This thread is about aftermarket shock/strut options for us which, by the book, there is nothing that I am aware of. When I bought my E63 in 2023, the rear shocks were leaking so I bought a pair of used ones from eBay and that is working well. The fronts are starting to leak and at 108k, I am sure they are well below their intended level of performance. The thing is, Mercedes switched to Monroe as their supplier on W212 with the electronic damping control system cars, as far as I can tell. So if you haven't seen the horror, just take a peek at a front or rear shock/strut and recoil accordingly.



To make matters worse, these are VERY expensive, even though none of them have any AIRmatic hardware in them. Dealer parts counter MSRP is on the order of $1200-1700 EACH for the front ones. I just can't in good conscience pay that kind of money for what I assess is a mediocre shock in the first place. So that led me to explore options outside of the box a bit.

Eventually I had the bright idea to check Bilstein applications for non-AMG W212s and sure enough, there are a LOT of them!

https://www.shocksurplus.com/search?.../DriveType/AWD

Using the E550 as a surrogate, there is no shortage of options, including:
- B4 which would probably be considered a stock replacement for the Sachs non-DCS shocks on base cars - they are said to be 10% stiffer than stock and probably work well in E350 applications but probably insufficient for AMG.
- B4 DampMatic. This is a design I am not familiar with but it is some kind of inertia controlled shock valve. Think of it like mechanical damping control instead of fixed like the standard B4. Same caveat applies above.
- B4 DampTronic. Surprisingly, this seems to be an offering to replace DCS shocks/struts which I did not know was available. If Bilstein would just engineer this for AMG, we would at least have an aftermarket alternative to the Monroes. As it is, I don't think using an E550 B4 DampTronic will be a good idea on an AMG. Probably not a good match for our stiffer springs. Intriguing though. Also pricey but not as bad as OEM.
- B6. This may well be the Goldilocks option that would be considered a definite performance upgrade for a non-AMG but on our cars, may be about right.
- B8. Seems to be meant for lowering spring cars and may also further modify ride height (my conjecture).
- There may be other options like B12 coilovers. I'm not switching to coilovers, thanks.

So here are the remaining questions/issues:
- Does a B6 meant for an E350/550 just bolt up to an E63? Is the geometry the same so the ride height will be unmodified? I have no idea.
- You'd lose the shock damping control but I think it is not that useful personally. Option 1 would be try to code it out but that may also code out rear AIRmatic height control (normally achieved by selecting Comfort - and the rear picks up an inch or so). I'd like to keep that part. Also I don't know if it would even control the air compressor if this was coded out. Could work with the BenzNinja on this. Option 2 is to just fit up some resistors on a plug to trick the suspension control module into thinking the control coils are still there. This is probably the best option because all AIRmatic functions would remain, and I don't think the car would be any wiser.

Overall I assess that if the B6 damping curve is suitable for AMG, I would probably prefer it to stock, even losing the three stiffness settings. Also a set of 4 is $682 which is less than even one of our stock Monroes.

We can discuss further but I wanted to make this thread and see what people had to say. I would love to work with Bilstein on some of these questions, as well.

 

Gotta check, but I believe the B4 DampTronic is the stock factory install on my SL400.

 

You lucky *******. My W221 uses Bilstein as well and I really like the way they perform. All original 18 years old and 108k, too (except for a new air spring on the right front via RMT but same shock). They really cheaped out on the W212 but I guess makes sense for a MY10 car given global financial circumstances. Although my E63 MSRP by 2014 was $104K and that isn't very highly optioned - I will forever be insulted by these Monroes.

 

Well I gave up and sourced OEM front struts in the cheapest way I could find. For me that was Pelican parts for the left and my local dealer's discounted online parts website for the right. I will also have to buy a bunch of strut components, provided the new struts don't come with them. I'm at about $2,050 to get the struts to my door before adding any other items. However, this did save $681 if I compare to buying at the parts counter and paying list price. So that's something I guess.

 

that’s a worthy savings! Pelicant parts didnt have the right? or it was more affordable to get it from local dealer’s discounted web? Either way kudos to you.

what other components will you be purchasing ? Such as strut mount and springs etc etc..?

And lastly, the rear two shocks will also next in line?

 

Yeah local dealer website had the -64 suffix part on the right but NOT on the left. Local dealer, in person, had the original P/Ns for both sides, but at higher prices. So the right side -64 from my dealer website was the best price for that and Pelican was the best price I could find on the left (I believe not the -64 but we'll see). Lately I have been running into many parts that are just "not available" online but I go into the parts dept and there are a ton of them nationally (but for list price). My dealer's website generally has a ~30% discount from list which is significant.

There may be a lot of parts I need but I want to get my hands on these struts and see if they come with anything before I load up the cart. But the items in consideration would be:
- Bottom spring shims. A 204 321 01 84. $23.50 x 2.
- Upper spring shims. A 212 322 04 84. $71.92 x 2.
- Bump stops. A 212 321 13 06. $50.84 x 2.
- Boots. A 204 323 02 92. $22.10 x 2.
- Left strut mount. A 212 323 05 20. $183.26.
- Right strut mount. A 212 323 04 20. $180.88.
- Strut bearings. 204981002564. $27.94 x 2. EPC says code 489 so unclear if I need these (or perhaps the mounts come with them on 488 cars?)
- Strut nuts. N 000000 003277. $3.12 x 2.
- Left cover (not sure if I really need to replace). A 212 327 07 86. $20.80.
- Right cover (same). A 212 327 06 86. $17.55.

Last item, rear shocks. When I bought the car the rear shocks were leaking. I bought a used set on eBay from a 15 CLS63 (same P/N) and I'm going to stick with that. They seem fine. It's the fronts that seem soft to me.

I assume this is a diagram error but the way the strut attaches to the knuckle is not drawn correctly. They show a style that may be for RWD vehicles.

 

Here's how the front strut looks on both my RWD cars. My C350 Sport is RWD and looks like your picture in the pdf.


SL400 Front Strut


C350 Front Strut (RWD)

 

Picked up the right one from the dealer. It is JUST a bare strut. I will have to order a bunch of stuff to get the maximum benefit from replacing these. Which will add hundreds to the cost of this. I'm in it now.

Also, 2024 production. Monroe, made in Spain just like OEM.

 

cheers! Good stuff man.

to quote your statement, what do you mean by “just like oem” I thought it was (Monroe) OEM that you’ve ordered from the beginning.

 

I guess I wasn't sure if the original supply chain was maintained 10+ years later. Also this isn't a very good Bilstein thread.

 

Just ordered all the strut parts because I'm not going this far only to reuse something worn out or squished. All the parts I listed above. $857.43 with my dealer's online discount. Pretty insane. It's not even an air strut. I will reuse my coil springs.

Finally, I ordered an OEM style spring compressor since I dislike the cheap kind.
https://www.vevor.com/strut-spring-c...p_010293396829

$84 after logging in with Google.

Attached some WIS info. Looks straight forward. The spring compressor part will be the worst part, I think.

 

That's an amazing deal on the spring compressor!

 

Apologies for the now poorly titled thread...

Did the front struts 3 weeks ago, with OEM parts (not Bilstein). It's a pretty easy job. The only "tricks" to the job are your method to compress the spring to get the mount off the shock rod, and having the right tools to remove/tighten that top nut. I already linked the Vevor spring compressor. We used it the same way that WIS recommends: top jaw goes on top of the strut mount and bottom jaw goes onto the lowest coil possible. For the other tools, I bought this kit and it was great, including for the stabilizer links:
Great master kit to remove fasteners where you cannot get a conventional socket or wrench around the nut and have to hold the center stud from turning. Even included a weird slotted socket to tighten a ring nut on my friend's CLK550.



We had them out pretty fast.


We did try just using two coils initially and it did not compress enough. Upper jaw has to go on the strut mount (WIS agrees).


The spring compressor warns about not using an impact. It did eventually break the lower cotter pin and we had to reassemble the spring compressor. So use the impact carefully and make sure not to top or bottom out the tool with the impact.

The right strut was even worse than the left. That white piece is broken and probably happened from bottoming out. Not much gas left. And it was leaking.



We initially reassembled wrong. The upper spring was not properly seated in the cushion that inserts into the bearing. So we had to recompress the spring and adjust it.






Happy to answer any questions but this was all pretty basic strut replacement, and not really different than other cars. Use care with the various wiring that routes on/around the strut and get everything back where it wants to be.

Now to the important part: the results.

It is way better. I will say the rear still feels stiffer than the front but I think this is just how the car was tuned. The front no longer feels like it is just floating. After driving the car the past 3 weeks I am realizing this has dramatically increased my enjoyment of this car over various roads and surfaces. I wish this wasn't so expensive but at 109k these things were beyond shot. There were probably shot tens of thousands of miles ago.

I do still have some kind of clunk and I think it is the stabilizer bar bushings. I'll make other threads for other things.