I recently completed a road trip in which the roads were just terrible on my car I have a 2000 E430 and on my way home I noticed the alignment was terrible and I got a warning light advising me to get to a shop as soon as possible due to the malfunction of the ESP and ABS. I was blessed to return home safely but while moving the car into the garage I heard a pop the right front end dropped. I looked under the car and noticed that the metal rod that normally fits into the wheel was now on the ground. If this is the front end stabilizer bar how much is the part and is this an easy diy project or does it need to be towed into a tire and wheel shop. I know that I will require an alignment after this.

Secondly could this have been caused by pot holes

novicewkendmechanic

Exactly what "metal rod" is there that fits into the wheel?

If it dropped as you described, that's more likely to be a failed spring perch, a known weak point on the W210.

And yes, while the failure would have happened anyway, the potholes likely exacerbated the issue and accelerated the failure.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but from your description it doesn't sound as though you may really be competent to diagnose this, and it is most likely not safe to drive.

Assuming it's the perch, it's not a DIY item anyway. A body shop is likely to be the most cost-effective option. The old one is cut out and the new one is installed with some seriously heavy duty rivets.

Good luck.

Thanks for your insight and no I did not take it the wrong way. I appreciate any assistance I can get. The car is not be driven and will have to towed to the local body shop. As far as being cost effective what type of range of cost are we talking about.

Thanks

Assuming it's not a spring perch - (Note: By MY2000 MB was not covering the spring perch with mastic for corrosion protection which was the primary source of the failure (ie moisture under the mastic))

I would suggest that you raise the car with the jack and remove the right front wheel. Note - Don't get under the car while it's on a jack. Take and post a couple of pictures of the part that fell off and the area you are referring to. In general, a body shop specializes in dings and dents and not suspension repairs. It's likely they would inspect and 'farm it out' to a repair shop and add on cost for their trouble. At this point there is simply not enough information to determine the exact problem let alone the costs.

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Good luck.






1998 E320 Wagon