Shock Bellows and Support Ring Adjustment
 

Hello All.

2005 W211 Sedan. I'm replacing my stock shocks (front/rear) with Bilstein OE replacement shocks. I have a standard suspension so it's pretty straightforward replacement. I have a couple of questions though.

1) Am I correct in thinking that I need to move the Bilstein support ring down the shock so that it matches the OEM support rings location. You can see in the photo that the Bilstein comes with it set to the top making for a big difference between it and the stock shock. Leaving it that high would add a considerable amount of spring rate.

2) I need to replace the shock's bellows. Does anyone know the Mercedes part number for that item? Has anyone had any luck with this part from RockAuto https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/mor...nid=520&jpid=2

Thanks in advance.

So I now know that it is correct to adjust the support ring on the Bilstein shocks to match the OEM shock's settings. This was easy and simply required snap ring pliers to move the ring to a lower setting on the Bilstein. I set mine one notch from the bottom and it's nearly identical to the OEM height as shown in the photo.

The shock bellows I ordered from RockAuto and should have them tomorrow. Here's hoping they're a good match.

Be warned if you order the Beck/Arnley steering rack bellows as shown in the link in my first post.

I finally gave up after spending an hour trying to fit the large end of the bellows on to the steering rack housing. The bellows is made from molded plastic so stretching it to get it to fit onto the housing was impossible. I tried using my droplight to warm the plastic in an attempt to get it to fit but still no luck. Even tried a small amount of grease around the opening. Nope. It simply will not fit. I can get about 70% of the bellows to go on but that's it. I tried to carefully use a screwdriver to pry it on but that didn't work.

I've confirmed part numbers and have spoken with RockAuto about the problem.

I'm returning the Beck/Arnley bellows to RockAuto and spending the extra $$ for genuine Mercedes bellows. Fingers crossed they fit.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with these parts?