No way is it a 20hr job. It is a 2 man job tho!.

I disagree with everyone else this is my order.
1. Sway bars/bushings. TD sway bar in front as mentioned, the 15mm HD rear is NLA afaik, but there is a guy who made his own by cutting and welding. You can have them custom made for ~300. The 126 bar is 2cm to wide but comes in a 19mm variety.
2. Springs, there is a pair of vogtlands for sale now, otherwise you can purchase OEM TD fronts and progressive rate rears
3. Shocks, Bilstein HD
4. Weight, A good reason to switch from auto to manuals :D

Relatively stiff bar in rear will loosen up the rear end. I think FI said 15mm in back gives neutral steer.

Twalgamuth autocrosses, he could prolly speak to appropriate mods.

GL finding a 15mm.

Silly question; do you really want to try to redesign the suspension on a W123 to turn it into something else?

It's a 25 year old, 4000 pound, midsize sedan that wasn't designed as a "sports sedan." I have HD shocks on mine with stock suspension, and they handle as intended (with a fair amount of body roll). These are not sports cars and they never will be; if this CD really has 14k original miles, don't screw it up with modifications that the next owner will have to remove.

Craig, I was gonna ask the same thing. My 300CD does not have anything like excessive body roll at 148K miles. I just replace the bushings and shocks. I like it just the way MB made it. "Excessive body roll" is a sign somethin' ain't right!

Either that or his idea of "excessive" isn't realistic for this car.

That's what I was getting ready to say. My first instinctive answer to the question was "Buy a car that rolls less." Decided not to say it because it would start us down one of those "Why can't everybody just answer my question politely instead of bashing my ideas" slippery slopes, but it seems like in the long run it'd be a LOT more efficient to just use the car for what it is and buy something else that does a different job better.

Yup, that's why I waited until he had a bunch of "technical" answers already. My first instinct was to just say; go buy a porsche.

This is always a personal choice type thing. Personally I *LOVE* the way my w123 handles.

Craig: by putting on the HD shocks you have already changed the suspension, so your argument is without a point.

Other than lowering springs all of my components are OEM. If you look at the combination of shocks/springs available for the w123 your arguments became even more moot. Clearly what MB "designed" was for a variety of roads in a variety of situations. If you think your Federal CD is setup the same way it would be for German roads.... Or African roads....

I should also point out that I like the stock suspension, especially on the 240d as it is an unassuming car. The turbo 300d however has quite a bit more power and torque.

I understand your point, but I consider shocks more of a maintenance item than a modification (I also use different size tires than recommended). Nothing I've done couldn't be reversed in a couple of hours for a few $100. I just suspect that the OP either has a problem with the car or he is trying to make it do something it was never intended to do.

I don't think I would describe a 300D turbo as having "quite a bit more power and torque." :D

For a few grand you can get close to 300hp out of it. I would consider that quite a bit more. Even with stock components it can be tweaked to make quite a bit more. Or maybe you just drive on curvy roads every day like I wish I did.

...or I could just drive my 300HP W211 and let the W123s do what they were designed to do. ;)

Doubt any chicks are going to be telling you how cool your w211 is.

That's OK, my wife won't let me drive "her car" anyway. :confused:

in my coupe, I have the lowering springs, I just recently replaced rear shocks. all sway links are new. It still has a lot of roll but its tolerable. the 17" wheels with low profile tires made my car look nice but the ride was harsh and no fun and it really didnt handle any better. I now have 15's at stock diameter and like it much better.