anomadtoo

I personally don’t.

E55Greasemonkey

I've been bamboozled by Arnott! 😐

E55Greasemonkey

The fronts say ADS also, but guess what, it doesn't function! No point having ADS in the rear and not in front.

hachiroku

curious to how the Bilstein's feel and function versus the factory units with ADS.

cfmistry

Exactly the same. The OE units are built by Bilstein and they are 100% identical (to visual inspection at least).

E55Greasemonkey

The Arnott lifetime warranty is certainly a selling point. What about Bilstein, 2 years or something? After owning my E55 for 8 years I'm looking forward to NOT having to pay for struts a 3rd time if the Arnotts ever leak. My RMTs also had a lifetime warranty, but if you read the policy it's only for air leaks and not the oil leaking from the shock. So really only 3 choices now:
Bilstein - new oem with short warranty
Arnott reman - lifetime warranty but rebuilt on a likely 100k mile + 15 year old component
Arnott new- lifetime warranty, O miles on components but no ADS function. If you drive your car in comfort all the time, you'll never know. Also no ADS means one less failure point, and a 15 year old MB needs that kind of help.

cfmistry

That is correct, the Bilstein warranty is 2 years. Fortunately we have FCP Euro who will extend that to a lifetime warranty.

E55Greasemonkey

That's another selling point I didn't think of regarding FCP. I've had no experience with them or their warranty personally though.

cfmistry

For what it's worth I have used their warranty on many small things (oil filters, air filters, oil additives) and have not had any issues. It is a very straightforward process to return used items to them.

almostordinary

It sounds like I may be doing the Bilsteins from FCP.

But.... now I just got offered a job with Microsoft in Seattle, so am in the process of looking for a G500 or G55 to complement the E63.

So I'm going to deal with the clunks for a few months then get both fronts replaced with Bilstein from FCP.

Exciting times.

Thanks guys!

KAMG

I'm sure a lot of people have bought replacements not knowing about the ADS...not like they explicitly advertise it. But whether new or rebuilt, Arnott covers it for life. And lifetime warranty from FCP for the OEM Bilsteins so we're good no matter what

hgerhardt

I just went through this a few months ago on my then-47k mile 2009 E63. Replaced both fronts with OEM Bilsteins at $467/ea from RockAuto. I went back and forth on Arnott vs OEM and glad I went with Bilsteins to ensure proper variable damper function.
My left front blew out right after I parked the car and had to get it flatbedded home. I took the failed strut apart and the air bladder was filled with oil from a failed damper shaft seal. That oil apparently caused the rubber to split.

anomadtoo

did you have rockauto replace it or Bilstein?

hgerhardt

Not sure I understand what you're asking. Rockauto is a parts retailer who sells OEM Bilsteins (OEM=Original Equipment Manufacturer). I bought a pair and replaced them myself. Rockauto is a parts store. They do not work on cars. And Bilstein is an OEM supplier to automotive manufacturers. They don't work on cars either.

hachiroku

the way it was written it sounded like your NEW bilstiens blew and he was asking if it was warrantied by RockAuto or Bilstien.

but in actuality you were referring to your factory struts blowing.

anomadtoo

exactly; thank you for clarifying. Yes it reads like your new one broke and I was asking who you had warranty it? But never mind.

hgerhardt

OH! Yeah, sorry, it was the original equipment strut which blew.

Yuille36

Well, it appears that my luck has ran out on my 13 year old front air strut. On Friday morning, my drivers side front air strut appeared to have kicked the bucket. When I tried to raise the suspension you can see that it was trying to raise, but would quickly drop back down.
I managed to drive the car to my shop, with very little rubbing, I just hope that the air pump didn't burn up in the process. I had a conversation with my tech, and they will diagnose the issue on Monday.
If it is indeed the front Air Strut, I've decided to go with Arnott Industries from FCP Euro because of their lifetime warranty. I really feel the FCP Euro is the right call, because you never can predict what might happen in the future.
I'm still up in the air about new or remanufactured, as I would like to retain the ADS function. My issue with reman is that the ADS function inside the strut isn't replaced, and could fail in the future, as compared to a new one that doesn't have that function.
But the saving grace is that if the reman fails, I can get it replaced for free. But will incur an installation fee. So that is my dilemma right now provided that it is indeed the air strut and not something else.
So if anyone has any incredible knowledge concerning Arnott Air Struts please enlighten me? Thank you.

cfmistry

Will, I replaced one side and was told most people here to replace both fronts as the other will fail in the near future. About 6,000 miles later my other front failed (they were right). You may want to consider replacing both. Also sorry to hear you won't consider Bilstein as it is the solution to your problem.

Yuille36

Yes, if it is determined to be the front air strut, and not something else, then I’ll replace them in pairs. The Bilstein’s on the other hand are expensive to say the least. I catch enough flak spending so much money on a car worth < $9000 according to KBB.

How is Bilstein the solution to my problem? Because honestly, I didn’t have a problem for 13 years until Friday morning.

lost27

@Yuille36 Here is a link to my thread about what I went with when my air suspension failed. I chose to go the future preventative route and replaced almost everything: https://mbworld.org/forums/w219/7351...ml#post7856779 I will say that I have not noticed the rear Arnott air springs lowering when in Sport I or Sport II but since I went with Bilstien front air struts and Bilstien rear struts I was able to retain the ADS functionality.

cfmistry

I was referring to the fact that the Bilstein strut is entirely new but retains ADS. Yes they are costly, even I'm not sure they're worth it as our car values plummet. And the fact that you didn't have a problem for 13 years is really a testament to Bilstein, the original manufacturer.

KAMG

Arnott has their own lifetime warranty so you don't necessarily have to buy from FCP if you find it cheaper elsewhere. I think the OEM Bilsteins have a 2 year warranty so it'd be good to buy those from FCP if you decide to go that route

tlambert

AMG....”all money gone” ?

Yuille36

Man.....your killing me But I will say this seeing that the suspension lasted this long was a miracle. Now I have to put about $2k into it.