bootman30

Hello all.

I’m having the front struts on my 89 300E replaced with Bilstein HDs. I’d like to get the car to steer more precisely and generally be tighter / less drift off of center while at high speed, although the car is used mostly on long highway trips, so I don’t want to drop it down too far, if at all. The car has 150K miles on it, so I would only like to put in $300-$600 more, in addition to the front struts.

A. What else can you suggest, in some order of priority? I’m already paying to have the struts installed and the car aligned, so are there any items that come in the category of “absolutely I’d change that bushing, etc.” I saw a list for the back suspension that said the following:

Idle arm busing and steering arm bushing,
Control arm rubber,
New drop link
New shock tower bushings,
Spring pads,
Front and rear arm bushings,
Front drop links,

However, I’m told those parts alone run $400 and on a MB suspect that the instillation cost would far exceed my budget? While I assume that changing the comparable parts in the front would tighten up the ride and steering, would it be that noticeable and do you think it is worth the $700-$900 to do?

B. The back shocks are the original shocks and are thus “soft” settings – not the HDs that I’m putting on the front, so should I spend the other $280 to have the back shocks replaced with Bilstein HDs rather than start replacing bushings?

C. Also, I’m told that the Bilstein HDs will cause the front to ride higher than it now does, so I was planning to go down the bump stop scale so that my car does not ride too high in the front, as is discussed in the prior suspension thread.

Thank you in advance.

ksing44

Definitely get all four shocks, matching HDs of course. Go to the smallest spring pads, all four of course. Get swaybars, either Sportline, 500E, or "Sportline Plus", which is Limo front with E500 rear. Note the Limo front swaybar does not fit an 8 cylinder. Maybe a new steering damper, just to be sure your steering feels good.

The decrease in pad thickness should give a tiny drop with no degradation in ride quality. The labor cost for changing the spring pads may seem like a bit much for such a subtle difference, but it would be a nice touch. The bigger swaybars should flatten the car in the corners, with no degradation in ride quality. The bars are a great way to improve handling without affecting ride quality. The HDs will tighten up everything, which I don’t think you should think of as degradation in ride quality.

Your car will be awesome with HDs, bigger swaybars, and the smallest spring pads. The only other thing would be to go to 16" x 7.5" wheels for the summer. The W124 was known for undersized wheels and tires.

cap'n jasper

I agree with Ken, get all four shocks.
Changing front and rears should level the suspension out.
At this mileage and age I would also get someone to check all the bushes. ie..All the rear suspension links, front wishbone and rear sub-frame bushes. No point in changing any that are okay but I bet at least some have seen better days. This will be your best value for money in terms of handling improvement. Good excuse to get Sportline bushes if any need replacing!
Changing just the spring pads is going to be expensive for the tiny drop that you'll get.
Good luck.
PS That list of 'back suspension' parts that you posted made no sense whatsoever to me.

Jackd

I know it is a matter of choice and opinion, but I went with HD shocks (4) when the originals had expired.
I just could not stand them. It transformed the car into a very stiff/hard riding go cart.
I replaced them 3 months later with original Boge shock absorbers and scrapped the HD's
JackD

bootman30

OK, this is the current approach: Replace the front struts with HDs on Monday and have it aligned. If the back is “sloppy” or I otherwise want to spend the $, next will get the back HDs, at which time I will not have to realign car. I will have the various bushings inspected . . . the shop said that they will “shake” each of the items to test the bushings (Is that right?). I will not replace the rubber spring seats due to cost.

The sway bars are of interest, although the cost is somewhere around $2-500 for the bars Sportline 500E / Limo, but I have to call a guy recommended in an earlier thread called Rusty. Any inexpensive recommendaitons. My suspension shop said instillation would be $70 per hour and estimated 1-3 hours per axle, so unless someone can recommend a shop in or around the NY metro area (ie: Northern NJ, CT, long island) that has done this instillation before in a 300E and can be fairly sure that it will not take more than 1 hour per axle, this mod will also be too expensive.

Sorry to keep harping on the cost, but I also need to get the timing belt / tensioner work done for about $600 and a new starter installed. An AC charge is also scheduled. At what point does it become financially imprudent to keep repairing an old car with 150k on it, even if it is a MB. I recently replaced the transmission, brakes, rotors, and various switches . . . I am getting tired of the money pit.

Jer

Timing belt? There is a chain; no belt.

The money you invest in a Mercedes over several years will probably add up to the cost of a used car of lesser quality. Don't be frightened! Follow preventive maintenance procedures and only have an reputable independent MB shop or dealership work on your car (whatever work you can not do yourself).

Have fun!

Jackd

You should wait until you have replaced the 4 shock before doing the wheel alignment.
$600. for a belt tentionner replacement ???
You are getting riped off.
You don't check the rear suspension bushing by 'shaking them'
Are you sure you are dealing with the right shop?
JackD

bootman30

Hi JackD. The $600 is for the tensioner, as well as a variety of other related parts that the MB dealership and an independent shop recommended be done with 150K miles. These parts include the timing chain, crank sprocket, guide rails (3), O rings and a seal, as well as installation, which I was told was 6 hours, at $80 an hour, or $480, approximatly. I hoped the tensioner alone would be sufficient, but both sources said that ‘while your in there’ these changes are ‘highly recommended.” Obviously both of the sources would have an interest in saying so, but what do you think?

As for the bushings, after I read one of the replies above to check the bushings, I called the shop that will be doing the struts and they actually said “we will shake the suspention pieces and make sure that all the busings are in good shape.” Judging from your response, I am now somewhat nervous about the shop, also because they said that if they later change the rear shocks that a new alignment would not be necessary. I should point out that this is a shop that is recommended by Bilstein, so maybe his “shaking” comment was just shorthand for what they really do, although I have no idea what they should really be doing. Any basic questions I should ask them to make sure they do the right thing?

Thank you very much for the reply.

Jackd

If you replace the front shocks and have a wheel alignment followed by the replacement of rear shock later, your alignment will be affected (caster) as new rear shock wwill raise the back of the car. You will need a second alignment to bring things back to specs.
Timing chain and ccrankshaft sproket: These is not a scheduled replacement items. If the car has been well maintained in the past (frequent oil change) the timing chain should last the life of the car. Mine has 389K on the clock (I bought it with 18K) and still has the original part.
The "while you're in there" comment is somewhat strange as the belt tensioner replacement does not require the removal of the timing chain cover nor the crankshaft sproket cover......????
JackD

zeronero

You should have the steering dampener changed, it's only a $40 part and will also improve the steering.