Front shock/spring mount failure on 300TE

[mcvespa]

I took my wife's '92 300TE 4M into the shop today b/c we were experiencing some suspension noise most noticeable when going over speed bumps. My indie found that the top bracket that the front left spring(?) sits into had pulled away from the chasis. Essentially the seems began to crack and the spring was no longer going straight up and down but was now bent towards the tire.

Anyway, they said they don't usually see this on 124's but have seen a few 210's with this issue. A body guy that my indie suggested came buy and quoted $500 to put a new bracket in. This seemed a little steep to me but he said the part alone for the 124 was $125.

Has anyone else seen this on a 124 before?

Thanks,
Michael