sloppy ball joints which have up/down play also cause the car to sag on 201/124. Worn struts make it worse.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Tomorrow is the day. Cleaning/organizing the garage today. I'm using this article for guidance:

Pelican Mercedes-Benz Tech Article - A Simple Guide to Replacing Your Front Wishbone on your Mercedes Benz - 190E, W124, W126, W201, W123

Would it be reasonable to back the car out of the garage and drive it up on ramps before torquing everything down? Not sure I'll have the clearance to get under there with the wheels on the ground.

Post up a picture

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1990 190E 3.0L

Pics aren't the best, but the front fender was much lower. It was almost touching the tire.

Both ball joint were completely rusted and dry. They both had up and down motion. The boots fell apart when I pulled on them.

Edit: wanted to add one piece of info. I used brake cleaner and a battery brush to clean out the steering knuckle. It worked pretty well.

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I forgot to mention, usually when I do a major job like that I tend to make sure I use anti-seize on most of the bolts so the job is easier the next time around. And with electrical components I coat the connections with a nice coat of dielectric grease and also wrap the wires in electrical tape. Just precautionary measures......anti-seize will definitely come in handy when its time to replace the egr and exhaust manifold gasket.

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1990 190E 3.0L

I'm doing the engine/transmission mounts next and will definitely be using anti-seize compound on those.

On another note, I put a floor jack under my breaker bar to turn that nut. All it did was bend the bar! That's when I got out the angle grinder.

It just dawned on me that a crowfoot wrench set would allow me to torque the pinch bolts to spec. There is also one of the eccentric bolts on the right side that is impossible to get to with a socket due to clearance with the exhaust pipes. I have a cheap set on the way I got for under $20. I'm going to torque everything while I have it up on the ramps to do the mounts.