Mercedes-Benz: Horrible 500SE handl;ing

Hi all,

I bought a 1990 500SE about 6 weeks ago to replace my nice 260E.

The car has 129,000 miles on the clock and seems to have been looked after
(main dealer stamps) until about 2 years ago. I viewed the car with a
specialist who helped me to check it out and for its age it seemed to be in
pretty good order. It needs some work but mostly minor stuff like a couple
of rust bubbles, leather reconditioning, etc.

My biggest gripe about it is the handling, especially at speed. It feels
quite vague anyway as there is around 1 inch of play in the steering. Thus
has been checked by my local helpful Merc independent, and he adjusted the
steering box, replaced the steering damper and the idler arm, which helped
somewhat - it didn't feel like a death trap at speed anymore! 1 inch of play
is within spec as well.

When travelling at speed on a motorway (freeway), the car seems to be
excessively affected by any camber, especially on left hand bends, feeling
like it wants to slide off the road or go into an enormous snaking motion!
So as a result I am driving it cautiously. The front shocks have been
replaced recently with Bilsteins, and all the steering linkages have been
checked - no play, no wear apparent in them, and it passed an MoT (safety
check) a couple of weeks ago. The new front shock have helped a little by
stopping the front end from bouncing about!

I intend to replace the rear shocks as well, though they seem OK. The ride
is hard as well at low speeds, with lots of bangs and crashes but my 260E
was like this too (and I though Mercedes were meant to be comfortable cars -
ha! Not in my experience unless the road is smooth.)

I will get the tracking checked as God only know what it is like but does
anyone have any idea about what's up? Driven carefully, it's very nice but I
think I should be able to exceed 70MPH with ease in such a car! Or am I just
a big coward?!

Oh yes, the tyres are good, Uniroyal rain tyres, right size, right pressure,
not excessively worn, no sign of strange wear patterns. My mechanic says
there is no wear in the rear control arms or suspension bushes. The car has
NOT been involved in a serious accident either.

I guess the answer may lie in the tracking and the steering box being worn.
But it would be nice to hear some opinions.

Al, G4VSQ

Hi Tony,

The car has the original wheels and the originally specified size tyres
fitted. I don't modify my cars as I reckon MB got it right in the first
place!

Thanks anyway,
Al

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