W124 300TE - question on rear shocks
 

Friends:

Need to freshen up the shocks on our 175,000 mile 300TE. I plan to go with Koni or Bilstein, with something a bit stiffer than OEM. Neither of these manufacturers lists a rear shock for the wagon (I want Bilstein HD's, they do list Comforts).

I searched the archives and some made mention that the shocks for a 300E will work on the 300TE. Anyone with experience on this?

I would assume one should stay with the same manufacturer for front and rear?

Any and all comments are greatly appreciated!

Brian
89 300TE 176,xxx wallows badly, needs shocks
84 733i 5-speed wallows worse, next on list

You have a hydraulic self-leveling suspension, which is why no one carries aftermarket struts.

If you wish to retain the system, perhaps you should consider popping in new Nitrogen cells? If you've never changed them, they might very well be shot-however, your symptoms aren't consistent with blown cells, so I wonder....

Are your rear hydro struts (shocks) leaking?

OK I'm an idiot - I looked more closely and the self-leveling system hydropneumatic shocks are not leaking.

SO - does it matter whether one goes with a stiffer shock in the front on these cars with self-leveling? It would seem that you would not want to bias the car by having a different damping rate front and rear, right?

Thanks in advance for any light on this -

Brian
89 300TE 176,xxx needs shocks

I strongly recommend you go OE-I just made a call on your behalf; they retail for $97 each, so can be had for about $ 80 apiece (be advised there are 2 different part numbers, based on your VIN-for the absolutely correct price email me your VIN). If you end up with a stiffer front end, your car would "pogo" and bounce at different rates & ranges front to rear-not very desirable.

If you install new front struts, be advised that they will be considerably stiffer than your current ones. Further, near as I can tell the front struts on my wagon work comparably to Bilstein HDs, but they don't quite deliver as "busy" a ride as that of my 300D (in which I installed HDs all front & rear).

I'd also consider rear Nitrogen cells, which run approximately $100 per side. If you go this route, you can't go wrong and if the ride's still loose, then the only thing left to spring for are the rear hydro-struts and you're done.