wet road makes car go smoother
 

I have found a 300E (24V) that Im driving around for a couple of days now - and planning to buy if the owner agrees - it was standing for about a year due to some bad wiring bits (OVP, NSS) and worn out key, the car is OK for its age - no concours etc. (far more powerful than my diesel of course), body cladding, black leather etc - could use a weeks worth of detailing team elbow grease.

The car drives a bit funny - the alignment is terrible (tires are 5 years old - front nearly chewed flat from the outer edges) - I tried to quick fix align it so atleast it does not want to yank to the left.

While driving it on the dry - it felt like it needed a new set of struts and shocks, but when I drive on wet roads the car becomes smooth as a new car, perfect body control on the same roads it was hopping and hammering on.

:confused: How can water cause this? dry bushings?

Bushings and other dried out rubber would be my guess. I would a complete suspension check on all 4 corners. Ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings/brackets, and all the control arms and stuff in the rear end. Its what keeps you on the road!

I have had 124 cars with bushings that were squeeky in the dry but quiet in the wet. Can't say I could detect any difference in the ride quality between wet & dry though, only noise.

I think you are perhaps on the right path. Perhaps try hitting up the bushings with some spray lube to see if it temporarily fixes the problem?

use armorall on the rubber,not wd 40

I applied some RC silicon oil, its only a bit better (placebo I think), I reckon its a combined wear of the ball joint and extremely off alignment.

The pull can be just the way the bad alignment has worn the tires so don't align it based on the pull.