Still trying to get a smooth quiet 'Mercedes' ride from my W126

[donbryce]

I've never experienced what I'd call a quality ride from my '85 380SE. It has always seemed to magnify every irregularity in the road surface, seems to telegraph and amplify the smallest bump, in short, a harsh, noisy, and very un-luxury-like ride, especially for a Mercedes. Most of the racket is at the front end.

I do 90% of my driving in this car around town in summer, and the other 10% an occasional highway trip at average 60 - 80mph. I hate thumping and banging over every little pothole, manhole cover, and pavement crack!

So, I just finished putting on 4 new Sachs touring shocks, 4 front subframe bushings, and a new idler arm kit. All the front end ball joints and control arm bushings, including the 2 caster joint bushings, are new within 3 years, or have tested tight at annual safety inspection.

After all this work, the resulting improvement in ride quality is marginal, and that may be just me imagining/justifying the effect of spending nearly $500.00 for little or no improvement. It's 'tighter' but not 'quieter'.

The wheels, which a previous owner installed, are aftermarket alloys, and currently are running Michelin All Season Rainforce MX4 tires, 205/65 R15. I run pressures per the MB recommendation, 28psi/30psi.

Is this behavior normal for the W126 sedan?

What tires might be the quietest, most noise absorbing for this car?

Am I missing something critical in the suspension R&R? I'm going in for a front end alignment next week, wonder if this will help? Honestly, my '88 Mazda 929 rides quieter and smoother than this piece of s**t, with no new parts and bargain tires, and I'm going nuts trying to figure out why!