Well two words...

They suck!

I replaced mine tonight with Bilsteins on the 300E because there was some noticeable lack of suspension in the back. Every bump I hit was very smooth with my new struts and very rough with the old shocks.

Somehow one of the shocks had partially ceased and would not allow proper travel. The entire outside of the shock was covered in rust too. These were only replaced about three years ago too, and the car has 87k on it.

So for the love of god, please use quality shocks.

I just replaced a couple of front shocks on a guy's 300D 124 - they surely are junk. When tested according to the FSM they do show some resistance - but acted like beyond worn out dampers when installed.


Nothing compares to the original Bilstein and Sachs

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

My mom's 1995 E320 wagon has KYB's up front, and even those seem to have a little resistance. But man these Monroe's were awful!!

I was almost unable to get them out they were so hard to compress. Billie's went in easily and in a 1/4 of the time as the Monroe's.

are the KYB any good??? i've had good experience with those before and they are quite a bit cheaper than the bilsteins.

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87 300SDL (work in progress) will be DD
92 Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 monster (heavily modified)
build thread on mud http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/288587-rotf-lt1fire.html

84 K1500 GMC Suburban 6.2 diesel motor...... dying to offer its engine to the Land Cruiser

KYB's otherwise known as kayaba's are awsome. Never used them on the 300sd but every other time I've run into them they've been stellar.

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1984 300sd auto with 246,000 miles

Consider that Bilsteins are usually sold with a lifetime warranty.

Sixto
87 300D^2

I completely agree that we should all use, Bilstien shocks. My 79 280CE still has its original Bilstiens on the front and they dont show much if any wear.

However, atleast 20 years ago the rears were replaced with Monroe shocks, and to this day they are still in the car. They are a little soft but nothing to warrant replacement right now.

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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

Negative. I put a set on my 420 sel and I had two shock blowouts for no reason. They are junk. I used monroe on my van and they seemed good for about 20 miles and then the van went right back to the way it was before. bilstein is the only way to go. Period.

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

I think KYB are good in certain applications. For example, they KYB AGX shocks were one of the go-to shocks for the Miata and people swore by them. Bilsteins, however, were not so great apparently.

I think KYB's are fine, just not the best. Bilstein's are hands down the best for our cars, or Sachs/Boge.

I hit some speed humps at a decent speed tonight just to try them out and the difference is night and day.