AGEDAMG

Hi Everyone~ Looking for some advise here, trying to find OEM replacement shocks for my 98 C43, anybody know which Bilstein P/N is a direct replacement to the OEM one?
My goal is to keep factory ride height with better handling. However if I can not find OEM direct plug and play replacement, I have no choice but go another route with performance shocks which I have Bilstein B8 in my mind.
I have done some research and learnt that B8 P/N 24-025997(Front) / 24-018555(Rear) for W208 is a better choice than W202 24-018548(front)/ 24-018555(rear).
I also learnt that I will need a lower spring in order to work with B8 shocks, I found 3 H&R P/Ns,
527727-77 Super Sport // drops 2.0"F/1.9"R
29749.2 Sport // drops 1.4"F/1.3"R
Above 2 P/N are listed on tirerack.com for W202 C43, however when I went to wwe.h-r.com and look into W202 CLK55, I found P/N 29377(29377-1) was actually made for C36/C43/CLK55/CLK430. it drops 1"F/0.9"R
I am confused, anyone has any idea?

PJmak

I have my stock c43 laying around still because they arent available at the dealer any more I believe. They are AMG stamped

Bilstein sport shocks are just fine and your ride height wont be effected much if you are keeping the springs. Yu can always adjust the ride height with spring pads.

Sulaco

As PJ said the modern Bilsteins parts websites will list are NOT OEM, but they will work anyway.

I actually went with the B8 instead of the Sports, as this is not a "sports car" and the original shocks were stiff enough already. I can't compare, but even the new Bilstein Sports are stiffer than the OEM shocks (or my OEM shocks were so old that they had gotten soft over the years, my car has over 300k miles)

AGEDAMG

Thank you for your reply, PJmak Sir, I went through your story of restoration of your red C43, amazing work you have done, very nice, my mechanic is hesitated to put Bilstein B8 on for me with stock spring since the B8 SPEC says it works with lower spring, maybe shorter travel distance???
I can still find the front AMG pair but not the rear pair, since I am doing restoration/update on mine, I really want to do it once and do it right.

AGEDAMG

Hi Solace, thank you for your reply, do you happened to remember the Bilstein P/N you used on your car? I thought B8 is the "sport"?

Sulaco

I may not know what I'm talking about, because in my research it appears you're correct. Would also help explain why my new shocks are noticeably more firm than my OEM's were.

I kept the originals because I'm told there are some shops that can remanufacture them. I too want to go back to OEM. I might even pull my 5.4 motor and put the 4.3 back in.

PJmak

Thank you. Its an ongoing project that'll take a while to get to perfection but its been a blast to work on.

Check this thread by the way. I believe he got in contact with Bilstein regarding factory shocks and had them rebuilt.

I believe he talks about it on page 4. If you need more info I might be able to text him, I have his number. They are for a c36 but its the same company

https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c...995-c36-4.html

AGEDAMG

Not sure how many C43 is out there still running, hopefully I can do mine right and keep it running for another 25 years

AGEDAMG

Are you using your stock spring?

AGEDAMG

Thank you Sir~ Looking forward to see more stories from you~ amazing restoration~

Sulaco

Yes.

Sulaco

Comparing the old vs new on mine

AGEDAMG

It seems the OEM one is much taller than Bilstein??? by 2~3 inch? Does it fit with stock spring?

Sulaco

All 4 fit just fine. Yes, the B8's are about 1.5 inches shorter, but the suspension itself doesn't travel far enough for that to matter. With no weight on the wheel the B8 still had 2+ inches to travel before reaching the end. I had to compress it several inches to install.

AGEDAMG

I see, your information is really helpful, I called Bilstein early today asking what exactly does it mean by B8 need to be paired with lower spring, the technical support gentleman told me that it will have to work with lower spring otherwise it will go beyond it's "should be" travel extent and became very stiff, it also will damage the valve??? Man.... so complicated, maybe I should go with Koni, at least it does not require a lower spring.

Sulaco

I could be wrong about all this, I am not an engineer! But I put the B8's on my C43 6 months ago and everything has been fine.

AGEDAMG

Interesting thing is the previous owner put B8 in the rear, F4-B36-1855-H0, I guess it was during the old days while Bilstein still have them listed for C43 on the website, there must be something happened for them to take it off....

TheOldschoolers

Those are the part numbers for the parts on my C43, if it can help.

Bilstein B8 24-018555-M712
Bilstein B8 24-018548-M712
H&R PELHR5272777

DRBC43AMG

Don't know if this helps, but these are the reference # from the suspension (European vehicle) when I installed the KW Variant 2 suspension:
https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c...fications.html

AGEDAMG

Thank you~

AGEDAMG

Yes, it helps a lots, I used P/N you provided to look for OEM shocks, unfortunately I can not find rear shocks in United States, My friend found a rear pair for me but the L/T 3 months is too long for me

Dziner82

DRBC43 is an OG expert on this topic. But the North American W208 CLK55 has the same suspension (shocks and springs) as the euro spec C43. C43 I dont think shows up on the bilstein site anymore for a match, but you can search for a 2001-02 CLK55 and use those shocks as well. the B6 for that car would work on the C43 (so would the B8 but as previously discussed you should only do that with lowering springs or it wont be properly matched), thats what Im currently using - CLK55 spec B6's on my C43. and B8s are on my CLK with the H&R supersports.

AGEDAMG

Thank you for your reply, i just realized the the car currently has B8 on the rear, I went through service maintenance record previous owner left with the car and found that his mechanic shop replaced the rear shocks with B8 back in 2004 due to oil leakage, I think this is the great finding, since it used B8 with OEM spring for at least 10 years before the previous owner became ill and put the car into storage, the maintenance record shows no issues after that, this is a one owner car with full service record since day one, now I feel more confident to go with W208 B8 with OEM spring, what do you think?

AL408

Hello, I'm considering replacing the shocks on my 1999 Mercedes C43 with the W208 B8s using stock springs. Can I ask if you ended up going with this set up and, if so, how it went?

AGEDAMG

Hi AL408, I ended up with B6(for CLK55) + stock spring, the ride is ok....so far so good, since I did not have a chance to try other setup, I guess it is fine for me, because I am trying to restore it to original condition but not use it for track.... hope this helps!