I have the elegance spec W210, with the comfort suspension (lots of ground clearance, long springs I guess). The car has 179000 miles on, is nearly 10 years old, and I wondered how much bounce there should be when pressing on the corners of the car with my bodyweight?

If I push it hard down, it bounces back up, past the resting point, and then back down and comes to a rest. Same on all corners.

How much 'bounce' should there be? Should it return instantly to the resting point, or should it oscillate a tiny bit?

Theres no bottoming out of the suspension btw, no crashing over potholes or anything.

OEM shocks are Sachs, not "Bilstein comfort." The modern MBs don't fail bounce test until the shocks are completely gone. Mine were all leaking when I did them at 140k and they didn't hand-bounce at all. Pony up the $300 (www.eshocks.com) and get either Bilstein comforts or - my preference - HDs, to firm up the ride without changing springs.

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former: 83 300D, 97 C230, 93 400E

current: 08 C300 Luxury , 92 500SL

J, we recently replaced all four shocks on my father's 1998 W210 diesel (approx 115k miles). It was obvious to me the shocks were completely gone....you could bounce the car excessively by pushing on the bumper.

Replacement on the sedan is very simple. Don't know about the estates.

T

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1998 W210 diesel (wiped out by a texter)
Baum spring compressor "for rent"

I did mine at about 190K. The bounce test is pretty subjective IMO. I weigh 150lbs for example and because of body mass MY ability to compress the suspension pushing on the bumper is greatly different than someone who weighs 300lbs.

If it continues bouncing at freeway speeds when you go over whoop-de-woo's its time to replace them.

Do your sway bar links and bushings at the same time and you'll be a very happy camper.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Theres no bouncing while driving. I quite like the comfort though, I don't really want to stiffen the ride at all as I'll have a TVR in a year or so as a second car.

Excessive, undamped motion was quite apparent in his car while driving at low speeds. The original shocks were tired.

After about 100k miles they are getting tired, still serviceable but tired. If you want the best ride you probably should change out your shocks around 100k miles.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

On my E430 the bounce test didn't "work". After pressing down on each corner, the car came to a rest as it should have, but when I replaced the shocks, they were completely shot. You could easily push the shocks in and out by hand, whereas if you take a brand new shock, it takes all of your body weight to compress it when pushing it against the ground.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Hmm, I might just unbolt a pair and have a look at them anyway. It can't hurt

The ONLY way to test shocks properly, is to remove one end ( bottom ) and check the resistance during compression & rebound.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

But more importantly, I'm dying to know how you chose the name "Parrot of Doom"?

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

i got 110k miles on my E420 but since i'm a cheapass i'll hold out til 150k before getting new shocks!!

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Current cars:
2001 MB E55 AMG
2003 Honda S2000
2000 Honda CRV

Gone but not forgotten:
2004 BMW 325i 5sp sport
1999 BMW 540i sport
1997 MB E420
1995 BMW M3 coupe