I was driving in the rain and the wheel slipped from my hands and i lost control of my 99c230 kompressor. i hit a curb that was about 5 inches high really hard. now my wheel is pushed back towards the rain guard about an inch. its the only wheel thats out of place. when i make a right turn is scrapes against the rain guard. i can drive it fine but when i release the wheel my car slowly starts going right. can anyone tell me what exactly is wrong with my car and about how much it will be to fix. im desperate...i broke my baby!

You have bent something, either a suspension component or the frame of the car or both. You might also have broken something.

There's a very strong chance that something serious is damaged and the car certainly is not safe to drive in it's present condition.

If you are crazy enough to drive it again, drive to your dealer or your favourite mechanic and get them to check it out. I would park it up and get it towed, instead.

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Cheers, Neil

ive already driven it and nothing has happened. my only problem is i dont have the money to fix it right now. id have to wait two weeks.

I would suggest taking it to an alignment shop and have them put it on the machine and try to figure out how bad the damage is. They should be able to advise you whether it is safe to continue driving or not. It will probably start eating front tires if you do keep driving it. Keep a close eye on the tire wear accross the tire.

From here it does not sound good. Upper/lower control arms come to mind if you are lucky, frame issues come to mind if you are not. I would call my insurance company (if you carry full coverage) to get them involved. If it is frame damage you want to try to get them to cover it.

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Jim

have you checked with your insurance company? If your car is covered for accidents (comprehensive) then it should only cost you your deductible.

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Dan

1986 560SL (52.5k miles) sold 11/24/04

1987 560sl (55.6k miles)

May be covered under a collision policy. Making a claim on it would depend on your deductible.

You may make things even worse by driving it, I'd stop driving it. You could have a sudden failure and cause an accident, doing even MORE damage (or worse).

I don't think anyone here is going to LOAN you the money.

STOP fooling around with it, at the very least you're going to ruin a 100+ dollar tire. False economy to keep driving it.

Gilly

My guess is that the lower conrol arm (approx $394) will need to be replaced. Probably not that much else. How does the wheel look? did the tire sidewall take most of the impact?
Actually these kind of cars are designed to minimize damage from sliding into curbs.

You can open the hood and notice how the concentric mounting of the shock tower compare to the other side.

Good luck, nice car.

the tire is fine right now...its just pushed back about an inch. i hit the curb headon. theres no damage on the tire its not close enough to the rainguard to loose tread...if so i can fix it in about two weeks....i dont mind replacing the tire. i would definitly rather not go through insurance. problem is...i dont live with my parents anymore but they are still paying for insurance. i dont want to tell them, i want to pay for it myself. im just hoping the damage doesnt cost more than $1,500. feedback anyone?

how much would it cost to fix the frame (worst case scenario)?

Worst case scenario? Mmm, $2000-$4000 dollars, but I'm not a body specialist. I'm usually pretty accurate on stuff like this though. But again, this is if things have to be cut off and welded in, heavy stuff like that. Probably will be less than your $1500, but not by much, probably need some suspension work done. I STILL say you shouldn't drive it though, you can still be wearing out that tire if the alignment is off, don't kid yourself. And something may be cracked and ready to fail, and if that happens you can lose control of the car.

Gilly

That is "wise counsel".

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Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Y'know what the BEST course of action would be?

Take it to a body shop or maybe even an MB dealer (doesn't sound like it will need a bodyshop to me, at least not if the subframe is straight) and ask for an estimate. Then they will know if parts need to be ordered, and they can let you know if it's at least "safe" to drive, even though I am sure it should be parked until it's fixed. I'd be surprised if they would charge for the estimate.

Gilly