Hey guys anyone who could shed some light would be greatly thanked for their input.


I have a 1988 300CE 12v w124050 chassis, it is not a sportsline/ sports-undercarrige. And I have damaged my front right lower control arm through a turn of bad luck on friday the 13th.(Funny in a way, eh.) Anyway now the guy at the local MB parts shop(dealership service department) reckons that it is easier to order a new control arm because he claims that every single model wether it be 280e, 300e, sportsline or E320 has a different control arm. and he thinks i should just buy the arm off him. Now i am 90 percent sure that he is influenced by the fact that he can earn a bonus off my sale. I don't believe that mercedes would change and re-manufacture thousands of front control arms simply because they support 15-20mm lower springs because that would almost mean that you then had to change the control arms when you changed the shims/spacers on top of the springs or when you used aftermarket springs in the suspension setup. Besides the guy can be a little bit of a fool sometimes.

SO my question is are the front control arms in the cars the same or are they all different in so can you tell me which ones are compatible or are none of them.

Thanks for you input it is always good to get an unbiased point of view on the matter especially when that person knows what they are talking about.

Regards Mike

__________________
'Some Fear' because 'No Fear' means your not going fast enough.

300CE yr1988,
SL55Kompressor yr2002,
CLK320 yr2002.

AFAIK, the 300CE 124.050 uses the standard control from any (W124) w/ a standard suspension application.

I also believe that the only difference between the sportline & standard control arms is the ball joint itself.

__________________
1994 E500 (MY SUNDAY DRIVER)
1993 190E SPORTLINE LE W/ M104 SWAP
1997 C230
2002 ML320
2000 BMW 528I (WIFEY'S CAR)

"Excuses are crutches for the unfounded."

The control arm bushings that connect the control arm to the chassis are different on the sportline to allow you to set new toe and camber settings with the eccentric bolt. I believe the ball joints are the same. As stated Control arms are all the same.

I don't think there's anything different about the control arms. In the U.S. new control arms (which includes the busings & ball joint) lists for $250 which seems like a fair price. If you had to do one, you might consider doing the other side since the bushings would be of equal age. The bushings are destroying upon removal, IIRC.

HTH,

__________________
Brian Toscano

It would be best to replace them as a pair, unless the other side has been serviced recently. At that age, odds are that the balljoints and bushings are "up" for renewal.

You could rebuild the arm that is not damaged, though some have said the cost is about the same if a mechanic does it. I did it myself, and the related parts were only around $80.

If you do both sides, you can set the alignment, and forget about pulling springs for the next 100k plus (unless you hit something else)

__________________
1986 300E 5-Speed 240k mi.