danbycraig

I did it:

1. Replaced front airmatic struts to Arnotts
2. Replace lower ball joints.
3. Replaced upper control arms and ball joints.
4. Replaced Sway Bar Links.

I did both sides, took me about 8 hours (with a couple of breaks for a baby girl with a strained right knee). Everything came apart as expected, due to the amount of reading I have done on this site, and everything went back together as expected.


The airmatic shock replacement was helped by removing the sway bar link, you really need that extra room if you don't want to compress the shocks like some guys do. Also loosening up the upper control arms so you can tie them and get them out of the way is required in the 4matics.



The upper control arms took a couple of tries getting nuts and bolts together, with a little help from my neighbour, we got everything torqued back together.


I did not take any pictures - it was just me trying to get it done - but if you have any questions let me know, I will respond promptly.



I will tell you it is a completely different car,, the front end is really pretty sound. The car is totally amazing.



Next up:

1. Transmission Flush - 64,000 miles and has never been done.
2. Motor and Transmission Mounts - I have a little vibration I think is from the motor.
3. Rear Arnotts - not looking forward to removing the rear end - I have to buy 2 more sets of Jack Stands.
4. Spark plugs - I have kind of a little miss or something at idle - it just isn't a smooth idle.

I totally love this car - working on it has been relatively strait forward and fun.



If anyone has any hints on how to make the rear Arnott installation easier or some preventive things to do while I am working on the rear end, let me know - I would appreciate it.


Craig

AMGAffalterbach

Wow, to me impressive you did all of this work yourself I would never have the guts to start tearing apart the front suspension myself By the way if you have a little miss at idle or the car makes a ticking noise under load at all, one or the other, you might actually have a bad ignition coil as the spark plugs probably wouldn't go bad that quickly. Check the forums for any rear air suspension tutorials! Welcome to the forums!

06E5004ME

How is the ride after you've replaced the front end parts? I put my car on the lift and checked every bushing/ball joint, but it still seems like something is loose in the front end. Were your shocks bad? What about bushings/ball joints? I am thinking my shocks are bad even though they still hold air.

Rear air springs are not that big of a project really. If you've replaced the front end, you'll be fine, especially with Arnott's product. IIRC, you don't need to drop the rear subframe to install Arnott springs.

Engine and transmission mounts are extremely easy to do. Took me about 30min for both engine mounts and another 5 for the transmission mount.

danbycraig

I have had a tremendous improvement in how the car rides and handles. I am not sure if that was due to shocks or the ball joints I replace - most likely a little bit of both.

The ball joints I really couldn't tell how bad they were until I got them off - the upper ball joint/control arm(one piece) were pretty bad - but I couldn't really tell how bad until I had them on the garage floor and I think they were the cause of most of the movement in the front end.

The airmatic's were sloppy, no doubt about it, I didn't have any leaks or problems, I was just being proactive. The new Arnotts don't eliminate the kind of cushy feel but makes it a whole bunch better.

All my bushings seam to be in pretty good shape so I didn't touch them. I am a little nervous about the way bar bushings - but I don't think it is "now" thing.

I did read a couple of articles about installing the rear Arnotts and not dropping the rear end, pretty excited if this only takes me half a day.

When you did your engine mounts, did you have to loosen the steering column - It looks like there is enough room but some people say that steering has to move a little bit to get the mount out.

Thanks for the info.

Craig

06E5004ME

Negative on the steering column. Just keep jacking up the engine slowly after you undo the bolts from the frame - plenty of space to get them out on both sides.

I am assuming you have a 4Matic as it is a Wagon like mine. I don't know how the process is different on a RWD model. I know on the RWD W210s, one of the engine mounts is a PIA to take out.

211.070

The Arnott rears do not have the separate reservoir like the factory units. This is why you do not have to lower the rear subframe. You can pop the clamp at either the strut, or the reservoir with your stock units.