Search the forums a bit more and I think you will find the differences in the spring/shock assemblies. Everything is identical except for the lower wishbone stud on the shock. One is completely threaded the other is not. The one that is not will require a slight enlargement of the mounting hole in the wishbone, using a dremel tool or similar...not a big deal.

The spring/shock assembly designed for the full size spare tire bracket commonly seen in Europe is probably valved differently for the additional weight. I would think it would be fine to use..maybe just a little stiffer than the one designed with the underbody spare.......

I just purchased rear strut assemblies (shock with mounted spring) from ***************. I've purchased many items from them with complete satisfaction.

The paperwork with my order said MBZ079525,1633202313A. What I received was a Sachs 290-055, marked MB # 1633201113 for $75 each, DELIVERED. It has a screwdriver end. Hope this helps someone.

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Jim

I found the part you mentioned but had to use the serach function to search for MBZ079525. It did not show this when searching by vehicle. How did you find it? I searched via a 2000 ML430. I have 1633201113 on my ML430 now so I bet these will work. What year and model is your ML? Let us know how it goes.

What do you mean by screw driver end?

JLLG: My ML is a 1999 ML430. On the newer shocks, the ball joint end has an external hex to hold the stud when you remove the nut. The older style has a screwdriver slot. I figure this is the last time I'll put shocks on so it will be someone else's problem 100,000 miles from now.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out all the actual Mercedes part numbers and the ones that superceded the other. I don't recall exactly how I got to this item but the folks at ********** were kind enough to confirm which ML models the item they offered could be used on, just as additional comfort this would work. I think I searched by MB number and not the make/model. Good luck. Have you checked out:

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/ml_springs.html

There is a ton of info located there. Happy holidays.

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Jim

Completed the rear shock/spring replacement.

I removed fender well liners and did not remove the spare tire. In additional to all the great advise already posted, you'll need a two 21mm wrenches/sockets to removed the bolts so you can "lower" the control arms. The screwdriver slot in the bottom of the shock ball joint is a good idea but useless on the shock assemblies I installed (slot not deep enough to twist). Since the ball joint stud is NOT round, you need be be sure it is properly aligned so it gets seated in the elongated hole properly. It is easy enough to do with a pair of pliers but do it carefully so as not to damage the grease boot. 15mm box rachet to remove the 3 nuts at the top of each shock and 19mm socket to remove the nut on the bottom of the shock.

I've now completed the front and rear for $354.10 in parts and the ride is substantially better. Good luck.

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Jim

Found out today, 163 320 23 13 was discontinued in July 2005. The low price is to clear out old stock.
Rusty (***************) is out of stock
Fastlane is out of stock
The Benz Bin (aka Parts Bin) is out of stock

Doing a Google search on L4000-146715 (presumably the OEM's part number), I found:
www.car-engine-parts.com has stock at $81.95
www.mercedes-benz-engine-parts.com also has stock for $81.95
www.************** has stock at $47.03--they will have two less when they ship mine.

I really wanted to upgrade to Bilstein, but at this price I couldn't pass these up--and I get nice new springs preinstalled to boot. FWIW my originals lasted 145,000 miles, so these should las a couple years. Will follow up when they arrive.

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Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)

My order arrived today--see photos below. They are the complete strut assemblies, packages in Sachs packaging. The units say KYB on them, and indicate made in USA (and I always thougt of Sachs as German and KYB as Japanese--globalization for you). They have the MB logo on them and part number 163 320 13 13.

I was also impressed with the speed of shipment; I thought they were coming from the left coast and didn't expect them until next week. Either way they won't get installed until the weekend after next.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)

Just ordered from ********az. Price now $117 per.

itb76 -- When I Google L4000-146715, I think that part number is for an ML 430. Did you install these on your 98 ML 320 yet? Did they fit?

I am trying to find shocks/springs for my 99 ML 320. I think I need MB part number 163 320 24 13 OR 163 320 23 13.

If anyone else has info on the lowest price with parts available, please advise. Phil's price for 163 320 23 13 is $149.95. I think I can use that part number by enlarging the hole in the lower control arm.

I hate to admit it, I have not installed them yet. When the weather gets warmer I'll get to this and 99 other projects....

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Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)

Finally got the rear shocks back on my 99 ML 320 correctly. I will summarize my experience in hopes that it helps someone avoid the problems I encountered.

Background

99 ML 320 with over 150K miles. I bought Bilstein BE 52985 shocks without springs from Phil at Fastlane. I had a devil of a time getting the springs taken off the original shocks and transferred to the new shocks.

In Feb, I paid a local mechanic $90 to swap them. Unfortunately, he really screwed up and left out many critical parts. Here is a drawing showing how to use the correct type of spring compressor. I’ll use it to illustrate the various bushings, washers, sleeves, etc.



My original mechanic left out:

a concave washer that goes on top of the Bilstein bumper (between parts 75 and 75f in this drawing)
75g – plate
75c – rubber mount – bottom
75y – sleeve


This left me with a thunk as was discussed in this thread:

Changed Rear Shocks -- Now "Thunk"

It also damaged the supporting bearing (73d in the image).

At this point, I ordered Sachs shock/spring assemblies. $49 Sachs shock/spring assemblies (Mercedes part number 163 320 23 13) are no longer available. I looked all over and I’m quite sure the $81.95 and $117 offers are gone as well. Sure, lots of sites list them for $81.95, but NO ONE HAS STOCK. Phil offerred them for $149, but he may be out now. He took my order, called me back to say he source dried up, then called me back to say he found some on the West Coast. I paid an extra $70 for 2nd day air shipment to the Southeast because my truck (a daily driver) was up on redneck jack stands and out of service. This was a waste because I ended up never installing them. (They are available if someone wants to buy them. Feel free to contact me if you're interested.)

If Phil had not been able to come through for me, the next best price (with parts in stock) was in the $375 range. It kills me that this exact same part was available last summer for $49. But I already had my Bilstein’s in hand (but not installed) so there was no reason for me to buy the Sachs shocks with springs.

I set out to salvage my Bilstein’s by repairing and replacing the parts I needed. I ordered a replacement supporting bearing and it came with most of my missing parts for one shock/spring assembly. I bought some replacement hardware directly from Bilstein (http://www.bilstein.com/) and was able to cobble together matching parts for the other shock/spring assembly from a bucket of leftover parts at the first mechanic’s garage. (The 5 gallon bucket was full so I guess he just discarded my left out parts.)

The battle was not over. I still had to take the incorrectly assembled shock spring assemblies apart and put them back together again correctly. I tried to do it my self many different ways using a generic rented spring compressor as discussed in this thread:

What Kind of Spring Compressor for Rear Shocks?

But I couldn’t safely do it. So it was off to other local mechanics to give them a try. The first three all had wall mounted spring compressors like this:



Three experienced professional mechanics could not make that compressor work on my springs because the diameter of the coils is so large the hooks don’t fit in between them.

The fourth mechanic was able to do this swap with the same type of compressor. I don’t know what he did differently, but he was successful. He charged me $80 and I still want to buy him a case of beer.

Here are a couple of things I learned in this process:

* It is not trivial to swap the springs to a new set of Bilstein’s.

* I wish I had the exploded image showing all the parts before I tried to get my springs swapped the first time.

* When I took my incorrectly assembled shock/spring assemblies out of the truck, one of the Bilstein shocks had welded itself to the lower wishbone. Even with all the fasteners removed, this darn thing would not release from the area around the hole in the lower wishbone. I used PB blaster and a fair amount of persuasion with a scrap piece of 2X4 and a BFH to free it. I used anti-seize compound around the hole in the lower wishbone when I put it back together again.

I hope you have better luck than I if you go the Bilstein / spring swap route. I wasted a lot of time on this one and, at one point, the truck was out of service for 10 days.

Again, my brand new, never installed Sachs 163 320 23 13 shocks are for sale. Please contact me if you are interested in them (sunedog@sc.rr.com).

Glad to hear you finally completed the project. It sounded like a total nightmare from the get-go. Someone will be be very fortunate to getthe Sachs combos that you didn't use. Good write up on your problems...hopefully it will save someone down the road some time/effort.

sorry to dig up an old thread but i need to find this replacement set up for my ml320 and i cant seem to find them on any of the website listed. can anyone help me out?

thanks, Mike

Not sure what you mean. Are you having trouble finding Sachs rear shocks with springs? If yes, have you contacted Fastlane Phil (read the sticky thread at the top of this (ML) forum)? If no, please elaborate.

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Behind every great man is a great woman. Behind every great woman is a great behind.