AMG is the performance arm of Mercedes. AMG cars are not your everyday run of the mill car from the assembly line.

AMG cars are not the standard setup when it comes to suspension, brakes and engine mods comperad to the normal car.
You don't put normal bits and pieces on an AMG you need to install the correct AMG parts -- This means $$$. Rotors and pads are three times the cost of the same items as installed on normal models.
AMG designed the suspension on their cars. There are special sports springs, spring pads and sports struts.
I am willing to bet that Monroe or KYB or any other of those other market suspension part makers do not make the low production special sports strut required for the AMG versions.

In my country it would be illegal not to put suspension parts differing from Manufacturers specifications.

It may require a visit to a specialized Bilstein dealership with your exact strut part numbers to locate the correct ones. Any salesman who tells you that the ordinary strut is the same as an AMG one needs to be walked away from.

If you buy yourself a AMG car you need to be aware of the $$$$ penalty in spare parts and servicing.
I never recommend buying an AMG to anyone without warning of the financial impediment.
One person I knew bought a W210 AMG E36 and then waited six weeks for the correct brake rotors to come from Europe. The AMG rotors for this car were $600.00 for the pair against $150.00 for a everyday E320

Avantgarde sports suspension is not the same as AMG suspension.

I was gonna say the same thing. I am driving a w201 (1990 2.6) and to me it doesn't seem like production cost was a factor when it came to the engineering and design of this car. Interesting that this model (1990) even boasts features that newer cars (2016) don't even have.

__________________

1990 190E 3.0L

The W202 and W210 started life being designed in the "Engineered like no other Car" era.
Then came the Tarted up Toyota during the design phase.
DB management went into panic mode. Bu the mid nineties the models were introduced to the economy drive mode.
The basic design of the W202 and W210 holds up. If the later releases of these models had had the ongoing proper development dollars spent of them for later upgrades their reputation would have been up there with the earlier cars.

Having said that. I have both a W202 and a W210. In heavy rain the sound of drops on the roof in the W202 sound like - thud thud - the rain drops on the roof in the W210 give a tinny plink plink sound.

I was an Engineer in those days, and Mercedes-Benz was my favorite customer (and the reason I bought my first 124). Cars were until the mid-1990s built by Mercedes as an Engineer's car, and they were the only major manufacturer to price their cars on a "cost plus margin" basis. My '91 300TE 4matic stickered at $72,500(ish) plus luxury tax. Several years later, when the 210 replaced my beloved car, I was looking at replacing her (sold by then), and was astonished to find that in the late '90s I could buy a new E320 4matic wagon for less money than my car sold for 8 years earlier. Mercedes' new management had switched many things, and selling at a market-driven pricing structure meant that the price was set by the market, and the cars' production prices must be reduced to make them profitable at those prices. Quickly thrifted were some of the staples like the rotary headlamp switch, the door-mounted seat switch, glass headlamp lenses, full-dipped body, the entire W202 and W210 line were closely scrutinized during the design phases for what could be reduced or eliminated. A significant loser to this philosophy IMO was the ML, which was shown to all of us as a chassis & driveline at auto shows, that was designed without restrictions, ... but when the body and interior were later designed it was (again IMO) a Honda at best above the frame, ... very cheap. But I digress.


I have long felt that anyone can build a road-going appliance, most of them can be made durable and safe, and Marketing will be sure that the expected performance and features exist out of the box. Even the automotive greats have produced appliances at times, but they also produced great cars, ones that perform beyond mere numbers on a spreadsheet, and living with these cars as an enthusiast will show you the difference.

My business causes me to run a throw-away car. I need a large vehicle that will do lots of things and keep customers happy, ... at 1,500miles/week. I drove Grand Marquis cars happily, and transitioned to Chevy Tahoes, which have great resale when you put them on the market at just under 100,000miles a couple of years old, highway miles are kind to vehicles as nothing is worn at that mileage.

But when I hop into one of my faithful old Mercedes, or the quattro, I wear a completely different type of smile on my face and the entire experience is different. A healthy new Honda will outrun Dad's old Porsche, but he's 85 this year and has been driving that car every summer since '83, with the same big smile, ... the Lexus is just for rainy days.

I will never tell anyone that they should buy a Mercedes for economy, or longevity, or any other reason, ... it's a personal choice. Either you feel it or you don't.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Jeff, It's too bad this Peach Parts forum doesn't have the "like" option like the Benz forum has because I would "like" the bejeebers out of your last post above. I am sure that many others would "like" it also. You nailed it!
Anziani
Palm Springs
'97 CL600 53K