W124 AMG suspension upgrade
 

Well i have a very rare set of W124 AMG springs and shocks that will go on my diesel.
But i need to replace all the wear and worn components in the rear suspension.
So far this is what ive listed. Tell me if im missing anything.

4 subframe mounts. For front and rear of subframe
4 differential mounts. for front and rear of differential
Arm links for each side of the multi link suspension 5 arm links on each end if im not mistaken.

Anything else?

Bushes?

If your putting AMG kit on go ahead and get the Sportline rubber.

Lower control arm bushings and sway bar bushings.

Along with the springs and shocks i was going to add sportline sway bars.

Got any photos of the AMG parts? Where didja get them? :cool:

You might want to pull the whole rear subframe to rebuild it, the work will be far easier with it out of the car. I'd consider replacing both flex discs and replacing the center driveshaft rubber support AND bearing while it's apart. Remember you CAN NOT tighten any of the rear links until the rear wheel hub is raised to the normal ride height. I left the springs out and lifted it to approximate height with a floor jack, then tightened everything, then installed the rear springs. The rear diff mounts need to be pressed into place so the front diff mount hole is centered in the subframe mount hole. You'll need special tools for a lot of this work.

Don't forget the bushing in the bottom of the rear wheel carrier, these are usually shot, and often forgotten about. You'll need three of the bolt kits, I'd recommend the aftermarket bolt kits because they include the spacer sleeve, the dealer kits do not and the sleeves alone are stupidly expensive. If you're putting wider wheels on, consider a K-Mac rear camber kit to even the rear tire wear. I just did this whole project on my car (but with Sportline rear shocks & springs) and I have the 500E rear sway bar installed. I also replaced the fuel tank strainer & hoses while the subframe was out. Photos are here:

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

:o

Any news on this Rueben, mainly, will it be done by saturday? :)

Thanks for the info dave. As you can see in this photo, the differential mounts ripped and the diff fell off the subframe:eek:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...icture4009.jpg

The center peice ripped right out!
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ture4006-1.jpg

Some might think im nuts but i just put a screwdriver against the old bushing and hit it with a hammer to pop them out. Thankfully it didnt damage the subframe.
I got the new bushings in using a harmonic balancer (my dad said its a steering wheel puller?) since i dont have a press. Worked fine, but the top diff bolt broke so im going to have to pull out the entire subframe to fix it:( The differntial is now bolted back up using those 2 mounts but the differential falling like that messed up the flex discs and now they make the drive-shaft shake like crazy. So ive orderd new flex discs..

As for the AMG springs and shocks, a member by the name of boardmonger found a local source of AMG parts and found me this W124 AMG kit.
And it was only $400 for the entire kit which included the front and rear springs, front and rear shocks/struts, and all the bolts along with a strange looking computer chip thingy.

The front struts are interesting, they are adjustable kinda like koni shocks. Turn them clock-wise to stiffen and counter-clock wise to soften. They have a bilstein part number on sticker and AMG part number engraved in the strut and shock which is a little weird.

Once my mom gets back from vacation ill have my good camera back, until then i only have this low quality pic from a $30 digital camera:smash:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...z/AAAA0043.jpg

Any more sets available by chance?

Jonathan

Wow - that's crazy! Hopefully nothing was damaged when the diff fell out. Yikes.

About the AMG kit, yes, please take more photos when you have a chance. That sounds like very cool stuff. Also, if you could post the part numbers, I can check what application they were designed for. See if there's a part number stamped on the bottom coil of the springs. I saw a new-in-box AMG kit for sale recently, but it was for 4-cylinder 124's... the springs would have been way too weak for our heavy 6-cyl models. I have never heard of adjustable Bilsteins... wow!! Any idea how many miles were on the kit? Oh, and as Jonathan mentioned, are any other AMG goodies available?

:D

I saw that mess in Greasybenz's trunk :P and I too wish there were more of that kind of stuff available buit this was a once in a lifetime opportunity;)
I believe it had few if any miles on it, the ends of the struts were not dirty or rusted the springs maybe just some road film or might have been barn dirt.

The Bilsteins are selectable, as Ruben showed me. I wonder how one would set them up before installation, you know the car might be too bouncy and what do you do, remove the struts to make an adjustment? That could get tiring.
I would rather have a strut designed to work with the sport suspension and be done with it. If I wanted an adjustable shock I would look for air adjustable one I believe Konis make them but probably not for the 124 and not for the sprot springs.
I am still waiting to buy springs and shocks for my blue bomb. When I get around to it they will probably be unavailable :rolleyes:
PS. you ought to see the rear AMG muffler he found! Boy would it look sweet on his diesel dragster when he gets it finished:D
PPS I opened my trunk and showed him my Finnish made adjustable camber arms, he may want to go that route and set up the camber as he wishes in case he puts some fat tires on it. We are both carrying around a ton of stuff that needs to be put on the chassis, sad isn't it?

KONI makes shocks & struts for the 124. The struts are easily adjustable, but the shocks require removal to adjust. I had a set on my lowered 300E. They're nice, and have a lifetime warranty, but they're not cheap.

I'd love to get a real AMG muffler - that would be sweeeet. For rear camber adjustment, I'd recommend the K-Mac kit. I tried the turnbuckle style arm with Heim joints and was not impressed. I like the K-Mac better. I did a whole writeup on the Bimby forum on my installation, with lots of photos posted to my website.

:cool:

Youll have to ask boardmonger on those AMG goodies, tons of AMG parts in a wharehouse i believe in santa cruz? cant remember, it was some time ago.
The springs and shocks are new just dirty. They are in the original box as well, ill have to take more pics once i get my good camera back.

The car is going into my mechanics shop tomorrow because im getting to the point where im going to need to drive this car soon (getting rid of the jetta)
Dave, where could i get the K-Mac kit? i was originally looking at Renntech for adjustable camber's but they stopped selling W124 performance stuff.

I got my K-Mac kit for ~$215 shipped, from Shox.com... ask for Daryl. They usually have one in stock. The part number should be 502026. Make sure you check out my installation photos (linked above), might save you a little time. When it's done, try to get the rear camber set to about -1.0° if possible. The limiting factor is more likely to be the toe adjustment.

:o

KMAC also has a front camber set as well.

Thats an insane price for the entire kit, clearly right place right time! I'd love to pilfer through a warehouse full of old amg kit :)