Can you explain the difference between the Bilsteins 3 painted square and the 4 painted squares? I did my 2003 ML350 2 years ago using Bilstein 3 painted squares and it seems fine. Not easy getting the shocks disconnected on top on a rusty NY vehicle. After doing brake lines,fuel lines and 4 shocks 2 years ago it hasn't cost a dime. Pretty good for a 173,000 mile outside kept NY winter driven vehicle. I am 64 years old this vehicle has been my best vehicle so far and fixing it myself without a lift is possible for most things. The things I had to replace were not too difficult. A not too expensive scanner will point you in the right direction for most things. Stable at 100mph and better off road than given credit for,and fixable when it does break is what makes it a good machine. Nice informative video.
The 4 square springs are just a tad stronger than the 3 square springs. I've noticed the ride height has settled a bit since doing this project so the search is for an even stronger spring without killing the comfort.
Great video. Thanks for sharing and providing detailed information. Appreciate your tips and techniques. working to upgrade my ML in the next few weeks. Also love this first gen ML as they are very classy.
Great video, Thank you for sharing. I am in the process of lifting my ML500! Building front bumper will be next. I really like your custom bumpers especially the front. Can you upload some photos or videos about bumpers built? Big thank you, and keep up the good work :)
I‘m guessing those spacers are Polyurethane? How are they holding up? Would you recommend going with steel ones or ist PU fine so far? Great Video, my W163 has Similar mods and i am looking forward to doing much more.
The owner used polyurethane on the left side and metal on the right side since the metal is half inch and the polyurethane is 1 in. For some reason the left and the right were different and the only way to make it work is to use different sizes. They have been holding up very well. What made the biggest difference is using the Eibach 800 lbs springs. We have not made the video for this upgrade yet. Though the 750 lbs springs would work too. However, the bolt slots need to be elongated to be able to correct the camber.
@@offgridnomads377 thanks for letting me know! I'm also going with a combination of stiffer springs (generic HD, cheapest I could find) and PU spacers. Bolt slots should be just long enough since I am only going with 20 mm.
Thank you for that video. I did one month ago more or less the same, with Profender shock absorbers. I thought my car wasn't going to lift so much but now is so high. I hope the joins and the transmission will handle it well. Thank youuuuuu
I pull a trailer behind my ML400 I am already 1´´ lower in the back then the front with the empty car. Time to replace the rear suspension, but not an easy task. I am looking for something which can hold much more weight, had a look at adjustable ones with pneumatics, but lots of people say they are not very reliable, lots of problems, on top of that I will load more then usual. There are several kits with pneumatic adjustment, but none works for Mercedes ML´s. If some of you figured something let me know.
How'd that alignment go? I had a crazy amount of negative camber with 30mm spacer from Tema and OEM replacement struts. I'm not sure if they preloaded the upper control arms before setting down. I'm assuming this can happen in the front too after torsion bar lift?
@@SenorReso Yes it can happen on the fronts too. Currently have -1.5 camber on the fronts. One of these days may want to elongate the adjustment slots to get a bit less negative camber.
I worked with plain wrenches on my ML430 suspension before, but you should really add ratcheting wrenches to your christmas list, it's a day and night difference.
Did you compress the coils yourself or had a shop do it? I just got a pair of rear B6s and I need to swap the coils from the original struts. I was told that these coils are very difficult and dangerous to compress with the standard hand crank compressors. Also I noticed that the B6s have what looks like 1/16 inch thick ring where the bottom spring plate sits on. Does that thin ring really support all that coil force? Seems crazy to me as the original struts has the bottom spring plate welded to the strut assembly. Can you confirm this?
For safety I used a shop spring compressor, not the $35 DIY units. They are not difficult to compress but you need the right tool. The ring is fine. It'll stay in place. In the event that something happens, the plate will go down a couple inches to the bottom of the shock where there are weld marks that will hold it in place.
How does it ride? Any issues with vibration? I would like to add 1 1/2 " SPACERS TOO, please advise if I should with out any other modifications, will this ware more the drive shafts? Please advice thx
Ride is excellent. We have no vibrations and my expedition buddies using mostly Jeeps are always envious of how comfortable the ride is whenver they use this car. The axle shafts are fine because they are not at steep angles. Two years of hard use and still zero problems. That's a testament to how strong the car is actually.
Thanks! For the info, I already installed them with new struts, the ride much improved.. I tried to replace them my self, but the nuts on top ware rusted out and had to take it to a shop, they charged me $440 to replace them, the mechanic had to cut them out with fire
Whenever you lift this car it’s important to bring out the upper arms all the way to the end of the adjustment slots. Depending on the height, you’ll end up with slightly positive camber or just about right. The car needs to get aligned anyway. If you load the car and then torque the nuts, you’ll push the arms into the other end of the adjustment slot and end up with something like 5 degrees of negative camber. This is one of the reasons that a lot of so-called techs never were able to align this car properly. The important place to preload is on the lower bushings.
I also wonder that because i put brand new sachs shocks but ride is still soft and bounces on the back, on the front i put hummer kyb monomax and great but rear is soft
@@offgridnomads377 Thank you, I already have the 1.5 " spacers but I was afraid to try to get the nuts out of the top with so little space to work with
@@offgridnomads377 can you let us know where you got them from please mine are for a f150 and the stem is bigger then the stock shocks so none of the metal washers or rubbers for the top will switch over I’ll have to drill them all out to size to make the one I got work thank you in advance !!
@@CLVannoy I have access to washers and buffers which made it work. Possible your mechanic if he has any parts laying around will make it work too. It was kinda "frankensteining" but no drilling cutting. Just whatever I had in my garage which was a direct fit. But I heard Bilstein also sells individual pieces which may work for you. If u give their CS a call. But to be honest, you can find pieces which may work for you.