RDE38

Has anyone used these airmatic struts? I'm assuming they are not oem. I had my fronts rebuilt by RMT 2 years ago and have been very happy with them. But now I am getting quite a bit of noise from the front struts. I thought it might have been ball joints so I replaced those and the noise is still there. My mechanic says it's coming from the struts themselves. I checked with RMT and they only rebuild the air components and said I would have to replace the struts or the whole unit. So, I found these on ebay for $1,350 for the pair. Has anyone tried them? I'd hate to have to spend $2,500 for an oem pair. Thanks!
Ebay airmatic struts

Left Coast Geek

never heard of brand: Topone ... Arrnet(sp?) are supposed to be OK, otherwise OEM.

RDE38

Yeah, I just came across the Arnotts on ebay as well. Looks like around $1600 for the pair. For some reason I was thinking Arnott only made the rears for our cars. I'll most likely go with them. Thanks

bmwpowere36m3

OE (reman) ~$800-900 ea

Arnott (reman) ~$500-600 ea

Arnott (new, no active damping) ~ $600-700

RDE38

Thanks for the info. I'm curious about the "no active dampening" statement. From their listing for new struts it does say "for airmatic and ADS"

AS-3422 is a new, Arnott engineered, aftermarket air suspension strut for the front right-hand side of the 2010-2016 Mercedes-Benz E Class (W212 chassis) with Airmatic and ADS, without 4Matic. This new assembly features a model specific shock absorber and air spring, designed to improve ride comfort and handling. The Arnott strut is built with Tier 1 components including a premium multi-layer cross-corded Continental ContiTech air sleeve protected by a dust cover. This new air strut is designed and assembled in the USA with a machined aluminum top mount, O-rings, polyurethane bump stop, heavy-duty crimping rings, & new airline fitting. The aftermarket Mercedes-Benz front strut is backed by Arnott's industry leading warranty.

bmwpowere36m3

They trick the ADS to not set code... the valving is set to specific config and not active like original.

RDE38

Interesting. Do you know if they lift and lower the way they are supposed to, like 10mm lower for sport mode?

bmwpowere36m3

The ride height is controlled via air... so that unaffected. System reads ride height via sensors and the valve body ports air in/out of each strut/spring to achieve desired height.