On 09/06/2015 @ approx. 1:30 P.M., my wife, self, and grandchildren were traveling home from our grandsons first jfl football game for the season. After inspecting the suspension I noticed that the coil spring was fully expanded and arched outward badly. Further inspection noticed that the upper coil spring cup/mount had rusted away and allowed the front end to drop, flattening the suspension allowing the weight of the body to rest upon the lower control arm. I did some research to find any information that I could to help me understand what just happened. My search gathered me all kinds of owners who were angered that there is not a recall for such a major part that is welded to the body and rusts away in man Y incidences. Mercedes Benz will not warranty this problem. Many have stated the possibilities of many accidents that have injured and/or have killed thousands yet if there was an accident due to the failure of the welds or rusted insulated welds, no one would think that that could have been the cause and it goes unattended! I called my local Mercedes Benz dealer and they tell me they will not cover this problem, but, they can transfer me to the parts department so I may buy the parts to then take to a body shop to pay out of pocket to have them weld new parts on. Mercedes Benz dealer said it is a common problem and have sold many of these repair parts. A forum on line states that there was legislation that there must be a section cut out of the body and a new replacement part welded in place. I am going to try to gain information for an area territory representative to discuss what part Mercedes Benz will take responsibilities to repair the failed welds. There should be a recall, "it is a matter of life or death!"

- Peoria, IL, USA

I was sitting stopped in traffic with the engine off, and the front drivers' side of my vehicle just spontaneously dropped as if that part of the vehicle had fallen into a sink hole. I was waiting for a draw bridge to come down after a sailboat passed, so the car was turned off. When I got out of the vehicle to inspect what had happened, I could see that the front spring had separated from its top mount in what I assume was the frame of the vehicle. When I searched on-line I found that this is something that happens all the time with various models of Mercedes Benz. If I had been driving at highway speed I and anyone else in the car could have easily been killed, not to mention other vehicles, since the vehicle steering is also compromised with the wheel bottoming-out on the inside of the front of the vehicle. The car is a '98, but with only 148,000, this should not have happened. Clearly it's a design flaw. Why does NHTSA let Mercedes Benz get away with this without demanding a recall" when you look on the web, you can see that this is happening to many people, and not only is Mercedes refusing to fix it for free, dealers are charging customers thousands of dollars to fix the design flaw. I just got a quote of $2,000 from one dealer over the phone to fix both front spring perches, and it could be more if anything is damaged other than the perch itself. He said other dealers are charging $5,000 for the repair to both sides. What could be more dangerous than having your front-end suspension disintegrate spontaneously without warning"

- Gloucester, MA, USA

Was driving car and heard loud noise got out and saw front right side was sitting lower on one side. Car pulls hard to the right. Had my mechanic inspect. Concluded that the cup holder that holds the vehicles springs was rusted out. I have researched this issue and seems to be a common problem and or design flaw. Thankfully did not happen at higher speeds in dangerous conditions.

- South Bend, IN, USA

I was driving down the road and noticed the front end drop and the car was not handling right. I drove the car to the repair shop and had asked them to look at the shocks. That's when I was informed that the coil spring mount was cracked and was separating from the frame, I was also informed the passenger side was not much better... they said it was due to a rust issue although the car was stored winters. Very disappointing.. I will attempt to have this repair cost covered by Mercedes if not after reading the other complaints, I will never purchase another Mercedes..nor will I allow anyone else I know make this mistake.

- Mukwonago, WI, USA