SbolenC36

Reviving old thread...

https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c...numbers-3.html

My bilsteins are S#@T and are trashed after 8 months and 10,000 miles on my 1995 C36. Reviving the age old question of what company/type of shock to replace them with. I am steering clear of bilstein, although I did have the B4's and not B8's on my car (which may have contributed to them failing so quickly).

There seem to be a second set of koni's available for the C36 through AJUSA (aside from the normal shocks koni makes specifically for our cars). These other koni's are $40 cheaper per shock than the others and are listed on koni's site for the clk430 i believe (non-adjustable??). Any one tried these out or have any experience with these koni's on STOCK springs for C36 (or 43)?

AJUSA listed KONI part numbers:
Rears: 8041 1316SPORT $135 (C36 specific)
Front: 8041 1315SPORT $138 (C36 specific)
Rears: 26 1576SPORT $95 (CLK according to Koni)
Fronts: 26 1575SPORT $95 (CLK according to Koni)

May be a separate issue, however the rear seems to sit way too low and squats heavily under acceleration or if anyone/anything sits in the back or in the trunk. I know i have #1 pads and stock springs with the terrible B4 shocks, I just find it weird that it sits so low like that. I have 18" monos and there is no gap between the fender and tire. Needless to say there is rub on the inner area of the wheel well (inside edge of tire rubs on occasion). On fronts there is one finger gap on stock springs with oem shocks still in place (front shocks in need of replacement but not completely shot yet).

What do you guys think? Any quick advice? without starting another lengthy suspension thread.. haha

Also looking for poly lca bushings, mine are shot. Best place to buy?

Cheers,
Spencer

KJI3jflarryfe93

i have the koni adjustable shox for c36/c43.
they are grejt!
i have them set on full stiff.

maybe you blew out your Bilstein shox because they were not ment to be used with your springs?
B4 shox are not for lowered cars.
are you still under warranty for shox?
go back to your shop and file a complaint, then you buy the konies with your refund

do you have stock or lowering springs on your car?

i highly recommend these konies.
Rears: 8041 1316SPORT $135 (C36 specific)
Front: 8041 1315SPORT $138 (C36 specific)

eFifty5AMG

I went from stock Bilstein shocks to the Bilstein B8 Sports, then to the Koni 26 1575&1576 Sport shocks (bought them, from a member, after being told they were 8041 series..)
The 26 series is internally adjustable, meaning you have to remove the shock to adjust, and the 8041 series is externally adjustable and is able to be adjusted while still installed.

I went 1 click and tried full soft on these, but they weren't as comfortable as the Bilstein Sports. I ran the Koni shocks for about a month, but decided to switch back to Bilstein B8s and am glad I did.

PJmak

Also looking to buy new shocks. Ive had bilstein sports for almost 80k and i think its time for a change.


also if you like a smooth ride do not go for poly bushings. They are a lot more rough compared to stock imo

SbolenC36

Thanks for your feedback! The car is on all stock suspension with the exception of #1 spring pads, so failure of the shocks shouldn't be anything regarding the cars setup, but maybe. The koni adjustables seem to be best option as per general consensus on the forums, however if these internally adjustable koni's will work I can justify saving $40 per corner.

As for warranty on the bilstein's, i have tons of threads where people have tried to get their billies warrantied on our w202 amg's and bilstein won't do it . From what I have read Bilstein originally cross referenced the AMG cars on their B4 and B8 shocks but has since ceased as a result of excessive failures. I will try non-the-less and let your guys know how it goes.

SbolenC36

Thanks for the reply. This is great insight! I was wondering about the ride quality, good to know it is still a bit harsher than B8's. One question I still have is whether or not the B8's will work with Stock springs. I know Bilstein states these are shorter and made specifically for lowered applications, but using them on a stock height set up, would it damage the shock or cause premature failure? Or should I just stick with B4's and get a new set for the front since they're cheap and I may be selling the C36 in the near future

I have also read that Bilstein at one point in time had the part numbers switched for their shocks applications. Meaning the shocks listed as fronts were actually rears and vice-versa. Can anyone confirm this and whether this has been corrected? I bought my Bilstein B4's from autohausaz about 8 months ago for the rear.

SbolenC36

Great advice, thank you. I was looking into poly bushings as they don't really fail..as we all do..but wasn't sure exactly how much rougher it made the ride and the real world levels of squeaking. I think I will stick to oem mercedes or Lemforder. Has anyone had any good luck with other off-brand manufacturers on lca bushings? Not looking forward to that job...

KJI3jflarryfe93

if you use stock (tall) springs with B8's, springs will probably cause premature stress to B8 shox.

regarding Koni shox below, you have to remove them from your car everytime you wanna fiddle with stiffness!
do you really wanna do that, do you have time for it?

Rears: 26 1576SPORT
Fronts: 26 1575SPORT

the other version Koni's are externally adjustable which are a lot easier to handle.
if you go with B8 and stock springs you might kill these within 8 months as they don't match?
B4 were shot in 8 months because they were maybe to soft for your car?

if you buy sport version shox you will need to get lowering springs

SbolenC36

The internally adjustable Koni's are definitely a pain in the a@# but I figured I would set them to the "softest" setting (however soft that really is...) and leave them.

That's what I figured, the B8's would not work well with stock springs and ride height. Does anyone have a part number or any experience with B6 Bilsteins? I have seen the B6's pop up in a couple other threads but just barely mentioned. I'm not looking to lower the car, I'm working on bring this car back to its factory original glory (except for my 18" monos) i know.

It never ceases to amaze me how complicated an otherwise simple task is on these cars. I guess that's what we get when we're nuts about cars with only 4 or 5,000 examples World Wide ..sigh..

Tony_AMG

Dude sorry to hear that. I remember putting B4's on the C230 Kompressor, but i made a mistake because when I redid the whole front suspension and rear as well, i upgraded to AMG Sport suspension (Springs, sway bars, upper arms, bushings) I put B4's (cause i got them for free) but i noticed the shocks was the problem. I know because B4's are direct OEM Touring replacement. Not intended for sports suspensions, so go figure one of my shocks went out quickly. Since they I had installed some AMG shocks on the kompressor to compensate the stiff suspension.

Honesly I thought the Biltein's B8's Sport are suppose to be a direct C36 Sport shock replacement? like a C280 sport?

Part Number: 24-018548
Series: B8 (SP)
Position: Front
Old Part Number: F4-B36-1854-H0

Part Number: 24-018555
Series: B8 (SP)
Position: Rear
Old Part Number: F4-B36-1855-H0

I know that these only apply to shocks with Sports suspensions (upper arms, sway bars, springs, pads or am I mistaken?

SbolenC36

Thanks for the reply. Sorry to hear you have had the same issue with the B4's. These are definitely not capable of handling the weight and set up of our stock AMG's. As for the B8's, I was under the impression that they are shorter than B4's and B6's and are meant for lowered suspension. I believe Bilstein's description of B8's states this as well. Ugh I don't know what to buy

SbolenC36

Car is currently for sale by the way if anyone is interested. I will post a thread with details shortly.