Ball Joint Broke in Half (Pictures)

[Andras]

As I was trying to get out of a parking spot when I heard a loud bang. I thought my spring broke, but after looking under the car I discovered my ball joint broke in half. I never heard of nor seen such thing. My 1994 E420 is 15 years old, the wheels are from an E500, and the road was uneven tilting to the right. But still, I don't think this should have happened. I am fortunate it did not occur on the highway, granted there must be much more stress on the steering and suspension while parking. I had the car towed to home, about a mile away. The towing was free, courtesy of GEICO. Now I ordered a spring compressor and I am planning to replace the lower control arm, probably on both sides. I hope the wheel is OK. Sorry for the large photos, but I wanted to show the detail.