I just pulled my rotors et al from the front of my 560SEL and while de-greasing the bearings before repacking them I noticed that they're made in Japan. Is it just me or is there something fundamentally wrong with the picture?

I'm about half-tempted to order a bearing kit just for peace of mine. I know the Japaneese bearings are probably okay, but I'd have a warm fuzzy knowing my German car had German parts in that role.

Am I overreacting?


Thanks in advance!


Scott

Yea, you are over reacting. Set 3 and Set 5 bearings, any parts store has them in whatever brand they stock. Who knows how many cars they fit.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Scott,

Don't know what year your car is but you could have a Japanese A/C compressor, too!

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2012 E350
2006 Callaway SC560

It's an '88

Really? I would have figured they kept it all within their domestic industry. Of course the prior owner converter the A/C system to R-134a... I'll do a search for what all is changed out before asking a back-converting to R-12 question.

curiouser and curiouser


Scott
'88 560SEL
'78 300CD

Almost ALL 1988 MB's would have came with "German" bearings!
However in today's world you will see almost EVERY or any country as original country of orgin! IS the quality the same?? we will wait & see! I doubt it.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

My Toyota still goes quietly on its original wheel bearings. Maybe they are German ones?...

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Well, duh! Obviously they are German ones!

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2012 E350
2006 Callaway SC560

The wheel bearings in my car are French.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

The Japanese probably make higher quality bearings than the continent these days. All are made to meet international standards. The biggest consideration is the condition of the bearings themselves not their origins. But hey parts guys love people like you!!!

B3

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Bill Reimels
Now down to one:
1972 300SE 3.5 W109 (Euro delivery)

There is an interesting item in this month's National Geographic. On around the 15th page (they don't number the pages until about the 40th page which is page 1, go figure) Anyway, it shows an exploded diagram of the BMW new Mini showing where all the parts are made. Of course the Mini is somewhat of an oddball being made in England in the first place.

The only parts made in Germany are the outside mirrors and the grille. Bearings from the UK.

Mike

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Interestingly, I just reverse-engineered seven Toyota automotive wheel bearings for a client of mine. They wanted to benchmark the quality of the bearings. One was even made in the USA by Koyo. Another was a Timken brand. All bearings showed good quality with nothing lacking in the metallurgy.

China still hasn't caught up with bearing quality, but it won't be long until their quality is right up there with the rest of the world. If fact, I'm beginning to see world class quality from the steel they supply.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

I wouldn't use any bearing not produced by " Hans & Fritz " Kugellager Fabrick, Hingeldingenbach, Deutschland !

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Steve -

Are you referring to the precision of the bearing? (ABEC 3 or ABEC 5?)

I would think that there would be a specified precision level, and ABEC 3 is probably fine.

(For a given bearing (for instance a 2302-2RS, common wheel bearing) you can acquire them from several manufacturers and several "ABEC" or "precision" levels. Level 1s are usually crap (cost $3 each), 3s are usually the "good" ones (about $15 each), 5s are getting expensive (but are certainly tighter, $40 each), and anything higher gets real expensive (I needed a level 7 for a milling machine, and it was well over $100...) You can usually get several levels from the same manufacturer, although the good ones (5s or better) are almost always German or US...)

-David