Whats causing steering to feel loose and goopy: E500
 

Hi,
The steering on my E500 (ex Starmark, 57K miles) feels goopy, almost loose and disconnected to the wheels. Needless to say, steering response has declined.
I began to notice this effect several weeks ago and it has become more prominent as of late. Shocks are new, springs are good. Control arm bushings are new. No vibration at 65-70mph. Have not looked under the car yet, but figured I would bounce it off some of the experts here to narrow possible lines of enquiry.
My instinct says it might be the steering damper. What do you guys think?
Thanks in advance
farrukh

Greetings, I'd suggest having the dealer/ expert 500e technician inspect and report on condition of:

>steering linkage
>steering box components: hard and soft components including mounts (and the linkage I believe is adjustable to a degree- to tighten it up)
>steering shock
>comprehensive front chassis & suspension inspection: bushings, arms, etc.
>wheel bushings

They'll undoubtly be able to source the culprit(s)- - the E500 W124 platform is very very robust and should feel tight, responsive, and a bit heavy (as you know).

...also, if you have +1 or +2 wheel set-up, these may have pre-maturely worn some other suspension/chassis bushings besides the control arm bushings


seems like at 57K on the odo the shocks (front?) and control arm bushings wore somewhat prematurely? How did the car feel before these items were r/r'd?

good luck and let us know what turns out

-fad