W126 560SEL Rear Suspension noise

[Vladamir]

Hi,

I have a 1986 560SEL with 107,000 miles on the clock which I have recently purchased.

Only one thing bothers me on the car and thats the rear suspension.....ie, when you hit a transverse ridge on the road you get a "thunk" noise which seems out of keeping with the lack of noise from other components within the car.

If you hit undulations on the road, the ride is completely quiet, so in other words its only when you hit ridges or pot-holes that you then get the noise.

My local Mercedes Indi tells me that all 560 SEL's do that .....the question is, is he correct?

Just so that you are aware my car just has the self levelling rear suspension, as used on W124 TE's etc and it does not have the more sophisticated suspension set up that some other 560'S have.

Many thanks.....any views would be greatly received.

[Jim B.]

The 560SEL with the self leveling suspension *IS* the sophisticated system in the car. The 420SEL and 300SE/SEL, had in the USA at least, regular shock absorbers in them.
(The 500SEL was NOT offered in USA after 1985)

In addition to the noise you hear, does your car ride very stiffly or bounce? If so the rear suspension spheres need to be replaced.

These are really fine cars, glad to hear you are keeping one going. In the USA we do NOT generally enjoy the company car benefit like you folks do (and ESPECIALLY with Mercedes as a company car)

[Jim B.]

The Hammer you have listed, in your sig., is it a documented authentic Hammer? What is the provenance on it, and the color? How fast is it? Those are *real* rare, not like just a 500E...

[Vladamir]

First re the 560.....just to clarify re the suspension, in Europe you also have the option of the all round self levelling suspension, not just the rear self levelling suspension as fitted to my 560...having done some searches I understand that the all round self levelling suspension was not an option in the US.

Other than the noise when you hit an expansion joint the car rides smoothly.

Second, re my Hammer, its a genuine AMG factory built W124 that was one of the first Hammers produced and is the only known right hand drive Hammer left....research shows that there were only 2 right hand drive Hammer sedans produced. Mine was the original AMG demonstrator car used in the UK and used to wear the registration " 1 AMG". The car was reviewed by a number of motoring magazines in the mid 80's, and I have copies of these.

I found the car a couple of years ago in a barn with a cracked engine block. The engine rebuild (new block obtained) is virtually complete and is due to be re-installed next week.

Thankfully I managed to track down some of the mechanics who used to work for the AMG agents here in the UK in the 80/early90's who were able to work on the quad cam heads and still had all of the engine data to set up the timing etc etc and also knew some of the little secrets that these engines hold, that are crucial to getting them to run right.

In terms of colour its blue/black metallic with a light blue leather interior and Recarro seats. The car was originally Diamond Blue Metallic but was changed in the late 80's by the AMG Agents as the new owner didn't like Diamond Blue...can't say I blame him. He also had all of the AMG bodykit taken off apart from the Hammer alloys as he wanted a real wolf in sheeps clothing effect.

I have no idea how it drives as I bought it with a bust engine, but by all accounts it shifts.

But if its faster than my 320bhp W124 300E Twin Turbo that I recently sold , which it should be, then I am guaranteed an interesting ride.

Once the car is up and running its going to be road tested by a couple of classic car magazines over here and then put up for sale as I have a number of business projects on the go, but first I'll have to have some fun in her FIRST!

[Jim B.]

I did NOT know about the "all around" self leveling option in the 560 W126 euro vehicles-I think I used to have a UK spec. sales brochure and didn't recall seeing anything about that.

The self leveling spheres in my 560SEC are in good shape and now that you mention it, I believe the rear tires will sometimes go "bump/thump" if they hit a pothole or expansion joint sometimes, I never worried about it. I think your mechanic is probably right about that, by itself it is no something to worry about.

I've seen one of those Hammer sedans in California, (supposedly driven by Hans Werner Aufrecht I was told) and as to the top speed, in good fettle, depending on who you ask, the top end is good for 172-202 mph, though I have my doubts they would go that fast - but who knows?

I've never driven one, but I *do* know they'd be superbly balanced; I tested a 1992 500e for an out of state buyer once and was amazed at it's handling accelleration and braking. You could slice and dice through traffic on the highway at 115 mph with no drama whatsoever. The braking was simply phenomenal from high speeds, even in decreasing radius turns. You could really give the M5 BMWs some trouble with a car like that.

I have a sneaking feeling, that if you've never driven the Hammer yourself yet, you are going to love it more than any Mercedes you've ever driven, and after you have driven it you won't wan't to EVER drive anything else.

Don't forget, except fot the wiring harnesses, (and throttle actuator on some?) the W124 is without doubt the BEST, most reliable and bulletproof modern Benz of them all, a HUGE plus with any car, and at just 45k WITH a new motor you have practically a NEW Hammer. It's scarcely been run in at all!! You need to drive it in France and at the Nurburgring, and the Autobahn before you sell it. You would remember that forever, I'm sure.

The biggest problem with the Hammer is keeping your driver's license, I would think. They are scary fast!

[Jim B.]

From what I have read about the uniquely British phenomenon of "Cherished number plates" I'd imagine "1 AMG" would be worth a bloody fortune, so I hope you still have that plate for the car.

I read that the holder of the plate "MB 1" was offered 30,000 GBP for it, by Mercedes Benz, and HE TURNED THEM DOWN!!!

[Vladamir]

Road and Track test drove a Hammer back in 1987 or so at the Nardo ring in Italy and topped the Hammer out at 186mph on the banked circuit. That was for a 5.6 litre version with the 360bhp engine. Mine is an earlier Euro spec only 5.0 which pumps out 340bhp...the 6.0's pump out 380bhp.

It will be interesting to see how the Hammer compares against a 500E....I had one of those for a couple of years and they are great cars.

In theory the 500E has the better chassis/brakes, whereas the Hammer has more power + a Gleeson rear diff and snappier autobox

In terms of the registration plate, the AMG agents kept that when they sold the car onto the next owner, so sadly thats no longer with the car. I did check recently with the licencing authorities to see what car now has " 1 AMG" and its currently on a Jaguar X Type....don't think you get those in the States, as its Jaguars entry level car and is effectively a Ford Mondeo with different clothes....what a waste!

If I remember correctly the most expensive registration plate sold in the UK was "K1 NGS", ie "KINGS" which sold for in excess of £250,000

In terms of the 560 suspension....I'm sure that Euro spec cars could be ordered with all round hydro pneumatic suspension that automatically dropped the car by "X"cm's once the car passed 85mph and that its this version that can be an absolute nightmare to fix, if ever it goes wrong.

Infact it was the first thing my Mercedes Indi looked for when I took the car into the shop to query the thumping from the rear. He took one look under the hood and said " thank goodness its the cheaper version.....we wouldn't touch the more expensive system!!!"

[A. Rosich]

Originally Posted by Jim B.

I did NOT know about the "all around" self leveling option in the 560 W126 euro vehicles-I think I used to have a UK spec. sales brochure and didn't recall seeing anything about that.

My M.B. (Worldwide market) option lists have three different kinds of suspensions for W126s:

Code 480: Rear Self-Levelling Suspension
Code 482: Stiffer (Sport) springs and shock absorbers, front and rear, in conjuction with code 646
Code 487: Hydro-pneumatic Suspension


Code 480 was standard issue for ALL world markets for the 560SE/SEL/SEC. Very few markets provided code 487 as standard. Initially, Code 487 (Full Hydro-Pneumatic suspension, front and rear) was available only for the 380 and the 500. At the W126 facelift, it was offered in the 300/420/500 and 560.

[david s poole]

vladimir,i think i have fixed that noise in the past by replacing the rubber mounts at the top of the shock[accessible behind the rear seat back].

[johnathan1]

I know this thread is OLD, but I attempted to remove my reclining rear seat back, and could NOT seem to get it out...How is it fastened??

To remove the lower cushion, I removed the two bolts at the front corners (where tabs would be on a non-reclining seat) slid it forward about an inch, and it just lifted right out. As for the seat back, I removed the two bolts at the bottom that mount it to the motor and track, but the seat still wouldn't come out. What am I missing? Seems like it's hung up on the vertical tracks...I tried lifting straight up, but it just stops and won't go any higher. Is there some sort of hidden release that I don't know about? This was with the seat in the fully reclined position, btw.

[jhodg5ck]

bolt in the middle/bottom of the seat

Once you have that bolt up, up and out!

Jonathan

[johnathan1]

Ok, I pulled apart a 560SEL at the junkyard, and I now see how the seat comes out...boy I feel dumb now lol.

Anyway, I have the thumping noise while going over bumps, and I'm not sure what part exactly needs to be replaced. Can someone pick out the part from this diagram??

http://www.performanceproducts4benz.com/diagram.asp?diagram%5Fid=107