W210 broken front spring perch
 

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W210 DANGEROUS FLAW please read (crosslinked in post #1 to all on topic data)
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=147997
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My '97 E420 just had a failure that seems really bizarre. Front right side spring perch broke away from the body. This car has 87K miles and has not been hit, nor have I been off-roading or through more than the usual Boston area potholes. There's no rust. Anybody have experience with this? Any prayer of getting MB to warranty it?

Thanks!

Jerry Murphy

This problem is not unheard of.
If M-B does not do anything for you, the cure, I believe is to re-attach it ( weld ) & while you're at it, have some additional gussets welded on.
You may also want to beef up the other side as well.
Maybe the robot spotwelder had a bad day when your car was produced. ;)

I've seen it two or three times also, usually either an E420 or E300 Diesel (both 210 chassis like yours).
Good luck on the warranty request, probably no chance.

Gilly

We have fixed a number of these. Just seems to be a part of the overall cheapening on the production line. This should not be happening to any car with that number of miles, let alone a Benz.:rolleyes:

PJG:
Have you also noticed it seems to be V8's and Diesels having this problems on the 210's? Also front wheel bearing seizing and ruining the hub and spindle.

Gilly

Seems that the engineering didn't keep up with the weight of the vehicle. You are right that diesels are the usual suspect.

On the bearings I saw all Diesels. On the spring mount I saw a couple E420's and an E300D

Gilly

Repairs covered by MB. Hooray!
 

Thanks to MB for standing behind this car. I had it towed to the nearest MB dealership, Foreign Motors West, in Natick, MA.

The dealer's MB rep authorized the repair at no cost to me "as a courtesy" despite the car being out of warranty because of the low miles (85K).

I don't care what they call it, I'm just glad they fixed it and installed new spring perches on both sides, reinforced with backing plates.

First response from the MB body shop person was that since I didn't buy the car through their dealership, they wouldn't talk to me about warranty service, instead giving me an 800 number for MB service that didn't work. I reached a person at MBUSA who told me that the local dealer's MB person was authorized to commit MB to warranty work at his own discretion, regardless of where the customer bought it. He also gave me the name of that person at Foreign Motors West. By the time I reached him, I'd already received another call from the body shop telling me it would be fixed at no cost to me.

Moral of the story: If you get a no when you think you should get a yes, keep trying.

Jerry Murphy
Boston, MA

That nice to hear that everything was taken care of.

But here is a question to the professional mechanics. Even though this was repaired, is the car safe? If that was me, I'd probably sell the car now.

Man, what kind of workmanship is going into Mercedes nowadays? I can understand a loose molding or something minor, but a broken spring perch?! I'm surprised MB has not recalled the cars. I'm even more surprised no one had died yet....setting up a lawsuit.

Comment anyone?