My spring perch failed. This is a documented problem on the W210 cars; NHTSA has four cases they are investigating. There is another thread in tech section for more info, but if you have a W210 PLEASE check your perches because you could be KILLED if they give way on the road!! It is a pain but I implore you to get it checked!! The wheel and spring COLLAPSE and cause one side of the fromt to LOCK UP; you can imagine the loss of control!! DO NOT PUT IT OFF you may save the lives of your family or other innocent drivers. I cannot believe that MB is not RECALLING these cars! Sure it's costly but so is a wrongful death suit - could be hundreds of millions if the car hits a schoolbus for instance! They will have to recall these cars at some point but in the meantime people will DIE!

I cannot overstate the importance of getting YOUR car checked!! PLEASE!!

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RIP "Betsy" (Oo=*=oO)
'96 E 3 2 0 (W 2 1 0) M 1 0 4 (Totalled)
Spaces in sig so as not to screw up the SEARCH; every time someone searches for that MB they don't want my sig!

2004 Audi A8L
'98 VW Passat 1.8T 5M
'87 Alfa Romeo Milano 2.5L 5M
'67 Impala convertible, 327cid

Or just have a look yourself, they're easy to see

I thought they had already issued a recall. Maybe it was a service bulletin. Either way, MB has know about the issue for many years.

Read this thread for more info:
W210 Diesel owners: Spring Perch Failure - Please read

I'm totally fed up with the attitude of Mercedes and the NHTSA. Both are waiting until people start getting killed before taking any action. This is so stupid.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

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

I recently took my car in complaining about some wandering in the suspension. I thought I had a broken spring, but they said they found nothing, they gave me an alignment and centred the steering wheel. The head of the service dept mentioned this problem to me and took a look under each wheel (while the car was in the parking lot, not raised up in the bay). Should I assume they were satisfied I have no problem, or should I push it? Do you get warning signs before it fails that you might notice or does something just snap?

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Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired

There's no warning and it will just snap. However if it's about to snap some rust or at least cracked undercoating should be visible but there are no guarantees. The best way is to peel off some of the undercoating to have a better look, but you have to be prepared to patch it back up so water doesn't get in.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

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

It is easy for corrosion to develop at the joint where the perch is welded on to the frame without being visible. It seems that corrosion can develop underneath the rubber coating and make it diffucult to discover unless the area is carefully inspected. I have seen one fail firsthand, it is a big problem and can easily kill someone.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

I work in a Mbz dealer bodyshop and while we see a smattering of W124's the majority of the cars affected are 1996-early 98 E-class(210) sedans. The spring perch kit used to be a welded on perch, now there is a whole perch and plate that is attached to the inner apron with rivets and epoxy structural adhesive. It's a quick and easy fix, all things considered. The ones we have seen tend to only rust on one side, and I really don't think it's all that widespread, statistically, although if it's your car, one is too many. The dealership where I work actively inspects for this when cars are in for other repairs and is very good about getting it fixed.

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

Im so glad I didnt buy that W210 I was looking at when searching for my next car

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99 C43
98 S420
99 C230K
01 C240

I don't have a clue about part #s...I have multiple parts guru's in my building who deal with that sort of thing. The issue I had with just welding the perch onto the existing apron vs. the new kit with the apron section, is that the new part is fool-proof to locate properly and has a much larger surface area where it is tied to the existing structure. We work on new 5-Series BMW's with the aluminum riveted-on front structure and have seen how strong these special rivets and structural adhesives are. In my experience the cars with rusty perches are few and far between, although I suspect that varies regionally...farther north, more prone to rust. Additionally, the cars we have seen with bad perches are visibly rusty, with the wheel off.

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

I have heard about W202 spring perch failures as well.

Much much more on W210...yes.

Did the problem apply to all W210 model years, or MB fixed it along the way?

Just thought I'd let you know, I checked my perches the other day and they're in perfect condition. No sign of rust anywhere, and the mastic was incredibly difficult to remove.

Thats a 1997 W210 with almost 170k on the clock, in a country renowned for its rainy climate.

Not all of them are bad 'uns

Question. If we know there is such a problem, can we do something to fix it instead of sitting around waiting to see if MBUSA will fix it first or we get killed first? I heard it just snaps off. Well that is possible seeing as how it is only spot welded on. Can we scrape off the covering and then weld a bead in ourselves?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

If you do it wrong, you'll strengthen the weld but weaken the metal that it connects to, making things worse than they were.