this is for my 1995 e320 station wagon.

every bump, even cracks in the pavement, i have a loud noise coming from the passenger-side rear of the car. it is a dull metal-on-metal thump.

my mechanic tells me that suspension-wise nothing is loose and everythign is kosher back there. on the inside i've secured the windshield-washer bottle, the jack, and made sure that nothing else back there is loose.

it does seem almost for sure that it is coming from the outside, not the inside.

anybody else out there with a w124 wagon that has experienced this mind-altering phenomena? it's driving me batty!

Since your mechanic found no problems in the rear, perhaps the noise does not originate from the rear end. Sometime's, due to the way that sound travels through the chassis, one can be misled. Back in the 60's there was a guy who had noise coming from passenger side rear end, but no problem was found there. My Dad told them to check the left front wheel bearing. Sure enough, that was the problem. I certainly don't know if your mechanic missed something. I'd first check U-Joints and/or carrier bearing (if your car has a two piece drive shaft), then start checking the front end.

How many miles on your car?

I don't have the W124 wagon, but my 560SEL used to have that noise when go over bumps or cracks in pavement.. it goes like "kaboomm". I found out the upper strut bushing were worn.. replaced and the noise went away.

So check your upper strut bushings..
Goodluck

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