things wrong with my new forfour

[mr singh]

tomaato, tomAto.

the only reason i ask id because iv never fitted springs to any of my cars, hard to believe but my city coupe has transverse leaf springs... and at work iv only really fitted genuine springs.

interesting to know that all springs come from a handful of factories in Deutschland.

so i started stripping 1 side yesterday and i ended up refitting the old strut back as i needed more parts . kinda pissed off knowing the state of the old bushes that i replaced. i should have known better and order everything new for the front struts. iv got to phone mercedes tomorrow and order the top strut bearings and spring isolaters all round.

so far the suspension count stands at 2x front dampers and top mounting plates, 2x rear dampers and top mounts, 2x front springs and 2x rear springs

whilst i had the front strut off i noticed that it had a red 'stamp' on one of the coils reading 'smart BRABUS'. i highly doubt that the original brabus springs are silver and allow the car to sit as low as what mine is sitting. i think i might find out more once i rebuild the suspension

[Problemchild]

Should have a part number on them

JJ

[CrazyG]

mr singh...original Smart Brabus springs are silver....and...
they do have Smart Brabus printed on them !

So...not only did your car have the SB3 engine upgrade when it
was delivered to the customer from the dealer, but it also appears
to have been spec'd with Brabus springs.
If memory serves me correctly, you did state that it has long
front drop links from the strut to the lower suspension arms
meaning it didn't get Brabus shock adsorbers. Maybe it had slightly
stronger shocks..or..this was Smarts' idea of the 'Sports Pack'...
namely stiffer Brab springs but with standard shocks ?

[Alex]

but what about the suplex springs...?

I had a pair of suplex front springs and one snapped after a couple of years. And they were the thick version, for the cdi. Wasn't very pleased with them.

[mr singh]

mr singh...original Smart Brabus springs are silver....and...
they do have Smart Brabus printed on them !

So...not only did your car have the SB3 engine upgrade when it
was delivered to the customer from the dealer, but it also appears
to have been spec'd with Brabus springs.
If memory serves me correctly, you did state that it has long
front drop links from the strut to the lower suspension arms
meaning it didn't get Brabus shock adsorbers. Maybe it had slightly
stronger shocks..or..this was Smarts' idea of the 'Sports Pack'...
namely stiffer Brab springs but with standard shocks ?

it may be the case with it having the option of 'sports suspension' being fitted, BUT having a look through the past MOT's online, there was an advisory for all 4 springs corroded. the following year and subsequent years, there is no note of the springs. so one can assume that the springs were replaced. and your memory is holding you correct, i do have non brabus dampers.
if i do have brabus springs fitted then why is the car sitting so low? its on standard dampers with standard brabus springs, but if you look at the rear springs they are compressed to within an inch of there lives. the springs cant have sagged that much that its 'sat on its a*s' and if the dampers are shot the springs should hold it at normal ride height.

I had a pair of suplex front springs and one snapped after a couple of years. And they were the thick version, for the cdi. Wasn't very pleased with them.

thanks for the feedback on the springs. ill fit them and see how they go and how long they last.

[Problemchild]

The rear Brabus springs are like that though

Have a look for the part number

JJ

[mr singh]

ill definitely be having a good look at the springs for any part numbers, i do recall seeing an MN part number on the rear springs but nothing came up in google when i typed it in, plus some of the numbers looked like they had faded, or been rubbed off.

[Coverman]

Surely the dampers would have  been factory
matched to the springs originally

[Problemchild]

Not sure that’s correct

JJ

[mr singh]

so the dampers and springs have all been replaced, the car sits higher than before, rides better than before... over all im happier than before.

the dampers were all shot, more so the R/R. i suspect the springs and dampers were the original one from the factory as mentioned before the brabus has silver springs over black ones. rear poly top mounts have also been fitted with a bit of modification. the original top mount washers went round the old rubber mounts and the new bushes were bigger. i had a couple of big washers that i had to make the holes bigger so they would go over the top of the damper.

as i may have mentioned before my SB3 came with sports suspension according to mercedes. so it could be a case that the first owner wanted a brabus, but the brabus wasnt available back in 2003/4 so they went to the expense of ticking everything that said brabus on the options list.

[steddie eddie]

G'day mr singh, I've gone over your list about ''things wrong with my new forfour'' and  found that there were a lot of things wrong with yours compare to my forfour, that i bought nearly 4 years ago with about 76000km and has now about 114000km on the clock, so ive done about 38000km without much problem.
I have had sofar only a solenoid on the starter motor and the front windscreen wiper motor replaced and for the rest nothing gone wrong, so i wonder how come yours has had so many problems right from when you bought it ?.
Was it a lemon or are you so fussy, as you must spend a lot of money on yours that other forfour owners dont have too to keep it running, so my question is, was it worth it ?
Good luck with it and Greetings,
Eddie.

[Scoobysook]

Glad its riding better now.
Do you have a list of the part numbers for the front and rear suspension that you changed, eg not the spring or shock but the bearing, rubber seats, bumpstops etc. I was trying to find it in search but to avail.

[mr singh]

front bump stops are incorporated in to the shocker boots, i got them non genuine.

the top mounts, bearings etc came from mercedes. in total id say i spent around £130 for the front extras.

boots came in at £36 for the pair from my local motor factors, about £42 for the bearings, top rubber isolators, and spring mount, about £60 for the top mount plates from mercedes.
i did make a mistake and not order the lower spring isolators for the front and rear , but they will have to do for now.

i kinda knew that there would be issues with this one as it has had 6 previous owner and no service history, although i did manage to get information as to what was carried out during its warranty period along with a dealer code. i has no idea as to how it was looked after, no idea as to how it was driven. when i test drove it before buying it i knew there were things wrong compared to my 1.1 i had then, the woolly suspension, the clutch, the metallic rattle i had only when i accelerated hard.

i would have to say given the state of the dampers and bushes its been driven hard or the dampers have been fooked for a very long time BUT the engine has been looked after as when i carried out an engine decontamination flush treatment the filter in the machine that i hooked up to the engine, looked clean.

i do however think that i might be getting to the end of what might be wrong with my forfour. the only thing i know that needs fixing now is the horn, as its now on its last legs due to a crazy Vectra driver that decided to cut me up about 3 weeks ago.

after doing a bit of investigating on the springs, the front springs, i was unable to get anything more than a faded Smart Brabus stamp and a lot of corrosion as the silver powder coating has crumbled off. the rear springs i did find another MN part number, so ill google that when i get time.

[cecil]

horn never worked well anyway!
SB3s are exceptionally rare. Therefore worth it.

[steddie eddie]

My forfour has also had 6 owners here in New Zealand but i dont know how many owners in Japan before it was imported secondhand to here, i did get some service history but only from 59000km , it has been here since 32000km in NZ.
Eddie.