Anyone interested in a Sportline suspension for the '87 300D turbo? I am working up an order (dealer items) with some fairly attractive prices and another order to tag along might be possible. It will run about $1350 including both sway bars, front struts, rear shocks front and rear springs, spring pads and firm bushings for the above. Does not include rear control arms as I use adjustable camber arms from Finland.
This will be less shipping (that could add a lot due to the odd package size necessay for the torsion bars)
PM me if interested. And a list of all the items, which took a lot of work!

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Have you asked Phil to quote a Sportline kit for you? Several members of the forum have bought W124 and W201 kits from him.

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I've already got most of the Sportline package installed on my car... just a few notes/comments:

1) There's even larger sway bars available at extra cost (limo front, with either 500E (18mm) or H&R W210 (20mm) rear.)

2) The front control arm bushings must be installed in a certain way - the factory service manual is more than a little unclear on this. Be careful.

3) Installing the rear subframe bushings may require special tools (I bought the Klann subframe bushing tool.)

4) I'd recommend the tallest springs front & rear (30-04 front, 28-04 rear). These cars have issues with clearance at the lower radiator support, and IMO it's not worth the risk having it too low. Something around 14 inches ride height (from center of wheel to bottom of fender lip), front & rear, with a full tank of fuel is about right. Less than that, you need to be REALLY careful with dips and parking curbs. (Don't ask how I know.)

5) An interesting option, which I intend to use on my car, is early 500E struts up front. These have internal rebound assist springs, but are tuned to a certain ride height - around the 14-inch level, as noted above. Cost would be about the same.

6) To correct rear camber, I would strongly recommend the K-Mac kit. I had the adjustable camber arms but was not impressed with their performance on my E500. The K-Mac kit worked much nicer.


http://www.w124performance.com/images/W124_subframe/

http://www.w124performance.com/images/W124_suspension/

http://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/W124/124_suspension.txt

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

I asked Phil to quote it and he wouldn't because the 300D turbo wasn't listed as having a Sportline coil springs. So Its off to the dealer.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

ROTFL! That's because Mercedes didn't offer the Sportine kit on diesels in the USA. The 300D turbo (124.133) is indeed listed with the full Sportline setup in the Euro EPC. The only real difference is that the diesel is heavier, therefore it uses the taller Sportline springs (the -30-04 fronts and -28-04 rears that I mentioned earlier, noted in my text file.)

The dealer may not be much help either. You'll need to compile the list of part numbers you want a price quote on, rather than asking them to provide part numbers for which they'd be "liable" for if something didn't fit properly. Email me if you need a copy of the Euro EPC...

Interesting! Thanks, I had a copy of your suspension parts here when I made up a RFQ. And I remember Phil saying they had supplied to some customer(s) that had issues over the ride height, because they got the 300E springs. I did give him first opportunity though.

I just checked my original list I gave the dealer and I see they decided to change what I specified for the front springs (124 321 30 04) to the 29 04. I'll be sure to point that out when I do place an order.
After I place an order this thread will vanish, as the opportunity for any one who wants to tag on my order will also go away.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Remember, you can always cut taller springs, but if your springs are too short, you're hosed. (Yeah, I know, cutting isn't preferred but when you're at a 1-point pad and need a few mm less, it works.)

Also, I have found that thick shims/pads (3pt, 4pt) compress over time. I've seen this over and over again. It's enough that a 4pt pad squishes down to the equivalent of a 2pt pad! Given that, I would much rather have a "tall" spring with a 1pt pad than a "short" spring with a 3pt or 4pt pad. Ride height is very subjective, the shims are only there to make slight adjustments. Also remember that there are "red" and "blue" coded springs for each part number, one is longer/taller and the other is shorter - you can't pick which you receive however. The shims also adjust for this.

To determine the proper spring part number, and shim thickness, there is a calculator in the Euro EPC for the 124.133 depending on the options in the car. And again, that's for a BONE STOCK car... if you've added stereo equipment, etc, or anything else that adds weight, ride height will be less than "factory spec"... another argument for taller springs (i.e., 30-04 instead of 29-04). I've added lots of stuff that packs on extra weight, so this is a big deal for my car.

On a side note, a couple of years back I ordered the shorter rear Sportline springs, the 23-04, for my old white 87 300D (R.I.P.)... and even with the thickest shims, the height was too low for me... about 13.75-14.00 inches with an empty trunk and full tank of fuel, IIRC.

10-year later update:

Please see attached photos on how to measure ride height, this method eliminates tire/wheel size from affecting the measurements. It works best with OE wheels, the middle of the star in the center cap works great to get an accurate measurement. Up to ~1/4" variation left to right is normal, average the results.

After the initial setup described in post #10 above (14.25" front, 14.5" rear, tank filled) I continued to monitor ride height. This was originally with used Carat/Duchatalet (Bilstein) dampers all around. After 4000 miles, the front settled to 14.0" and the rear was the same. I then installed new shocks/struts, which increased the front ride height up to 14.5", again no change in the rear height. New vs old struts has a significant effect on front ride height, 1/2" is pretty common between new & old. Oddly, new vs old rear shocks appears to have zero effect on rear ride height. I've seen the same thing on multiple cars. Take that into consideration when dialing in your new spring/strut combination. With brand-new struts, initially set the front a bit higher than you target, and it will settle where you want it over a year or two.

I didn't like the 3-pt pad up front because the thick spring pads crush over time (click here for a photo) which reduce ride height. I preferred a taller spring with a thinner pad. Again, this seems to mostly affect the front springs, not rears. I tried the Cabrio #31 front spring but that was too tall at 14.625" with used dampers and a 1-pt pad. So, that combo got scrapped. Next up was a 400E Sportline front spring (#42, red/short version) with 2-pt pad. This resulted in 14.25" up front with new struts, dropping to 14.0" after 25kmi of wear on the struts. The #42 specs indicate it should be a hair taller/stiffer than the #30, the idea was to be able to use a thinner pad that would remain stable over time.

The current setup as of 2016 has the same #42 (400E Sportline) front spring with 2-pt pad, and a #28 rear cut 1/2 coil with a 1-pt pad, with RDM TEK shortened rear control arms for camber correction. The camber arms are really not needed with my mild wheel/tire setup - I may change this eventually. The cut #28 spring is basically equivalent to a #23 cut 1/4 coil or less. I did this because at the time, the #23 blue/long with 1pt pad was a hair taller than I wanted, and I had an extra set of #28 blues laying around so I wanted to cut the "extra" springs and still have a stock set of each (23 and 28) if needed. The reason for lowering the rear was because my planned subwoofer installation went on permanent hold, and my previous setup was expecting 100 lbs of extra weight which never showed up. So, I put in shorter rears to get the car level without the subs.

Along with this #42 front + #28 cut rear combo I also upgraded (?) to KONI Sport yellow adjustable shocks all around. I would have preferred KONI reds but those had been NLA for years prior to when I installed everything. After 5kmi on the KONI yellows, the ride height ended up at ~13.875" all around with a full tank. I'm suspicious the KONI have lower strut pressure than the previous dampers. I may change to Bilstein Sports in the future - not sure yet. I wouldn't buy KONI again, the 50% price premium is not worth it IMO, and there are issues with excess rear travel as well.

The handling is excellent but the ride is a hair firmer than I'd prefer; I think the KONIs may be overkill on the relatively light weight chassis (compared to a 400E, or late 300E/E420). I may fiddle with it again in the future as I'd still like to get the ride height settled in above 14". Back in 2006, I thought the K-MAC rear camber kit was awesome, but after living with it a few years I changed my mind. It SUCKS. Two reasons: The orange poly squeaks like crazy no matter how much you grease them, and the eccentric adjustment messes with ride height - you must be VERY careful to adjust both sides in the same vertical orientation or you'll get things really hosed up. I ended up removing the K-MAC kits from both my cars. I currently recommend Megan Racing rear camber arms if you must have camber correction. The RDM TEK rear LCA's have been out of production for years.

Please note all this data is on a 1987 300D; other years/models may respond differently due to change in weights. For a street-driven car I would recommend sticking with a ride height of ±14.25" all around with a full tank of fuel, and not lower than 14.0" unless you're more interested in autocross performance than street driving.

As a reference, most 124's with stock springs and NEW stock dampers will be 15.0-15.5" all around. When you get down near 13.5" the suspension will be very close to sitting on the stop buffers, which may look really cool but is not ideal for street use, as there will be almost zero suspension travel. Once the car is sitting on the stops, you could literally remove the coil springs and it would not go any lower.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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This post by new member Bummer-Bob was deleted for unknown reasons.

Re-posting for reference:

Hey man, I've been lurking on a few W124 forums and keep seeing your name pop up - you seem to be pretty savvy in performance mods for this chassis, so I was hoping you could answer a question or two.

I just purchased a '92 300D 2.5, and the front struts are blown so I was looking at upgrades. I was originally going to go with H&R springs and Bilstein B8's, but don't want to deal with alignment issues, messed up suspension geometry, and harsh ride/scraping just for a look. What I really want is to lower ride height a little bit (maybe 3/4") and firm up the ride a little, but not kill the OE feel. Naturally, the Sportline suspension seems like the way to go, but AFAIK the 124.128 was not offered in Sportline trim in the US. I understand it may have been sold that way in Europe (and called the 250D?), but I don't know what the relevant part numbers would be. You mentioned in a post having access to the Euro EPC, so I was wondering if you could help or would know offhand, having compiled a ton of data on these cars.

Any info or suggestions would be appreciated. FWIW, I'm not really interested in cutting springs or modifying to make the H&Rs work (camber kits, etc.). I'd like an off-the-shelf solution that isn't going to have a ton of unintended consequences down the line. I'm fixing this car up mostly for fun, but also as a commuter for my wife, so I don't want to make it too impractical or annoying for her to drive, or risk her scraping the lower valence all the time. If I do go the Sportline route, I will likely follow with the appropriate sway bars, bushings, etc.

Thanks!

Actually, I deleted the post! I accidentally double-posted (plus sent at least one PM) that didn't seem to go through because my account hadn't been verified by a moderator, so I guess they all the posts showed up at once. I didn't want to flood the thread with multiple posts, so I deleted them since you had already responded via email. Sorry!

I also had a moderator change my user name - I had originally meant to use "Bimmer-Bob" (kind of an intentionally generic handle I started using on a BMW forum, and since on other forums just for consistency's sake) but autocorrect changed it to "Bummer-Bob," which is actually kind of hilarious in retrospect.

Anyway, I look forward to participating on these boards. Going to start a build thread for my recently acquired 1992 300D 2.5 soon, I'll keep y'all posted...

Aaaaaannnnd it looks like my account was finally approved! Looking forward to getting my build thread started! And probably asking a ton pf questions in the process, lol...

And I'm finally able to post! Glad to be here, looking forward to starting a build thread. Will probably have a ton of questions, too, lol...

Hi and welcome, Bimmer Bob (gsxr did you mean to say Bummer Bob?)

OK, to you and anyone undertaking a chassis lowering stiffening or other modification please consider some form of data recording, be it a small notebook, a thumb drive or just a hunk of paper.
In it include all measurements before and after modification and record the date performed to see how much your ride height changes over time.
Note the part numbers, sources, types of springs, sway bars, bushings, control arms that you use or purchase.
I confess I didn't follow this and wish I had a good memory but its been a few years and I had to go through several iterations before it got it right on my 87 300D (see photo in my gallery). I know I have factory sportline springs and I think shocks to suit and a larger sway bar. I have receipts but they are buried who knows where. The parts guy at the local dealership was very instrumental in ordering the Sportline parts, he's gone and the dealership changed hands and I stay as far away from there as possible now. I must give a lot of thanks to Dave gsxr's technical resources and direct assistance and recommendations too! Without his help I probably would have had to do a few more runs up on the lift and messing with a car chassis is not easy or fun to me either.

My first installation resulted in a ride that was too high. I changed spring pads at least once.
At one time I had access to a lift at a friend's shop but he passed away and that ended my chassis work. I now have a shop I use that is run by a Mercedes experienced man. I'm getting too old to crawl under a car anyhow.

I guess to my credit I persevered and the results are my ride height is 14.25 inches after 4 years of installation (I just went out and measured it), so I hit gsxr's target min on the button! anything lower would not be welcome with street driving, I bottomed out once on a city street but it was a pretty bad dip in the pavement. High curbs are a problem too as there is no spec on the height of curbs so when diagonal parking one has to go in very gingerly.

Otherwise I like the handling immensely over the factory mushy ride in the sedan, I intended to use it as a commuter. Until I retired.

OTOH I prefer OE ride qualities of my wagon for long trips. I wouldn't mess with the hydo suspension on it for a zillion bucks either.
And in gsxr's comments about poly bushings, I also echo the opinion they suck, unless you are driving autocross, the noise they make is always an issue. The PO put them on my '99 E300D and I sometimes think I will change them back to OE rubber. But too many other projects...

DDH

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Ha! When I first registered for the forum and sent gsxr a PM, my user name had been autocorrected to "Bummer-Bob" until I had the mods fix it. lol.

Anyway, I'm pretty Type A when it comes to vehicle modification. I like to do it "right" and I like to keep documentation on everything, along with service records, etc.

Dave's technical resources have been hugely beneficial when it came to formulating a plan of attack for the suspension upgrade. I used the OE spring/pad charts for a Euro-spec 250D and selected the factory Sportline springs based on my options (#29 in front and #23 in rear). Dave actually had slightly different recommendations, but I wanted as much as possible to set the ride height as it would've come from the factory (had it been a Sportline). I'm not going to try not to obsess over ride height too much beyond that, as I'm not building a race car. I'd just like slightly more controlled and sporting handling, with a little bit less of a wheel gap, without sacrificing too much of the OE ride quality. I'd like to just set it and forget it, and I feel like if I follow MBZ's specs for a Euro Sportline, I can't really go wrong.

For dampers I'm going to go with Bilstein HD's (I guess they're called B6's now?) just because they're much cheaper, easier to find, and probably as good or better than the Sportline dampers anyhow. I will be using the Sportline bump stops, though, and of course new OE strut mounts.

Later down the line will be front and rear Sportline sways and bushings for sure (although the rear bar is supposedly NLA? Might be hard to track one down...). I will be awfully tempted to do the LCA and rear subframe bushings, too, just because it'll bother me to not complete the package. Which means I might also eventually be on the hunt for the steering box, which of course means I might as well do the steering wheel and shifter and call it a day. But I'm getting ahead of myself!