vibration problem

[unsp0ken]

I currently own a '98 C280, stock everything. These last couple of months, my car has been vibrating hard when I hit 60 MPH. At low speeds, i can feel the car shake a little. Me and my dad took it to a local repair shop that specializes in Benzes and at first they thought it was the control arm bushings. After replacing them, the vibration was still there. They inspected the suspension and found no play there. When they inspected the wheels, they said that my tires were bad and I needed new tires and balancing. Therefore, they refunded the money we paid for the replacement of the control arm bushings. Instead of quickly replacing the tires my dad said I should first try to get a balancing on my current tires to see if it helps since I still have a good amount of tread on my tires. When I got the balancing done, much of the vibration went away, but not completely. However, after a weeks, the vibration is going crazy again. I would like to know what you guys think about this before I buy a new set of tires because tires aren't cheap and I don't want to buy a new set if it won't solve anything.

[Denlasoul]

Is it possible your wheels are bent?

Also, do you notice it only at 60mph or it is most obvious at 60mph?

[nokia8860]

Inspect the tyres itself to see if there is any abnormal wear (cupping/feathering/etc...). This could indicate other parts of the suspension that needs to be looked at.

[Andrew C280]

I know what you mean, it only dose it when your useing constant pressure on the gas pedal, and right before it shifts from 2nd to 3rd, mine dose it when i am approaching 60km/h it and it only does it then. When the car is through hard acceleration it dosen't do it, i asked my mechanic its not tire related since i have had 2 different sets on the car and its not from a bent or misballanced tire, my best guess is the drive shaft bearing, my mechananic also said that some times when the transmission is replace as mine was by him sometime the drive shaft is not inserted exactly the same and its off ballence. so far we have not been able to figure out what is causing it, if you get a solution i would like to know.

[Rocky]

If it's only when your moving, i have a couple of theories.

Cheapest prolly is the steering dampener. It's a shock that runs between the front left and right suspension. About $40 cdn for the part, 2 screws I believe to replace...easy DIY'er.

Another theory would be the flex disk? Those are semi common problems and usually causes vibrations when moving. Have that checked out.

Not sure if it could also be the engine mounts and tranny mout. Have those inspected as those mounts have liquid in them to help with cushioning and they leak after time.


Or maybe the weights just flew off the wheel after awhile?

Hope this helps.

[unsp0ken]

thanks for the input guys. one of the reasons why i think that the tires may be the problem is that when i had the tires balanced, the vibration was greatly reduced. i doubt this would happen if it had to do with the drive shaft or suspension. as far as a bent wheel goes, i find this highly unlikely. when i had the tires balanced, i asked them to check the wheel for any damage and nothing was reported. also, i have stock wheels and i keep my tires inflated at the right pressure so it's hard for me to believe that any of my wheels are bent.

as far as how noticing when it vibrates, i can feel it at low speeds. it' just most noticeable at 60-70 mph.

Andrew C280, you are pretty much right on the money. sometimes i try to accelerate hard past 60-70 mph and keep a constant speed of 80 mph because 60-70 is where the most vibration occurs.

ill try and swap my tires and see if it helps but if not, i'll just have to take it to another mechanic and have it checked.

[Andrew C280]

i can almost say that is not tire related but give it a try is very hard to explain when your not driving along with me, i guess i should record the sound or something ?

[unsp0ken]

Originally posted by Andrew C280
i can almost say that is not tire related but give it a try is very hard to explain when your not driving along with me, i guess i should record the sound or something ?

well one thing i forgot to say was that the mechanic showed that a couple of my wheels were bobbing a little which could cause the vibration. also, i can also hear a weird tire noise while driving. but if the problem isnt the tires then it could be any of the problems you guys stated. ill just have to wait and see.

[Andrew C280]

it only does it at one specific point thats why I can say its not tire related, if the tires or rims where bad it would make the noise constantly while driving just not at 60 km/h

[Rocky]

Have you checked the rotors to see if thay are warped?

[Andrew C280]

no i have not but wouldn't that make a vibration all the time my car only dose it at a specific speed and throttel position

[Will_w202]

My 97 230 does the same thing. Feels like it's hopping at low speeds, and the headrests can be seen shaking at speed. My tires are new OEM Contis. Dealer balanced them again after upper control arms, lower ctrl arm bushings, sway bar bushings, and ball joints were replaced for squeaks. It's still exactly the same. I have no idea.

[unsp0ken]

well, i replaced my tires and the vibration was eliminated, for now. i'm gonna get an alignment on thursday and hope that it doesn't come back from then on.

[H3MAN]

hi, when i saw this thread i thought of my car it vibrates anything after 65 all it is is i know whats wrong with my car and im just gona get it fixed its the propshaft as when i go over 65-70 thats it it just starts to vibrate because before it started vibrating in all gears and i got the rear prop balanced but now after 80 its vibrating so on the motorway everytime i car rashes it past me i cant show him my true colours lol i know its funny considering i got a c220 diesel non turbo hehehe anyway im gona get that done soon im gonna get the full prop balanced and i thought maybe u need the same because someone said something about realigning when having a transmission replacement and it affects the whole prop because as we all do here we thrash the car to get past everyone and it puts all the effort on the prop and any sort of misalignment will cause it to inbalance so im getting that done and ill write back on this thread if it solves my problem but the easiest way to check if it is the prop is find a propshaft specialist in your area and theyll tell you just by driving it because its like a vibration that just trust me he will know lol ill write back when i get mine done ok

[unsp0ken]

Originally posted by H3MAN
hi, when i saw this thread i thought of my car it vibrates anything after 65 all it is is i know whats wrong with my car and im just gona get it fixed its the propshaft as when i go over 65-70 thats it it just starts to vibrate because before it started vibrating in all gears and i got the rear prop balanced but now after 80 its vibrating so on the motorway everytime i car rashes it past me i cant show him my true colours lol i know its funny considering i got a c220 diesel non turbo hehehe anyway im gona get that done soon im gonna get the full prop balanced and i thought maybe u need the same because someone said something about realigning when having a transmission replacement and it affects the whole prop because as we all do here we thrash the car to get past everyone and it puts all the effort on the prop and any sort of misalignment will cause it to inbalance so im getting that done and ill write back on this thread if it solves my problem but the easiest way to check if it is the prop is find a propshaft specialist in your area and theyll tell you just by driving it because its like a vibration that just trust me he will know lol ill write back when i get mine done ok

well as posted, i replaced my tires with michelin pilots. so far, the ride has been great. it no longer vibrates violently at any speed.

[H3MAN]

ok just to be on the safe side im going today to go and balance and track my wheels to see if it stops the vibration because its about £25 to do that, lets hope this solves it if not i know that props gonna be costly

[heman]

as u all probably guess the balancing and tracking just damaged me by £25 and i have now sent my car into the garage and the engineer has drove it at 80-90 and feels the vibration he stripped the gearbox right down to the prop and replaced it all tightly screwing everything damn tight and now he said it still remained and today he has taken off the prop and has sent it away to the prop balancing people to get a full balance on the prop and thats gonna cost££££'s not fair but if that dont do it thats it im gonna really be upset anyway if it does, no more beemas getting past me on the motorway
waiting for it to come back then me gonna get the lowerin springs put in dropping it by 40mm haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa then u wach it looking pure cruise mobile like the batmobile u know hahahhaha

[JRE320]

Have them check your upper bolt joint.

[heman]

just got a reply from the engineer the bush in the front part of the propshaft needed replacing and the complete propshaft needed balancing so its all done and he will test drive it tommorow morning so fingers crossed lets see if this does it....ill keep ya all updated when i get it back