W166

Has anyone replaced the front sway (stabilizer) bar bushings and sway bar links? I ordered the bushings and the links from ebay and will be installing in the near future. I wonder if anyone has any advice or experience with this. Dealer was trying to sell me the entire sway bar just to replace the bushings...

Kartergreg

For a while I've had a front end rattle going over bumps. After checking I see my problem is the sway bar. Assuming the bushings are bad. I have the extended warranty and I'm wondering if this is covered or if it's a wear item that is not covered?

Robbiew

How did the bushings from eBay work out?
I'm looking for replacement front bushings for my '13 ML 350 and can find *nothing* other than some generic ones from overseas eBay sellers.

chassis

WIS doesn't list a part number for the bushings, sadly. This is how MB enables the criminal practice of offering to replace the entire stabilizer bar, bushings and links as the only choice.

Robbiew

@chassis Sadly that's what I'm hearing too.

With these models aging, I'm curious what other W166 / X166 owners are doing to repair these bushings. These are wear items that are typically replaced several times during the lifetime of a vehicle. Surely everyone isn't just paying $1000+ to the dealer or living with the rattles?

I'm hopeful we can uncover a cheaper aftermarket solution and have it clearly documented here on the forums.

chassis

What does the dealer charge for parts only for a stabilizer bar + bushings?

Robbiew

@chassis I see between $119 - 2035 for replacement stabilizer bars on this model, depending on options (Airmatic, Active Roll Control)


I see you have been active on this X166 thread where others are quoted $3000 to replace entire stabilizer bar assembly.
https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...hing-help.html

Do you have any more experience or information you can share?
Are these bushings built-in to the bar and simply not removable?

chassis

The prices seem not too bad for a base non-Airmatic, non-Active Curve, using DIY labor.

Short answer is “I don’t know” whether or not the bushings are replaceable. Digging around YouTube or the forums would be the best option short of pulling one of the brackets off and looking at the bushing itself. These are so easy to replace on 99% of vehicles, it’s too bad MB made the poor choice they did on these.

chassis

Possibly replaceable on 164.


Need to check WIS and mbparts.com to see if separate bushings are available. This is for curiosity only.

EDIT: 164 bushings are available individually.

Robbiew

@chassis agreed 100%. While it sucks to throw away a perfectly good sway bar for a few rubber bits, at least we are limited to $120 in parts.
For comparison, the bushings for W164 will run ~$35 / pair. I'm just glad I don't have the Active Roll Control that would make this a HUGE repair cost.

To recap where this stands (IMO) - W166 owners should skip the $35 eBay stabilizer bushings and just go ahead and get the new OEM assembly for $120.

BullDozer

Seems like Febest sell a brand new rubber bushing kit (Part #BZSB-166F). I assume once the end links are off, you could slide these new bushings onto the bracket. Here in Australia, you're looking at minimum 400 AUD for a new sway bar so I hope this option actually works.

Here is the official Febest link: https://webcache.googleusercontent.c...R_BAR_BUSH_KIT (now cached because they removed it for some reason) and I have found various listings for it on eBay.

Audi Junkie

$23 on Amazon