Hi,

I have just purchased a used 9.5 years old C200K (W204).

After driving it for almost 3 months, my car becomes very "bumpy / rocky / shaky" over uneven road be it along highway or just minor road.

I went to 2 mechanics and after their visual inspection they advised me to replace the front & rear shock absorber (incl. the mounting, bearing, stopper and dust cover) and also the front upper and lower arms (incl. bushing and linkage bar) due to physical wear & tear.

Hence last week i bought all the original parts and gotten them replaced however it does not seems to improve in any shape or form. My car is still very bumpy and it could be felt inside the cabin.

I have also changed all my tyres with new ones and it seems like i have replaced most of the components for the under carriage. So what could still be the reason?

can any good soul please advise

J.T.

 

Hi J.T. - can you please describe the bumpy, shaky issue a bit more? Does it happen when you're going a certain speed or always? During braking? Is it only on 'uneven' roads or in general? My first thought would have been the bushings, but replacing those seemed not to help.

 

Hi thanks for your reply

the bumpiness (up down left right along all axis) can be felt especially at slow speed over uneven road. NOT during braking. How the car reacts to the road (long or short distance) is exactly how i felt in the cabin......

Today i went to another mechanic for a second opinion...they did a test drive and agreed that it is rather more bumpy than normal. After making sure that the replacement parts were NOT fixed at the wrong side (left / right), they loosen the nuts for the control and lower arms then tighten them back while the vehicle is on the ground instead or been jacked up. It seems to improve and reduce the bumpiness a little or might it be due to psychological effect? LOL

One of the mechanic told me from his experience with W204, the original shock absorber seems harder and the wheel base of this car is shorter hence it will not be as comfortable for example compared to a E-class.

 

That makes sense regarding the shorter wheel base and a stiffer setup; perhaps you need to get a set of less stiff springs that allow for more rebound? Was that suggested at all? Hoping that other members with a W204 chime in on this with their experience.

 

Getting a less stiff spring coil sounds like a good idea but I am concerned over which type and brand to buy, whether it will be a good match with the original shock absorber.

Does anyone here having the same issue?

 

is there any possibility that this could be due to alignment???

 

It's possible, but it seems like if it was an alignment issue; you would feel the bumpiness all the time and not just on uneven roads. You would also likely have play in the steering wheel.

 

I have changed to a new sets of tires but don't seems to help much.

Could it be the coil spring or anti roll bar???

 

How many miles are on the car? It may be a good idea to do a suspension refresh if you're planning on keeping it for a while.

 

till date it's total mileage is 81000 km

What do you mean by suspension refresh?