frankly I don't see the big deal and all the concern about the springs
On my W124 I unbolted the top nuts, jacked up the rear under the diff and took both tires off. Removed the cover and unbolted the shock at the bottom, compressed the top by hand and pulled the old one out. Install was the reverse.
When I unbolted the top nuts and jacked it up there was no tension on the shock
It took me about 30 minutes for both, never done it before.
