I undertook the same job some time back and used the same Bilstein HD shocks. Like you I was a bit wary of compressing the springs etc. I also heeded similar advice as to not getting into the "Line of Fire". I used similar spring compressors that were loaned from a local auto parts supplier. I agree, 3 compressors would be "Best Practice". One thing I did was to replace the front springs since they are known to fail. I also used new spring isolator rubber mounts instead of re-using the old ones. Mine had around 150K miles on it, and the rubbers were fatigued dimensionally. Nice work, and thanks for the video!
My coil just failed. Big clunk when it sat in the parking lot. Can it be that one "easy" way to reinstall the strut is to leave the spring compressors on, until you get it back in there, and then release them? This would shorten the strut during installation.
The heavy duty bolt on the bottom of the strut needs to be torqued down with the weight of the vehicle on it. The bushings can be damaged tightening it down all the way before putting a load on it.
I just did this job, and the video helped. I used the same spring compression tool (the black ones) with only two. Keep them even and go slow. Most importantly I would add that the upper front stud that you bolt down (13mm nut) to the fender MUST line up with the lower strut mount in the control arm. If these don't line up you cannot insert the large bolt through the control arm. In such case you have to remove the strut, compress the spring again and rotate the strut so the lower mount hole lines with upper stud.
You could also just insert a long screwdriver into the bottom mount holes and twist it. Worked for me numerous times, but a bit more effort with used parts.
Hi, it is wrong to say that the three nuts 13 mm at the top should be stemmed at 30 Nm, original tightening from Mercedes is: 37 Nm. And the other 21 mm bolt, you say it must be tightened at 165 Nm. But original tightening from Mercedes is: 82 Nm. Now the video is perfect, thank you very much for a good explanation.
mine is 2009 E350 with AMG package. I did 4 from the top down it was too high for my car so changed it to 7th from top to bottom or it will be the 3rd from the bottom up and rides perfect!
Very interesting video , I think you have some parts missing like spring bottom seat which guides the spring and can be reused from the old one. Without spring will drift on that metal washer under pressure. Anyone correct me if I am wrong.
Fantastic Videos, like all of them that you've produced! I've followed your video and done my transmission flush, worked like a charm! If you ever do a radiator flush on one of these cars it will be most welcomed. I have the same car with 260,000 miles on it and wanting to put in evans waterless coolant. No garage wants to blow dry my system out, like evans suggests. If you could provide some guidance as to how to do a cooling system flush that will be much appreciated! Thanks
You've a nice garage floor mate I'll be doing it on my W211 E320 wagon this coming weekend with SACHS, fingers crossed my OEM spring compressors are not going to break.
Did try to replace springs recently and let me tell you I am never going to do it again with those bolt spring compressors, got it compressed then couldn't get it off because it was bent towards one of the 3 overhang of the strut mount, then got frustrated and just loosened one of the two compressors and spring went boom on that side while the other one was still holding it... then took it to a proper shop. Did manage to disassemble them tho with my homebuilt wood compression station with a car jack (could't bother to modify so they could be assemled as well)
Hi, I recently did my suspension all around and what I can say is that I matched the height of the stock shock with the new shock, which sat exactly 4 notches down. I found it easier to use a 2x4 to push suspension down to get the strut out. Could you tell me one thing tho after changing your struts what is the clearance that you have from the ground to the front bumper? I feel like mine sits higher than previously.
Car D Comparing it to the Mercedes stock shock the C clip goes two slots from the bottom. I bought two sets of the good spring compressors and used three. The brand is EverTough 67051.
I have the Sport package W211 CDI. and on the front strut, the ring is settled to the second last notch (groove) The car has new Monroe shocks, new bushings and new control arms. But to me it looks high. I can put 3 fingers between fender and tire ( 245 40 18 on front)
The reason the lower control arm won’t drop down is because it is tied via the hefty anti-roll bar to the control arm on other side of the car. If the shock (not a strut) fork won’t clear after raising both front wheels off the ground , you will need to disconnect the anti-roll bar link and/or unbolt the upper ball joint. Also, on my bone stock 2005 CDI, the lower coil seat is 14.0" up from the fork centerline; on a new Bilstein shock, placing the “C” clip (not a cotter key) on the forth groove down places the seat at 14.2” so your 4-down spec is very close.
Is this a possibility: leave the springe compression tool on to reinstall the strut, so that the entire assembly is shorter and easier to reinstall the bottom bolt? (my spring just broke, so getting it out should be "pretty easy")
I noticed that mn my CDI OEM shock on the right side has some spacers, which compresses the spring more. (A.KA. Makes a shorter spring). This is weird as usually, you would make the left side higher. Can anyone confirm?
I think you need to. I've heard stories of the calliper automatically pushing out the cylinder during the job, because it didn't sense something correctly.
several ways to do it. battery, ore lock the doors put away the key make the cluster go in sleep mode ore like i like to do get a deasent odb tool that allows you to deactivate the sbc unit. Autel MaxiService EBS301 Electronic Brake Service OBD2 Diagnostic Scanner EPB
@@dpprojectcars5722 I may have missed it, but the video didn't show him disabling the SBC system. 1 wrong move and the computer will activate the SBC system, causing the piston to shoot out. Fair warning, disable the SBC before removing the caliper.
@@dpprojectcars5722 I use the MB star C4 system to do that. People have just disconnected the SBC plug or the 2 batteries. However, I am not a fan of doing that with such technologically dependent vehicles, but people don't seem to have an issue in doing that, so your decision. I am not an expert on the SBC system, fully, but I am not going to risk losing my fingers over a computer deciding when to activate the SBC, plus in the service manual, one of the safety steps is disabling the SBC before any removal of caliper. Also, saw your channel, nice W211!
I undertook the same job some time back and used the same Bilstein HD shocks. Like you I was a bit wary of compressing the springs etc. I also heeded similar advice as to not getting into the "Line of Fire". I used similar spring compressors that were loaned from a local auto parts supplier. I agree, 3 compressors would be "Best Practice". One thing I did was to replace the front springs since they are known to fail. I also used new spring isolator rubber mounts instead of re-using the old ones. Mine had around 150K miles on it, and the rubbers were fatigued dimensionally. Nice work, and thanks for the video!
My coil just failed. Big clunk when it sat in the parking lot. Can it be that one "easy" way to reinstall the strut is to leave the spring compressors on, until you get it back in there, and then release them? This would shorten the strut during installation.
The heavy duty bolt on the bottom of the strut needs to be torqued down with the weight of the vehicle on it. The bushings can be damaged tightening it down all the way before putting a load on it.
exactly, it needs to be biased with curb weight 👍🏻
Very good point to point explanation , thanks
I just did this job, and the video helped. I used the same spring compression tool (the black ones) with only two. Keep them even and go slow. Most importantly I would add that the upper front stud that you bolt down (13mm nut) to the fender MUST line up with the lower strut mount in the control arm. If these don't line up you cannot insert the large bolt through the control arm. In such case you have to remove the strut, compress the spring again and rotate the strut so the lower mount hole lines with upper stud.
You could also just insert a long screwdriver into the bottom mount holes and twist it. Worked for me numerous times, but a bit more effort with used parts.
Hi, it is wrong to say that the three nuts 13 mm at the top should be stemmed at 30 Nm, original tightening from Mercedes is: 37 Nm.
And the other 21 mm bolt, you say it must be tightened at 165 Nm. But original tightening from Mercedes is: 82 Nm. Now the video is perfect, thank you very much for a good explanation.
Very helpful and good detail.
Wow!!!! I am impressed!!!
mine is 2009 E350 with AMG package. I did 4 from the top down it was too high for my car so changed it to 7th from top to bottom or it will be the 3rd from the bottom up and rides perfect!
Very interesting video , I think you have some parts missing like spring bottom seat which guides the spring and can be reused from the old one. Without spring will drift on that metal washer under pressure. Anyone correct me if I am wrong.
Fantastic Videos, like all of them that you've produced! I've followed your video and done my transmission flush, worked like a charm!
If you ever do a radiator flush on one of these cars it will be most welcomed. I have the same car with 260,000 miles on it and wanting to put in evans waterless coolant. No garage wants to blow dry my system out, like evans suggests. If you could provide some guidance as to how to do a cooling system flush that will be much appreciated! Thanks
You've a nice garage floor mate
I'll be doing it on my W211 E320 wagon this coming weekend with SACHS, fingers crossed my OEM spring compressors are not going to break.
you should release upper control arm ball joint..3 crews..bring the knuckle down..then remove the shock absorber
that’s all you need bro..
Did try to replace springs recently and let me tell you I am never going to do it again with those bolt spring compressors, got it compressed then couldn't get it off because it was bent towards one of the 3 overhang of the strut mount, then got frustrated and just loosened one of the two compressors and spring went boom on that side while the other one was still holding it... then took it to a proper shop. Did manage to disassemble them tho with my homebuilt wood compression station with a car jack (could't bother to modify so they could be assemled as well)
Hi, I recently did my suspension all around and what I can say is that I matched the height of the stock shock with the new shock, which sat exactly 4 notches down. I found it easier to use a 2x4 to push suspension down to get the strut out. Could you tell me one thing tho after changing your struts what is the clearance that you have from the ground to the front bumper? I feel like mine sits higher than previously.
Car D Comparing it to the Mercedes stock shock the C clip goes two slots from the bottom. I bought two sets of the good spring compressors and used three. The brand is EverTough 67051.
"I'm completely impatient..." yes! you are also crazy. Thanks for all the warnings! Glad it worked out ok for you.
Next will be the snowblower video
I have the Sport package W211 CDI. and on the front strut, the ring is settled to the second last notch (groove)
The car has new Monroe shocks, new bushings and new control arms. But to me it looks high.
I can put 3 fingers between fender and tire ( 245 40 18 on front)
Good work
Have you ever changed the V-Belt on your E320 CDI?
The reason the lower control arm won’t drop down is because it is tied via the hefty anti-roll bar to the control arm on other side of the car. If the shock (not a strut) fork won’t clear after raising both front wheels off the ground , you will need to disconnect the anti-roll bar link and/or unbolt the upper ball joint.
Also, on my bone stock 2005 CDI, the lower coil seat is 14.0" up from the fork centerline; on a new Bilstein shock, placing the “C” clip (not a cotter key) on the forth groove down places the seat at 14.2” so your 4-down spec is very close.
Can you get these replacements fully assembled?
Is this a possibility: leave the springe compression tool on to reinstall the strut, so that the entire assembly is shorter and easier to reinstall the bottom bolt? (my spring just broke, so getting it out should be "pretty easy")
yep, use the compression tools to help bolt it back to the car
This has to be the best maintained E320 CDI!
Thanks. I think it is -- although in reality, I just document all the stuff that's recommended and that most people pay someone else to do.
All you had to do is remove the upper ball joint, and the whole upper area would of moved down/up allowing you to get the strut out.
The proper adjustment is the third one from the bottom
I agree with you
I noticed that mn my CDI OEM shock on the right side has some spacers, which compresses the spring more. (A.KA. Makes a shorter spring).
This is weird as usually, you would make the left side higher. Can anyone confirm?
Why did you feel that your top shock mount failed? What sort of symptoms were you experiencing?
I was wondering same thing... mine left strut has been making noise since new...
i am struggling to put that lower big bolt into the shock. You didn't show how you got that in?
you can recompress the spring a little using two compression tools
@@glasser2819 I am sure you solved it by now... But for others, just insert a long screwdriver into the bolt holes and twist it.
Any idea how low can shock in w211 estate sport 2008 ? What if i set ring to the lowest lvl ? ?
Are those Bilstein B6 shocks?
it really doesn't sit well with me thinking the entire weight of the car rests on those little C-Clips.......
hello, do you need to unhook the battery for the brake job?
I think you need to. I've heard stories of the calliper automatically pushing out the cylinder during the job, because it didn't sense something correctly.
several ways to do it. battery, ore lock the doors put away the key make the cluster go in sleep mode ore like i like to do get a deasent odb tool that allows you to deactivate the sbc unit.
Autel MaxiService EBS301 Electronic Brake Service OBD2 Diagnostic Scanner EPB
Now i know how i lower the front of my car tt
w40 is not a lubricant it is a rust penetrator
correct!
You forgot to warn about SBC system. It can snap fingers easy.
Billstein are good struts but koni yellows are waaaay better
All you need to do is Loose the 3 upper bolts that hold the bolt joint and slide it out.... The way you did it it’s very Difficult....
As soon as the SBC decides to test the system, BAM, brake cylinder right to the forehead.
Explain please...
@@dpprojectcars5722 I may have missed it, but the video didn't show him disabling the SBC system. 1 wrong move and the computer will activate the SBC system, causing the piston to shoot out. Fair warning, disable the SBC before removing the caliper.
@@JB-zb9zo Thanks for letting me know, I had no idea and had plans on changing my brakes shortly. How do you disable the SBC?
@@dpprojectcars5722 I use the MB star C4 system to do that. People have just disconnected the SBC plug or the 2 batteries. However, I am not a fan of doing that with such technologically dependent vehicles, but people don't seem to have an issue in doing that, so your decision.
I am not an expert on the SBC system, fully, but I am not going to risk losing my fingers over a computer deciding when to activate the SBC, plus in the service manual, one of the safety steps is disabling the SBC before any removal of caliper.
Also, saw your channel, nice W211!