yduong7

Hi everyone,

I am currently helping my dad with my mom's car - it's a 2003 C240 base sedan; we only use it for commuting and occasional road trips.

My dad is the experienced car person, but doesn't speak very much english, so I'm on a quest to find a good set of rear shock absorbers.

I've tried to search in the forums for any information, but have come up short. Is there anyone that could shed some light on:

-what kind of shocks would be best (brands and models); we don't really need sport/advanced ones xD
-where to get shocks for a decent price
-pros/cons of aftermarket vs oem
-what is the price range I should expect for decent shocks
-is there anything else needed when replacing shocks? (tools, other parts, etc.)
-any other tips/information about shocks that would help

Any help with this would be GREATLY appreciated!

phister

OEM is fine of just for daily use. Rmeuropean, pelican parts, or mymercedesparts all have good deals on OEM or aftermarket ones. Koni, KYB, and Bilstein all make great replacement for OEM ones and built to or above OEM specs. Personally if you're replacing the rears for your mom's daily I'd recommend the bilstein touring class shocks for the rears. They're about 10% stiffer than than OEM so it'll handle just a touch better. Here's the link on tirerack they have free shipping going on right now but you might find it cheaper searching around.

https://www.tirerack.com/suspension/suspension.jsp?make=Bilstein&model=Touring+Class+% 28B4%29+Shock&group=Touring+Class&partNum=24-114714&autoMake=Mercedes-Benz&autoModel=C240+Sedan&autoYear=2003&autoModCla r=

phister

For the fastest removal, remove the control arm cover then remove the bolt by the hub holding the lower control and the shock bolt on the arm as well. This will drop the arm down where the shock is. Once that's done go to the trunk pull the liner on the side of the trunk and remove the bolt holding the shock. After that your shock should come out. And do the install in reverse order but do not tighten all the bolts down until you have them all in, this will help getting all the bolts in by giving the shock some play. Also having a spare jack helps on the install. You'll want to put the spare jack under the control arm and raise it up to line up the bolts for the lower shock bolt and to line up the other bolt hole to put the control arm bolt to the hub.