To find the bushings,

1- Pull a front wheel off
2- Look for the big, thick round bar that sticks into the upper control arm
3- Follow it back the the body, it vanishes into the fender
4- You can see a round rubber bushing with "holes" all along the circumference, that is the sway bar bushing.


HTH,

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GregS: I don't think you stated whether you used rubber or polyurethane bushings for the FRONT sway bar. If polyurethane, how much more expensive are they than rubber?

Front bushings were OEM parts. They only cost around $4 each.

Greg

Just to add to the discussion

Gregs where did you get the front bushings for $4. i got them from Caliber Motors and they were the cheapest, $15 each. My local dealer (think rip off) wanted $32.30 each. ******** in Dallas wanted $24. Park Place Midcities amazes me at times.

I did remove the sway bar bushings without removing the Brake booster. It was possible to remove them easily. HOWEVER, installing the bushing under the boosterwithout removing it, Ifelt was a royal pain. I could not get the cover on due to the "newness" of the rubber. I could not get the nut to catch the treads so I could tighten it. My hat goes off to you for being able to get it done without removing the booster.

With that said I did remove the booster. It had some paint taken off of the booster due to a brake fluid leak, SOOO I figures I would paint the booster and replace some seals. Removeing the master cylinder and then the booster were very easy . Lots of plastic and rags to protect the paint and the master cylinder came off easily. The booster was fairly easy. Under the dash I moved the large amp that was in the way, Its silver, and only required one bolt to drop it. You have to remove the amp to get access to the upper left booster mounting bolt. a long extension and it came out quickly. Then installing the sway bar bushing was a piece of cake.

When I removed the battery tray for the right side sway bar bushing I only had a little bit of surface rust that I cleaned and treated with POR-15. I then painted the area with a rubberized, plastic dip spray, to protect it.

Dave

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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

Dave,

Dealers are ripoff artists. The part number is 123-323-05-85. FastLane (sponsor for this site) has them for $4.10 each. BuyMBParts (Rusty) has them for $3.64 each.

If you want the real OE dealer part, Rusty can get that too, for $6.50 each (that's the Nov-2002 price - may have gone up since then though). MBNA dealer list price was $8/each in Nov-2002. Caliber was trying to nail you with almost 100% markup...! Ouch. Your local dealer should be tarred & feathered - $32? They HAVE to be joking. Dealer cost for that part is about $4! I'd just get them from FastLane, since they support this site and their price beats all the places you called!


Regards,

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I've already done the swaybar bushings but wonder a couple things. The factory one had a slice in it, my replacement didn't. Did you end up pulling the sway bar off of the UCA, slice it like the factory one, or was it already sliced? Is it possible to get if off the UCA without removing the spindle assembly? In case you are wondering why I care, I'm in the process of writing this diy page right now.

Thanks.

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Jeff M.
Mercedes W123 DIY pages are now located here.
1983 / 1984 300D Sold
2000 CLK430 Cabriolet ~58k Sold
2005 Avalanche 4x4 ~66k