Thanks for your responses! I used to drive a jeep wrangler, and the shocks were simply a bolt-on sort of thing. These Mercs sure are complicated! I personally have no idea what I'm doing. I'm pretty handy and I like to do things by myself, but this is something I don't want to risk screwing up.

Better left for the professionals. I am, however, almost sure that I need to at least replace the shocks. I have no idea about the struts, though. I'll take the wheels off this weekend and see if I find traces of leaks.

Even if it's not leaking, I lowered my car with H&R springs but didn't replace the shocks. At 190k miles, I'm sure they are due for replacement anyway. I'm not sure if they were replaced by previous owners or not. The car has a good amount of body roll and bounciness.

How many hours should this take a professional mechanic? Is this something I could take to Les Schwab rather than an expensive MB technician (my trustworthy mechanic costs $90/hr!!)?

Thanks again!