I agree that the US shocks will not fit behind the original (euro) bumpers. To make them fit would require extending the bumpers to make room. In this case, just leave the US bumpers on.

The shocks can be made shorter by drilling a relief hole to allow the oil out, and then collapsing the shock and then tack-welding the two ends of the shock together. This will work for bringing the US bumper closer to the body of the car, but not for attaching the shock to the euro bumper due to the size of the shock mounting bracket.

You need the euro brackets to mount euro bumpers. Your car has two studs around each shock hole front and back for attaching the bracket. The original euro brackets will fit the front.

The rear euro brackets have just one hole for mounting to the body, so using these would be questionable. MBZ does make, howerer, rear brackets for mounting euro bumpers to a US W123 car (2 holes to mount to the body), which are necessary for attaching the bracket surrounding the shock hole. I ordered mine directly from MBZ Frankfurt years ago. The euro car has no rear shock holes.


BTW: Those reinforcement bars were an add-on requirement by the USDOT back in the 70s, so you donīt need to use them if you choose not to. The rust they acquire eventually moves to the bumper itself.

I just had a look at your earlier post about the same topic. Not to rain on your parade, but there is so much rust on the bracket (in the photo) that it would probably be just as expensive to fabricate all this stuff as it would be to simply buy new brackets. And forget about the USDOT stuff. Also, you need a new side part of the bumper since the side mount is missing. These are 3-piece bumpers.

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