During the course of ownership of an 1998 Mercedes Benz E320 the front top spring support a.K.a rusts out and can easily disintegrate causing complete fallout of the front wheel assembly and if happening in the highway it can easily kill you. Luckily for me it happened in a 30 mph road where the spring perch broke off and the whole front wheel got out of place locking itself up.

- Worcester, MA, USA

The coil spring and two round plastic parts just fell off on our 1998 E320 Mercedes Benz front driver side. The vehicle has 71,000 miles and never been in any accident.

- Cherry Hill, NJ, USA

I am writing regarding an investigation into Mercedes Benz E300 (W210 chassis) failures. While driving on the Massachusetts turnpike, route 90 on Monday, my spring perch failed, broke away from the vehicle and was lost on the highway. The perch let go with a very loud bang, then a pronounced bump (presumably as the rear tire drove over the spring assembly.) the car suddenly dropped hard on the front right bump stops. Lots of warning lights - bas, asr, etc. I thought I blew a tire or hit some road damage. Surprisingly, just a little swerve in the left lane and I made it to the right shoulder after a 1/4 mile. I had heard of the spring perch failures from the user forums at www.mercedesshop.com. at this point I was pretty sure it was a perch or possibly something worse because there was no tire smoke, burning or noise. I checked the tires & drove it 15 miles home. Put it up on jacks & found no spring at all & some disconnected sensor wires. Drove it 10 miles to my independent shop. Waiting for what happens next. Still no word from the dealer he contacted. I guess that's my next move.

- Clifton Park, NY, USA

: the contact stated while the vehicle was at a stop, the front end collapsed to the ground. The vehicle was towed to the dealership, where it was determined the front driver side spring perch fractured. The spring perch was replaced.

- Kinnelon, NJ, USA