140 chassis questions...
 

Anyone know of a source for the rear struts and accumulators...one who has decent prices.
The searchs I have done yield prices of 600 bucks per strut plus 300 bucks for the accumulators! Each! 1800 bucks is excessive!
Just because one owns a Benz does not mean they can afford it!
I don't begrudge shops wanting to make money...but the mark ups are excessive! Overkill.

Hydraulic struts are extremely expensive. That's just the way it is. All of my parts websites including FastLane/AllPartsExpress want $600 per side for the rear SLS struts. If you didn't have SLS the rear shocks would be $90 each. Fastlane has the accumulators for $150 each.

An S-Class of that vintage is not cheap to maintain. I would advise you to look for a good used set of struts if you cannot afford $1600 (plus labor) for a new rear SLS setup.

Are you sure you need both items? Usually the struts are long lived and the N2 cells are the ones that go bad. How do they know the struts are bad? Are they leaking? Mileage on the car?

BTW, its easy to replace those yourself in the driveway with regular tools. The hydraulic struts also are easy to DIY.

To both posters, thank you for the replies!

I can only go by what the shop says...both shops state...need new struts and acculumators.
Vehicle is a 92 with 81K miles. Original miles.
One shop states....replace the acculumators as long as you are replacing the struts....and the other states the opposite....replace the struts and might as well replace the acculumators also as a precaution!
This place......
http://www.germanautoparts.com/Mercedes/1992/140.051/E2/407/19342782...
has the struts for $570.00 each strut and $115.00 for each acculumator.
I can do the repairs myself...but, if the lines to the acculumators break off when I try and disconnect them...I rather the shop did the breaking!

There should be aftermarket non-SLS struts available, I know they make them for later S classes and other vehicles with SLS systems like the Lincoln Mark VIII. If you wanted to go that route you would likely save a bundle of money, but unfortunately I don't have any links off the top of my head to give you.

How is the car riding now? Usually you can get away with just replacing the offending strut or accumulator. The SLS system is not an "all or nothing" deal. As expensive as these parts are, finding a shop that can accurately diagnose the specific problem is the way to go.