W124 Broken Front Coil Spring
 

whilst doing some usual poking around and checking under the car I noticed my right (driver's side) front spring has a break in the last winding. I checked the other side and it's fine, but the right one is definately snapped. There's still a decent amount (at least half) the bottom winding attached to the control arm- should it be ok to run the car like this for a short time until I get in in for service as long as I don't go off-roading? I don't feel any difference in the feel/handling and I see it's mentioned in the service notes for the 124.

It has probably been broken for awhile, so it's won't endanger your life to drive it to a shop for repairs. It should be taken care of though. This is not an uncommon 124 problem. I had it on a 300E we had.

I wouldn't ignore it, but OTOH I wouldn't neccesarily park it either. I wouldn't stray into neighboring states until it's fixed, and by that I mean replace both of the front springs.

Gilly

Oh, you're in the UK. Well, how about this: I'd stay within an hour of home.

My car is a '95 E300D, Similar car as yours, but not a station wagon. It also has the identical spring problem that you have. It also was discovered accidentally when my mechanic was changing the wheel bearing.

This was about a month ago a I don't know how long its been prior to my mechanic pointing it out to me. I suspect however that its been like that for at least a year. THe reason I am saying that is that although there are no obvious symptoms, I did not that for the last year or so, when I parked my car in my garage, the coolant in the overflow tank will be higher on the driver's side than on the passenger side, meaning that my car was leaning slightly to the driver's side, which is where the broken spring is. When my wife parks her Mazda in the same spot, her coolant level is straight. I will be changing the spring next week just for the peace of mind that it will bring.

DON'T use an after-market spring. Get the spring from the Mercedes Dealer. The springs for these cars vary, not only from model to model, and year to year, but do vary from the same model within the same year.

When you order the spring from Mercedes they will insist on knowing your Car's serial number so that they can supply you with the correct spring. If you buy an after-market spring this will not be the case, and you may end-up with the wrong spring for your specific car. This is especially important if you will be replacing only the defective spring.

Phil

I would NOT replace just one spring, these should be done in pairs or you will have the opposite problem, the new spring will be slightly taller than the old unbroken one on the opposite side.
Gilly

Gilly, For the reason that you mentioned, I would agree that its better to replace both springs instead of just one, especially if his budget allows. However, if he starts off by replacing only the defective spring, he can then ascertain if the car is level or not. If not, than he should definitely go ahead and replace the other spring as well.

The labour costs to replace both springs will be almost double that of replacing only one spring, so changing them at different times will not add much cost -if any- to the overall labour charge/spring.

Phil

I actually have a 1-year warranty on this car which covers the springs. I'm going to take it to my local MB dealership and hopefully the company will approve both to be replaced. I don't think the car is unlevel, and the car tracks perfectly straight and there's no other side-effects.