Mercedes Benz / w211 e320 e500 4matic Front Axle Replacement pt1 (Left Side) 

(1) 0 issues with the axles (did both sides) so far and they have a 1 year warranty so I very happy with them given the much higher price for OEM parts. It also seemed to me like the CV boot was thicker material and should last longer. If there are any issues I figure they will show up in less than a year (2) I actually had the same though while I was working on the upper control arm and I think it would probably work but I cant say for sure since I haven't done it. I do have some additional thoughts though... Disconnecting there requires a special tool (see the upper control are vid) and I think the work effort is about the same so I'm not sure if there's a benefit to do it that way (3) Stretch bolts - thanks for the head up on this! I knew these were used in the head but didn't know about the axles. I looked into the stretch bolts and found a couple ways on how to identify them but I still not sure if these are stretch or not. I will be trying to see if I can find out from my local dealer. Here is what I found on help identifying... "Take a machinist's rule and lay it across the threads. If the peak of every thread touches the rule then the bolt is fine. If some threads are short, even a little bit, then the bolt is stretched and must be replaced" also "The torque for stretch/single use bolts is usually specified as an initial torque plus a tightening angle. e.g. 50Nm+90°" Unfortunately I'd have to pull the bolts to test with the 1st test but the second description does seem to fit. I will update further with the dealer info when I get it

haha!