Common to almost all Mercedes trailing arm and multi-link rear suspensions from the late 1960's up to the mid 2000's. The axles are very robust and hold up for many thousands of miles but they can wear out. How do you know if they are wearing out?
Problem & Solution
Common among these chassis:
You can wait until they fail (usually associated with load clunking noises coming from the rear end while going around a corner), or you can inspect them if your car has over 200,000 miles. This particularly pertains to the older models 114 and 115 chassis 220 230 250 250C 280 280C 240D 300D 1968 to 1976, 107 Chassis 350SL 450SL 450SLC 380SL 560SL 1972 to 1989, 116 chassis 350SE 450SE 450SEL 280SE 280SEL 300SD 1973 to 1980, 123 chassis 1977-1985 Models 230 240D 240TD 280E 280CE 300D 300CD 300TD, 126 chassis 380SE/L 300SD 500SE/L 300SDL 420SE/L 300SE/L 560SE/L 380SEC 560SEC 1981-1991, 201 Chassis 190E and 190D 1984 to 1993 and 124 Chassis 260E 300E 300D 300TD 300TE 300CE E320 and E300D 1986 to 1995.