Help with DIY Rear Shock replacement on a '97 E420
 

I would like to do a shock replacement on my W210 E420. Do I need any special tools such as a spring compressor? Will I need any other new parts other than the shocks? Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Should be a simple bolt-on that takes less than an hour!

Thanks Doc! I'll get to it.

97 E420 shock replacement follow up...
 

Hello,

I have the same car, a 97 E420. I have a few follow up questions from your previous post if you don't mind:

(1) How did the front shock replacement go...?
I am getting ready to replace mine, as they are showing some leakage.

(2) Is it truly as simple as it looks, undo and remove the bottom bolt, then remove the top bolt under the hood...? I'm told that you need to support the rear control arm in order to remove the front shocks, but have yet to do it.
In my other car, an old Jaguar, I had to compress the front shocks with twisty ties in order to fit the shock in position, then when all was lined up, cut the tie and coerce the shock into place.

(3) Has anyone installed the bilstein heavy duty shocks on this same car?
How did they ride compared to the bilstein comfort shocks...?


enough questions...,

No need to support the lower control arms.

As MBDOC stated, it is as simple as it looks.

The rears require taking the trunk interior trim panels out.

I haven't installed the Bilstein HDs before, but did install the sports. I can't imagine them being any different to install.

Good luck.

I only replaced the rear shocks as the title of my post sugeests. It took all of an hour for me to do both sides and it was my first time doing it. The trunk liner removal was very easy, just unscrew a few clips and opull the liner back some.

The only tricky part was loosening the top nut at the shock mount(My car had two nuts locked against each other). When I first tried to loosen it, the entire strut piston would rotate. I then grabbed the piston rod with locking pliers and I snapped the rod on the old shock. I finally figured that I could tighten the nut under the topmost nut and then loosen the top nut. Came right out after that. The bottom attachment was straightforward once I figured I had to unsnap a plastic protective cover to get to the bolt and nut holding the shock to the hub assembly.

I figure you will need a spring compressor of some sort to compress the front springs before you can disassemble the strut but I could be wrong.

Good luck.

W210 shock swap
 

So easy to do that you don't really need instructions. But since I was doing the
swap out anyway, I brought the camera with me to the garage. Hope it helps.

The best special tool for this task is the Mercedes W210 shop manual, available on DVD from your dealer or 1-800-for-merc.

The factory M/b shocks do not come with the rubber isolators for the top portion of the shocks and you may bolt the new shock in from the box and discover that that the shock makes a thumping noise right off the bat, then you realize something is wrong and you discover that you have to transfer the top isolator bushing from the old shock to the new.
This is the rubber seal at the very top of the old shock that rests on the underside of the vehicle body while shock is in place.

Bilstein Heavy Duty Shocks/Rear of W210
 

Earlier this week I replaced the rear shocks on my '97 E320 (102k miles) with Bilstein Heavy Duty units that I ordered from Phil. Easy job and the difference they made is quite noticeable. Have these all around now and they are great match for the car!

Quick question - I noticed nobody here seemed to use the spring compressor, yet freely jacked up the vehicle with the shock disconnected. Won't this allow the spring to pop out?

I've only done this work on my W124, and the spring would pop out if you disconnected the shock with the control arm unsupported.