Okay guys I can report back on the re-gassing. Can recommend them, read below for full experience.
Firstly SGS were excellent, but as can happen I let myself down. I sent them off (bubble wrap and parcel tape, paid for medium sized parcel so £5 postage). They turned them round in a couple of days, sent back in a poster tube by DHL next day. Total cost from SGS was £40 including return postage, so all in you are paying the same as the non-OEM replacements (but with less wastage and the benefit of keeping the car OEM).
Now the tricky part! When removing the struts, I actually took the metal retaining clips entirely off the end fixings as opposed to gently easing them loose and removing the struts from the ball sockets. If you didn't remove the metal clips, you can skip the paragraph (or read and chuckle). If you have taken them off, you are in a bit of a tricky spot.
The plastic end fixings themselves are removable from both ends of the struts, and SGS kindly provided 4 new ones in the return pack. However, the OEM struts don't take the usual M6 fixings, which means it is difficult to find replacements. I kept the 4 metal end fixings, but found that with age and rust they didn't hold their original shape very well when stretched to fit back into the plastic end fixings. This meant they wouldn't properly retain the ball joint once fitted back to the car which is dangerous (that boot is effin heavy)! I therefore had to remove the metal clips from the new end fixings that SGS provided and refit them into the OEM end pieces. I did this with a pair of needle nose pliers to gently spread the metal clips open (oo er) and into the OEM end fixings. I then had to fiddle with them to bend the jaws back into place once fitted (to ensure that they actually worked and retained the ball joint once connected).
Once fitted to the car, I was slightly disappointed that the struts didn't entirely push the boot open. A little bit of grease to the struts fixed this. Once 1/4 of the way open, the boot opens all the way to full reach of its' own accord (even with the parcel shelf hooked to the boot).
TL
R; can recommend regassing. Don't remove the metal clips from the old struts.
Firstly SGS were excellent, but as can happen I let myself down. I sent them off (bubble wrap and parcel tape, paid for medium sized parcel so £5 postage). They turned them round in a couple of days, sent back in a poster tube by DHL next day. Total cost from SGS was £40 including return postage, so all in you are paying the same as the non-OEM replacements (but with less wastage and the benefit of keeping the car OEM).
Now the tricky part! When removing the struts, I actually took the metal retaining clips entirely off the end fixings as opposed to gently easing them loose and removing the struts from the ball sockets. If you didn't remove the metal clips, you can skip the paragraph (or read and chuckle). If you have taken them off, you are in a bit of a tricky spot.
The plastic end fixings themselves are removable from both ends of the struts, and SGS kindly provided 4 new ones in the return pack. However, the OEM struts don't take the usual M6 fixings, which means it is difficult to find replacements. I kept the 4 metal end fixings, but found that with age and rust they didn't hold their original shape very well when stretched to fit back into the plastic end fixings. This meant they wouldn't properly retain the ball joint once fitted back to the car which is dangerous (that boot is effin heavy)! I therefore had to remove the metal clips from the new end fixings that SGS provided and refit them into the OEM end pieces. I did this with a pair of needle nose pliers to gently spread the metal clips open (oo er) and into the OEM end fixings. I then had to fiddle with them to bend the jaws back into place once fitted (to ensure that they actually worked and retained the ball joint once connected).
Once fitted to the car, I was slightly disappointed that the struts didn't entirely push the boot open. A little bit of grease to the struts fixed this. Once 1/4 of the way open, the boot opens all the way to full reach of its' own accord (even with the parcel shelf hooked to the boot).
TL
R; can recommend regassing. Don't remove the metal clips from the old struts.
Good update and great option for people.
