SLS struts (Repaired by RMT in Florida)

[J. M. van Swaay]

1994 E500
129,000 miles

I’ve known for some time now that my SLS struts need replacing. I should have done it when the replacement struts were still available, but you know how it is, life gets in the way. Recently, I again considered selling the E500, but, just like a few years ago, I think I changed my mind again. Looks like my wrenching days are not yet over even thought I’d like them to be.

Because I now plan to keep the car a bit longer, I’ll have to deal with all the issues I’ve been putting off. The first issue is the clunky rear end. The clunk is caused by worn out bushings where the strut attaches to the control arm. New struts are no longer available but I recently learned of a suspension part rebuild shop. Here’s a link: Rebuild Master Tech Air Suspension, Engine Parts & More...

I talked to the people at the shop, they said they currently do not offer a rebuild service for the E500E struts, but that if I sent them mine, they would take them as an R&D project. As it turns out, they were able to recondition my struts, I expect to receive them back early next week. The rebuildmastertech.com website now advertises a rebuild service for the struts on the E500E. They have a picture of mine, you can see it here:

Mercedes-Benz - E-Class - E-Class Self Leveling Suspension Parts - E-Class 1986-1996 W124 Self Leveling Suspension - Rebuild Master Tech
(Guess my struts are famous now).

Once I get everything reinstalled, I’ll post an update.

Hopefully this is a viable option for the NLA E500E struts.

J. M. van Swaay

 

[maw1124]

Looks like a competitor to Arnott. Glad to see others getting into the business. It’s not rocket science by any means and Arnott has made a ton of money off it in the 17 years I’ve been using them, back when they were Audi only.

GL, thanks for keeping us posted.

Cheers,

maw

 

[gsxr]

That's great news, JM! I wonder what bushing they are installing at the bottom eyelet? Hopefully you can post a better photo, their website doesn't show this very well. I hope the width is not more than stock or it won't fit into the control arm. Looks like no dust boot, which is odd, unless they replaced the spherical bearing joint with a rubber bushing?




Also, do you know if they replaced the foam stop buffer for the shaft? This suspension travel stop is a critical item and the old ones are typically disintegrated. Here's what a new one looks like:

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

Yea, I’m a little worried about the width of the bushing pin also. I’ll know a lot more when I get them back early next week. Once I have them in hand, I plan to follow up to find out exactly what was done….

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

Got the struts back yesterday, here’s an update and some pictures: the lower eyelet connection bushing fits properly in the control arm. The bushing pin has spherical freedom of motion, it is not just a pressed in hard rubber bushing. There is what I would describe as a hard rubber bushing that I presume serves as a “bottoming out” bump stop. The accordion style bellows are not cir-clipped to the bottom part of the strut like the originals. I don’t think this matters, but the the bottom part of the accordion bellows where it surrounds the piston pin will be impacted during a “bottom out” occurrence. Seems to me this could result in a possible failure of the bottom part of the accordion bellows if repeated “bottom out” events occur. Hope all that makes sense. The struts are reinstalled, and I manually cycled the fill/drain valve with engine start/stop as per the FSM procedure to bleed the air out of the strut cylinders. (and yes, the car assumes the stinkbug stance during this procedure). Looking forward to going for a drive but that will have to wait… my drivers seat is on my workbench waiting for GAHH to return the leather seat skins with the heaters sewn in.

 

[ArauzMotoring]

Good to know! The price isn't terrible, hopefully your first drive proves this company did a good job!

 

[TerryA]

@J. M. van Swaay,
What’s the difference between the $599.00 ea rebuild and the $315.00 ea rebuild? Which did you go with?

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

The $599 is for both struts, the $315 is for just one. Not very clear from the website. Also, the website picture shows the upper rubber mounting bushings and washers. Mine were returned to me without these parts.

 

[Melville]

Thanks very much for posting this. These have been replaced on my 500E, but not my E320 wagon. There is no indication that they need to be replaced anytime soon, but it's nice to know that there is one less NLA part to worry about.

 

[gsxr]

Got the struts back yesterday, here’s an update and some pictures: the lower eyelet connection bushing fits properly in the control arm. The bushing pin has spherical freedom of motion, it is not just a pressed in hard rubber bushing.

Very interesting. It almost looks like they disassembled the original spherical bearing and repaired it somehow, but did not have the dust boot which is present on the OE bearing. I'm curious what they did here, but hey, if it works and has a long lifespan - great!

There is what I would describe as a hard rubber bushing that I presume serves as a “bottoming out” bump stop.

Uh-oh. There should be a firm stop buffer roughly 2 inches long as shown in post #3 above. The originals disintegrate and turn to powder. Click here for additional photos. RMT should be replacing this with a suitable aftermarket equivalent. Granted, many 500E's are driving around with zero stop buffer (because it's crumbled to dust) but I'd think they could find something that would fit and perform a similar function to stock.

The accordion style bellows are not cir-clipped to the bottom part of the strut like the originals. I don’t think this matters, but the the bottom part of the accordion bellows where it surrounds the piston pin will be impacted during a “bottom out” occurrence. Seems to me this could result in a possible failure of the bottom part of the accordion bellows if repeated “bottom out” events occur. Hope all that makes sense.

As long as the dust boot doesn't come loose, it should be fine. Nervous types could add a Zip-tie or stainless safety wire.

The struts are reinstalled, and I manually cycled the fill/drain valve with engine start/stop as per the FSM procedure to bleed the air out of the strut cylinders. (and yes, the car assumes the stinkbug stance during this procedure). Looking forward to going for a drive but that will have to wait…

Looking forward to the test drive report!

my drivers seat is on my workbench waiting for GAHH to return the leather seat skins with the heaters sewn in.

Ehh... the E500E (and Sportline sedans/wagon) seats do not have sewn-in heating elements! Those slide out of fabric pockets. Only standard 124 seats have the elements sewn in. GAHH should know this. Photos attached below.

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

Re: seat leather. Oops, I didn’t know this and I must admit I did not look carefully at the covers when removed. I mentioned to GAHH that I would send in the old seat covers so they could sew in the heaters. They emailed me a shipping label and I sent them in.

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

As for the hard rubber bushing I described, maybe it wasn’t rubber. the material did look kinda like Dave’s picture. I didn’t poke at it to try to determine hardness or type of material…

 

[sheward]

I believe a salesperson requested the same when I bought my covers. They likely get way more requests for standard seats and default to that application. I let them know it was not necessary and they agreed.

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

Dave, on your picture in this thread, is the bump stop (the part that has the raised 98D lettering) pulled up out of the eyelet casting? In other words, when pushed into the fully compressed position then released, how much of it would be visible

 

[gsxr]

Dave, on your picture in this thread, is the bump stop (the part that has the raised 98D lettering) pulled up out of the eyelet casting? In other words, when pushed into the fully compressed position then released, how much of it would be visible

JM, the bump stop is a friction/press fit into a small recess in the upper portion of the shock body. When you push the lower (eyelet portion) of the shock into the shock body, there is about 38mm travel before the bump stop touches and starts to resist further compression. Hope I'm explaining this clearly.

Click here for additional photos, see #07-#10 for measurements. I don't have a photo showing the bump stop pulled out of the recess, I need to get a picture of that.

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

Aah, what I was calling the bump stop is not really the bump stop. As I mentioned, the bottom of the accordion boot on my rebuilt strut is not cir clipped to the eyelet casting but the last “fold” is a tight fit around the piston rod. I was not able to look into the bottom part of the upper strut housing. To see in there I would have had to cut the last fold of the accordion bellow.

 

[gsxr]

Aah, what I was calling the bump stop is not really the bump stop. As I mentioned, the bottom of the accordion boot on my rebuilt strut is not cir clipped to the eyelet casting but the last “fold” is a tight fit around the piston rod. I was not able to look into the bottom part of the upper strut housing. To see in there I would have had to cut the last fold of the accordion bellow.

JM, the photos on the website show the accordion boot clipped to the bottom. Are the ones you received attached at the piston rod instead?

 

[J. M. van Swaay]

Dave, you have a good eye. When I spoke to RMT on the phone they said my struts were the ones pictured on the website. I now see that is not the case. Look closely at the pictures I posted above and you can see the accordion boot arrangement on my struts.

 

[gsxr]

Dave, you have a good eye. When I spoke to RMT on the phone they said my struts were the ones pictured on the website. I now see that is not the case. Look closely at the pictures I posted above and you can see the accordion boot arrangement on my struts.

AH, now I see! That is strange your struts didn't get the same type of boot as on their website photos.

 

[PedigreePartners]

Bumping this up as I'd like to know if the rebuild worked as intended. Never saw a post-test drive report and considering using these guys to rebuild my rear struts.

 

[gsxr]

Bumping this up as I'd like to know if the rebuild worked as intended. Never saw a post-test drive report and considering using these guys to rebuild my rear struts.

Someone needs to ask them very specific questions about the foam stop buffer, and lower spherical bushing... what exactly are they doing with those.

If they do not install a new replacement foam stop buffer... uh-oh. JM's photo does NOT show a new stop buffer of the correct, original length. Also, the boot cannot be attached to the piston rod, as this would interfere with the stop buffer. See photo is post #3 above.

 

[PedigreePartners]

Someone needs to ask them very specific questions about the foam stop buffer, and lower spherical bushing... what exactly are they doing with those.

If they do not install a new replacement foam stop buffer... uh-oh.

Yup. Once you factor in labor to remove, and then remove again if not done correctly, you may as well just pay the piper to the few folks that are hoarding these.

 

[gsxr]

Yup. Once you factor in labor to remove, and then remove again if not done correctly, you may as well just pay the piper to the few folks that are hoarding these.

Forum member "masskrer London" has a couple of NOS pairs for sale, but they ain't cheap:

2 left of the Sachs OEM, £1200 each:

Pardon Our Interruption...

2 left of the OE Genuine Mercedes, £1500 each:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[PedigreePartners]

I dropped him a message via PM. I don't want to do it, but mine are clunking badly and I don't know that I have a lot of options.

 

[TerryA]

@PedigreePartners,
Have you checked the bottom bushing where it mounts to the lower control arm? They caused a pretty loud clunking on my 500E quite a few years back. Changed the bushings no more clunks.

 

[PedigreePartners]

@PedigreePartners,
Have you checked the bottom bushing where it mounts to the lower control arm? They caused a pretty loud clunking on my 500E quite a few years back. Changed the bushings no more clunks.

I have not! By chance do you recall a part number for what you swapped out? Or a rough name (I know at the top of the assembly it's typically an upper strut mount or something similar.)

 

[gsxr]

I think Terry is describing the lower wheel carrier support joint, which is a very common failure. Discussion of that joint is here and here.

The lower spherical bushing in the SLS hydroleg may be replaceable, but to date, nobody has found a suitable plug+play replacement. It's not a rubber bushing, replacing with a rubber bushing would be a downgrade. This joint is not a common failure, but a number of people have reported their SLS shocks having this lower joint fail with excess play / noise.

 

[gerryvz]

Sachs is no longer making Sachs-branded rear SLS hydro-legs for the E500E?

 

[gsxr]

Sachs is no longer making Sachs-branded rear SLS hydro-legs for the E500E?

Nope. The Sachs aftermarket went NLA a few years ago.

 

[gerryvz]

Nope. The Sachs aftermarket went NLA a few years ago.


View attachment 207229

Hard to believe it's been almost 10 years since I did this job. I used the Sachs aftermarket units. I still have a set of MB front "wirgin" struts. My originals with ~150K on them are overdue to be replaced....soon I guess.

HOW-TO: Replacing E500E SLS Rear Hydraulic Struts | "HOW-TO" Tutorial Articles

Introduction and Background A common malady that ALL E500Es (and 400E/E420s with rear SLS) suffer sooner or later, is a distinct and loud "clunking" at the rear, when the car travels over certain bumps. Not ALL bumps, but certain sharp bumps such as curbs, large pavement cracks/potholes and...

www.500eboard.co

 

[gsxr]

Thankfully we can still get new FRONT struts from Mercedes. And there are aftermarket options like Bilstein Sport/B8 as well.

Rears... not so much.

 

[PedigreePartners]

I think Terry is describing the lower wheel carrier support joint, which is a very common failure. Discussion of that joint is here and here.

The lower spherical bushing in the SLS hydroleg may be replaceable, but to date, nobody has found a suitable plug+play replacement. It's not a rubber bushing, replacing with a rubber bushing would be a downgrade. This joint is not a common failure, but a number of people have reported their SLS shocks having this lower joint fail with excess play / noise.

I am trying to find a part number for the rear upper shock mounts with no luck. Does anyone have it handy?

 

[gsxr]

The upper rubber donuts are available separately, or as part of the hardware kit. See attached screenshot from the EPC.

Bushings are about $10 each, or the kit p/n 124-320-03-56 is ~$30 per shock.

 

[gerryvz]

I am trying to find a part number for the rear upper shock mounts with no luck. Does anyone have it handy?

View attachment 207230

They are listed at the beginning of the HOW TO for the rear strut replacement.

 

[PedigreePartners]

The upper rubber donuts are available separately, or as part of the hardware kit. See attached screenshot from the EPC.

Bushings are about $10 each, or the kit p/n 124-320-03-56 is ~$30 per shock.

View attachment 207231
View attachment 207232

Awesome - that's what I was looking for.

Gerry, sorry - I was looking right at your post and somehow missed that.

Ordered!

 

[jnes]

This is a bit offtopic and no aff. but has anyone tried to contact rennsport factory if they are able/willing to make perhaps full suspension kit like this.

Mercedes W124 E Class Ohlins Road and Track 1 way damping and height adjustable coilover suspension kit - Rennsport Factory

Mercedes W124 E Class Ohlins Road and Track by Rennsport Factory 1 way damping and height adjustable coilover or inboard suspension kit

rennsportfactory.co.uk

This is not sls kit but I bet Öhlins would be more than a great candidate for building a kit and maybe they are able to do sls struts also.

 

[gsxr]

This is a bit offtopic and no aff. but has anyone tried to contact rennsport factory if they are able/willing to make perhaps full suspension kit like this.

This is not sls kit but I bet Öhlins would be more than a great candidate for building a kit and maybe they are able to do sls struts also.

A genuine, engineered Öhlins solution would be fabulous. But I suspect the cost would be prohibitive for most buyers. I'd want stock-replacement dampers only, ideally with adjustable compression & rebound up front. NOT coil-overs in any form. I'm not sure if any aftermarket mfr has made a "performance" replacement for SLS shocks.

 

[gerryvz]

Awesome - that's what I was looking for.

Gerry, sorry - I was looking right at your post and somehow missed that.

Ordered!

Where are you ordering from?

If you order from MB Annapolis web site (getmercedesparts.com) you get a 25% discount off of MSRP, plus no shipping cost. You just pay the 6% MD sales tax. On the shipping screen, just select the "local pickup" option to avoid shipping costs. They do charge a flat $3.00 handling fee for every Internet order, but that's palatable.

Parts are usually available two days after ordering, if they are located in a US warehouse. 6-7 days if in Germany.

Eddie Alexander is the head of the parts operation there. If you don't know him, you should get to know him. He will take care of you. I was able to convince him when I moved here back in 2017 to allow local folks ordering parts through their site to do local pickup, and now there are a number of locals (even people over on the Eastern Shore) who come over to pick up parts. I do $2,000-3000 a month in business with MB Annapolis parts.

MB Parts is down on Forest Drive, at a separate location from the main MB Annapolis dealership/showroom in Eastport across the street from the Blackwall Hitch.

 

[PedigreePartners]

I was too eager this go-round and just banged the eBay button to get that kit en route. My 500E is going in next Monday for some basic R&R.

I use Porsche and BMW of Annapolis, so it'll be easy to add MB to the mix - but even better knowing I have a hook-up!

Thanks again.

 

[gsxr]

I was too eager this go-round and just banged the eBay button to get that kit en route. My 500E is going in next Monday for some basic R&R.

what "kit" did you buy on eBay?

 

[PedigreePartners]

what "kit" did you buy on eBay?

Maybe "kit" is too strong of a word?

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[gerryvz]

eBay:
(delivery Jan 31-Feb 5)



MB Annapolis:
(delivery Jan 30-31)

 

[PedigreePartners]

Ah well, lesson learned.

 

[gerryvz]

My 500E is going in next Monday for some basic R&R.

Do you have a good local shop that knows the E500E ins and outs? I highly recommend (locally) Redd's Automotive on Melvin Ave. (West Annapolis) or Silver Star Service on Rt. 2 (in Edgewater). Both know the 500E pretty well, and are quality shops.

 

[benzgarden]

I had my SLS struts repaired by RMT. Took about two weeks. My lower bushing was completely wobbled out and the struts came back same way. Same dust boots just had a fresh coat of spray paint. I reinstalled them and the car was still making the thumping noises as before. Sent them back, they said it’s your lower bushings. We don’t have any but if you sent us some, we will install them. I was very upset and told them had I known I would have never used their service. The shocks did come back with some repair to the bushings, not sure if replaced or they filled them a RTV but the car rides the same with same symptoms of old worn out shocks. I am very disappointed with the repair and wasted $650.

 

[gerryvz]

Sounds like a $3,000 bill for NOS hydrolegs would be a good investment.

 

[gsxr]

I had my SLS struts repaired by RMT. Took about two weeks. My lower bushing was completely wobbled out and the struts came back same way. Same dust boots just had a fresh coat of spray paint. I reinstalled them and the car was still making the thumping noises as before. Sent them back, they said it’s your lower bushings. We don’t have any but if you sent us some, we will install them. I was very upset and told them had I known I would have never used their service. The shocks did come back with some repair to the bushings, not sure if replaced or they filled them a RTV but the car rides the same with same symptoms of old worn out shocks. I am very disappointed with the repair and wasted $650.

What the...! What exactly did RMT do, if anything, to "repair" the SLS struts?!! Or did they just paint them and apply their decal?

Either way, this sounds like a bust for RMT...

 

[gsxr]

Marketing spiel from the RMT website doesn't quite match reality:

• " Introducing RMT’s M201-R340-ADRA, an expertly refurbished Mercedes Benz E-Class (W124) 1986-1996 w/ Self Leveling Rear Left or Right self-leveling shock absorber, ready to bring new life to your ride! We've replaced every worn component with top-of-the-line, CNC precision-made seals and O-rings, all produced right here in the USA. Each incoming core undergoes a thorough inspection to ensure there's no structural damage. We then strip it down, sandblast, and paint it to perfection, followed by the meticulous installation of every seal and O-ring.
• But we don't just stop there! Before we ship your rebuilt shock absorber, we put it through rigorous testing, exceeding normal driving conditions to ensure long-lasting performance. Each seal is crafted with precision and care, and the entire strut assembly process is proudly completed in South Florida, USA. With our product, you can trust in quality and a smoother ride! "

 

[sheward]

It seems they repair the hydraulic function that rarely fails and ignore the spherical bushings that are the common failure.

 

[TerryA]

@PedigreePartners,
By chance if your lower bushing is worn out OEM part # 204 352 00 27 for the lower rear shock mount it’s still available at MB Laredo for $54.00.

IMOP it was an easy R&R install