It's real as long as you have your original receipt! A Bilstein that I installed on my Cosworth Vega in 1979 failed about 2000. Being as how I had to go to San Diego I stopped by Bilstein and they happily rebuilt ALL four because I had the original receipt, and they UPSed them back to me a week later, no charge.

I had already replaced them with a set of Spax adustables and ended up selling the Bilsteins to another CV owner for $150, and probably could have gotten more, but was happy to get about my original purchase price.

The Bilstein "comfort shock" is OE equivalent (I had to replace one front strut on my 190 circa '96), and I highly recommend them to restore Merc OE ride and handling qualities.

Duke