Here is the procedure that I used to replace the front tie rods, drag link, steering damper, and idler arm repair kit.

I. Remove front wheels, jack the car up, and put it on jack stands (both sides)

II. Work the passenger side first - all of my pictures are of the drivers side. By doing the passenger side first you can have a helper hold the steering wheel which will hold the parts where you need them.

III. Remove the 2 - 17mm nuts on the tie rod and the 1 - 19mm nut on the drag link (see pic 1)

IV. With these all removed, get your favorite pickle-fork and pry the tie rod out of its holder. This isn't real easy because they're in there quite tight, but one thing I learned was to hammer the fork in really good (as far in as I could) - then I stuck a small section of steel pipe on the end of the pickle-fork and was able to use that to gain more leverage when prying. This made separating the inner joints easier because its difficult to hit the end of the pickle fork with your mallet inside the wheel well. (Be careful not to hit yourself or the car!)

V. Now with the passenger side done move to the driver's side. Same setup here - 3 nuts to remove - 3 joints to separate. You'll have to rotate the steering wheel to get the drag link out of the way of the damper to remove it all the way.

VI. Since I was replacing the drag link and the steering damper I also needed to remove the 17mm bolt/nut from the damper/frame on the drivers side (see pics 2 and 3).

VII. With all of that removed you should be able to remove the drag link and damper as one unit. The damper is bolted to the center drag link (see pic 4 - these are the new parts).

Idler Arm Repair Kit

With all of that steering linkage out of the way - on to the idler arm.

VIII. Remove the 24mm nut on the bottom (this guy is pretty tight - I used a breaker bar + liquid wrench). Also - I used a 15/16" socket on the bottom and my 24mm wrench on the top since I didn't have 2 24mm wrenches or a 24mm socket. Do this at your own risk - you have a slight chance of stripping the bolt/nut.

IX. Remove the heat shield that surrounds the idler arm (see pic 5 - there are two bolts).

X. With the nut removed - the fun begins. If you're lucky - you can tap the bolt out the top and it won't hit the exhaust manifold/pipes. I wasn't that lucky - so - out with the handy Dremmel tool. It took me about 1/2 hour to cut the bolt head off with the cutting wheel attachment. I wore safety goggles because of the hot flying debris and also hearing protection because cutting this was LOUD under the car. Also - it would be a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy - my car leaks oil (head gasket!) and the hot sparks could potentially ignite the grease/mess under the car. (This is a good idea for the garage in general!)

XI. With the bolt cut off you'll have to remove the two pieces of the idler arm bushing. I used a channel locks to grab the bottom piece and work it back and forth until it was removed. Then I used the old bolt (one piece) to pound out the top part.

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__________________
Daily Driver: 02 E430 4MATIC
In the family: '03 E500 // '04 ML500 // 64 220SE

XII. See picture 1 for how the assembly goes back together - you'll have to put the nut on the top on reassembly if you couldn't get the bolt out the top. Note - in the picture the arrow indicates 'up' when assembling.

XIII. I pushed the new rubber bushings into the idler arm and tapped the bottom one in as far as it would go (see pic 3). Your goal here is just to be able to get the bolt/nut/washers/etc. on so that you can use the bolt/nut to pull the bushings into the idler arm all the way.

XIV. Once you've got the idler arm tightened down - just reverse the sequence.

Note about tie-rod installation/orientation. Make sure the tie-rods have the threaded part of the rod out (at the steering knuckle) - see pic 4. This will be used for alignment.

Also - use a 5 mm allen key in the new tie rod bolts to hold the bolt while you tighten the nut down all the way with a 17/19mm wrench.

Other than that - you'll need an alignment after this is all finished up. You'll also notice that your steering effort is much different than before. My damper was original and quite wore out (there is a big difference in steering feel - especially at low speeds).

Good luck and be safe!

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__________________
Daily Driver: 02 E430 4MATIC
In the family: '03 E500 // '04 ML500 // 64 220SE

Great wright up. Right on! Thanks!

For instillation, this is what I did as I was not happy with the idler running on threads.

I did not install the top bushing until the lower was in place. Then placed idler on bolt, then bushing. Had enough room on an angle.

I expect the reverse is true for removal. All one needs to do, is...
Push and hold bolt out of way, get lower bushing out. Use a drift, punch, nail something to start to move the top bushing from below and inside. Once the bushing is out. The bolt will come out the top at an angle!

Excellent write up! Great pics too, well done!