enfox

Found out I have a bad front strut today, are there aftermarket alternatives to OEM replacement? Has anyone done away with the air/adjustable suspension completely on a 2014+ E63?

PeterUbers

Are you willing to give up control if the dampening that the suspension button affords guy?

enfox

Yes, I have no problem manually adjusting them on a coilover.

brfatal

Something to bear in mind: coilovers are also less reliable, have shorter service lives, and require more upkeep/maintenance than struts.

enfox

Anyone know if the stock setup can be swapped out for the KW3 for the normal E class? I've never had issues with coilovers on my previous cars with more miles on them than the struts that failed on this car. 1K+ for one strut is crazy and I would rather swap for a system with more adjustability and a lifetime warranty.

lvevo

Have you thought about a Bilstein PSS9/10 coilover? They can be rebuilt and revalved at more local places than KW. Also unless KW V3 changed things in the recent years, they can't be rebuilt. Only the V3 Clubsports and Race series can be rebuilt.

brfatal

KW V3s have always been rebuildable.

Cifdig

Kw3 would be your best option. You will lose the option to change the dampening with the push of a button but the factory one sucks ***** in my opinion . Factory do not allow you to take corners while keeping the weight of the car balanced and not shift the weight to much. With kw3 it should stiffen it more because there is much more dampening options. One factory strut is $1200 plus per front strut. Extremely expensive for a strut that only gives you the ability to adjust only with 2 options . Softer and soft lol

FastWgn

I have NOT changed the struts on my car, but have plenty of expedience from other cars of these discussions, Audi, BMW, and the worst - Volvos (4C).

It all depends on two tings:

1. Does it bother you to have lights on in the dash board? Every single one of these systems will set a warning light if a strut is replaced, but you already know that. In some cases you can use resistor or other trickery to make the system believe a strut is there.
2. You don;t care about the more advanced features (like the intra strut adjustability (front hits pothole - rear adjusts), anti squat, anti roll, etc.) Much of this can of course be addressed by a solid coilover setup.

But most importantly - are you sure you have air suspension in the front? I think the W212 E63 doesn't - just in the rear?. If so - looks like the struts are are in the $350-400 range, which is "normal".
And in the rear we are fortunate enough that the actual air bellow is a MB standard one, not AMG specific. Compare that to Audi where it's one integrated unit front and rear.

Cifdig

the w212 from experience first hand when you unplug the active suspension the only light that stayed on was the light from the suspension button. It will keep the little light on the left on like when you select the first suspension setting. As far as rear the air bags stay in those do not get removed but you will be swapping out the rear struts. In the rear there is an airbag on each side and a strut. What would be great is if kw can make a small plug box to fool the active suspension light but idk what’s involved with it..

Cifdig

You are correct about the squat. It won’t allow rear to drop and front to raise for optimum traction. You will definitely lose that

lvevo

Yes, it appears at only the two headquarters in the USA. Also maybe a few select shops but not at a lot of places like other brands.

enfox

What is the part numbers of the front two struts?

Thanks

nvm found them:
212-323-61-00
212-323-62-00