190E Ball joint replacement?

[judas]

One of the ball joints on my old 190E runabout has started screeching something awful. No play in it, just making a truly horrible (not to mention embarrassing) noise. Tried liberally dosing it with WD40 and injecting liquid grease into the joint, but to no avail. Anyone know roughly how much it should cost to replace it at an indy? Need to decide whether its an economically viable repair on a £500 car.

[bolide]

Assuming they're like a W124, the balljoints are about £13 each from a dealer

I wouldn't wait too long before you change it - in fact I wouldn't drvie it again till you've changed both of them - because when they fail the lower wishbone hits the road, the wheel hits the arch and the car stops. Suddenly

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

[pentoman]

Indeed I've heard ball joints are one item that can fail on the 190E (apparently with little warning) and it's pretty dangerous when they do. Can anyone confirm that? If I'm track daying my cossie I don't want that to happen. Have already had a rear tyre blowout first time out (after seemingly grounding out on a dip? Can that happen?) .

Edited by pentoman on Monday 19th February 14:00

[judas]

Got mine booked in for replacement on Wednesday - £125 all-in. Had it looked at by my tame mechanic - no play in it at all, just very noisy.