Hahahaha. I had too.

You spent big $$ on the interior and that doesn’t make it drive down the road.

Don’t cheap out on the struts. It’ll bite you later.

Im bout to hop into this same game.

Going bilstein just to stay OEM. Looking to pull the trigger in a few weeks and just do the install at home.

Due to this corona crisis, I’m trying to get this done while my shop is still operating. I’m going with Arnott, as I don’t currently have the funds for a complete Bilstein upgrade. As I’ve got other things going on at the moment with my X5M upgrades. 😁

Bilstein has a lifetime warranty too (in the US at least), so don't use that as criteria to choose. Also, since Bilstein has that warranty through any distributor, no need to buy from FCP to get their unlimited warranty.

Unfortunately this is NOT true. Bilstein B4 shocks do have a lifetime warranty. Bilstein B4 AIR shocks have a 2-year warranty. I am sure of this.

Actually, it IS true: Go to the product page and under the description, it says "limited lifetime warranty". At the bottom, there's a link to the full text of the warranty and there's nothing excluding the air bladder.
How long ago were you "assured" of this 2-year thing? Maybe this lifetime deal is recent?

Well, my shop ordered the Arnott Remanufactured Air Strut from a local distributor, and we replaced them in pairs. And I just got a phone call, that my car is ready for pickup. So I'm extremely fortunate, that my shop is still operating and they took care of me quickly.
And yes, AMG stands for "All Money Gone" again....But it takes money to keep these cars in great shape.

glad you got it sorted. I replaced my front right couple months ago myself within 2 hours (thank you YouTube), and purchased it from rockauto. Saved a lot and learned much more in the process.

Wow thank you for correcting me! It was not even a year ago that I was assured of this by RockAuto I believe. Hmm. It seems even Bilstein doesn’t have it together, so it must be a recent change:

https://www.bilstein.com/us/en/blog/...edures-policy/

NOT true.


2 year warranty on the Bilsteins, right from their webpage:


OE applications outside the conventional gas-pressure shock absorber include the B4 OE Replacement (Air) and Steering Racks. These unique products fall under a Limited 2-year Warranty with the same terms as our Limited Lifetime Warranty.

You Tube

You Tube

On another note, I've bonded with my NEW Arnott fake-ADS front struts. I'm enjoying driving around in sport2 with a smoother ride from the front, even with the car 10mm lower than comfort mode. I was able to get my alignment in spec at that ride height and now I leave it there forever, without worry about dropping lower at highway speeds. Before, I would sometimes get tired of the harsher ride in sport 2. The car also seems to turn better with the softer fronts.

Sorry, I'm still not convinced. You searched and found this webpage which you'll note is dated 12 Oct 2017. Have a look at the warranty text from the air strut webpage (and also that page itself) and you won't find that text. Then you can go to the main warranty page and also the pdf link at the bottom of that page and still not see anything like that. Prove me wrong by calling/writing Bilstein USA. If they try to dispute their (4) different pages which do not have that limitation written, then we have a good case to present to the FTC.

Yes, you are correct. The latest webpage states lifetime warranty:

https://www.bilstein.com/us/en/produ...08054801141563

RockAuto when you click "details" also states limited lifetime warranty.

But I'm not removing my ***** Wonka video.

Well the next inevitable thing to go, would be the rear air springs. And my shop quoted me $300 for the pair for installation, and the Arnott units run about $700 a set. So all in, I’m looking at $1K. So I was thinking about that, when my tech told me to just wait until they fail, as you might get another 10-20,000miles before they fail. And I would have replaced prematurely. But the new front air struts retained the ADS function 😁. Now I need to replace the passenger side keyless go door handle. I may complain from time to time how much money I spend to maintain this car. But this is a well maintained car, if I do say so myself. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Something my tech said to me today, he said yes you complain about spending more money on this car, but you should see some of the AMG’s that come thru here neglected. Your car is13 years old and is in better shape than some 2-3 years old AMG’s. 🤔

You might as well replace the distribution block for the air suspension as well as that is another common area for leaks even after replacing the front struts and rear bags.

At Rockauto the Bilsteins are $606.89 a pop.

I'm not trying to replace the entire Airmatic system. Besides how often does the distribution block fail as compared to the air struts and air springs, I can't recall anyone having this fail on them.
Honestly, I can't complain to much, as these were the original OEM Air Struts, that lasted 13 years.

How does that old saying go? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" ? Just trying to help out here, when i did my suspension it was suggested to do that as it was cheapish and quick and is a known leak

No disrespect.....Thank you for the advice. After 13 years on the original suspension, and just now replacing front air struts, I feel lucky that the distribution block will last for many more years to come. If and when it fails, I will replace it at that time.
Just my tech said to me, when I contemplated replacing the rear air springs, why when they might last you another 10-20,000 more miles.

I think that saying is something like this....hahahaha just messing with ya Yullie.

Tim that was regarding head bolts not suspension components 😁. And yes All Money Gone....again

This thread reminds me of the: Boots theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

I'm glad I started this thread Now I just need to order new bilsteins for when I'm back home in my garage and have a fun day project.

This should apply to all? Lol.


Love it. That is great

I ordered everything from rock auto:
2 OEM Bilstein front struts (The reason here is that I wanted to retain the OEM ADS functionality that Arnotts does not keep)
2 OEM Bilstein rear shocks
2 Arnott rear air springs (The reason here is that the design is supposedly better than OEM, doesn't impact the ADS functionality, and labor costs are lower to install)

Came out to a little over $2500 shipped