Celicasaur

I know a lot of the guys here with E63's are leasing the cars and don't care much for long term maintenance items such as replacing bushes and rubber components, but I am curious to understand how many of us there are whom own an older E63 and are contemplating their options when it comes to keeping the car feelings and handling tight n fresh like when it was new.

Living in London with broken roads and speed humps has taken it's toll on my 2010 E63. It's not bad by any means, nor do the bushes have any wear that average joe would think to replace until maybe another 3 years but sooner or later, they'll need to be replaced. They're fine and the car drives well enough, but just not as tight and as precisely as it used to. There's a bit of roll and I don't have the same confidence in the car under hard cornering which I once had with it.

I had a word with my MB service dept today and got some prices for the front suspension components (prices in GBP):
£208 - upper arm
£146 - lower arm
£33.94 x 2 - lower ball joints
£32.60 x 2 - anti roll bar links
Including taxes, that's ~£584 for just one side.... it's ~ 1168 for both sides.

£248 - anti roll bar including bushes (they apparently don't sell the bushes separately, so that's £248 plus 20% tax if you want to use MB bushes)

As much as I'd like to replace them all....it's quite expensive isn't it? I don't think the W211 AMG models have this cost incurred vs the normal models. Possibly because the W212 has a wider front track?

I think what I'm going to do is use OEM parts for the ball joints and arb links, but then i'll send my suspension arms off to an engineering company that specialises in bushes and suspension parts in order to have them rebushed, possibly with polybushes. Anybody else done this before on a previous marque?

So anyway, is anybody else here enthusiastic about this type of preventative maintenance, or are the majority of us here only interested in replacing when they fail outright, in which case I guess this thread might be searched for on the web more in a few more years from now.

dinman

I'm on your boat. With my E63 nearing 150,000 miles, i will more than likely be looking at these repairs in the future. I have already replaced the sway bar end links on mine, made quite a noticeable difference. I believe i will need new lower arms before anything.

Here is how shot my end links were. Engine mounts were toast too

goodmaj

I would love to see something like what Mike Miller has done for BMWs with his lifetime maintenance guide. Things that you should do at certain miles or years without even thinking about it because it’s the right thing to do if you plan to keep your car a long time. Mike never went into things like bushings or control arms, but if there are things that we all know are going to break or wear out at some point, why not proactively replace them vs getting stuck somewhere waiting for a trailer?

i bet there’s a number of indys out there who, if polled, could make recommendations on what to do and when, particularly on the pre-facelift cars.

Celicasaur

So today, I bought a pair of anti-rollbar drop links from the dealer....~£70 for the pair

I actually made a mini guide with pics, but my memory on the phone crapped out and I lost the pics.

One of my links had a small tear in the rubber and it had leaked slightly (not e

First impressions - definitely a little tighter at the front end and steering feel/turn-in is better. I think now the rear needs to rotate better and flatter...i'll perhaps replace the rear drop links next weekend and take it from there.

Celicasaur

I'm a very happy man right now. I replaced the rear links which were tired and worn (particularly on one side as can be seen in the comparison pic) and now the car feels tighter than the day i bought it and handles beautifully. All of my bushings (front and rear) from my initial inspection at least, looked quite good, which has been backed up now by how the car handles and feels so stable, even under damp surfaces. The rear links were significantly easier and quicker to replace, not to mention half the price of the fronts. With them all replaced, it's driving very nicely now. So in conclusion, if you're experiencing roll that makes the car feel like a "big heavy E-Class" - replace your end-links. The car should actually feel quite nimble for such a big thing.

This picture shows the worst of the wear...the bush is all loose and out of it's housing

Alps

good stuff, bushes on all the mercs wear and cause instability, I get them inspected every year and change them when dead, its shocking how it effects the cars handling.

i`ll keep an eye on these ones as the power to the rear wheels will effect the rear end bushes first!

Celicasaur

Absolutely man, especially on your car - the bushes will take a pounding

I'm so pleased with how it's driving now. This little 'quick win' makes me almost look forward to removing the subframe from my W124 and re-bushing the entire thing to restore it back to former glory.

dinman

Wow, makes me want to check mine out.

Side note, i had this wild thumping noise coming from my front end a few days ago. Only occurred when going over bumps at low speeds. Ended up being a loose sway bar link up front, tightened it up and all is good now