I've been considering new shocks/struts for this fall's project.

I, too, pass the "bounce test" - but I fail the following;

(1) starting to notice the plastic panel scraping more and more often when I drive over bumps and dips in the road - and -

(2) my wife's Saturn wagon doesn't clunk backing out of the driveway like my 260e does.

both of these are probably better real world tests showing that I need some suspension work.

However, I'm debating whether or not to get new coil springs too. I'd hate to spend $400 on some new Bilstien HD's only to have them make little difference because the springs are bad.

Is there any way to know if the coil springs should be replaced? If they are original, they have about 260,000 miles on them. (Front are rusty - no black paint. Rear are still black. Oh how nice it would be to have previous service records.) If I do need new springs, is this a good job to have my mechanic do? My thinking is that he would have the spring compressor, and could do the new suspension alignment all at the same time. Any guess on what a shop would charge for this?