Thanks to Larry Bible for the recommendation to just try the rear sway bar on the wagon before doing anything else. Put a new set of AMG's and 215/45/17 Firestones on yesterday and the rear sway bar today. The rear sway bar was about a 2 hour job and all you need do is drop the rear subframe about 2 inches. The worst part of the whole job was reinstalling the level control on the sway bar, as the bracket had to be rounded out bigger, and it's just a bugger to get to. Feel of the car is MUCH better around here with all that wallowing gone. I'm not saying it is race track ready, but it is everything I want it to be. Thanks again for all the imput from everyone on this site.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

The best thing you can do on a stock car is bigger sway bars. Next: Shocks.

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

Sounds nice! You can upgrade the front bar as well, if you want to reduce body roll... Larry likes to leave it the front alone to avoid understeer. BTW, a 215/45/17 tire is smaller than stock diameter so your spedo will register higher than actual speeds. A 225/45 tire would be perfect, especially on a 7.5-wide wheel. You may need to use the AMG fender spacers up front, and/or fold the fender lips up front, for clearance under hard cornering.

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Thanks Dave. The only thing I am considering right now is lowering the front end about an inch. The tires don't look bad in relation to the car and I would wait till I need replacements anyhow. I posted a pic under tires and wheels. Would love a 3.6 motor and am currently keeping my eyes open.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

About lowering. Measure from the center cap of the wheel to the bottom of the fender opening, in the middle. A stock 124 will usually be in the 15.0-inch range, maybe a little more. I've found that for street use, 14.0-14.25 is about perfect. Less than that and you are likely to have rubbing issues at the front bumper or radiator support. Interestingly, the 500E and Sportline models sit right around this low-14 range stock. I've had my cars as low as 13.0 and while it looked nice, it wasn't practical on the street. The rear should be about the same with a full tank of fuel, and usually a half-inch higher with an empty tank (not sure how SLS models deal with that though.) If you have thick spring pads in the car now, you can lower it slightly with a thinner pad...

Tires - yes, wait for them to wear out first, then consider a 225/45 replacement (on a 8.0 wheel you'll want 235/45/17 but that needs perfect offset and some fender rolling...!)

Dave,,, I am going to check the spring pad thickness this weekend, and if I can go with thinner pads I'll give it a try. If not, and don't freak out, I may cut a quarter turn off each front coil and see what that does. Any thoughts on that ? I can always go with 500E springs if you think that will lower the car, but I don't know if anyone around here has a sure answer for that question.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K