Hi all,
Just a quick question regarding the wheel bearings on my 1983 300D. I have this funny droning noise coming from the front of my car (I think) and it only varies with car speed, not engine speed. It's not a harsh metal on metal sound, it's sort of muted. It changes just a little bit when I tap the brakes which made me believe it was the bearings. My question is: have any of you ever had to replace the bearings, and if so, what was the mileage on the car when you did it? I've decided that my noise is either the bearings or a bad driveshaft support. Has anyone ever had to replace the driveshaft supports? Thanks for the advice. I'd really like to fix this thing soon because the noise has gotten louder in the past few weeks.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

A muffled roaring-type sound that changes with road speed: I'd bet a nickel on front wheel bearings. I had mine replaced at about 225,000 miles, but they may or may not have been replaced somewhere earlier in the car's life. See if you can make the noise change or stop with the following test: while driving (medium-slow speed), jiggle the wheel enough to make the car wiggle on the road. If the noise changes, it's the wheel bearings. If the noise doesn't change, then it might still be the wheel bearings.

They're a pretty easy thing to change if you can jack the car up and don't mind getting greasy. Having them done at a shop or dealer will probably be a few hundred bucks.

- Nathan
'83 240D, 255k miles
'00 New Beetle TDI, 27k miles

I replaced them in my 300D at around 220k just because I had the rotors/hubs off. Got the brgs from my local bearing distributor. They were Timken brgs #LM48548 and #M12649 - one on each side. Under $12 for both of them. The Timken brg. number was stamped on them. They took a little doing to get the adjustment correct.

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Jim

I tried the test where I steer ponderously left to right back and forth and so on to see if weight distribution changed the sound, and it didn't. That is what is troubling me about these bearings. I had a volvo with bearings that went bad and they'd make noise depending on which way the car was turning. I guess maybe because the design is different in the mercedes, the symtoms could be different. I'm running to my local mercedes dealer to pick up two wheel bearing kits. I figure I should just change them and if it doesn't fix my problem, it'll atleast rule it out.

Someone spoke of a problem adjusting them? How long did it take to figure out? and also, how long did this whole job take everyone?

Thanks a lot!

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

I had a noise I thought was the front wheel bearings. I replaced them but it didn't make any difference. I finally determined that the noise was in the driveshaft (68 220D) but its been so long ago, I can't remember what I fixed in the driveshaft to make the noise go away.
P E H

Could it possibly have been a driveshaft support or mounting? That's what someone once suggested my problem was. Do you remember if what you had to fix was difficult? Thanks

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

I do remember I replaced the center mount. That made the driveshaft vibrate worse than ever. Since I had another complete driveshaft in the garage, I replaced the entire drive shaft with the extra one and that solved the problem. The original driveshaft had a bad universal joint.

It was strange though, that replacing the mount made the problem worse.

I had a 240D that had the center driveshaft mount go bad in TN. I fixed it temporarily by putting clothespin halfs thru the rubber in the mount. The clothspins held the drive shaft in the center of the mount. That got me home, about 1000 miles, with no vibrations or problems. The guy I was visiting in TN was a mechanical engineer and thought I was crazy but the clothespin fix worked (they were his clothespins). We called that field expedients when I was in the Army.

P E H