allright,
given the fact that I'll have to take the car back and I will get minimal co-operation from the shop,which bolts in specifc should I have them loosen up and re-tighten ? keeping in mind that the differential bushings and one control arm at both sides were changed.
more over with the car on the ground would it be possible to have enough space to get undeneath to re-tighten the bolts ?
more over, when I had the alignment checked it came out to be under specs after the work was done. If the bolts were tightened the way they are (improper) would that have not effected the alignment specs ? Also I am under the impression that the w124 only required front wheel alignment as there was really no adjustment in the rear ?

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

I don't believe retightening your bolts properly has anything to do with your problem. The bushings in those arms are too wimpy to do anything but wear out too soon, if tightened under the wrong conditions.

The 124, and all multilink rear suspension MBs, absolutely must be 4 wheel aligned. The toe IS ADJUSTABLE and if real wrong, might affect your car the way you describe. From your description I would think something is lose, but toe could cause it.

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

This is an issue for the DIYer, but a shop should have a drive-on lift or a pit underneath. For my suspension/steering issues, I drive the affected end onto ramps, block with appropriately positioned jack stands for safety, then slide underneath for final tightening. While adjusting camber up front the other day, I was able to operate the torque wrench w/o needing to raise the car. Also, many years back when a squirrelly handling situation was caused by a loose rear track strut, the ramps did the job.

I have also found that while a good 4-wheel alignment is the best approach to alignment, that doesn't mean I'll trust the job a shop does just because the alignment readout shows all is in spec. Last alignment I had done printed out fine, but I noticed 15k miles later excessive wear on the outside of the RF tire. This jibed with the oversensitivity to road camber I suspected ever since; and,... the reason for my camber tweaking. Note too, if your rear tires were badly worn to to your previous condition, 'spec' values might not correspond to correct tracking.

Bottom line, if the car does not drive correctly, ask the shop why. If they cannot tell you, and can't find out why without charging you for all the shotgun 'friendly kill' they take out in the process, you need to take business elsewhere.

Steve

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'91 MB 190E 2.3
'08 RAV4 Ltd 3.5
'83 Lazy Daze m'home 5.7

Arghh !
I brought the car back to the shop today and they asked me to drop it off so that they can retighten the suspension parts with the weight of the car on the suspension.
I went back to pick it up only to find out that they didnt do what the shop promised. The tech tells me that the differential body mounts are broken and therefore I could be experiencing what I am experiencing at the moment.
My only question is, if the mounts were broken, they were broken even before I had the differential bushings and control arm replaced. and the car was tracking perfectly straight.
Should I go back and have them loosen and re-tighten the suspension anyways even if what they claim is true about the broken body mounts for the diff ?
thnx for any suggestions.

__________________
Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

I suppose it's possible that one or more subframe bushings were broken before the original repair, and if pieces came out after jacking up the car for the repair, that might explain the symptoms you have been experiencing. Still, I'm not impressed with the observational and technical skills of the shop if this is something they did not catch early on, and considering their attitude about normal, consciencious repair procedures.

Let's assume the submounts were bad originally, then it is reasonable that this contributed to the deteriorated differential mounts. Additionally, if a rear strut bushing was in bad shape, it would be reasonable to do a full rear rubber and maintenance diagnostic before commiting to the job. I do not see the likelihood that any perfectly usable subframe mounts suddenly failed as a result of any properly conducted suspension repair. I.e., I don't recommend that you have this shop continue to do your repair work, and you decide - based on another shop's diagnosis and successful repair - whether to pursue the issue in court.

Steve

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'91 MB 190E 2.3
'08 RAV4 Ltd 3.5
'83 Lazy Daze m'home 5.7

update:
took the car back to the mech. to have him loosen the suspension, load the car with the wight and re-tighten.
I saw the tech work on the car. They used a jack under the suspension to lift it up which I guess is the same as having the car load on it and then re-tightened the suspension.
The car still pulls to the left, however now the rear of the car seems like a boat because it's basically wandering all over when I make a quick turn or try to change lanes. Seems like everything is just loose in the rear suspension part.
Any particular reason why this would be happening now ? I know it has to do with the retightening of the suspension as it was driving fine before I drove in the garage and now it's wandering when I drove out.
any ideas / input would be greatly appreciated as it seems like I have to be the technical person to "tell" the shop what to do at every point.

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

Reread this complete thread, and I can only come to one conclusion. you got all the work done that you paid for so you are not out of pocket any extra money except fo the price of a second alignment. I suggest you take the car to a different shop and choose carefully. Talk to other MB owners and check things out. You don't say how big your town is. You didn't say how you chose this place. Was it price, convenience, recomendation or what? Do they work on everything including farm tractors or do they specialize?

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

Jacking the car on the suspension is not sufficient, but as i stated earlier none of that is your problem. The reason things changed didn't have to do with tightening, it had to do with changing the alignment. The rear bushings are to weak to affect through loading. They only will wear out too fast if not tightened correctly.

I agree you should get a diagnostic alignment done by someone competent to do such.

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

The shop claims to specialize in german cars. works of mercedes and bmw's.
I will have the alignment done again but that wont solve the loose suspension issue. The point is not to complain about the money factor otherwise I would've thrown away the benz by now. but to get the things done right.

I will also take it to a different shop to have it re-aligned.

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.