My W212

Good day all. Just have rear struts replaced with a new pair of Bilstein b4.
Taken some photos of the old strut. Could tell how old are they? Many thanks all!!

Left Coast Geek

could be as old as the car.

My W212

Thanks. My car is 2010. How could you read the manufacturing year of these old struts?
I wanna know if any repair was made before my ownership three years ago. Good day!

Left Coast Geek

those are Mercedes branded Sachs, so if they were installed, its extremely likely that it was by a dealer, I believe any dealer can check service history by VIN.. I've had boge/sachs shocks still working well at 10 years and 200K miles.

My W212

Yes, you are right. But the manufacturing time of the front strut is so clear to be read. Seems should be the 307th days of 2009 in my case?

chassis

As good a guess as any. Stamped-in-metal numbers do not communicate date. Printed labels as shown in the photo above indicate date of manufacturer.

Left Coast Geek

if the front is original, odds are the rears are too.

Dingo L

So how's the B4 performing? Similar to Sachs or not?
Thanks.

My W212

Very similar to the original Sachs. Good to go with b4. Comfort and stable.
Two suggestions for you....
1. Buy the dampers (front and rear all broken in my case)
2. Don't over torque the top mount bolts.
Happy DIY.

S-Prihadi

What brand top mount did you get as replacement ?
MB does not sell that rear damper top mount stand alone.

My W212

The replacement is a Lemforder. The only stock at that time otherwise have to wait for a few days, so no other choice for me.....

S-Prihadi

.

Oh.........

Do you have any close up photo of the Lemforder before you install it, the inner side where the damper's C clip will sit in ?




I damaged by damper's C clip by using the same Lemforder 34909 01
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...bage-fake.html




I now have 5 door stopper from Lemforder , where 2 are from my recent purchase of a SACHS top mount, which is also a Lemforder because SACHS and Lemforder are both under ZF Aftermarket , their parent company.

Give it a few thousand miles and check your Bilstein B4 C-Clip "flatness" and "straightness".

My W212

I didn't take photos in so details on the new mount....

One point I could say is that the old mb mount houses the original Sachs c clip perfectly for more than 12 years. No damage or deform (see photo of the old c clip and marking of it on the old mount).

Anyway, I am now using b4 and lemforder mount. They both are OEM. Hope they could match perfectly.........

S-Prihadi

The Lemforder is the one damaging my Bilstein B4/B6
I swap to Bilstein B4 from MB-SACHS and was using MB-SACHS top mount.
I then swap to Bilstein B8 for firmer ride , and there then I change top mount to Lemforder just for preventive maintenance sake as the MB-SACHS already 7+ years old in 2021.
Within 2,000KM the Lemforder damaged my B6 C-clip and I took spare one from B4.

So back to my old SACHS MB top mount , which is still okey.

That is why I worried for you....

My W212

Thanks for your advice. So, I will buy a pair of mb rear struts in next time of replacemen ie. damper + top mount. No hassle then : )

S-Prihadi

But Bilstein even B4 is better than the OE SACHS at high speed
I am trying to look for Febi Bilstein top mount, but locally I can't source it.

My W212

Agree. But I more prefer a one time hassle free replacement rather than doing field testings.....
hope you could find a perfect mount to replace.

S-Prihadi

Ha ha ha. MB money game inded......... we are forced to buy damper kit because of higher price cars.
Good thing they went stupid on the W204 AMG C63 sedan and wagon and I can see the P/N is the same as whats physically on our rear top mount.

Above, P/N is the same as our top mount.










Below P/N is for almost all W204 costing less than its AMG version



MB got greedy. Even C350 with newer engine M276, rear damper top mount not shown as stand alone parts, so they forced owners to buy their lame SACHS damper kit like in W212.


==============

I reverse "calculated" already....
The highlighted one in yellow is the Rear Damper Top Mount as stand alone new part number for our A204 320 08 73.





By checking the damper kit P/N between W204 AMG Sedan & Coupe to non AMG models , we can then know the Top Mount is the same

S-Prihadi

I forgot something, the bump stop. Yours is worse than mine

Get Kayaba one, very good. Or buy the W204 one since today we know it is 90% chance the same as our W212 .

Kayaba : https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...absorbers.html

My W212

Yes, thanks for your advice : )