CLS Suspension squeak

[James Hay]

J4CKO said:

Was about ten I think, 120 ish k, the guy swaggered in and sort of looked at me like what does this big girls blouse think he is doing, will have it off in 30 seconds.

Took him an hour, veins on his forehead looking fit to pop, a hydraulic truck jack and a three metre bar and when it finally moved it went with a hell of a crack and he nearly smashed the bodywork, sixty quid well spent.

Hahaa well worth the £60 just to see him struggle then!

[James Hay]

Stegel said:

I’ve pressed in new ball joints on our 211 and 219 5 times now, vindicating the purchase of a Laser tool kit (and highlighting the poor quality of Febi ball joints - Lemforder seem to be fit and forget by comparison). It’s indicated as a “don’t” in the instructions I’m sure, but an impact wrench makes short work of pressing them out and in - the bang and the whole lot coming to pieces on disassembly makes me jump every time, but it’s never been a struggle (both cars are well into 6 figure mileages now).

Are Febi factory fit or you changed the originals to Febi initially? I went with a pair of Lemforder joints as well. It seems that for both BMW and Mercedes-Benz Lemforder and Meyle/Meyle HD are the highest regarded for suspension components.

[Stegel]

James Hay said:

Stegel said:

I’ve pressed in new ball joints on our 211 and 219 5 times now, vindicating the purchase of a Laser tool kit (and highlighting the poor quality of Febi ball joints - Lemforder seem to be fit and forget by comparison). It’s indicated as a “don’t” in the instructions I’m sure, but an impact wrench makes short work of pressing them out and in - the bang and the whole lot coming to pieces on disassembly makes me jump every time, but it’s never been a struggle (both cars are well into 6 figure mileages now).

Are Febi factory fit or you changed the originals to Febi initially? I went with a pair of Lemforder joints as well. It seems that for both BMW and Mercedes-Benz Lemforder and Meyle/Meyle HD are the highest regarded for suspension components.

Both cars had both ball joints replaced by MB dealers well before 100k miles and before I started spannering myself again. I naively replaced both ball joints, which displayed remarkable play when removed, with Febi parts at 116k ish on the CLS, one of which gave up by 130k. There’s no visible difference Febi vs Lemforder, but performance in service says otherwise! The whole MB / Lemforder / TRW / Meyle / Febi / Vaico etc. minefield is ever changing and you pays your money .....