I have my car (1986 420SEL) in the shop right now having the castor rod joint replaced. Apparently the castor rod had rusted badly so they are taking it to the machine shop tomorrow to have it sand blasted and glass beaded. Anyways, to get at all this stuff they took off the wheels and springs, and found out that the springs on the car are not the original springs (these are the front ones) the springs on the car are not MB and are not even the right size. They are bigger than the original springs. My mechanic says they look like they are heavy duty springs and they are much larger than the ones that should be on the car. My question is this: should I run out tomorrow morning and get proper springs from an MB dealer and have my guy put them on when he puts the front end back together tomorrow. I am worried that I won't be able to have a proper allignement done since we don't know what kind of spring these are. Also, why would the idiot previous owner have done this to my car? Didn't he know he was just keeping my car until I took it from him? What do you think? Pay the 300 bucks for new springs (no charge to install as my mechanic would have to put the old ones back in anyways)? Or let it go? I think these springs lift my front end up anywhere from half inch to a full inch higher than it should be. This must effect my gas mileage on the highway, as well as handling. I haven't noticed any unusual wear on my tires since I bought the car, but when I bought it the inside front tire had a lot of wear (which I didn't notice until after I bought it).

So, New springs, or let it go?

__________________
Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired

New springs definately...BUT the question begs, why were those springs used in the first place. Was the previous owner trying to compensate for some other defect?

I don't know why the heavier springs were used, but all I can say is that when I first bought the car I was amazed with the ride and control. I had nothing to compare it to except the Caddy we owned which was pathetic. I am going to have my mechanic check my front tires and if the wear is 100% even I think I will save my money for now, unless someone can give me a compelling reason to run out and get correct springs from the dealer tomorrow morning before the car is put back together again.

Thanks

__________________
Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired