[myarmar]

The bushings in the rear mounts of the front lower control arms are hydraulic and can't be pressed from the end. They have to be driven in by pressing on the lip and require a special tool. Google W140 front bushings tool, you will see what I'm talking about.

 

[samosali]

I see. thanks. I assume this one is ok for both bushings of front lower control arm: hydraulic (rear) and non-hydraulic (front):

Mercedes Benz s Class Lower Control Arm Bushing Tool Set W140 W126 W124 | eBay

can you please confirm that if i use this tool, then I do not need to disassemble the arms? In another words, the outer part of the arm can stay on the car and coil spring can stay on? So i only remove both bolts through bushings and lower the arm. Is this correct? if this is true than this tool saves a lot of time.

 

[Alter]

Looks like it... But at this price point it did not make sense to me. 190 for the part specific tool, and price difference between bushing set and complete arm $40... I need to do it 5 times to recuperate the tool... and you can always bring it to the shop, so they pres it in for 40

 

[myarmar]

I'd be very surprised if rear bushings on the front LCA were good after 550000km. Usually the symptom of these bushings going bad is a vibration at certain speeds, like 40 to 50 mph, or violent vibration during braking, similar to warped rotors. If you don't have any of these leave them alone.

 

[samosali]

no, i do not have any of these symptoms.

i just have some clunking at slow speed only over bumps and on the grass terrain. not constantly. some day it is here, some day it is not. i replaced all four coils springs and front shocks and i wonder if clunking comes from rear end. it is so hard to see anything. inspection in the shop did not reveal anything however clunking was loud. it came from front end, it sounded like spring in the moment when it breaks. car drives fantastically, no problems at all. technical inspection once per year does not show any fault. No way to be sway bar links or upper arms or idler bushings or any other ball joint except front ones on the LCAs (for those two i cannot be sure because i cannot test them.

 

[samosali]

Looks like it... But at this price point it did not make sense to me. 190 for the part specific tool, and price difference between bushing set and complete arm $40... I need to do it 5 times to recuperate the tool... and you can always bring it to the shop, so they pres it in for 40

my problem is that i do not believe in "cheap" things. Once again: it is MY PROBLEM. So I do not know what quality lower arms for $100 or$200 are. maybe they are the best in the world but i cannot be sure. I only trust into original mercedes parts and lemforder or similar in this case. The price for originals and lemforder is very close. approx. 300 eur for one lemforder arm and above 300 eur for OEM. I hope you understand what i want to say. so in this case the tool set is reasonable, isn't it? two arms cost me 700 eur which is $800 I guess. tool is several times cheaper. but it seems that bushings are not my problem, at least not serious one.

 

[Alter]

Well i got Vaico made in turkey. Lemforder is reported to last 3-5 years (front lower arm), i can pretty much bet that vaico will do the same. And lemforder info was coming from one of the forum experts, so i trust it.

Benefit of having arms -old ones are just fine sitting in the garage. I Have 3 years to buy good deal lemforder germany made bushings, and visit the shop to have them installed in my old arms. Then swap back, which is easy job comparing with pess in-out and re installation.

Parts quality changed no matter where it is made... Do not forget it. China is still the worst, but that is changing too. No matter we like it or not.

 

[samosali]

3 - 5 years is not much. Like i said in this moment i am inclined towards "do nothing" down there. reason: there is no easy way to check the situation (removing bolts out of bushes is not an easy way to me ) and I have no symptoms of bad ride.

yeah i know, even today's OEM parts will not come close to the quality of parts installed in our cars in the factory in germany. maybe there are rare exceptions.

 

[Alter]

As i described before, i purchased B8 shock absorbers by mistake (very good price). Car felt ok, but nothing like desctibed by many users.
It was not super smooth swallowing everything on the road. So, saw new original Sachs $80 per pc on ebay. Just had them installed, wow!
They have different design then both Bilsteins B6 and B8 they have additional bump stop, and feel nothing like Bilsteins.
Very smooth and well controlled, so no negative handling feelings comparing to B8s. I usually prefer firmer feel and sport suspensions, but B8s, although ok, nothing like Sachs in ride quality. Just wanted others to know the difference, because there are waay too many opinions on the forum, and it is difficult to say what is what without trying on your own butt.

I did, for this car - Sachs hands down.

If anyone wants B8s for some reason, pm me. I'll give it out very cheap.