ccmbduong

My '96 E320 has 67K miles. Couple days ago I felt funny while driving it, I thought it was me, then at the end of the day, when I came home and drove slowly into my garage then applied a quick brake, the car shaked like a boat on a wave. The next day I drove it to my independent MB to check it out and he found the both of the front spring towers, aka spring perch, are seperating from its chassis, this is a very dangerous situation. I called 1-800-for-merc & discussed the situation, they suggested to tow the car into an MB dealer so that an MB factory rep can come and inspect it. Service advisor from MB dealer called me today and told me that MB will take care of this (without a fight from me), it's obvious that this is a factory defect without a recall (did I say without a fight from me). I casually told the MB service advisor that "I heard this is a common problem with this model year"... he said "it's not common, but it has happened on other MB cars". I asked him what caused it, he said that those areas were not well sealed so not properly protected from water, that's why they're rusted out. I am very upset at MB, this is a very serious manufacturing defect and we could get killed for this.
If you have an '96 E320, you MUST have this check out, if you see rust on top of the spring tower, talk to 1-800-FOR-MERC, it is a known problem because they are fixing my car at their cost... Check it out and save your own life, no wonder why more people are moving to Lexus and Infinity. If you pay more than 50K for a car, you should not put up with this manufacturing problem, especially it's your life
I attached 2 pictures here, hopefully they come out. If not someone would have to tell me how to post these pictures. I want you all to see this so that you know how severe the problem is

FlatlineEF9

What do you mean "felt funny"?

sosh

This is a well known issue. Dealers and MB are very much aware of it. During routine A and B service inspections it should have been picked up and addressed before it got as bad as it is. Perhaps you have been servicing the car with an independent or yourself and did not know about this. This is the risk you incur by not having a dealer perform the normal services/inspections. Believe there is also a TSB on this subject.

ccmbduong

Sosh... What is TSB ???

ccmbduong

(What do you mean "felt funny"?)

Felt like your boat is on a small wave...

sosh

Technical service bulletin

jrmd01

Damn....that's the one thing holding me back from buying a W210. I love the way the car looks and the engine is not that bad.

That freaking rust problem is AWEFUL. Even if it's repaired, it looks it'll be a matter of time before the rust eats away at the metal again. Can you show a picture of it repaired.

If my next car is not a W210, I'm getting a 95 320CE W124. I want the next car I buy to be the LAST car I'll buy in my lifetime. Suggestions? Opinions?

sosh

No, the rust problem is not awful. It occurrs only on a very few cars. If you inspect the one you intend to purchase and there is no rust it is unlikely that you will have a rust problem in the forseeable future. It is a very nice car, I owned one for over 4 years with no major problems before trading it on a W211.

stickygreen

170k miles and absolutely NO rust anywhere on my '97 e320. I have never seen a rusty w210, having previously worked 3-years at a MBZ independent shop during college, and now as an MBZ salesman for the last year. Would all of these rusty cars happen to be located in areas where there is snow & salt on the roads?

The w210 is a very well built car, and if you find one that is in good shape after thorough inspection, I'd say go for it. I am partial to the earlier models ('96-'97) because of the inline-6 engine & heavier steering, but the later v6 motors are also pretty stout. A w124 e320 coupe would also be a great car, but if you can afford it, definitely consider a w124 500e/e500.

Raj
'97 e320 (170k)
'05 e320 cdi (10k)
'85 535i (285k)

ccmbduong

JRMD01 ... Back in 1978, I gave GM a chance (buy American attitude), my '78 MonteCarlo was a piece of junk... Guess what!!! Ford/ Chrysler/ GM lost me as a potential buyer. I switched to Toyota and Nissan, wonderful car and VERY reliable products, my '87 Camry is still running (some body rust) well with 190K miles, the car was never in garage except regular maintenance (timing belt, brake jobs...) . So I thought that I'd give European car a chance, after the experience with '96 E320, I know for sure that my next car WILL be Lexus LS430.... Granted that I've been happy with my MB, granted that MB is fixing my car for free and without a fight from me, this is a safety issue and it should have been a recall on this, Instead, MB tries to play around with our lives and waits on a case-by-case basis.
I have a very low tolerance for low quality products, especially when it comes to the safety for me and my family. After what happened this week, MB lost my trust, and probably will never earn my trust again. Let's hope that MB manufacturing reps hear customers' voice and bring back issue to its headquarter... Did I say that my next car WILL be Lexus LS430 !!!

jrmd01

ccmbduong;

Can't say I blame you for your feelings. I would also feel the same if that happened to my car. Especially if I bought it brand new and it only had 67K miles.

I currently drive an 86 300E and other than paint fading, I don't have rust anywhere near that problem. My mom's car is a 79 240D and that thing is built like a tank.

I'm still hesitant about the W210, but as sosh posted I think this might be islolated to a particular batch of cars. If I decide to get a W210 (vs a 320CE W124) I'll definitely make sure the spring perched is inspected by the MB dealers during a PPI. I'll be buying a used one, so hopefully if there is a rust problem, it'll show itself by now. It's a beautiful car...I just hope the one I buy is perfect.

Worst case scenerio, I'll just stick with my 86 and fix the AC and repaint it. Nothing else is wrong with the car.

OceanView

If you want a car to last that long, I would look into a Toyota/Lexus.

Parts are cheaper if they need replacing.

OceanView

Not all W210 have this problem with rust.
It seems more prevalent in cars from heavy rain/snow area of the US.

lexrex

Buy one of these and it very well could be the last car you buy in your (perhaps much shorter) lifetime!

lexrex

ccmbduong, glad you're okay. Good to hear that Mercedes is paying the bill. I think it's inexecusable for them not to pay...but I've read stories of people who had their spring perches fail and Mercedes wouldn't cover it at all.

Does anyone know if this spring perch issue affects 4Matic versions? I read somewhere once (on a forum, I think) that the 4Matic has a special reinforcement bracket, but I never saw anything official to substantiate that.

aviaator

'98 E320 4Matic Wagon 98,000 mi

FWIW, my car lived in Long Island, NY (lots of salt) for the first 5 years/60,000 mi. of it's life and my spring perches have no rust at all. Previous owner either flushed frequently (doubt it) or it's one that is not affected by this problem...

Off topic: the tie rod ends and lower control arm bushings are a different story -- the car sounds like a Yugo driving on a *smooth* gravel road from all the clunking/rattling in the front suspension!

ccmbduong

Lexrex... Thanks. Perhaps I scared them off when I took pictures with my digital camera for "future reference"... I will take pictures again after they fix them and post them again so that we all can learn from each others.

MB Enthusiast

I had the same problem on my 1997 E320 and I paid for all the repairs myself

I had to have the metal cut out patched and then rewelded

Seem like I was one of many at the repair shop that specializes in Mercedes body work

ccmbduong

MB Enthusiast... How much did you pay for the repair? I hope they did on both right/left spring perches on you car. Have you inspected your car lately to see any sign of reoccurence?
They told me that they will tow my car to a closeby body shop, specialize in MB body, after done, it will be back to the MB dealer for aligment before they can release it. They told me that the problem won't happen again (they did not say "I guarranty that It won't happen again"... So I will take pictures again for "future references"

rob_fed

Per the pics from this thread and the others that have posted previously. It seem that you can see if this problem going to affect your car by simply jacking or raising the front end up. You may not even have to take the front wheels off, but it might make you feel better. If you shine a bright light into the areas of the top spring perch, you can see if water has migrated behind the undercoating or rubbery finish. I looked at mine after seeing the previous pics and could not see any of this corrosion in process. I even took a large screwdrive and scraped the areas around the perch to see if the coating had loosened. None of this was perceived on my '99 E320 with 80K miles.

Actually, there is no rust at all. I am sure if I lived where they spread salt on the ground in the winter, this would be more apparent. I just have to contend with rainy weather in California.

Craig Ewing

Thank you for the excellent post and pictures, I just got out from under our new 99 E 320 and don't see any signs of corrosion at the Spring Perches which surprises me because our car's service history shows it has been back east and its OEM chrome wheels are corroded around the center caps.

Is your right upper ball joint boot broken?

Regards, Craig

gstigler

In the past six months my 97 E420 has taken a turn for the worse;

1. At first it was just the rust on the trunk lock coming back for the second time.
2. Then I noticed some bubbling on the passenger side rear wheel well
3. After that is was between the bumper and the rear fender on the
4. About a month later bubbling appeared on the rear door at the edge of the bumper moulding.
5. Then the front door.
6. I check the spring towers and they have bubbling rust around them.

I wash my car every two weeks and have 108k miles but I have definately lost confidence. I drove a Mercury Sable up to 150k miles with absolutely zero rust.

zstig

While doing my brakes on my '96, I had noticed the same thing on the left side. Spring tower was more than 50% rusted and torn off. Probably another 100 miles would have left me looking for a tow on the side of the road. About $300 to fix at an indie mechanic. The other looks ok, but the mech told me to keep an eye on it. 10 years old- where's the famous [tarnished/rusting] Mercedes reliability? Oh, they shipped it to Japan.

gstigler

Hey zstig, according to ccmbduong you could have had Mercedes pay for that repair. You might want to call the 800 number and seek reimbursement.

ccmbduong

OK Gentlemen, I got my car back today after 2.5 weeks. Attached are pictures of new spring perches, including the bill from MB dealer which described what they did to my car (Car was at MB body shop to fix problems, then back to MB dealer for alignment)
A few comments (1) MB dealer called and told me that my car was done, however, the body shop, while working on my car, found that the right bearing mount or engine mount was not in the best condition so they fixed it at $350 at my cost- I told them that I did not authorize this so it's not my responsibilty to pay for it (2) when I came to pick up my car, I asked them to raise my car so that I can take pictures for "future" reference with MB, they tried to show me about the "mount", not sure if they did anything, I told them that I am not responsible for something that was not authorized by me... Those suckers try to get some money out of me, but I am much smarter than they think... after that they don't mention it again, nor tried to convince me that what the body shop did, maybe because they had no proof to show me, if they had proof, I would not pay anyway (3) the total bill was $2250, of which I paid zero. This is the bill they will send to MB company. I did ask them for a copy of that bill but they refused to give it to me because "you did not have to pay for it"... something fishy about how they handle the bill... No wonder why dealers are not "loved" by anyone.
Hope that you can learn something from my experience. Car is back to normal again,. They said that the problem should not re-occure again... Will see, I will keep my eyes on this. Hope that you will do yours