Common W210 Front End Problems at 100k...
 

I have a 1996 E320 with 96,000 miles on it and it's starting to eat up front tires and displays twitchy steering at times. What front end parts generally go bad on this model year at 100k and what should I be planning to replace at this time?


Thanks,
Chris

The front tires appear to be feathering on the outer edges. The front tires are Kumho Ecsta 235/40/18's (junk tires) mounted on 18x8.5 Brabus Monoblock wheels. The rear tires are 265/35/18 BFGoodrich G-Force KD's mounted on 18x9.5 Brabus Monoblock rims. The rear tires are nearly new and don't appear to show any abnormal wear patterns developing. This wheel/tire package was on the car when I bought it.

All of the suspension is still original equipment except for bilstein heavy duty shocks in the rear. I plan to install a set of H&R springs and Bilstein Sport shocks soon, but I'd like to replace any other worn parts first. I don't drive the car aggressively at all, but I do like the low, wide stance that the larger wheels and tires provide.

Do balljoints, tie-rods, steering racks and bushings commonly go bad at only 100k on all MB's?

Chris

The wheels/tires are significantly larger than stock (215 55/16 on all four corners) That much wheel and tire will have much more rolling mass. It could be that the extra force generated is causing premature wear on suspension parts.

I had a laser geometry check done on my W210. Here are the results, and the corrections (red = bad, green = good)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tom.jef...eck%20merc.jpg

The thrust angle was the real culprit, it was steering the car from the back!

Under normal circumstances the toe being out of adjustment is what will affect the tire wear more than any other adjustment, again "normally", unless something is really really bad and your other reading aren't WAY out of spec due to parts being damaged.
Gilly

Don't these cars have issues with spring/strut perches? Or am I thinking of another model?

Gilly's right
 

Mine killed a set of tires in 17k the same way, with the same characteristics of wear and handling. The toe was way out. I just assumed since it didnt pull to ine side the alignment was ok.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

My C seems to like an alignment every 20k or so.

Yeah, 210 spring perches, but this would be considered suspension, not steering, so a bit off topic, but a good thing to mention. Hard to tell, no rhyme or reason to which ones break and which don't, BUT seems more prevalent in the 300 Diesel and E420 V8, and more likely to happen in "The Rust Belt".
Gilly

Thanks for all of the replies fellas. I think I'm going to approach the situation in the following way:


1. Put a new set of BFG's and Bilstein shocks on the front-end along with an H&R spring kit front and back. (I can do this work myself)

2. Bring the car to a reputable local front-end shop to have it completely inspected and properly aligned.

Any other suggestions?

Chris

if you want your car to have "normal" wear suggest you find a set of standard wheels and tires.those wheels you have probably have incorrect offsets.