Mercedes Coil Spring Conversion Kit - Arnott C2278

Let me just start by saying that the pricing for this conversion kit is expensive, to say the least. If you are looking for the exact same kit you might want to look at places like Amazon or RockAuto. I believe these vendors had it for around $1,300 at the time of this writing. However, from my personal experience, I bought several items from FCP and never had an issue with missing items, lifetime warranty, or bad quality parts. The reason I decided to "spend" the extra money was really just for the lifetime warranty FCP offers. If you are on the ropes like me deciding whether or not to buy this kit, just ask yourself if you want to keep your car around for the next five years. If the answer is yes, then buy it because five years is a long time for things to break or go bad. When the kit arrived it arrived in 2 large boxes and everything was well packaged and as advertised. I received all items necessary to convert my E500 from airmatic to a Coilover suspension. However, one thing I wish FCP would add is the free-to-download PDF instruction guide on how to install this quite step by step with photos included. You can download it for free through the Arnott website, just look up Arnott C2278 PDF guide. The installation process for the front was by far the easiest part, however, be prepared to struggle with the upper control arm ball joint when it comes time to separate it if you don't have access to the right tools or it's seized up. What I did was remove a metal bracket held by 3 T-torque screws with a nut holding them in place, this allowed the upper control arm to break free and remove the front strut. The rear was the most problematic part of the installation. If you follow the PDF guide disassembling is the easy part. However, when compressing the steel coil into place the lower control arm perch would not slide into place when removed from the front, closest to the rotor because the bushings were old and swollen. This is my warning if you are doing this job and get unlucky with the bushings causing you issues you may have to either buy new bushings or use a grinder tool to sand off the metal part of the bushing enough to give it clearance. I do not recommend what I did but just know I did it and had no issue afterward. Avoid pushing or hitting against the rotor in attempts to get the lower control arm to slide into place as it will warp the rotor as it happened in my case. After the rear was installed the rest was pretty much straightforward. The by-pass module was not difficult to install and required basic tools to remove the 3 plastic screws holding the metal panel under the passenger side carpet. Overall, the ride quality is firm and you will get more road noise as expected. However, it's nowhere near the point where I would regret buying this kit. Over bumps or speed bumps the car feels well planted and on the highway it feels like any other coilover car. This kit is great as you don't have to worry about air spring blowing out, or failing active dampers, compressor, broken airlines, regulators, etc. Overall, I recommend this kit.