Front Stuts?
 

Hey GL450 owners,
My front struts have gone bad again. Third set of Arnott's in about 60K miles. The last set started developing that low speed clatter, which means that the strut has blown the seal/gasket that contains the oil. The airbag is still good and maintaining its integrity. My question is, has anybody used a brand other than Arnott to replace the whole strut/airbag assembly? I see Bilstein has several part numbers (1643206113 for $609 on FCP Euro, and 1643204513 for $351 on RockAuto...can these possibly be the same as RockAuto states they are interchangeable?), and I can also get a discount from Mercedes for around $550 for their OEM. any luck with brands other than Arnott? I'll be replacing the broken passenger side next week as I cannot have my GL sounding like a POS again! Thanks for the advice!

That sounds odd - our X164 struts typically very reliable. Is this an Arnott designed New or Remanufactured OE Strut? Make sure your garage checks the rest of your front suspension. You may have other faulty suspension parts that are causing your air strut to go bad. Also: Please contact Arnott Tech Support - They may have some ideas: https://www.arnottindustries.com/contacts

Surprisingly the same part and an OE brand at that.

--Kyle