How to change front coil springs on a 203

[silver_star]

DANGER - Compressed coil springs are very dangerous and could cause death or serious injury if they were to slip out of the equipment used to compress them. Do not attempt this procedure without a proper spring compressor. Standard spring compressors will not suffice on the front of a W203 due to the fact that the springs need compressing a long way.

No liability is offered or implied. I am not saying this is the right way to do it; it is how I did it. If you chose to carry out the below procedure, you do so at your own risk.

When replacing springs it is advisable to replace them in an axle pair. Springs are best sourced from the dealers providing them with your full VIN, this way they are matched exactly to your equipment level. Going aftermarket is false economy with MB springs and I highly advise against it.

Here is the procedure:

Slacken road wheel bolts of the wheel where the spring in question is.

Chock both rear wheels.

Slacken strut top mount 1/2 turn with ratchet and 21mm socket.

Jack the front of the car up using the front central jacking point and support the car on
axle stands at each side. This will enable you to put some lock on easily either way to access bolts on the strut.

With the road wheel off, it should reveal this.

Next task is to slacken off the top lower strut bolt. It is a 22mm nut and 12mm hex bit.
I don't have the luxury of an impact gun so got the breaker bar on the case, it squealed
but freed off easily enough. It will take some effort to remove the nut manually but
persevere. Leave the bolt in situ and the nut on a couple of threads.

You will now need to remove the anti-roll bar drop link where it attaches to the strut.
Use a 16mm ring spanner and a 7mm ratchet. Once the nut is off you should be able to move
the link back out of the way.

Now we need to move onto the 2 lower strut to hub bolts 19mm. I managed one with the
ratchet but had to get the breaker bar on the other. Remove these bolts fully.

Next step is to remove the plastic bracket at the bottom of the shock which the ABS/Brake
Pad and Brake line clip into. To do this cut the cable tie with a pair of snips that
attaches it to the strut. Be very careful not to cut anything else!! Then unclip the 2
wires from the bracket (you will have to leave the brake hose going through it). Then
remove the clip out of the way.

Next step is to remove the strut stop nut and bracket which you slackened earlier.

With this out of the way, remove the bolt which you have already slackened connecting the
shock to the hub (remembering which way round it faces) and remove the shocker assembly.

Now put the shock assembly in the spring/strut compressor and compress it.

 

[silver_star]

I bought the MB tool to remove the nut from the top of the strut assembly. Essentially it
is a socket with 2 small lugs on it. You may be able to substitute it with a hammer and
small screwdriver of fabricate your own. Remove the nut and top cup.

Here it is in action...

Top cup removed.

New spring ready to be installed.

Then release the pressure on the spring, and install the new spring with the compressor. It is ESSENTIAL that the spring is seated right both top and bottom.

Here is the new spring installed on the strut assembly.

Now install the strut assembly back in the car. Take note of the shape of the top rubber mount and how it inserts into the suspension turret and ensure you get it right.

Here it is back on the car.

For the 3 bolts that attached the strut bottom to the hub, I gave them a wire brushing before refitting to clear the threads and a touch of threadlock. Refit all the other bolts etc in reverse order. You will need a new cable tie to attach the plastic bracket back to the strut.

Replace the top nut, washer and bracket paying particular attention to line the notches up in the bracket. Either put pressure under the hub or lower the car with the road wheel installed.

Re install road wheel and when on the ground torque up the wheel bolts.

Go for a road test and see how it feels. My springs were original and after 10years/100k miles I can feel the difference.

 

[nigel cross]

Great How to ,Super size spring compressor.

 

[silver_star]

Great How to ,Super size spring compressor.

A decent spring compressor is needed on the front of a 203, the springs need compressing to about a third of their lengh; normal spring compressor's won't cut it.

 

[crockers]

How did you know your springs were in need of replacing? I thought MB ones just snapped.

 

[silver_star]

How did you know your springs were in need of replacing? I thought MB ones just snapped.

Well I was washing my car and noticed this......

it has snapped part of a coil from the bottom. Replacing both sides with genuine springs is the only way.