I recently put Bilstein HDs on all four corners of my 124 300D. I am very happy with them but am still noticing what I would call significant body roll while cornering. I did not purchase this car new so I do not have a good idea of what a factory feel is like. What I do know is that my wife's '99 Grand Cherokee out performs my frauline in the twisties!!

I've recently replaced the front lower balls joints and tie rods. Could it be sway bar bushings, rear links, springs...?

I like a stiff ride what can I do?


Help!!!

__________________
1996 (W210) E300D 86K - Traded in for a Lexus
1992 (W124) 300D 2.5 Turbo 202K - Sold
1983 (W123) 300D, 146K - Sold
1970 280S, 263K - Sold - Beginning of addiction

I believe that the Sway bars play a critical roll in keeping lift or roll minimized. You may want to check your sway bar links and/or sway bar bushings.

I'm speaking from general experience and do not know the intricacies of your specific vehicle.

That said, hope this helps.

__________________
Rick

'85 380 SL (sold)
'85 Carrera Flatnose
'71 280 SL Signal Red/Cognac

A Mercedes is really not the best choice if you want a 'stiff' ride. Still, you can have a soft ride and still corner flat. Our W201 has a much softer ride than our Honda Accord, but does not lean any more in the turns, and handling is comparable.

Shocks, of course, will have little effect on lean in turns. I would check the plastic links on the rear sway-bar, and replacing the sway-bar bushings front and rear will probably also improve transition response. On ours, replacing just the front bushings made a surprising improvement in straight-line tracking, particularly in windy conditions. This even though the old bushings did not appear particularly worn-out. Handling in turns was fine before and after.

Check too for the condition of the rear suspension links. The rear wheels should feel rock-solid when shaking them around by hand with all four on the ground.

Steve

....replacement of the rear sway bar links on my web site - Cars - Technical - Maintenance Service W126. Towards the end. This is on a W126 chassis - yours may be similar. Inexpensive and easy to replace if they are damaged.

generally SUV's won't sway as much. I have many friends that have them, they just come with a stiffer suspention to keep them from rolling. So if your sway bars/links are intact then this is probably the way it was made. Now you can upgrade to a higher stiffness
Later

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the help. I will let you know what I decide to do.

__________________
1996 (W210) E300D 86K - Traded in for a Lexus
1992 (W124) 300D 2.5 Turbo 202K - Sold
1983 (W123) 300D, 146K - Sold
1970 280S, 263K - Sold - Beginning of addiction

Hello Slowmoe,
If you want the firm flat ride of a true sport sedan, get some springs and lower the car just a little. Your SUV will not have a chance. You will enjoy the feeling on the twisting country roads of Chester County.

Since you haven't yet done the modifications, it brings up a question about the best set-up for our cars. I have been wondering if the HD springs with big swaybars, and OEM springs with the thinnest spring pads would be the perfect set-up. It would be flat, no floating, a tiny bit lower, and the car would still have a "comfortable" ride on the Turnpike. I have the springs and I really like the firm ride, but I am just curious about an alternative set-up that would have less impact on the ride quality that our cars are known for. You could get the bars, reduce the spring pad thickness, and then add springs if you wanted even more performance.

I see that you live very close to me, so you could test drive my car with Eibach ProKit springs, Bilstein HD shocks, 16" AMG wheels, #1 pads front, #3 pads rear, and K-MAC rear bushings. I am considering bigger swaybars too, but I haven’t yet made the purchase.

Let me know if you would like to see my car and take a ride.

Body roll is typical of W124s. If you read reviews of this chassis, they virtually all talk about this and usually say something like, "It takes a 'set' on the curves and then settles in" or words to that effect, which I take to mean that you do expect some body roll but the car still corners very competently.

I did replace my sway bars with 500E sway bars and it did help reduce (but not eliminate) body roll.

__________________
Steve
'93 400E

I thought of another question that I have about shocks. Do the shocks have much impact on the initial compression of the springs as the car encounters a bump, or is the shock’s job really just to control rebound from that initial compression? My car, equipped with the HDs, does not continue to undulate after the initial impact. My car is not like my parents Cadillac. The bump is once and done. It feels great to just sit right down on the road, kind of hunkered down, as the car settles in through a corner. The car is very stable, but I wish I knew how different it would be with the Sports. The HD shocks are brand new, so I am not planning to rush right out and replace them. If I didn’t have to sell my wife on the deal, I might just eat the mistake and get the Sports, but then again I am still not sure that it would feel very different. As I said in a previous post, my car dropped less than an inch with the Eibach ProKit springs and the "progressive" nature of the springs still allows significant compression, so I think the stroke length of the HD is probably OK. I constantly try to convince myself that my car is OK. I wish I had purchased the Sports, so I could go on with my life. The car really does feel good. I wish I could try a car with the Sports, to see if there really is any difference. I guess I will get the Sports in a couple of years, after my wife forgets that I just bought shocks for my favorite toy.