E320 (124) Coil spring popped out!?
 

The car for some time has had a poor handling feel, seemingly wandering all over the road. (It is a 1995 E320 w/82k) There is no play in the wheels (front) up / down and side-side, so it is hard to figure out what the problem is. We changed the sway bar bushings, no improvement. The car had Michelin Pilot Primacy tires on it, now has Nokian Hakkapelita. (Like new) The car also recieved 4-wheel alignment. We have lived with the sloppy handling.

Then it started making intermittent high-pitched squeaking, grinding, clunking noises, although the car did not feel any different. We stopped using it, and the pass front coil spring is no longer setting in its seat!

How does this happen? Nothing appears to be broken, but I can't really tell.

Anyone had this happen? Is it possible for the spring to unseat UNLESS it is broken?

Thanks in advance.

Perhaps...
 

.. the spring perch rusted through? I can't imagine the spring broke or popped out on its own. I've read about this happening on the 210 chassis but don't think I've heard this happen on a 124.

I see you live in N. Hampshire. Remove the wheel and look to see if there's any rust through in the perch area and if there is tell MBUSA that you were cruising at 80mph with your family when it happened.

Good Luck :D

Can you post a photo? Given that you are in the snow belt it's certainly possible the spring and/or spring perch rusted out. But it's not common on the 124.

On the 124 chassis its common for the spring to bow outward over time. A local shop has told me they occasionally replace front springs because it gets too close to the strut and occasionally makes contact.

Sloppy handling. Have you adjusted the steering box lash? That's the allen key atop the steering gearbox. If it hasn't been done and you have 80K/10 years of use on the car, it's almost certainly a source of steering slop. Bit of a pain in the 124/m104 cars, but it can be done without removing anything. 19mm box end wrench for the locknut, 6mm allen head key for the aduster itself. You UNSCREW it (anti-clockwise) to decrease play. Betcha that takes care of your problem.

- JimY

Spring perch looks brand new, no rust whatsoever. Springs have "bowed out" to some extent--not normal? I will try to rectify the spring problem first, then see how the handling is, then maybe adjust steering box.

Thanks for the advice.

On the contrary, I've read broken springs are a bit common on W124. Think it's even covered in service literature.

Have replaced a couple of broken springs on 124's.