I just purchased a 2009 ML550 with 132000 miles on it, no air suspension. I plan to put some money into it and drive it for a long time.

I have been driving it for a few days and although there is no rattling/suspension noise, I feel that there is a lot of body sway after bumps and in turns. Is this normal, or are my shocks going out? I feel like it should be a lot tighter on bumps/cornering.

Is there a go to in suspension replacement for these that people recommend? I commute in the city with this vehicle, but prefer less body roll, even it it means stiffer ride.

 

ML550 no air suspension? Was that factory? 132k miles is about the distance where the shockers will be well past there best. If they've never been changed, and you're unhappy with the lack of firmness, you wouldn't be short changing yourself by replacing them.

Check your sway bar bushes and links first. If they haven't been changed, they will be worn out. Without doubt. Cheao and easy replacement, noting sway bar link has one lonher bolt at one end and to torque them with the weight of the car on them. Check upper and lower control arm bushes as well. If you want the ride to firm up, you'll need to do these as well.

FCP Euro have recently had a sale on Bilstein shockers.

 

I'm assuming it was factory, there are none of the switches or indicators that are meant for air suspension on mine also.

Are Bilsteins the way to go? I've used them on my van and been happy.

 

Have a look through the forum and you'll get plenty of views. Some say they're a bit hard but it seems as if there are at least 2 models. Quality is good and probably half the price of genuine parts that probably arent as good. Sachs is the other brand that seems to be popular and my Indy mechanic uses them. If you're going to keep the car for sometime it sounds like it might be wise to do all the links and bushes as well as the shocks. I did my links etc as well as bushes and it transformed the ride.

 

IF you do the struts in the front and decide to do the springs as well, make sure you get new tops for the struts rather than re-using the old ones. BTW, real PIA to get the struts out of the front on my 2009 ML 350 4matic. My indi almost quit on me but in the end, got the job done. Make sure afterwards that you get a good alignment.

Lastly, I ordered all of my parts from Rock Auto and thought I got a great deal on my Bilsteins.

 

I've got the similar complaints on a ML550 with 107K miles and have a set of Bilstein B4 shocks sitting the garage waiting to be installed that will hopefully help. I'll report once I get them on (probably in the next week or so).

 

I may wait to hear how they work for you. I really want a stiffer ride with less body sway, but I have taken a few people in it and let them drive and some say that it may just be how a SUV drives... I came from a sedan with sport suspension so maybe my expectations are unrealistic.

That being said I did replace all the suspension in my Sprinter van and that made a world of difference in body sway.

 

Had the same issue on my 2008 ML550, no air suspension from factory. Replaced the suspension components on the front, shocks, control arms and bushings.

After taking care of this, the ML drove like a new car again, the difference in ride quality was/is obviously amazing.

 

What shocks did you go with?

 

I replaced mine with BILSTEIN, 24-166652.

 

The Bilstein B4s are on and I'm very happy with them. I still had the original shocks with 107K miles, and they were showing their age feeling floaty and having extra back and forth motion going over stuff like speedbumps and quick stops. The B4s got rid of that and ride slightly firmer, but are nowhere near stiff. I thought about putting B6s on, but found multiple reviews that mentioned a choppy ride, so I opted for the B4s.

The rears are easy since they're not coilover, so you don't have to deal with compressing the spring. Finding the correct spot to cut the foam insulation behind the rear side panels to get at the top nuts was about the only thing that took any time.

The fronts were more work. The spring rate is fairly high (the hat says something about 1300 lbs.) and you'll need a good spring compressor that can compress at least six of the coils to release the tension on the hat. I started with old spring compressors I've used in the past, but they started bending and binding once the spring had significant compression. I didn't feel safe compressing further and remembered I had a newer set I've never used so I decided to give them a try. They worked much better, but I had to compress 6 coils completely to get tension off the hat.

Next, the WIS calls for removing the axles to get the shocks off so you'll need a stout impact or long breaker and and socket (36mm) to get the axle nut off. I had to use a front hub puller to push the stub axle out of the hub once the axle nut was off. You'll need to pop the upper control arm off, disconnect the sway bar link and turn the steering wheel to get enough clearance to get the stub axle completely out of the hub. Use a pry bar to pop the other end out of the front differential. I saw a video somewhere of someone using a long pry bar to force the lower control arm down enough to get the shock off without axle removal, but I was worried about damage to the control arm bushings because of the amount of rotation needed. Not that difficult of a job, but make sure you've got the correct tools lined up before starting.


Old inadequate spring compressors


New better spring compressors


Hub puller to push axle out of the hub

 

I replaced all 4 strut with Bilstein B6 Performance with original springs and I love it. I do light overlanding with my ML350 4Matic but B6 does great on road and off-road.

 

How did you find the ride compared to the stock shocks? I couldn't find very much feedback on the B6s.

 

I upgraded to B6 Performance from stock shocks and I can feel B6 is firmer/stiffer than stock shocks.