Car must be up on jack stands, as the suspension will collapse when you open the lines up. Rear wheels need to be hanging free, no weight on them.

On the W123 the accumulators are under the car, not inside. Be prepared for all the fluid (about a pint and a half, total) to drip out while you are removing the steel lines. Very messy, I used several catch pans and a tray to keep it all off the drive.

The attachement will be obvious, I think three bolts on each accumulator at the base, plus two hydraulic lines.

Clean all the pipe unions and spray penetrating oil in so that the fitting won't stick to the metal line when you unscrew it. Would make for a long day if you bugger up the lines, as you cannot put the car back down on the ground without all the lines attached...

Remove the hydraulic lines (10 mm line wrench? May be 11, MB likes that for brake lines). Once the lines are off, R&R the accumulators.

When reinstalling the hydraulic lines., be very careful to make SURE the fitting is screwing in properly BY HAND before you wrench on it -- some of the parts are fairly soft and you don't want to replace extra stuff because you stripped it out.

It may take a couple tries to figure out which end of the lines to install first. I recommend you remove them completely rather than just from the accumulators so that you don't bend them up, but this is on the W124, the line arrangement may be different on the W123 so it's not as necessary. You may also want to leave the accumulator hold down bolts loose until you get the lines installed.

The suspension will bottom out when you lower the car, so be prepared for it to sit pretty low before you start it up. It should return to normal height rapidly once started.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!