X55

Over the years the conventional wisdom has been that Bilstein HD's are the equialent replacement for factory W210 E55 shocks. We all know that Bilstein does not offer replacement shocks specific to the E55. In general most of us who order Bilsteins use the applications listed for the W210 E430 Sport Package. Also, Bilstein and its major vendors (shockwarehouse, Tire Rack) all list the shocks incorrectly. For the E430 Sport, all of the shocks listed as "rear" are actually for the front, and vice versa. These shocks are listed and labeled by Bilstein as follows:

Bilstein HD Front: B36.2156
Bilstein HD Rear: BE3.A056

Bilstein Sport Front: BE3.A057
Bilstein Sport Rear: BE3.A058

For anyone trying to put the above shocks on their car, you should install the listed fronts on the rear and vice versa.

I recently embarked upon a suspension upgrade to change my factory shocks to HD's, and drop the car a little with some #1 pads. Turned out that from the time I ordered the HD's until I received them, the drivers side front spring broke at the lowermost coil. Thankfully the spring decided to stay in the control arm pocket and not do a dramatic exit out of the fender during those few days.

Knowing it was pointless to get one factory replacement spring, much less get a new factory front pair on a car with 79K miles, I decided to go ahead and order the generally recommended combo of H&R sport springs and Bilstein Sport shocks.

Since I had my factory original shocks, the HD's, and the Sports all at the same time (HD's were sent back today) I took some pics to compare. I have never seen anyone compare all three sets of shocks side by side. In each pic the front shocks are on the left and the rear shocks are on the right.

#1 - Bilstein HD's in their correct positions next to the factory shocks.

#2 - Bilstein Sports in their correct positions next to factory shocks

#3 - From left to right, Bilstein Sport/Factory/HD front, Sport/Factory/HD rear

#4 - Closeup of the length differences

In all of the pics the tops of the shocks were lined up level. I peeled back the protective top shroud to show this on the factory shocks. The pics are of all the shocks at full extension. I did compress all the shocks by hand to full compression. The HD's traveled down below the factory shocks by about 0.5 inch at full comp. The Sports matched the factory travel and were level at full comp.

Now to stir the pot In my opinion, the conventional wisdom is wrong and the HD's are a poor choice for straight replacement of the E55 shocks. In my mind no one should be considering these based on the significant length differences between Factory and HD vs. Factory and Sport (which are identical length in the rear and maybe 0.25 inch shorter than stock in the front).

Peter_02AMG

Hey X,

How hard is it to swap out the spring and shock?? any tips?

I bought H&R sport spring part# 52724 and
Bilstine SPort Part #s FRONT BE3-A057-H0 , REAR BE3-A058-H0

haven't had a chance to install them yet.

thanks

X55

It's not hard at all with the right tools. I combined the shock/spring swap with new front lower ball joints, lower control arms, and a full brake job with SS lines so it took a little longer. For the springs it's a DIY if you're handy with tools and have a spring compressor. If not then I would have a shop do it. There are no tricks or surprises to the W210 suspension except that the front spring pads have a little metal cup inside them that is somewhat delicate and easy to bend so it's necessary to keep the spring compressor centered within the front spring at all times. The rear pads do not have this cup.

For the front upper shock mounts access is severely limited due to their location so a crow's foot wrench is necessary to loosen the retaining nut - 17mm if I remember correctly. The rear upper shock mounts are in your trunk behind the vertical back panel on either side of the fuel tank.

Peter_02AMG

you think it cost more than $200 to paid a shop to swap out the spring and shock?? If it cost less than $200 I rather paid someone to do.

anyone know where I can get it done in th seattle area?? everett??

ZE55

Wow! Nice work. I'm a little unclear though about the swap you mentioned. If I order the Bilstein Sports and get teh following labeled from Bilstein/Tire Rack etc:

Bilstein Sport Front: BE3.A057
Bilstein Sport Rear: BE3.A058

Are you saying that the 058 should be used for the front and 057 for the rear? Also, is it as simple as just where I place each shock or do I have to actually swap something in the shocks - as you and Peter 02AMG seem to be discussing. Sorry about my ignorance if it's that obvious, but I've never installed shocks.

Also, please do let me know what you think of your ride when they're installed. Thanks a bunch for all the good info.

X55

That is 100% correct. The lengths of the shocks only work this way, if installed as labeled the fronts will be too short and the rears too long. Our factory front shocks are longer than the rear shocks.

Springs should be here the next few days and I'll report back how the car rides on stock #3 pads.

ZE55

Fantastic. Thanks, and look forward to your feedback . . .

SleepersRock

Great job. This as absolutely brilliant post. Keep up the good work, and thanks for the awesome sisde by side comparisons.

ProjectC55

Which kind of spring compressor did you use?

X55

The zdmak ebay one for W210, worked like a charm

raymond g-

i had written a DIY for my 99 E320...which should be very similar to the E55 that
the instructions should be darn close. I was bored after dinner and was simply
intending to do an exploratory...a recon of the project. But turns out it was so
simple that I did it all w/o having to refer to any instructions. I've since swapped
them out 2x more so can say it is pretty easy...with basic shop tools.

Peter-i have Klann type spring compressor should you wish to tackle the project
yourself. I'm inbetween spring/shock/lowering changes now so can loan it out
if you need...cheaply priced....better than autozone et al.

Peter_02AMG

Dang it! thank very much Ray, but I just order it for $200 on line. Wish I knew sooner. I didn't want to buy something I probably use once or twice and never see it again.

thank Ray for the offer, next time i'll ask you for tool before I buy them. YOu probably got them all in your tool box.