Hi,

I recently bought a 1984 190D 2.2 5-spd (on eBay!). It's metallic light blue with black mb-tex interior.

I have to get the car inspected before I can get license plates, and during the inspection, I was told that I need new rear axle carrier mount bushings (also called subframe mounts?). The bad one is located just to the front of the rear axle.

Here is a picture of the general location:



Here is the 'good' one (on the left side of the car)



And here is the 'bad' one (on the right side of the car)



So, now that you've seen the pictures...

First question:
How hard is this part to replace, as a do-it-yourself job? If anyone has done it before, do you have any tips or advice? I've done a search and found some mention of this job on other cars, but not specifically on a 190.

Second question:
The people who did the inspection also told me I need new lower ball joints on the front of the car. I looked through the maintenance records for the car, and these were replaced 3 years ago, so I am surprised to hear that they need replacing so soon. What is a good test to determine if they are actually bad? I was working on the car on the weekend (idler arm repair kit) and had the car jacked up, and I couldn't tell what was wrong with them...

Thanks for your help!

Matt