Sl 55 R230 ABC Suspension rubber boots gone only, require changing?

[laurensparsons]

Hi, So I have an Sl 55 here and after a full vehicle examination at Mercedes they have said that only the rubber boots have gone on the rear shocks, the car is a 2006 with only 22k miles, Now I'm aware that these cars can have ABC shock issues which when they go cost £1500 per corner, my question is should i go ahead and get the boots changed at a cost of about £600 inc labour for both sides, or are these rubber boots superficial, put another way, do these rubber boots prevent grit getting directly on the hydraulic rams and terminally damaging the hydraulic seals thus causing total shock failure? Please see attached pics of the boots here;

Pics here https://www.flickr.com/photos/56544421@N04/13567323764/

and here https://www.flickr.com/photos/56544421@N04/13567029523/

 

[laurensparsons]

any thoughts?

 

[lxi]

I'd get them done but assuming you can extract the parts from MB, I'd go to an indie as the majority of the cost is labour & this will be quoted at "book time" rather than what it will actually take

 

[m2287]

That seems like a rip off for some plastic covers! Can you not get some made up and glued over the originals or something?!

 

[karozza]

I have one of the rear units with a similar tear. My indie told me this has no effect on the unit because there are no exposed mechanical components like a shock absorber as this is a concealed unit.