1983 240D Front Spring Length

[suepeach]

Hello,


Had a broken front passenger side coil spring on a 1983 240D. Purchased two Bilstein 123-321-27-04 springs which show as valid for the 123.123 chassis, though now I see "with special equipment" (not sure what that means). The diameter is the same as the one just removed but the length is different, significantly.



I was able to remove the spring and the broken parts with the help of a Schwaben coil spring compressor, but the new spring is nowhere near fitting. There's around 11" of space between the control arm and where the top of the spring needs to go into the chassis. I've only been able to compress the new one down to 14".


I'm thinking of cutting the bottom coil on the new Bilsteins in order to make installation possible. Any other ideas on what I did wrong or where I went wrong in life?