brian-scotland
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2015
- Messages
- 4
- Car
- w211
Good Afternoon.
Last week went to get the 2005 w211 320cdi out the garage and found the front right sitting very low with the tyre up inside the wheel arch, nursed it out and sure enough the from spring has broke whilst it was sitting stationary.
Bought 2 new springs from nearest Mercedes dealership for £60 each including vat. I also purchased a spring compressor from machine mart.
Started by jacking up the car and supporting with axle stands. Please ensure your are competent and the car is secured before working on it. The w211 is a heavy vehicle!
1 - 17mm socket and locking wheel nut to remove wheel.
2 - 21mm socket / breaker and spanner to losen lower strut bolt. If this is rusty apply wd40 to thread and give it a wire brush.
3 - there is an upper control arm that has a ball joint, leave this and remove the entire bracket that connects the ball joint to the control arm. There will be 3 bolts, t45 socket for the bolts and 13mm socket for the nuts on top, before removing them support the lower arm with a trolley jack, but do not apply to much pressure, when the three bolts are removed give the bracket a knock and it will slide out.
4 - Now that is detached be careful with break lines and sensors etc. Use a prybar between the lower control arm and strut to take the pressure before removing the lower strut mounting bolt.
5 -now undo the 3 13mm nuts on the top of the strut in the engine bay.
6 -Now you need to push down the lower control arm against the anti roll bar and work the strut out, the bottom fork will rotate round some parts of the suspension and will make it easier to come out.
7 - Replace spring on strut as per instructions of your spring compressor, this can be highly dangerous task if you do not know what you are doing.
Replace in reverse order. Sorry I don’t have picture but the task can be completed on a diy bases if you have the correct tools and skill. Saved a fortune over taking it to Mercedes.
Hope this helps and as always I don’t take responsibility for your actions so if you are not sure then leave it to a professional.

Last week went to get the 2005 w211 320cdi out the garage and found the front right sitting very low with the tyre up inside the wheel arch, nursed it out and sure enough the from spring has broke whilst it was sitting stationary.
Bought 2 new springs from nearest Mercedes dealership for £60 each including vat. I also purchased a spring compressor from machine mart.
Started by jacking up the car and supporting with axle stands. Please ensure your are competent and the car is secured before working on it. The w211 is a heavy vehicle!
1 - 17mm socket and locking wheel nut to remove wheel.
2 - 21mm socket / breaker and spanner to losen lower strut bolt. If this is rusty apply wd40 to thread and give it a wire brush.
3 - there is an upper control arm that has a ball joint, leave this and remove the entire bracket that connects the ball joint to the control arm. There will be 3 bolts, t45 socket for the bolts and 13mm socket for the nuts on top, before removing them support the lower arm with a trolley jack, but do not apply to much pressure, when the three bolts are removed give the bracket a knock and it will slide out.
4 - Now that is detached be careful with break lines and sensors etc. Use a prybar between the lower control arm and strut to take the pressure before removing the lower strut mounting bolt.
5 -now undo the 3 13mm nuts on the top of the strut in the engine bay.
6 -Now you need to push down the lower control arm against the anti roll bar and work the strut out, the bottom fork will rotate round some parts of the suspension and will make it easier to come out.
7 - Replace spring on strut as per instructions of your spring compressor, this can be highly dangerous task if you do not know what you are doing.
Replace in reverse order. Sorry I don’t have picture but the task can be completed on a diy bases if you have the correct tools and skill. Saved a fortune over taking it to Mercedes.
Hope this helps and as always I don’t take responsibility for your actions so if you are not sure then leave it to a professional.
