Suspension issue

[The Warden]

Hello! Been so busy, I haven't had much of a chance to check in lately, but I'm having a rather serious issue with my 116.

I replaced the front wheel bearings and the front tires about 10K miles (about 16000 km) ago. Since then, the outer corner of the driver's side tire has worn so badly that I'm starting to see the metal belt underneath the rubber The inside corner is fine, and the passenger's side tire seems to not be worn at all.

In addition, I'm feeling a shaking in the steering wheel at freeway speeds. It seems to go away when I'm turning to the left, and exacerbates somewhat when turning to the right. This isn't new; actually, it's been there as long as I've had the car, but I didn't give it much thought until seeing the tire, and realized that there may be a connection.

I'm tending to think that the two issues are related, so it is likely not simply an alignment problem (although I'm sure that the car needs one). Is there something in the 116's suspension that fails somewhat routinely and would cause symptoms such as this? Anything in particular to look for? I cannot afford a complete suspension rebuild (in terms of both $$ and time), although I'm sure the front end could use it...offhand, I would guess that a tie rod end is bad?

I appreciate any thoughts you guys might have on this...thank you in advance!

[s class]

Common problems are the steering idler arm bush, and the upper control arm bushes.  Both of those items are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace.  The lower control arm bushes and subchassis bushes are considerably more expensive and quite a major job to rpelace, but the good news is they are very long lasting.  Unless the car has a very high mileage, you should get away with leaving the lower end for the time being. 

As to tie rod ends and the drag link - play in those ball joints is usually pretty easy to diagnose if you have an assistant to wrestle the wheels while you examine for play.  Again, they are relatively cheap and quick fixes. 

Now, as to the wheel that is vibrating at certain speeds, I would check, in the following order :

a) check the wheel for correct balance
b) check the tyre that it is actually round
c) check the steering idler arm bush and ball joints
d) check the wheel bearing clearances
e) check the steering damper
f) check the shock absorber

I'd probably think of more if I wasnt so tired now.

Ryan