Kind of non-sequitir, but perhaps relevant. Many years ago, I used TRW balljoints when rebuilding the front suspension on a 107 chassis. TRW is supposed to be top-tier stuff, right? Made in the good ol' USA and all! Well, what happened to me was probably an isolated incident, but nonetheless....

Probably less than 1,000 miles after installation, I was driving up a canyon road at maybe 40mph. As I turned the wheel into a slight left-hand curve, I felt the steering go a bit soft, and suddenly the right front wheel tried to part ways with the car. Luckily there wasn't too much damage from the wheel tucking itself up under the fender, but that was quite a shock. Even luckier is that it happened there, and not on the freeway at higher speed.

An autopsy revealed that the ball joint casing had split in half around the circumference. I was looking at the lower half of the ball, thinking to myself... "Nobody outside of the factory was ever supposed to see that surface ever again". But there I was, looking at it.

Ever since then, it's MB dealer parts only for front suspension components.

There's an old saying that everything can stop working or even fall off the car, but the two things you NEVER want to fail is your brakes or steering.

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Current rolling stock:
2001 E55 183,000+ Newest member of the fleet.
2002 E320 83,000 - The "cream-puff"!
1992 500E 217,000+
1995 E300D 412,000+
1998 E300D 155,000+
2001 E320 227,000+
2001 E320 Wagon, 177,000+

Prior MBZ’s:
1952 220 Cab A
1966 300SE
1971 280SE
1973 350SLC (euro)
1980 450SLC
1980 450SLC (#2)
1978 450SLC 5.0
1984 300D ~243,000 & fondly remembered
1993 500E - sorely missed.
1975 VW Scirocco w/ slightly de-tuned Super-Vee engine - Sold after 30+ years.