spring perch failure @ 75mph on Mass Turnpike - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

gmercoleza · #1 10-29-2008, 09:46 AM

Please tell us exactly how it felt when that occurred. I've always wondered what it would be like if my spring perch (or ball joint or tire for that matter) blew up at 75mph. Did you lose control of the car? How quickly did you make it to the shoulder? Any violent shaking of the wheel?

92497pmu · #2 10-29-2008, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmercoleza

Please tell us exactly how it felt when that occurred. I've always wondered what it would be like if my spring perch (or ball joint or tire for that matter) blew up at 75mph. Did you lose control of the car? How quickly did you make it to the shoulder? Any violent shaking of the wheel?

I was driving in the left lane in a 3 wide stretch of Rt 90. The perch let go with a very loud bang, then a pronounced bump (presumably as the rear tire drove over the spring assembly. The car suddenly dropped hard on the front right bump stops. Lots of warning lights - BAS, ASR, etc.

I thought I blew a tire or hit some road damage. Surprisingly, just a little swerve in the left lane and I made it to the right shoulder after a 1/4 mile. At this point I was pretty sure it was a perch or something worse because there was no tire smoke, burning or noise.

Kicked the tires & drove it 20 miles home. (My indy mechanic frowned when I told him this.) Put it up on jacks & found no spring at all & some disconnected sensor wires. Drove it 10 miles to the shop. Waiting.

Still no word from the dealer he contacted. I guess that's my next move. Any recommedations for service in Springfield, MA or Hartford, CT area? I'm from Albany NY but this happened near where I grew up in central/western Massachusetts.

Overall I like the car, but this is making me less happy with the product and the brand. My brother had a 1985 300d coupe with 279k miles which led me to buy the newer model. His was structurally perfect. The doors closed with an acoustic that was admirable.

I feel cheated.

92497pmu · #3 10-29-2008, 12:28 PM

... oh, one more thing not shown in the previous picture.

I'm not sure how any lay person could actually check or inspect this. In the next photo is the brand new disc brakes I put on just 2 days prior.

I was just in this wheelwell on Saturday. Failure on Monday.

Obviously there's a little spot rust. How could anyone actually check this? Pry on it? What if a pre-loaded automotive spring explodes out of the wheelwell and hits you or someone else nearby. Then you can legitimately say "I might have been killed"

Still disappointed.

lkchris · #4 10-29-2008, 02:00 PM

Nah, Mercedes expect its cars to be inspected on occasion.

You are living the "pay me now or pay me later" example, i.e. you've gotten what you didn't pay for.

Don't expect to be rewarded for your negligence. "Entitlement" doesn't apply.

amg280 · #5 10-29-2008, 02:48 PM

Thats crap! I would be disappointed too! Especially when MB looks the other way, like they do all too often on the W210's.

Figuero · #6 11-11-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkchris

Nah, Mercedes expect its cars to be inspected on occasion.

You are living the "pay me now or pay me later" example, i.e. you've gotten what you didn't pay for.

Don't expect to be rewarded for your negligence. "Entitlement" doesn't apply.

You are kidding right? I used to have a 1997 E420 that I always had serviced at the dealer. All recommended service. Not once did they ever mention this problem, nor did they list it in the "inspections performed" and I owned the car from the summer of 1996 until August 2008. By the way, the only reason I let it go was because it was a rust bucket, so who knows what disaster was waiting in the wings.

To those like me that subscribe to "Mercedes is one of the safest cars on the planet" ...... would you add... "even if the front suspension collapses on you at 70mph."

Has Mercedes actively notified the public of this issue? How about the hundreds of major independent garages? Have they ever even acknowledged this as a design/manufacturing defect? Did they ever publicly document the need for this inspection and make it available to current owners of the car?

This smacks of the Pinto syndrome. $ vs. Lives. Negligence is proved in the courts and if I were on the jury, I could be easily swayed to the plantiff on this one..and trust me, I'm no bleeding heart liberal.

Southern · #7 10-29-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 92497pmu

... oh, one more thing not shown in the previous picture.

I'm not sure how any lay person could actually check or inspect this. In the next photo is the brand new disc brakes I put on just 2 days prior.

I was just in this wheelwell on Saturday. Failure on Monday.

Obviously there's a little spot rust. How could anyone actually check this? Pry on it? What if a pre-loaded automotive spring explodes out of the wheelwell and hits you or someone else nearby. Then you can legitimately say "I might have been killed"

Still disappointed.

Refer to post #12: w210 front spring replacement

Only one side of mine showed signs before it failed. The dealer replaced both sides at 50% cost to me.

Glad to hear that you didn't get hurt.

whunter · #8 10-30-2008, 02:19 AM

Here are all of the major threads on this topic, linked through this one.

W210 DANGEROUS FLAW please read
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=231861

Have a great day.