Sl front end rebuild

[el Miguel]

Seems like I read about quite a few front end rebuilds on these cars. What exactly is rebuilt? My 380 SE has over 200K on it and the only thing I have replaced is ball joints. I am close to buying a 84 500SL with 99K miles. Am I setting myself up for a major expensive project?
Thanks,
Mike

[maheath]

It's all the rubber in the front suspension plus the ball joints. Off the top of my head, the list would look like:

Upper control arm (if upper ball joint is shot)
Lower ball joint
Lower control arm bushings
Tie rods
Drag link
Sway bar bushings
Steering damper
Idler arm bushings

The only expensive one is the upper control arm. The labor for some of this stuff can get expensive, so if you can do it yourself, you save a lot.

And when you're finished, you need an alignment. I would not consider this a "major expensive" project. That's reserved for head jobs, transmission rebuilds and A/C replacement.

[DavidSoine]

Steering box is expensive - and I suspect a common problem on high-milers.

best,

Dave

[KirkVining]

I've had a mechanic tell me the tie rods wear faster than the other parts - replace them at 80K intervals and the other parts might last longer.