidden underneath the coating.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

The scary answere to your question in a resounding NO. As you can see in the first post, which is my car, all of the rust was hidden beneath the sealant and perch itself. This is a major problem. I remain convinced that if this failure were to occur at high speeds, someone would die. Unfortunately, this may be what MB is waiting for until they do something proactive about it. This is way I now drive a Lexus (I secretly still have MB blood - for 4.5 cabriolets)

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1996 (W210) E300D 86K - Traded in for a Lexus
1992 (W124) 300D 2.5 Turbo 202K - Sold
1983 (W123) 300D, 146K - Sold
1970 280S, 263K - Sold - Beginning of addiction

This would not be a proactive response, it would be reactive. Proactive would mean that they recognized the problem, either by their own data or data reported by customers and repair shops, and took action to correct it before some one got killed or injured.

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Mahalo and Aloha,
S. L. "Red" Pike, Naval Architect/Marine Engineer, USCG Licensed Chief Engineer (Steam, Motor, and Gas Turbine)
Former nuc bubblehead (boomers)
"Sustained superior performance through continuous incremental improvement."

1987 300SDL White w/ Gray Leather interior, 160K (mine)
2009 Nissan Murano (leased - wife's)

After reading all nine pages of activity on this topic, I am going to get my spring perches checked. I also was wondering why no one who had this problem has not filed a complaint with the NHTSA to start an investigation. After reading the NHSTA complaints site which contained such matter as cigarette lighter not functioning, why such a serious problem has not been reported and investigated. Please anyone who has had this problem, especially while driving, contact NHTSA and file a complaint http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

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1999 E300 Turbodiesel

That's totally untrue. There are many complaints in the NHTSA database about this problem, and at least some people here including myself have already filed complaints too. I can see you didn't read this thread that carefully, but I know it's a long one.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

I did read the posts carefully, there is a lot of 'suggestion' regarding NHSTA complaints. I also checked the NHSTA site for 1998 and 1999 Mercedes Benz E class complaints and found no complaints regarding spring perch problems. If this problem has been referred to NHTSA, that is great. If NHTSA is investigating a year old problem, then I am very concerned that Benz1gal is having trouble from her MB dealer just over a week ago.

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1999 E300 Turbodiesel

I had this happen to my 87-201.128 in 2003. I went to an independent shop for the repair and we scabbed one off a salvage yard car.

Good repair, costly decision.

For what ever reason about a week after the repair, I had to visit the MB dealer for a part, I stopped into the body shop and there were spring perches setting on the shop foreman's desk. I asked if they were from a 201, he laughed, no a 210. He told me mercedes was very quietly repairing any spring perch failure on any year. period. They would have done my 87 with 260K miles no questions no cost. Yes he did elude to the legal ramifications as well as the bad rap that would ensue.

I ask which was most common the 201's, he laughed again, no the 210's cause it was the same part as the 210/124/201. He also said that unlike the years of development and billions of dollars that went into every thing up to and including the 201,202, 124,126,129,140, the 210 was a rush to production and wasn't engineered with the quality of the afore mentioned.

Bottom line, the MB dealers that are approved body and paint centers will do this job under warrantee. Press the local rep if you don't get satisfaction.
-Mark

I saw many complaints for 96 and 97 cars, I didn't check the later years. Their database is not so well organized because they have overlapping categories, like E-class, 300E, E300, plus there are overlapping subcategories for the front suspension. NHTSA hasn't started investigating this problem last time I checked and I don't know if they ever will.

markg612, are you saying all those other chassis have the same spring perches as the W210's? If so, why aren't we seeing problems with them?

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Because the spring perch isn't defective. The failure is caused by improper sealing.

FYI - The left (driver side) spring perch failed on my car on 12/23/05. It happened under 50 MPH and there was no damage that I can see other than the failure itself. I was close to home and at the time I didn't know what happened, pulling the wheel off revealed the problem. Thank God my wife or daughter wasn't driving on the interstate at speed when it happened. My local M-B dealer said the repair should cost ~$1000 and the car will be down for about two weeks. Armed with the information from the MBCA and this site I will be contacting MB USA and asking for their help. I would also like to have the other perch inspected/repaired for fear of it happening again. I will provide updates as to my progress, etc.

This is what the MB body shop manager said too. My 201.128 car lived an ignominious salt infested life in Minnesota and North Dakota. He said they would see the perch failures from time to time in much older vehicles that lived a hard life in the salt infested streets of Minneapolis and were poorly maintained.

I personally think every aspect of the 201,124, 129 140, 202 life cycle was classic old MB driven by one thing, perfection. I believe there were a lot of areas of neglect in manufacturing the 210 as the 210 was the first market driven Mercedes, and it was under-engineered IMHO and rushed to market. Thank Jurgen "heir putz" for that, and the 203, 211, 163, etc.

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Mark
========
THE WHITE FLEET
2016 GLE300d 4-MATIC 38K BROWN!
2012 S350 Bluetec==94k WHITE

2007 ML320 CDI==166K WHITE (FOR SALE)

Under new management:
2005 E320 CDI--140K--WHITE
1995 E300-Diesel-133.5K--THE CAR IS BLUE
1986 300SL--97.5K (European) AND WHITE. Back in Europe!
1991 190E 2.3-73K California Perfect.--WHITE
1995 E320-Wagon-159K--WHITE (recently scrapped)
1987 300D Turbo-213K--WHITE
1987 190D 2.5 Turbo-288K--WHITE

The spring perches are held on by 4 spot welds. Provided they are not corroded those four welds should hold the spring perch for the life of the car. The problem is MB cheaped out on rustproofing, their is evidence of this all over the W210.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

After several un-answered emails to MBHQ, I gave them a call. The person on the telephone was courteous but basically said it's up to the dealer to interface with them. I spoke with my dealer (I did not purchase the vehicle new, or from them) and they said it's up to the dealer who originally sold the car. Since I don't have a lifetime to get the car repaired or play the 'who's responsible' game, I contacted my local body/collision shop through my insurance company to have them fix it. They are doing it for half the cost, the work is guaranteed, and my rental car and towing is covered.

I will be writing to MBHQ to express my displeasure, and to the NHTSA to document the failure of the component.

I purchased a 1985 190E 2.3 new, and I still have it with over 325,000 miles on the clock. In my opinion, the E320 isn't half the car the 190E has been for me. That's a darn shame too because the E320 is a beautiful car, comfortable and nice to drive. The E320 will be replaced soon.

I remember when M-B owned up to some problems with the 190E and repaired them all, regardless of vehicle age or mileage. This was to ensure customer safety, satisfaction, and loyalty. It appears that those notions no longer exist in the M-B of today. They would rather cater to the affluent who keep their cars for two years and move on. It's no wonder that they have not been in the top ten for customer satisfaction, or why the Mercedes-Benz Club of America dedicated a whole issue on an interview with a M-B exec on vehicle quality and customer satisfaction problems.

In that same issue of The Star they mentioned a special representative to handle problems for MBCA members when they couldn't get satisfaction through the dealer. You might want to check that out.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References