W107 front subframe rebuilds

Back in the 80's there was a recall for W107 roadsters and coupes with the V8 engine. The fault was that the lower control arm mounts had an habit of ripping off the subframe. If the car was brought into a MB dealership then they replaced the complete subframe with a modified versions.

The reality is that very few cars were actually presented to have this done and there are still many cars on the roads today that are an accident waiting to happen. We have on average 2-3 cars a year towed in with control arm mounts that look like those in the pictures on this page. Multiply this by the number of workshops around Australia and the high survival rate of W107s in Australia and this is a real issue.

We have also seen one example of a W114 280E do the same thing. The W115 and W114 chassis shared almost the same subframe.

If you own a W107 and the subframe has not been replaced there is a Mercedes-Benz approved solution that involves welding in some special plates to reinforce the control arm mounts. This can be done with the subframe still in the car and without having to disassemble the suspension.

If you have a W107 where it is too late and the mounts have torn away the solution is to either source one of the replacement subframe from a wreck which is extremely rare, or to get a subframe that has not been damaged and have the reinforcing plates welded in. The shots below show this process being done in our workshop.

The procedure to replace a subframe with torn mounts is quite complex as the subframe also supports the engine. It has to be removed and all the suspension components swapped over.

For any further information on this subject please phone  02 6239 3236 or e-mail us.