JYO

I am about to have the bilstein HD's installed and had a few questions.

Are there any other parts i need to buy in addition to the shocks. I once saw some "bump stops" that came with an Eibach kit and I don't really know what thos are. Is that something I might need with the Bilsteins?

Shuld any bushings or other rubber plastic parts be replaced as well?

One person on this forum said the access to the rear shocks is via the trunk rather than trough back seat. Is that right and does that make it any easier for the installer?

Can most shops that do shocks handle this or is it really important to go to a european car expert? I'm getting huge differences in labor rate for this job and some places are even trying to say the fronts are struts rather than shocks.

Sorry for all the spaced out questions, but i need answers....thanks for any advice or opinions you can throw my way.

rob_fed

Each shock does have a bump stop. When I removed my driver's shock for inspection, I also removed the dust shield. There is a bump stop, looks like a strut bump stop, except with a small hole. If you are going with lowering springs, you may want to shorten the bump stops for more travel.

As far as the rear shocks. the trunk paneling is not hard to remove. I guess a shop that has done it before would be more familiar with this operation.

I would stay away from the shops that still quote you for front struts.

zam2000

For the W210 (96 - 02 E320), both front and rear use shock. There's no strut. Whoever quote your strut either don't know about the car, or try to scam you.

Once the shock arrived, you will see that it come w/ everything you need for the shock job (bolt, pad, dirt cover, washer ...). However, from what I've seen, mechanic prefer to use the original bolt (it's thicker & better). Make sure you ask your mechanic to do the same. You don't have to buy any thing else for the shock replacement. Because the way the car was designed, you do NOT have to do alignment after you've replace your shock.

THe rear shock is accessible via the trunk. There's no need to open up the rear deck or rear seat. Just open the thin panel on the trunk, very simple job.

I was charged $80 to replace both front and rear shock. Quite a good deal. I would say expect to pay anywhere from $80-150 for the job. It's quite a simple job.

I love my car after the shock job !!!, way more than my 2004 E320.

kicker

That's good, sounds much better than the Bimmers. My brother had to take his rear seat, speaker panel, all kinds stuff just to do the rear shock. I'll find out next weeknd, my Koni's suppose to be here in the middle of next week, hopefully is not a hard job at all after.

How about Springs? are they pretty easy to do also? I'll do them all next week.

So w210 does NOT require an alignment after you done the shocks and the SPRINGS???

thanks,

zam2000

If you only have to replace shock: no, you don't need alignment.

Springs ? I didn't replace it (most people told me unless I want to lower my car, there's no need to touch springs, they're good for life ). I have no clue whether it's an easy or hard job, or if you need alignment or not

kicker

I got my Vogtland springs the other day, now just waitng for my Koni's to start my installation. I have to drop a car about 1.5" since I have 18" shoes, so it won't look like 4x4. I am thinking if I mess with the lower control arm etc... I would need a alignment.

JYO

if you are lowering car 1.5", alignment may be necessary to get better tire wear. tirerack has an alignment kit that you can look into.

JYO

Zam, I'm getting quotes of about $400 from most shops that service european cars (they want to quote by the # of hours their service books says!). A general shop that does shocks, mufflers, etc quoted $100 which most people on this forum say is reasonable.

This isn't the kind of job that could easily be screwed up, is it? I can't stand to pay $400 for the installation.

I'm really looking forward to the new ride. My shocks have gotten so bad I feel like I'm driving an old Oldsmobile Delta 88.

kicker

Most the Euro shops around here charges in the ball park of $350 labor for a complete set of spring and shocks installed. Plus alignment after that would be another $100. If you go to stealership, they quote around $800. just labor...That's why I decide to try out myself. Since my brother did it on his bimmer last month, so we gonna try it on the Mercedes.

zam2000

Lot of people got confuse about this kind of German/Japanese/American car.

German cars tend to have complexity in designing engine, transmission, and computer system (GPS, ESP, SRS...). For this, you need shops that are specialize in European car to take car for jobs that relate to this.

For things like muffler, tire, shock, brake (except the SBC), most shop w/ skillful mechanic should be able to do the job well, regardless of brand/model.

Would you go to an Europe shop, that tell you the job would cost $400, becaues front "strut" is very hard to replace, or shop that charge you typical $100 to replace it, since they know it's an easy job ??? Knowing that there's no such thing as strut in your car ???

The shop that I brought my car to took about an hour to replace both front and rear. Even given dealer rate ($90/hour), what they charge seem right. I'm told that they would charge $160 for the Toyota Camry, since Camry has strut in both front and rear. FYI, the shop name is Lee Tires (only serive tire, shock, and brake), in Westminster, CA.

If a shop need 4-5 hours to do your shock, may be they need to ...figure out what to do ????

kicker

Does not mean you can align your car at home without taking it to the dealer? anybody has experience with that? how much does it cost I wonder?

E55MKB

I just replaced the AMG Bilstein shock on my E55 with a set of Koni adjustable.

Took me less than 2 hrs (one person) to replace all fours using two jacks and regular tools. For shops that has lifts, procedure should be a breeze.

HTH,

kicker

Do you have a good procedure or visual that you might share with us. My Konis will be arriving tomorrow. and Plan to install spring and shocks over the weekend. so any help will be appreciated.
thanks