Vibration at 55mph-60mph

20935 Views 15 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Parkervess, Jul 30, 2005

osiris667

Discussion Starter · Jan 7, 2003

:?
I have a 97 E420, and whenever i approach 55 mph, i notice a slight vibration in the steering wheel, i assume transmitted from the drivetrain or tires. (Perhaps balancing) This only occurs between 55mph and 60mph, any faster or slower and this vibration is not detected.

Has anyone noticed this before, or is this perhaps a tire balancing issue ?

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Bigbenzman

· #2 · Jan 8, 2003

Welcome to Benzforum. Normally problems of this type are related to either balancing issues or tires out of round. I would first try having the tires balanced and rotated(i.e. front to the rear, and rear to the front). You might also check the air pressure in each tire, this might cause this problem also, and would be an inexpensive fix.

Ken

Mark08859

· #3 · Jan 8, 2003

Bigbenzman said:
Welcome to Benzforum. Normally problems of this type are related to either balancing issues or tires out of round. I would first try having the tires balanced and rotated(i.e. front to the rear, and rear to the front). You might also check the air pressure in each tire, this might cause this problem also, and would be an inexpensive fix.

Ken

Agreed. Seems like good advice. Always check for the inexpensive solutions first.

E320 2000 Opale

· #4 · Jan 15, 2003

My E320 (an many others) has a vibration problem that occur on certains circonstances and speeds (70 mph on a brand-new pavement, for exemple); it is mostly an periodic ocscillation that we feel in the seats, in the steering, on the transmission stick; it souds like "wroummm....wroummmm....wroummmm.... It is likely cause by some rubber joints on the driving shaft. I'v try some other cars and they all can produce that vibration.

craniusmaximus

· #5 · Jan 19, 2003

E320 2000 Opale said:
My E320 (an many others) has a vibration problem that occur on certains circonstances and speeds (70 mph on a brand-new pavement, for exemple); it is mostly an periodic ocscillation that we feel in the seats, in the steering, on the transmission stick; it souds like "wroummm....wroummmm....wroummmm.... It is likely cause by some rubber joints on the driving shaft. I'v try some other cars and they all can produce that vibration.

I noticed a similar or maybe the same sound at low speed on a 1998 E320 wagon, which seemed to be coming from the dash when cold (10 degrees F or less). I had the car as a loaner, other than that I liked it.

E320 2000 Opale

· #6 · Jan 23, 2003

First, make sure you have all your wheels balanced and the car alignment. After that if it continues I would bet that it is a constitutional problem.

Superschnitter

· #7 · Feb 4, 2003

:idea:

You dirve too slow. It's an german car whitch is build for high speed.
That's the problem 8)

gilford1

· #8 · Mar 14, 2003

2000 E320 oscillating vibration problem

E320 2000 Opale said:
My E320 (an many others) has a vibration problem that occur on certains circonstances and speeds (70 mph on a brand-new pavement, for exemple); it is mostly an periodic ocscillation that we feel in the seats, in the steering, on the transmission stick; it souds like "wroummm....wroummmm....wroummmm.... It is likely cause by some rubber joints on the driving shaft. I'v try some other cars and they all can produce that vibration.

reply= I just purchased a used 200 Eclass sedan which also has the same problem with a oscillating vibration starting primarily at 45 mph and also predominately @ 55 to 60 mph. The sound is the same as described... wroummmmm....wroummmmm, etc and is very irritating. My dealer has
changed out motor and tranny mounts and is going to change out the drive shaft next week to see if we can alleviate the vibration. Got any other suggestions????

fyu

· #9 · Mar 19, 2003

osiris667 said:
:?
I have a 97 E420, and whenever i approach 55 mph, i notice a slight vibration in the steering wheel, i assume transmitted from the drivetrain or tires. (Perhaps balancing) This only occurs between 55mph and 60mph, any faster or slower and this vibration is not detected.

Has anyone noticed this before, or is this perhaps a tire balancing issue ?

I have the exact same problem on my 97 E320. Both the dealer and tire shop think it is due to wheel balance. They have rotated and balanced multiple times. Also had alignment done. The problem persists.

E320 2000 Opale

· #10 · Jul 4, 2003

Has gilford1 found relief for his problem?

azmatkhan

· #11 · Jul 11, 2003

Vibration issues on a 400E

I have been struggling with a vibration issue with my 400E. Two new tires and all 4 balancing later it was still happening and the local "tire specliast" were pointing to
ball joints, tie rod ends and strut replacements.... On a hunch I checked tire pressure...I had told them to inflate to 29psi cold per MB specs....Turns out tire pressure was 36psi cold. Once I deflated to 29psi cold the problem has significantly reduced (-75%) so now I am zeroing in on the older two tires (few thousand miles) and then the rims. Will also go to a different place to get them re-balanced to take out the balancing machine factor.
I recommend focusing on all the cheapest solutions first...which is good advice I have seen on one of these MB forums.

uumode

· #12 · Aug 31, 2003

I also had a 55mph - 60mph vibration problem and had the wheels rebalanced and it solved the problem.

Some fitters cannot precision balance the wheels due to the equipment used, there is a place I used local to me that could not balance the wheels properly after 3 attempts! - made harder for them as I like the weights stuck on the inside of the alloy wheel rim so they are not visible. (maybe their equipment is not set up for inner wheel balancing)

My prefered tyre people are a 25 mile drive away - however their balancing equipment is ace.

'poor rubber' is harder to balance too.

If finding a better balancer and using quality rubber doesn't solve the problem then at least that eliminates that from the equation pointing to a (perhaps more serious) underlying problem.

gilford

· #13 · Jan 1, 2004

Reply to "E320 2000 OPALE",

Sorry, have not checked this forum for a while since I have solved the oscillating problem on my car.

First, I must give the service manager @ the Mercedes Benz dealership in my city all the credit. He was persistent in replacing parts and keeping
his nose to the grind in this effort. Inherently, this seems to be a common problem with the E Class in our model.

We replaced motor mounts, transmission mounts, adjusted the hangers on the exhaust system but last, we replaced the driveshaft and this seemed to correct the problem. It would have been somewhat different if this was a problem when accelerating only but this vibration occurred also when going downhill without accelerating. We knew that there was something, mechanically, which was doing this.

Hope your efforts bring the same results. My car is virtually vibration free today as a result of good service and persistence. When you pay thiskind of money for an automobile, you do not expect these kind of problems. Thanks to Chris, this did not cost me a penny out of my pocket
and the experience was good all the way through this problem.

Gilford1

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Andrew

· #14 · Jan 1, 2004

Check your drive shaft I have this same problem with my C280 its between 1-2 gear shift at about 50-60, my car has two drive shafts so I have been told and there is a bearing that they sit in some times that is what is gone, I have not looked at my car yet, also the CV joints on the driveshaft or UV Joints might need to be replaced.
Thats what my mechanic told me

E320 2000 Opale

· #15 · Apr 13, 2004

Reply to "gilford",

I have not checked this forum either for a while and I want to thank you for your feedback on your problem. My dealer never accepted to try changing the drive shaft.

Parkervess

· #16 · Jul 30, 2005

Re:

i had the same problem in my park avenue and i found out that the tires had flat spots on them from someone locking up the brakes, funny though because the car has ABS.

[email protected]

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