Front Suspension Rebuild, Airmatic Star Q's
12-27-2017, 02:56 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Front Suspension Rebuild, Airmatic Star Q's
Hello Fellow DIY"rs!!!
I recently bought a 2007 AMG E63 with 94kmi that pulled right and had a big smiley faced gouge in the hood from ear to ear!! It was in great shape otherwise for a 10 year old car and the price was right! Nevertheless, being that I don't have WIS nor the STAR Diag., I have some concerns regarding procedure if I were to pursue rebuilding the front end without the STAR. Below is a list of things in the order I intend on doing them for reference:
1. Front Upper Adjustable Control Arms (Aftermarket F1 )
2. Replace Hub Tapered Roller Bearings (#002 980 65 02), Bevel Bespring?? (#140 981 08 05 ?package I took a pic of was faded), Seal RIng (#025 997 16 47), Grease Cap, Nut etc.
3. Lower Thrust Arms (#2113304511 & 2113304611)
4. Lower Front Rear Airspring Control Arm Bushings (# 2303330614) and Ball Joints (#2113300435)
5. Swaybar Bushings (Febest)
6. Lower Oil Pan Leak (Not sure if there is a MB Gasket or if RTV is used here??)
My main concern is starting out by doing 1-3 and having to wait for a STAR Diag Sys in order to proceed in doing #4 which I must do (1through 4) in order to do #5. Can anyone confirm to me that the STAR is absolutely necessary in order to remove the Front Rear Airspring Control Arm?? If one were raise the front by a jack whilst the key is set to "ON", would that cause the Airmatic to depressurise enough to safely remove the Control Arm in question?
Also, am I correct in my assumtion that I have to remove the Swaybar in order to drop and either RTV the Oil Pan or renew the gasket? Which one is it, RTV or a Gasket? Part Diagrams online don't get this detailed. As for the Swaybar itself, is there a trick one uses in order to unload and reload the Swaybar links or do they sufficiently release tension enough when the front wheels are off the ground. Are any C Clamps necessary to torque swaybar bushing retainers or to set the Swaybar end link to the Control Arm? I wouldn't think so, but you never know?
Another question I have is with respect to the Upper Control Arm. Do I have to remove the AirMatic Shocks in order to gain access to the Bolts on each side? I imagine if I were to disconnect the Airspring Control arm, I could loosen the three nuts up top to move the Shock side to side to gain access, just not sure if it would be necessary. Does the mudguard surrounding it need to be removed? Will simply removing the Ball Joints up top via removal of the three retaining bolts thus causing the Spindle to swing out allow enough access provided I remove and suspend the Calipers/Rotors.
As for the Front Wheel Bearings, to gain access to the Main Hub NUT, is it necessary to remove the wheels first in order to remove the hubcap and take out the Grease Cap covering the NUT? I Imagine this would be the case. Understandably I would suspend the Calipers, remove the ABS Sensors and Rotors and then remove retaining Bolt and clasp before removing the NUT. Upon re installation I would be interested in knowing the proper Torque in ft-lbs or inches. To get the Bearings out, would one use a rubber mallet and a drift, dowel or other? After heating up the outer with a torch? I know this might be a basic question but as you all know, there's no Haynes Manual on this stuff and without WIS I'm left with past experience on SAABs, Cadillac's and JEEP's, which are very different animals I can already tell!!!
I might add the next phase of surgury will include the following:
7. Valve cover Gasket-While I-m in there I'll confirm whether or not the Headbolts were replaced as the Tech told me over the phone when the Driver Side Gasket was renew prior to my purchase. The picture he sent me did NOT confirm.
8. Intake Throttle Body Plate and intake gasket and while I'm there, there's a great looking one that's 2+mm thicker (Beafy!) on Ebay shipped from Ft. Lauderdale Area.
9. PCV Breather Valve Pipe.
10. Renew Spark Plugs.
I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas and continue to have a Happy New Year!! All the best!
I recently bought a 2007 AMG E63 with 94kmi that pulled right and had a big smiley faced gouge in the hood from ear to ear!! It was in great shape otherwise for a 10 year old car and the price was right! Nevertheless, being that I don't have WIS nor the STAR Diag., I have some concerns regarding procedure if I were to pursue rebuilding the front end without the STAR. Below is a list of things in the order I intend on doing them for reference:
1. Front Upper Adjustable Control Arms (Aftermarket F1 )
2. Replace Hub Tapered Roller Bearings (#002 980 65 02), Bevel Bespring?? (#140 981 08 05 ?package I took a pic of was faded), Seal RIng (#025 997 16 47), Grease Cap, Nut etc.
3. Lower Thrust Arms (#2113304511 & 2113304611)
4. Lower Front Rear Airspring Control Arm Bushings (# 2303330614) and Ball Joints (#2113300435)
5. Swaybar Bushings (Febest)
6. Lower Oil Pan Leak (Not sure if there is a MB Gasket or if RTV is used here??)
My main concern is starting out by doing 1-3 and having to wait for a STAR Diag Sys in order to proceed in doing #4 which I must do (1through 4) in order to do #5. Can anyone confirm to me that the STAR is absolutely necessary in order to remove the Front Rear Airspring Control Arm?? If one were raise the front by a jack whilst the key is set to "ON", would that cause the Airmatic to depressurise enough to safely remove the Control Arm in question?
Also, am I correct in my assumtion that I have to remove the Swaybar in order to drop and either RTV the Oil Pan or renew the gasket? Which one is it, RTV or a Gasket? Part Diagrams online don't get this detailed. As for the Swaybar itself, is there a trick one uses in order to unload and reload the Swaybar links or do they sufficiently release tension enough when the front wheels are off the ground. Are any C Clamps necessary to torque swaybar bushing retainers or to set the Swaybar end link to the Control Arm? I wouldn't think so, but you never know?
Another question I have is with respect to the Upper Control Arm. Do I have to remove the AirMatic Shocks in order to gain access to the Bolts on each side? I imagine if I were to disconnect the Airspring Control arm, I could loosen the three nuts up top to move the Shock side to side to gain access, just not sure if it would be necessary. Does the mudguard surrounding it need to be removed? Will simply removing the Ball Joints up top via removal of the three retaining bolts thus causing the Spindle to swing out allow enough access provided I remove and suspend the Calipers/Rotors.
As for the Front Wheel Bearings, to gain access to the Main Hub NUT, is it necessary to remove the wheels first in order to remove the hubcap and take out the Grease Cap covering the NUT? I Imagine this would be the case. Understandably I would suspend the Calipers, remove the ABS Sensors and Rotors and then remove retaining Bolt and clasp before removing the NUT. Upon re installation I would be interested in knowing the proper Torque in ft-lbs or inches. To get the Bearings out, would one use a rubber mallet and a drift, dowel or other? After heating up the outer with a torch? I know this might be a basic question but as you all know, there's no Haynes Manual on this stuff and without WIS I'm left with past experience on SAABs, Cadillac's and JEEP's, which are very different animals I can already tell!!!
I might add the next phase of surgury will include the following:
7. Valve cover Gasket-While I-m in there I'll confirm whether or not the Headbolts were replaced as the Tech told me over the phone when the Driver Side Gasket was renew prior to my purchase. The picture he sent me did NOT confirm.
8. Intake Throttle Body Plate and intake gasket and while I'm there, there's a great looking one that's 2+mm thicker (Beafy!) on Ebay shipped from Ft. Lauderdale Area.
9. PCV Breather Valve Pipe.
10. Renew Spark Plugs.
I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas and continue to have a Happy New Year!! All the best!
Last edited by E63007; 12-28-2017 at 02:39 PM. Reason: Recent insights
08-14-2018, 02:02 PM
#2
Member
4. Lower Front Rear Airspring Control Arm Bushings (# 2303330614) and Ball Joints (#2113300435)
08-25-2018, 01:28 PM
#4
Member
09-08-2018, 12:56 PM
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
With regards to your question on the AirSpring Control Arms, Yes they're still OEM, at least one side is, since the place I finally brought mine to that would be willing to give it a try actually did a pretty good job on one. However, because the Bushing edge was a little bent after his install attempt, even though he was able to get it all the way through, he gave them both back to me at no charge. So I just reinstalled them because no-one else would give them a try (i.e.-Napa and several other indy's).
As for the Upper Control Arms, I ended up getting the STAR in order to depressurize the Air Struts. Even though I ended up detaching the sway bars for no reason as explained above, one couldn't prybar the Struts over the Control Arm unless the Struts are depressurized via STAR as the Struts pressurized would bear down on the swaybars with too much force. Once depressurized though it's relatively easy to prybar them up and over the Control Arms. Being careful to remove all wiring and pressure tube attachments first, removing the Struts are simple as you loosen the top three nuts until almost to the end and the grab hold of the Strut while you undo the nuts fully with the other hand. Bear in mind that you will want to prybar the Strut toward the front of the car to remove them!!!
Removing the Upper Control Arms are easy once you have the Struts out of the way. However, you'll want a smaller set of hands aiding you upon reinstall of the Control Arms, whether they're OEM or any other like the F1 Fabrication's like mine because on each side, one of the Nuts is low under a bunch of stuff situated above on each fender. Driving the bolt in is no problem but you'll want to thread the bolt through while your small fisted partner holds the nut on the fender with thier fingers, if you get my drift. Definitely NOT a one person job!
If, upon re-install of the Struts, the Calipers are hung up if say you removed the rotors during your operation, be mindful of which side of the Strut the brake lines run, otherwise you may find you'll be removing that Strut again!!!
I ended up replacing both rotors and brake pads with Racing Brake stock. As such, since I had the spring Control Arms off, albeit unnecessarily, all it took for me to remove the entire Steering Swivel was to disconnect the Tie Rods. This made the removal and install of the Ball Joints much easier as I was able to mount the Swivel in my bench vice and use my Dewalt Impact Drill with the Ball Joint Press kit from Autozone. Being able to eyeball the install from above while driving in the previously frozen new Ball Joints is a huge benefit as you can see millimeter by millimeter the BJ getting closer to being fully seated correctly. I had to really put some weight into it with the threads being all greased to get it finally seated perfectly. I might not have if I was on my knees with the Swivel attached in-situ and the Ball Joint inboard away from view manually trying to install with a breaker bar wrench!! Without removing the steering Swivel, one is unable to use the Impace Drill and extensions needed from above as the fender would be in the way.
As for the Wheel Bearing NUT, I have all the replacement bearings, magnetic runout dial indicator. etc., but I could NOT figure out how to get a grip, one way or the other, on that Bearing nut?? If there was play in the hub, I would have taken them in to be fixed, but being that I was attempting to do this job for the hell of it, I ended up adding new grease and tapping the caps back on each hub. And YES, one does need to remove the Wheel in order to remove the Cap, duh!!! I originally came up with this question before actually taking possession of the car IIDSSM...
The Intake Manifold was ultimately rebuilt by RMT in Pompano Beach, Fl. Mine was completely flooded with Oil and my idle was averaging 1200rpm and since mine had several posts on top that had disintegrated, I brought mine in and they were able to pull another top from thier stock and replane the bottom side of mine as well as replace the throttle mounting Plate that they make a beefier version out of Aluminium in-house. They showed me the one they removed and it was riddled with holes from having deteriorated over the years. No wonder it was reving high idle!! I was absolutely thrilled when I picked mine back up to see it look practically brand new!!
Since I had taken off both Air Struts (one of them was an Arnott) I brought them in to exchange for their "rebuilt OEM" Struts. Since the Arnott Strut was one that did not have a useful expansion chamber that the OEM's have which allow for "Adaptive Dampening", RMT could only accept for exchange the one OEM Strut that I had. I'll just say that I got both rebuilt OEM Air Struts for a little more than half of what one would pay for an Arnott. I was very pleased and I'll also say the entire crew at RMT were personally very informative and fun to meet!!!
The PCV Breather Valve that was originally on there was sacrificed in order for me to use its mounting attachments. I simply used a razor blade and spliced open the tube where it attached to each mount and peeled back the tube from the mounts being careful not to cut through the O-Ring in its slot! I got some 1" diameter Heating Hose from Home Depot as well as a husky Air Compressor Filter to act as a Catch Can as well as 6 90 degree bends and 10 hose clamps. (Edit 11/28/19- The Husky Air Compressor did Not work so I replaced it with one I found in a local racing shop made custom!). The 1" Heater hose fit perfectly on the OEM PCV Mounts, so I made sure to get similar sized Mounts. I used oetiker clamps to permanently secure the hoses to the OEM mount in the rear under the Intake as well as for most of the bends except for where they connect both to the Catch Can and the OEM PCV Breather Valve. In those areas I used the manually adjustable hose clamps for easy removal.
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As for the Upper Control Arms, I ended up getting the STAR in order to depressurize the Air Struts. Even though I ended up detaching the sway bars for no reason as explained above, one couldn't prybar the Struts over the Control Arm unless the Struts are depressurized via STAR as the Struts pressurized would bear down on the swaybars with too much force. Once depressurized though it's relatively easy to prybar them up and over the Control Arms. Being careful to remove all wiring and pressure tube attachments first, removing the Struts are simple as you loosen the top three nuts until almost to the end and the grab hold of the Strut while you undo the nuts fully with the other hand. Bear in mind that you will want to prybar the Strut toward the front of the car to remove them!!!
Removing the Upper Control Arms are easy once you have the Struts out of the way. However, you'll want a smaller set of hands aiding you upon reinstall of the Control Arms, whether they're OEM or any other like the F1 Fabrication's like mine because on each side, one of the Nuts is low under a bunch of stuff situated above on each fender. Driving the bolt in is no problem but you'll want to thread the bolt through while your small fisted partner holds the nut on the fender with thier fingers, if you get my drift. Definitely NOT a one person job!
If, upon re-install of the Struts, the Calipers are hung up if say you removed the rotors during your operation, be mindful of which side of the Strut the brake lines run, otherwise you may find you'll be removing that Strut again!!!
I ended up replacing both rotors and brake pads with Racing Brake stock. As such, since I had the spring Control Arms off, albeit unnecessarily, all it took for me to remove the entire Steering Swivel was to disconnect the Tie Rods. This made the removal and install of the Ball Joints much easier as I was able to mount the Swivel in my bench vice and use my Dewalt Impact Drill with the Ball Joint Press kit from Autozone. Being able to eyeball the install from above while driving in the previously frozen new Ball Joints is a huge benefit as you can see millimeter by millimeter the BJ getting closer to being fully seated correctly. I had to really put some weight into it with the threads being all greased to get it finally seated perfectly. I might not have if I was on my knees with the Swivel attached in-situ and the Ball Joint inboard away from view manually trying to install with a breaker bar wrench!! Without removing the steering Swivel, one is unable to use the Impace Drill and extensions needed from above as the fender would be in the way.
As for the Wheel Bearing NUT, I have all the replacement bearings, magnetic runout dial indicator. etc., but I could NOT figure out how to get a grip, one way or the other, on that Bearing nut?? If there was play in the hub, I would have taken them in to be fixed, but being that I was attempting to do this job for the hell of it, I ended up adding new grease and tapping the caps back on each hub. And YES, one does need to remove the Wheel in order to remove the Cap, duh!!! I originally came up with this question before actually taking possession of the car IIDSSM...
The Intake Manifold was ultimately rebuilt by RMT in Pompano Beach, Fl. Mine was completely flooded with Oil and my idle was averaging 1200rpm and since mine had several posts on top that had disintegrated, I brought mine in and they were able to pull another top from thier stock and replane the bottom side of mine as well as replace the throttle mounting Plate that they make a beefier version out of Aluminium in-house. They showed me the one they removed and it was riddled with holes from having deteriorated over the years. No wonder it was reving high idle!! I was absolutely thrilled when I picked mine back up to see it look practically brand new!!
Since I had taken off both Air Struts (one of them was an Arnott) I brought them in to exchange for their "rebuilt OEM" Struts. Since the Arnott Strut was one that did not have a useful expansion chamber that the OEM's have which allow for "Adaptive Dampening", RMT could only accept for exchange the one OEM Strut that I had. I'll just say that I got both rebuilt OEM Air Struts for a little more than half of what one would pay for an Arnott. I was very pleased and I'll also say the entire crew at RMT were personally very informative and fun to meet!!!
The PCV Breather Valve that was originally on there was sacrificed in order for me to use its mounting attachments. I simply used a razor blade and spliced open the tube where it attached to each mount and peeled back the tube from the mounts being careful not to cut through the O-Ring in its slot! I got some 1" diameter Heating Hose from Home Depot as well as a husky Air Compressor Filter to act as a Catch Can as well as 6 90 degree bends and 10 hose clamps. (Edit 11/28/19- The Husky Air Compressor did Not work so I replaced it with one I found in a local racing shop made custom!). The 1" Heater hose fit perfectly on the OEM PCV Mounts, so I made sure to get similar sized Mounts. I used oetiker clamps to permanently secure the hoses to the OEM mount in the rear under the Intake as well as for most of the bends except for where they connect both to the Catch Can and the OEM PCV Breather Valve. In those areas I used the manually adjustable hose clamps for easy removal.
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Last edited by E63007; 04-19-2021 at 02:53 AM.
09-08-2018, 04:39 PM
#7
You can use a 12 v battery source and two wires and create a circuit in the upper connector of the air struts to lower the compression of the struts without having to raise/lower your car a bunch of times or unplug your battery a bunch of times. you can make a 12V battery wiring 2 AA batteries and 1 9V battery in series. there are if I remember correctly 4 pins inside the connector just find the two that are needed to complete the circuit to cause the strut to decompress.
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09-09-2018, 07:01 AM
#8
MBWorld Fanatic!
You can use a 12 v battery source and two wires and create a circuit in the upper connector of the air struts to lower the compression of the struts without having to raise/lower your car a bunch of times or unplug your battery a bunch of times. you can make a 12V battery wiring 2 AA batteries and 1 9V battery in series. there are if I remember correctly 4 pins inside the connector just find the two that are needed to complete the circuit to cause the strut to decompress.
09-09-2018, 01:15 PM
#9
