Parts is a new album used to record mb140.school’s observation log of parts. This album will share static evaluations of some commonly used parts and materials from different manufacturers in different quailty. Today, the steering tie rod is lucky to be the first.
The 140 has two steering tie rods, which are located on both sides of the drag link. Unlike common rack-and-pinion steering cars, 140’s tie rod is not connected to the steering rack, but through intermediate lever. To be precise, the tie rod on the driver’s side is connected to the steering box through an intermediate lever, which has a closer physical connection with the steering wheel; in contrast, the tie rod on the passenger side has an extra drag link and its intermediate lever, which is connected to the steering wheel. The physical connection is much further on this side, but the tie rods on both sides are identical. Steering tie rod is closely related to steering and NVH performance, worn tie rod will cause abnormal noise in the steering system, front-end misalignment and steering wheel vibration. In itself, it is important.
All 140s share the same steering tie rod, part number A1403300003. Offcially this part consists of four components: the longer joint on the outside + the shorter joint on the inside, connected by two nuts and a connecting rod in the middle. Due to the extra steering connections, the 140 has same joints on either side of each tie rod, for a total of four per vehicle. More components make the steering more sensitive, so quality is a concern. This time we bring three different products, Genuine MB, LEMFÖRDER and febi bilstein, which are the most common brands on the market and considered the top three in terms of quality.
The top one is Genuine MB. Lately we keep hearing people complain that the quality of MB parts is decreasing, and for some parts this is true. But is there any manufacturer offer better quality than Genuine MB? Unlikely. The middle one comes from LEMFÖRDER, which is recognized by many enthusiasts as the Original Equipment Manufacturer and is the best choice besides expensive genuine parts. The bottom one is from febi bilstein, which is not a shoddy product, but its origin has always been mysterious. The photos were taken before the comparison, but they were already pre-ranked, is this order true?
The joint is the most important element of this part. Since the joints on both sides of each tie rod are the same, only one side is compared here. From the appearance, Genuine looks impeccable. Its dust cover has folds, which are fixed by two different-colored clamps on the upper and lower sides. The dust cover is claimed made in Germany and has part number 025 060 019 012, but it is not sold separately.
To get some sort of standard, I removed the original tie rod from a 1998 S 320 with about 55,000 km on it, which is a plant-use part from 1998. The new Genuine was ordered recently, and the label shows it was produced in 2018. It can be said that not much has changed in 20 years.
LEMFÖRDER’s thread is similar to Genuine, it is worth mentioning that LEMFÖRDER sometimes uses different threads from Genuine, so be careful not to damage the original nuts during installation. The dust cover is a bit frustrating. It looks really flat and wrinkle-free, and has no written description whatsoever. The clamps are also not treated in any way and they may rust quickly.
Febi is more similar to Genuine than LEMFÖRDER. The dust cover has folds, the two anti-corrosion treated clamps are blue, but the rubber does not have any text. In this comparison, febi may prove that my placement order is wrong, it looks better than the well-regarded LEMFÖRDER.
On the other side of the joint, the LEMFÖRDER trademark appears on the cap of Genuine. The owl standing in the triangle shows that it is indeed made by LEMFÖRDER, but we have already discovered how different Genuine is from LEMFÖRDER in the previous comparison. For this part, in addition to the Mercedes STAR and the LEMFÖRDER owl, there is also the number 158. The original part from 1998 has a similar stamp, but is marked with the number “127”, which may be related to the production batch.
LEMFÖRDER’s cap has a huge logo, but it’s not an owl, but an “L”. I searched for different LEMFÖRDER parts to make sure this is not a counterfeit, as the “L” is not an official LEMFÖRDER trademark. The results show that this trademark is very common on LEMFÖRDER products. The cap was also stamped with AM1121, but it was not painted and instead the paint around it peeled off. This part is brand new, it came in a plastic bag. Ironically, the Genuine part I collected from the dealer did not have any outer packaging, but its condition was much more decent than the LEMFÖRDER.
The cap of Febi is also unpainted, it has febi’s trademark printed on it, and 04786 0043 is printed on it. 04786 is the febi part number of tie rod, 8493 below is the part number of this cap, which is a generic part of febi. In this session, LEMFÖRDER was once again disappointing, febi was slightly better than Genuine, but both are far behind Genuine.
Comparing three joints together, you can see obvious differences. The first is Genuine (left) and LEMFÖRDER (right). LEMFÖRDER’s joint is obviously higher, whether it is ball stud or socket. In the photo, the bottoms of the two parts are aligned, and you can see that the LEMFÖRDER’s socket is thicker, but the dust cover is shorter. At this point, it is basically certain that Genuine from LEMFÖRDER and LEMFÖRDER are completely different products.
Putting Genuine (left) and febi (right) together, they actually look more like they come from the same family, with similar sizes. It can be said that febi is a competent imitation. It tries to make its own version exactly according to Genuine, although it is not 100% done. You will wonder what LEMFÖRDER is trying to do, maybe they have some kind of agreement with MB aftersales, for example LEMFÖRDER can only sell products with completely different specifications.
As users, we care about both short-term performance and long-term performance. Strictly speaking I don’t have the proper tools to simulate any of them, they need to be done on a professional bench. So I just twisted the joint with my hands to feel the difference. I tried a lot of strength to twist Genuine around but it didn’t work. Then I found three other guys who are stronger than me, they didn’t succeed either. But I can twist the LEMFÖRDER and febi to the maximum angle effortlessly, which is hugely different from the force required to twist the Genuine.
It’s hard to say which one is better without professional view, but given that looseness is a typical joint failure, maybe Genuine is right to be tighter. When the stud is twisted to the maximum angle, you can see the motion form of the dust cover: LEMFÖRDER is squeezed due to the lack of cushioning, and this form contributes to the rupture of the dust cover. The febi’s Genuine-style rubber design protects itself, I assume the Genuine does the same.
Finally the rod contrast, it’s not that important, it’s essentially just metal piece, what could possibly go wrong? We compared all areas, the LEMFÖRDER is slimmer than the Genuine in some bends, and the febi is closer to the Genuine. In addition, the details of LEMFÖRDER are completely different from Genuine, while febi is somewhat similar.
The country of manufacturing is a gray information for today’s auto parts, there seems to be no mandatory requirement for manufacturers to declare. This become entirely voluntary. We have seen that Mercedes proudly writes Made in GERMANY on its dust cover, and marks the same and production date on the label of the part. At least we know that LEMFÖRDER still makes tie rods in Germany.
LEMFÖRDER provides a blank part with no text to indicate the country of manufacturing, but its film packaging has a label saying it is made in Turkey. It can be seen that it and the tie rod sold by MB aftersales come from different production tools and different countries. Interestingly, LEMFÖRDER’s product labels are mainly in Russian, which seems to hint at its main target market.
Febi parts also don’t have any country hints. They make a nice paper box for the product, which is the most luxurious of the three. The label seems to have a ton of information, but aside from writing down their German address, there isn’t even an indication of the country of production. In fact, the country of manufacturing of febi is always a mystery. Some can be confirmed to be made in Germany, but they don’t even bothered to promote them.
At this point, I can’t make a final ranking because cost is another metric. I got the Genuine for $107 which is slightly higher than most US dealers because MB aftersales charge expensive air shipping. I think they can get it for as low as $70. The LEMFÖRDER costs $46, which is less than half as much as the Genuine given my resources. Febi is more economical, only $33. As far as the observation content of this article is concerned, febi has better quality, lower price and overall more advantages than LEMFÖRDER. Regarding actual quality, I have used tie rods from febi in the past and they were unsatisfactory. Both of Octavius’ febi tie rods were found to have loosen joints during current restoration, having only traveled just over 10,000 km since installation.
LEMFÖRDER feels safer because its credit of Genuine, but its dust cover is a problem. In fact, Genuine’s dust cover is not bulletproof either, but actual experience tells me that it only takes a short time for LEMFÖRDER to break. If you do not pay attention to replacing the damaged dust cover (of course, only same or worse quality replacement parts could be found), then the joint may be damaged by atmospheric corrosion. In any case, in past use, LEMFÖRDER’s joint comprehensive durability is more durable than febi.
Genuine’s quality isn’t perfect, but it’s still the best. Choosing Genuine or other brands depends on the owner’s values. It has to be said that the purpose of today’s aftermarket part is not to maintain the value of the car for the owner, but to provide profits for used car dealers. Since most 140s change hands frequently, the duration of the commitment has been greatly shortened. 2 years may be enough for some people to exhaust their passion for these cars, why should parts last longer?
To me, tie rod has a long shelf life and it doesn’t break on its own. Like that 1998 S 320 with 55,000 km on it, after 25 years usage it’s still healthier than a 2 year old febi. Since I own more cars, I only drive a few hundred kilometers on each car per year, which is a great help for the shelf life of tie rods. So for long term cars I would use Genuine.
Please note that all parts are brand new and purchased in recent times (2023), they represent the current status of these manufacturers only and do not imply anything about the past or distant future.