If your 123 was scary on snow you have a tire problem, imho. They are very well balanced. Add a hundred pounds in the trunk and only 4x4s will beat you off the line.

IN snow, of course skinny tires with good tread work the best and those low profile very wide tires which grip so well on dry pavement? They are the worst on snow or water.

Weight over the drive wheels and good tread are the keys.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I drove my S123 300 TD Turbo into a 90* corner, icy road, stock tires(Winter), chopped 1,5 round without rubber-tops in the front, 120 km/t.
Was pretty shure it would go to hell, but the car got around the corner almost without trouble...

my w123 has more road feel than the w203 which is cool. Having said that, the c class sedan would run circles around the wagon in most if not all driving situations. Been in both and had to make emergency type maneauvers. I trust both nearly equally; I'd give the w203 a slight nod except that I typically drive the thing 15-20 mph faster than the w123...

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1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

I just looked at a couple of posted pictures and now I see that what I was picturing in my head as screws in all 4 corners of the top plate aren't screws at all - or if they are they're the end of screws that are put in from the bottom.

So, Bgkast, do you have an pictures or instructions showing what to unscrew to remove the ALDA? Is it mounted on a center "stem" with a locknut or what?

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

I've never driven a W123 but I own a W114 250CE in the UK. You can really throw that car around in town. It's like a giant mini in that respect (the original mini, i have not driven the new ones). I'm not sure how well they handle at high speed but I have taken my 250CE to 115mph and it was rock solid. This was in the mid 90's and my other car was an 89 BMW 318i which did not feel as chuckable.

At the limit, you should expect any car with with IRS to be more predictable then a pickup with a solid beam rear axle because of unsprung weight. Pickup trucks have big engines and big axles and turning them too quickly would be like trying to spin a dumbell with your wrist too quickly, Force takes over.

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With best regards

Al

I agree. There was never a pickup built that will out handle a 123.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

From personal experience, I greatly prefer the handling and ride of the W116 (especially the 6.9 with hydropneumatic suspension) over the W123. The W115 I had was also better but not as good as the W116. The W124 had the best handling of any E-class I've driven though; too bad it's significantly uglier.