My E55 DIY Coilover install With Step by step by AutoLuxury

18 minute read

My E55 DIY Coilover install With Step by step 

Compliments of AutoLuxury @ http://mbworld.org

10-3-2013

First to introduce myself my name is Amir. I have had many different cars over the years and I have always done crazy and different stuff to my cars. So this begins my saga with the W211 E55. I have read some of the threads on the E55 coilover swap and one thing that was missing was a simple DIY. Well i decided to go ahead and do one for all you shade tree mechanics and home brew do it yourselfers. You can do this install in your drive way, garage, or even parking lot of your apartment. 

So here we go:

I have been in talks with BC Racing in regards to the coilovers they currently make to fit the the W211 chassis. They currently have four different kits for the W211. 

1. Mercedes Benz E-Class E55 AMG W211 03-06 SKU J05

2. Mercedes Benz E-Class Airmatic W211 03-09 SKU J10

3. Mercedes Benz E Class W211 02-09 SKU J06

4. Mercedes Benz E-Class Estate W211K 02-09 SKU J07

So I ordered the E55 kit (SKU J05) as the first step to get started on this kit. After I spoke with Chelsea at BC Racing a few times I settled on the J05 kit. The first one sold in the US ever. Well after about 3.5 weeks it arrived. 

Here it is in its glory. 

Look what is inside the first box:

Then I took the red box out of the brown box:

Here is the paper work that came with it:

The goodies in the box:

After its all been unboxed:

More paperwork:

I can't read Chinese but I can read the English part that says W211 03-07 E55 AMG! 

The little bit of accessories that come with the coils, spanners, adjustment knobs, and lock collar spanners:

Spring sleeve for adjustment for the rear:

Spring bushing

More of the spring collar!

The springs and the sleeves installed:

The whole team ready for the game:

Rear upper shock bushing:

W211 E55 Labeling:

With BC Racing you get pillowball upper mounts and you don't need to purchase the factory rubber upper mounts:

Tomorrow is the full install you will need some lower rear control arms with this J05 kit. I am going to get more information from them in regards to how the different kits mount with the spring cups. Soon BC Racing will have a full install kit ready to bolt in. I'm also working on easy disable for the Airmatic system and basically shut the system off.

So the install today went great. I only had time to knock out the front. I will disassemble the rear tomorrow and if I have time install as much as I can. 

So here goes:

First things first break your wheels loose in the front while the car is on the ground. Apply the emergency brake and chock the rear wheels. Then use the factory jack on the factory lift points to get her up in the air.

Then use a good jack to lift the front of the car using the center lift pad under the nose of the car. 

Place Jack Stands under the factory jack points. 

Remove your wheels and this is what you should be staring at:

Remove all nuts holding the lower undertray and the fender liners:

Now we begin by removing lowering links. Place a screwdriver between the link and the sensor and pry off:

Then unclip sensor:

Now this clip is to be removed from the inner frame rail. I couldn't do it I have fit fingers. So i broke it off...:

Trace the wire leaving the shock and follow it to this cluster fudge of wires and unplug it alone. 

*****OPTIONS HERE*******

1. You can either remove the compressor, by removing all the bolts below it.

2. Leave it all intact to return back to stock in the future. 

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I removed this gawdy thing. I undid the 3 bolts below and out it came. and I unhooked the harness for it. and capped it off with electrical tape. I then snipped the lines going to the distribution block and capped them with vacuum plugs and left them as is: 

Removed the upper mount to the height level senosor and left sensor on the chassis till i removed the shock:

I then proceeded to removed the lower shock bolt:

Removed the upper ball joint mount by removing these three bolts and nuts:

Undo the clip in the engine bay leading from the AIRMATIC sensor to the top of the airshock. Undo the air line. (I cut mine and pulled the line all the way out of the engine bay by the left front wheel well). I removed the lower shock bolt and lifted the shock from the lower control arm. I then removed the upper three bolts from the top of the shock tower and the whole shock slid down and out. I also forgot to take pictures of this part, apologies on my behalf. 

Reinstall the new coilover shock tighten the top hat bolts. It should sit flush up against the body:

Install the lower shock bolt and tighten:

Remove the level sender from the chassis:

Ziptie your wires away and tuck them nicely:

Tada this is how it should look:

Adjust your coilovers to your choice of height according to the manufacturers installation instructions. Now install the fender liners and repeat on the other side. 

After you are done install your wheels and set the car on the ground and enjoy your new steel suspension on the front of the car. 

Stay tuned for the rear install! Which I guarantee you is going to be a lot more involved.

Less than a $1000 for the set of coils shipped to my door. 

If anyone wants to question the quality of these coilovers you are welcome to do so. However, i suggest you watch these videos showcasing build quality and see how much of a beat down these can take! 

Manufacturing process:

Chelsea Denofa Testing the BC Racing Coils:

Camaro Fest Track Day with BC Racing Coils:

This car sits on BC Racing Coils:

I figured if these coils can take that kind of beating they are more than capable of handling the job of my E55 street brawler! 

Here is a spec sheet of the BC Racing coils

Front spring rate: 16Kg/mm

Rear spring rate: 15Kg/mm

Pillowball upper mount

Camber adjustable top mounts

Aluminium top plates

30 way adjustable damping

Adjustable spring platform

Height adjustment via bottom mount to retain full damper travel

Bearing mounted upper front spring platform

Dust boot to protect damper seals

The BR series coilovers use a large 46mm diameter piston in a 53mm diameter damper body to maximize oil capacity.

10-8-2013

First and foremost! Major apologies to all my friends following this. I have been dealing with weather, work, and lack of time to complete this project as quickly as I anticipated. 

However this is not going to be as precise as the previous install. Its simple really, remove everything and reinstall. LOL! I know too easy right? Wrong this was hell and took loads of time. So without further adieu here we go:

As usual break the lug nuts loose with the car on the ground. Chock the front wheels on both sides of the wheel. 

Then get the rear end up in the air. The rear is a bit tricky so i suggest you use the factory jack on the jacking points in the rear and lift the car up.

Then slide a proper jack in from behind the car and you will see two big rubber pads on each side of the car infront of the mufflers. These are also jacking points. Place a piece of 2x4 in between the jack and the rubber pads and lift one side at at time untill the rear end is up high enough for the factory jack to fall out of the standard jacking point. Then proceed to install a jack stand in the factory jacking point. Repeat on the other side as well (DO NOT RAISE THE CAR AS HIGH AS THE JACK STAND WILL GO ON THE FIRST LIFT). Make sure you raise each side up a few inches at a time and stagger the lifting process. This will guarantee that the car will not fall off the jack stands but also will be a lot safer .

Once you have accomplished that. Remove the wheels and this is what you should be staring at:

Remove all the nuts holding the inner fender liner from the car. This should allow you to see what kind of carnage you are about to come in contact with. 

On the back back side of the rear spindle facing the rear of the car will be a connecting arm to the chassis. Disconnect this bolt from the spindle. 

Remove the sway bar from the spindle and the camber arm

Now take a zip tire and swing the sway bar mount up and hold the rear toe arm in place with the sway bar mount and a zip tie like so:

Now trace the line leaving the shock to this junction box. There will be three connections in there. You will remove the middle one. To sever the connection you will see a small metal clip at the top. Simply insert a flat head screwdriver and pry upwards. The clip will slide with ease and you will remove the clip. Then unplug the middle harness clip by pulling with a light tug. Then insert the clip back and press firmly till it clicks in place. 

Lets get that pesky shock out! LOL! Remove the bolt from the control arm. Enter your trunk and remove the liner from the same side you are working on and undo the top nut. Compress the shock by hand it should come out easily. 

I forgot to take a picture of this step. 

Now lets pull that annoying rear air bladder. The rear air bladder has nothing holding it up top except a centering bulge in the chassis and a dip on the bladders top side to accommodate the bulge. So the best way to remove the air bladder is to cut the main thick rubber hose leading to it. All the air will leak out of the bladder and it will compress like an accordion. 

Then remove the lower bolt.

Cut the factory white air feed line:

Unclip the harness:

This is what should pop out. 

Undo the two bolts holding the brake caliper on. 

(sorry no picture)

Undo this control arm bolt from the spindle. 

Then undo this control arm bolt from the chassis:

Remove the control arm!

Yay! Go grab a beer/cold drink/water/smoke/or pop a squat! The hard part is over with!

Now reinstallation is the reverse of removal. 

1. Insert new control arm with spring cup to spindle and bolt down 

2. Seat the spring as per manufacturers instructions and insert rear control arm bolt

3. Feed top of shock through trunk hole and bolt down with proper bushings. Then connect eyelet bolt to the shock and control arm. 

4. Install camber arm.

5. Install brake calipers

6. Install rear toe arm.

7. Install sway bar.

8. Install rear fender liner

9. Repeat on the other side.

TADA You are done. My phone battery died so I didn't get to take any more pictures. I feel sad now. Adjust your coilovers as per manufactures instructions! 

****TO DISABLE AIRMATIC AND AVOID THE WARNINGS ON THE DASH. JUST OPEN THE DRIVER SIDE DASH FUSE BOX. AND PULL FUSE F037 AND ITS DONE. NO MORE AIRMATIC WARNINGS AND NO MORE VISIT WORKSHOP WARNINGS.****

IF YOU WANT TO GO LOW YOU CAN WITH THESE:

The only thing i had to purchase was the control arms to install the BC Racing MBR Type Coilovers. Nothing else.