Front Suspension Coil Spring problems of the 1999 Mercedes Benz E Class

I own a 1999 Mercedes Benz e55 amg (w210). After parking the car while grocery shopping, I returned and found the front of the vehicle much lower than normal. Upon further inspection, the driver's side front coil spring and two other parts were found lying under the vehicle. I moved the vehicle slightly to look for additional broken parts and was able to drive home at 15 mph, making only very minor turns (for approximately 1/4 mile). Upon inspection with the wheel off, the upper spring perch had become almost completely separated from the frame rail, severed the abs sensor wire (which caused several warning codes related to the abs, bas and esp braking systems), and had also chipped the inner rim of the wheel and put a very large slash near the bead of the tire. I had just inspected the passenger side the week prior while changing a flat tire, and witnessed no corrosion/rust whatsoever. Vehicle has 90,000 miles, has not been driven in the winter, and the only rust on the vehicle is where the spring perch tore away from the frame rail. The rest of the car, body and undercarriage, is rust free. I contacted my local Mercedes Benz dealer and was offered no help, and strongly discouraged against there being anything that would be done for me, as if they were reading a script relating to the age of the car and location/climate. I immediately contacted mb USA, who is currently investigating the claim.

On April 27, 2008 my car's front left side spring failed when driving back home at a speed of 30 mph. If I had been driving on the freeway, I may have lost control and got into an accident. When the perch ripped off, it sounds like my wheel came off. The steering was jammed and I pulled over to the shoulder and found the spring on the pavement. On may 3, 2008 I drove to nearest auto shop which is about 2 miles away and paid $80 for an initial check up and they found out that they couldn't fix it. The spring perch rusted away and broke. I complained with Mercedes Benz USA and I did not get any answer from them. It's been in my garage for five months.

The contact owns a 1999 Mercedes Benz E Class. On August 27, 2007, while driving 10 mph, the contact heard a loud clunking noise coming from the vehicle. He decelerated and noticed that the driver side hood appeared lower to the ground than the passenger side. He pulled over and noticed a coil spring rolling across the road. The vehicle was towed. He stated that he did not drive over anything that may have caused the failure. The dealer stated that the front spring perch mount was rusted and sheared off of the vehicle. The vehicle is not under warranty and has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 120,000.

Front spring support failed on 2000 mercedes e300 while driving on the highway. The coil spring was ejected and could have punctured the front tire. Cause was determined to be a rust at the weld points for the upper constraint for the front coil spring.

Purchased a used 1999 Mercedes Benz e300 turbo diesel end of Feb 2006 with 92,494 miles from a Jaguar/Land Rover dealer. Traded in a 1985 Mercedes Benz 300 turbo diesel. Brought car to the mechanic that does all my work to have all fluids changed and the car checked. Mechanic called to recommend I not drive the car until the left front spring cap was replaced. I visited the mechanic and viewed the left front spring cap. When the mechanic put his finger on the left front spring cap his finger nail chipped off flakes of metal it was enough to convince me not to drive the car until it was repaired. My concern was that the left front wheel would come off and caused a serious accident including possible deaths if the spring cap parted and the spring came off at highway speeds. I paid my mechanic to install a new front spring cap to prevent a failure. I did not bring this to the Jaguar/Land Rover's dealer or Mercedes Benz's attention because to my knowledge the car was not under warranty and I needed the car repaired so I could use it. Latter review of the Mercedes Benz club of America web site forums showed that this is a common problem with the e300/320 Mercedes Benz as the body is the same (mercedes body designation is w210).