Well, I have replaced new rotors and brake pads on the front. The rotors were pretty worn out. The vibration is less, and less violent. It also seems to smooth out when I get pass 75-80 mph. The vibration still occurs about 55-60 mph. I don;t think it was aligned properly. The car seems to drift to the right. Can this also cause vibration?

Also, the driver's rear is about an inch lower than the passenger's. Can this affect the vibration? I will plan to the rear spring later. Probably will look at the rear rotors at that time also.

Thanks,

John

I believe that its spec is 180 nm or 132 ft-lb.

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William
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1987 420 SEL - Like a fine wine only better with age

Well at least I'm not the only 126 owner having this problem. On my '91 300SE I have replaced steer shock, lower joints, L/R shocks, tie rods, idler arm, strut rod bushings, 2 alignments and numerous balances. I can now get up to about 65-70 before vibration gets really noticeable, the car does more wandering than what I like instead of pulling to one side or the other like it did when I first bought it. I usually don't have to travel the freeway so when my present Goodyears wear out I'll try an alignment at the dealer in Macon after checking the center link again.

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1991 300SE (my ride, 279,000 miles, looks almost new
1954 Cadillac (21 yo son's car, he bought when age 15)
1972 SeaBird 19 ft runabout (old but solid, slant six, Volvo sterndrive perfect condition, undergoing complete overhaul and refit)
1998 Toyota Rav4 (my sons daily driver when he is in the Continental US, PROUDLY serving in US Navy)

Just my 2 cents worth. But since the w126 is so sensitive to the shake rattle and roll, so to speak, could the front flex disc beginning to wear also cause a sensation of vibration that is carried to the front through it's attachment to the engine/trans. And if you have tired trans/motor mounts, could this vibration be enhanced?

My front flex has one small crack that I can see. So I have moved this necessary repair closer to the top of my list of things I gotta do.

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Selling used Mercedes parts on Ebay...always changing...
cdplayer51 take a look!
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I think not.

Unless the disc has significantly deteriorated and allows the driveshaft to change centerline, vibration won't be affected.

I've proved this with a sample of one on the '86 SDL. I've been chasing a driveline vibration for years and had both discs changed. They had the usual small cracks.......still serviceable. The new discs had no effect on the vibration. I'm about out of options and have to change the driveshaft.

I have also been fighting a W126 front end vibration problem for about 3 1/2 years. I have owned 3 W126 cars over the years and my current car an '88 300 SEL w/172k miles is the only vehicle that has chronic vibration problems. I have gone through two sets of Michelins, one set of wheels, many many balances (including road force). Replaced the typical front end items, tie rods, track rod mounts, u/l control arm bushings, idler arm bushings and brake discs. Unrelated to the vibration issue, I've also replaced the f/r subframe mounts, differential mount, trans mount, l/r motor mounts, f/r flex discs and a steering box. My car drives straight, does not wander and handles great on curved roads. The vibration issue was first noticeable from 65-70 mph and got progressively worse from there. After the above mentioned parts replacements it is mostly now barely noticeable at about 70 mph but gets worse up to about 85 mph, from 90+ mph the car is smooth as glass. However, sometimes the vibration comes on strong at 70 mph and sometimes seems more noticeable on sudden highway speed deceleration. Ocassionally(but not always) w/hard braking from highway speeds a moderate to severe vibration is felt and l/r shaking is experienced at the steering wheel and pulsing can be felt at the brake pedal (not like an ABS pulse) but more like a warped rotor pulse. My current theory is that one or both of the steering knuckle/spindle assemblies is defective. My plan is to replace both along with wheel bearings and rotors.

bump.

What makes you conclude that the steering shock is good? Usually they compensate for any slight wear in the front end and dampen any harmonic that wants to occur.

I've got some vibration on the SD on high speed right handers. A well respected alignment shop didn't see anything of consequence and most likely attributed it to the steering shock. I'm going to do some replacement of LCA bushings, subframe bushings, and the two guide rod bushings just to tighten up the front end a bit. I'll also do the steering shock.

These front ends are definitely sensitive to any worn components. They respond with vibration and pulling..........and then you start the chase.

I replaced the steering shock/dampener also.

John

I will torque down to above recommendation.

John

Hunter GXSR 9700 tire balance machine! Go to the Hunter website look/read up on this machine and then type in your zip code to find a shop who has it. It is the best tire balancer out there. It cured my 60+ mph vibration issue that another inferior tire balance machine had caused.

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1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's)
1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD)
2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K
1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K
1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD)
1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE)

609 Certification

Don't make me laugh.
That machine has failed several times, to locate vibration problems on my previous car.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

manny, must not have been rim/tire related or user error, who knows.

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1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's)
1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD)
2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K
1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K
1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD)
1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE)

609 Certification

Turned out the latter.
Any machine is only as good as the Knucklehead that operates it.
Maybe Hunter's next model will be Idiot-proof.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Benzster, your list of fixes sounds just like mine on my '91 300SE.
I found that the only thing that seems to work, is the hit-miss method of VERY carefully mounting and tightening the wheels. I got my 3rd set of wheels awhile back, because I thought the 2nd set must have hubcentric
problems - I could take one off, put it back on, and induce or cure 60 MPH vibration.
Turns out the new ones are the same - if I switch them around I get vibration, then I carefully loosen them, spin them, hold them up while snugging, cross-torque, etc; and the vibration is gone.

It's haunted,
DG