My 1989 300SE with 102,000 miles has developed an annoying and mystifying front-end rattle. The noise seems to come from the passenger side and is quite pronounced when first starting up. After a while, the rattle goes away. If the car sits for a while, say a half hour, and is then started up, the rattle comes again for a while when driven. Recently, after I had the car jacked up to change the steering damper, I noticed that the rattle was even worst after the car was lowered from being jacked up and driven.

This rattle happens when hitting a bump, and may be a bit more likely when turning, but the amazing thing is that it really does pretty much go away after a while.

The car has had its wheel bearings and races replaced about six months ago, and the brakes are in first-class shape. I think it's happening somewhere in the suspension or steering gear, but there is no discernible feeling of the rattle in the steering wheel. It's a very pronounced noise, not really deep and heavy, more plastic in nature.
Any help would be most appreciated. My mechanic friend says it was common for the 126 bodies to develop a bushing problem from the strut that attaches to the body and to the front suspension.
He is puzzled by the fact that my rattle goes away after a while.