Hydroplaning W124
 

I have a '93 300E with nearly 160,000 miles, and after driving through a couple of nasty rainstorms in the past week I'm really not enjoying how the car reacts to water on the roadways. Basically, if there's any standing water on the road the car feels like it's severely hydroplaning -- today it felt like it was going to go sideways off the road a couple times, and I wasn't even going very fast.

At first I thought it might just be the tires, but the car has been like this with three different sets of tires. I'm also guessing that this isn't a common W124 issue, which leads me to think maybe something in my suspension is out of kilter.

Other than new Bilsteins at approximately 90,000 miles and one new tie rod at about 110,000 the suspension hasn't been touched. Is there anything in the suspension that would cause this sort of behavior?

Thanks,
Mike

Sounds dangerous. No, definitely not normal. My '92 300E is dead solid in heavy rain.

Sure at that mileage it could be suspension related. Things do wear out. Have ball joints, tie rods, steering shock, and rear suspension links checked by someone that knows what they are doing.

I had an issue on my former '90 300E that was due to the car not being aligned properly. Dangerous handling in sweeping curves.

Have an alignment done at the Dealer, not at a generalized alignment place.
They need to have and use a spreader bar to get is right.

You said three sets of tires. Tires is a pretty broad term. Hopefully, they are a good brand in the correct size and rating (at least H) and not cheapo's. Cheapo's could do that.

Steve

My E300D hydroplanes as well, but there's two things here worth mentioning - (1) I'm used to driving suburbans and pickups and they rarely hydroplane because of the weight, and (2) my tires are starting to get a little thin.

I'm used to never hydroplaning, but with a lighter car with smaller tires, I now do it more often. Not dangerously, but noticeably. My solution is to get used to it (to some degree) and get new tires.

At 13 years and 160k miles your car is right smack in the phase for needing a thorough suspension inspection, if not overhaul. Pay particular attention to the links and bushings in the rear suspension. They can give all sorts of unintentional steering movements under load. Mercedes uses a lot of rubber in its suspension designs, which makes for a great ride when new, but can lead to a lot of slop when they get old and dry.

Also, buy good rain tires. Some are definitely better in the wet than others.

FWIW, my 300E performs well in the rain. I've had it at highway speeds in absolute downpours, and it handles pretty well, and it's an early (lighter) model.

Thanks for the reponses, everyone. I've been meaning to schedule the car in to have all the suspension stuff inspected anyway; now I'll definitely make the call.

As for tires, the three sets were two good ones (Michelins and the Pirelli P-Zero Neros currently on the car) and one set of cheapies (Kumhos that I absolutely hated and we're on there long).

I'll have the car checked out. Thanks again for your help.

-Mike

I'm surprised that you hated the Kumhos. I replaced my still serviceable Michelins on the 94 E30 with Kumho Ecsta HP4 716. Have driven 26,000 miles without a complaint. In fact they are great in the rain and snow. Much better traction than the Michelin tires, better ride, and less noise.
regards,
Mark