Review on 🚗 High-Quality Power Steering Pump with Pulley for Mercedes-Benz ML350 ML550 GL450 GL550 E320 E550 CL550 CLS550 R350 S550 2006-2012 3.0L 3.5L 4.7L 5.5L by Brant Watson

The power steering pump in my 2008 ML350 is starting to age. He didn't exactly fail, but he was definitely weak. Works great in the morning and on the way to work. The problem was that once it was good and warmed up, it just didn't pump at low rpm. After driving 40 minutes to my office, I tried to maneuver in the garage and it was very annoying. If the engine was idling normally it would be like I had NO power steering and had to strain the steering wheel to park. If I gave it some gas it would come back to life, but that's very difficult to do by slowly pulling into a parking space! After a few months that was enough for me. Mercedes OEM pump is very expensive. several hundred dollars. And really what is this? It's just a simple hydraulic pump, nothing special. The technology is no different than a pump on a log splitter, excavator or any other vehicle. Since hydraulic engineering is ubiquitous, I decided to take a chance and buy this very inexpensive no-name pump. One thing to know if you have an M Class from that era is that the OEM pump has the bracket needed. Clean to install a new pump. It is not supplied with this pump and is not listed as a separate Mercedes part. The new pump has holes in the pulley to allow for easy installation of this bracket while the original pump does not. This means you have to remove the old pulley to get to these mounting bolts. Since it was going in the trash anyway, I just smashed the old plastic roller with a hammer and then removed the strut. It fits perfectly with this new pump. The replacement was very easy, but at the same time very dirty. Expect to get power steering oil everywhere! First you drain the tank, remove it (the clamp is tricky and at the back), then remove the hoses and the pump. Everything just reverses. Don't forget that you MUST perform a special air purge procedure on an M class Mercedes before starting the vehicle. It's not like old-school cars where you fill up the tank, start, turn the steering wheel all the way, and then fill up. If you do it this way, the air bubbles will knock out the filter screen in the tank and you'll get noise (and no filtering!). This car requires you to lift both front wheels off the ground and then spin the wheel 30 full turns with the engine off. The process actually turns the rack into a pseudo-pump that draws fluid from the reservoir and slowly pushes it into the reservoir. This procedure effectively removes air from the system. THEN you can leave the car, start and stop the old fashioned way. This pump has been running for a few weeks now and works perfectly. If you have any doubts about getting a nameless universal pump for your child, don't. It's a simple technology and it works just as well, if not better than the original! UPDATE 22/22/2021: This pump is still working great! Just yesterday I had to perform some weird parking lot maneuvers while idling, and the power steering was buttery smooth with a light touch of the wheel. It's so great that you no longer have to turn the wheel!