E430 4Matic Front Shock Siezing
 

Bought a 2000 E430 4Matic Jan 04. Until today no major problems. Over the weekend the front end started creaking, especially audible at low speed. With the wife's help we isolated to the front right wheel - sounded like from the shock.

Called my shop who thought maybe a ball joint but said to drop by and let them check it. In summary, they listened to the nasty sound and after some time isolated the noise to a front right shock. They claimed to have NEVER had to replace a front shock on a 430 4matic. Indeed they did not even have the spring compressor required to do the job.

Note: This is a non-standard shock due to the 4matic drive linkage. It has the spring around the shock, like a McPherson strut and is mounted to a U-shaped bracket on the bottom, through which goes the drive axle. The list is $204 from Mercedes!

I can deal with replacing the shock but am very concerned that nobody I speak with has ever replaced one of these muck less has an idea how it could have been damaged. Makes me wonder.

Is there any experience out there with this type of shock failure, particularly on the 210 4Matics? Most shock failures in my experience are leaky seals with age.

Mark

Yes, strange indeed. I would like to hear the official diagnosis when it is removed. I have a shock fetish uc.
Did you spray it with WD-40 just to see if you could make it go away? Sometimes that will either fix or help locate a problem.