Front Spring Part Number and Painted Dots.....

[Darragh1]

This is a not so thrilling thread.
S212 2010 E250 OM651
I have a crack in my front left spring. The Part number according to the MB parts man is A212311 304 with four green dots.
He told me to double check for four green dots before ordering. My mechanic confirmed the spring has three green dots which is MB part number A212311 204. So when I ordered a A2123211 204 with three dots, the MB parts man said the computer said it was not for my car and that only the A212311 304 with four green dots is for my car.
Were A2123211 204 three green dots installed on the assembly first day?
Is it an MB computer anomoly?
I would avoid replacing the pair of springs if possible.
Will my car be lop-sided if I install the correct four dot spring opposite a three dot?
Any wisdom welcome,
Thank you,
D.

 

[Stratman]

The 'dot code' takes account of various parameters of your car such as engine and transmission, a/c, wheels, brakes and many other options. if you take your VIN to a dealer they should be able to look up your car's build order and work out the correct springs.

It's possible different springs were fitted at the factory to take account of the driver's seat always being occupied but not the passenger's
Who knows?

 

[grober]

WHAT were the dots code on the front right spring? In a car that's 10 years old plus the springs may not be factory fitted ones. always fit in matching pairs especially at the front

 

[whitenemesis]

Always get the spring code and (IMHO) the springs from MB using the VIN.
Aftermarket sellers rarely get the correct rate, usually supplying a generic variety for that model.
Always, always replace springs in pairs on anything that age. IIRC WIS recommends dealers do so on cars over 50k km

 

[Smiley]

The wisdom that you asked for is as above.
It is entirely possible that the springs fitted are not the original(s) and one or both are incorrectly fitted. I have had two go at 70k mile intervals - both the driver side. On both occasions both front springs were replaced with genuine MB parts. The springs could be better made but they are not expensive and pretty quick to change with the right equipment.

 

[steveq]

A front spring on my S211 snapped a number of years ago.
I went to the local main dealer with my VIN and a photo of the paint stripes on my phone. He said that he would order the spring but when I asked what the paint codes were, the ones he said on the replacement part were different to my old spring.
He was insisting that he was correct but when I showed him the photo he accepted that he was wrong (he wasn't going to accept my word without the photo).
He ordered the correct spring according to the paint stripes.
I fitted the spring (just one) and the car was perfectly level and drove perfectly.

My advice is to stick with the spring paint codes - also make sure that you have all the stripes as the old spring will be dirty. A photo is useful.

 

[whitenemesis]

My advice is to stick with the spring paint codes - also make sure that you have all the stripes as the old spring will be dirty. A photo is useful.

Only if you are sure it's original and correct

 

[steveq]

Only if you are sure it's original and correct

I agree. I did check the other side to make sure it had the same stripes.
There did seem to be many possible variants available - on the S211 there was Classic, Elegance and Avantgarde and then a number of different engines which I assume were different weights. I didn't see the parts guy's screen but I assume he picked the wrong option ( or more worryingly, the system picked the wrong one from the VIN).

 

[Darragh1]

The broken left coil spring has either a three dot OR a four dot with one dot corroded off it (or previous owner replaced the original four dot with a three dot).The right is four dot. Four dot is for my car according to MB. At least now i can order parts from mb with that confidence. Thank you all for your contdibutions.
Crisis averted. I'm sure you will all sllep soundly in that knowledge! Thanks.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

It's not really rocket science.

I've always just looked them up correctly on the system and ordered.
Changed dozens and never had a problem.