Shock absorber went bust...
 

...the dramatic way.
I wonder if that happened to anybody before: In my wife's '82 300D the piston of the front right shock absorber came out through the top :eek:, ripped the airfilter housing off its mounts and pierced the A/C hose. And it's not body rust around the mount, it's the shock absorber itself that had disintegrated.

what brand?

I put in 4 new Bilstein Comforts 8 years ago

About a two months ago I start noticing more noise than usual in the front end. Weeks of only commuting 20 miles R/T to the train coupled with a series of rainy cold weekends prevents me from getting into it.

Cant be the shocks- hell, they're less than 1 yrs old! I finally get a dry day, get the front end off the ground and start shaking/pushing/pulling on components from below the car. All the parts are there, bolts are tight, some of the bushings are a bit soft, but no radical evidence that there new problems. Some classic flat spots on the passenger tire though.

Go fuel up, check the oil- and thats when I notice that the Passenger side shock is sticking up into the engine compartment.

The wee little snap ring on the piston shaft was gone. Broken air cleaner bracket and a nice worn spot in the AC line (not that the AC works, mind you).

New set of shocks, new tires (passenger was pretty flat spotted from the excessive bouncing around) and back to the usual noises.

"OLD" :D