W124 Coupe Front Suspension SNAFU

[CreosoteChris]

Hello MBClub-bers – hoping someone can provide some guidance to get me out of the total screw-up situation currently afflicting my W124

Vehicle registration: K834 CNC
VIN: WDB1240422B901344
Model: Mercedes 220CE, auto, sunroof, no air-con
First registered: January 1993

Some time ago, I started having occasional issues with front wheel rubbing on my ’93 220CE (contacting wheelarch when going round bumpy turns) and also an MOT advisory that noted front tires worn on the insides. It was pretty, from the appearance of the vehicle, that the issue was “tired” and sagging front suspension causing the wheels to slope inwards – sort of /-----\ , and reduced ride height. I decided to get the springs replaced, also new shocks to go along with them.

I contacted a UK parts supplier and went through a fairly lengthy discussion trying to identify the right items, even going to the length of getting my mechanic to inspect the old springs in an attempt to identify them, checking for remains of original paint. He commented

“As expected for a 25-year-old car, the springs are corroded, but I cleaned them up with a wire brush and saw
- Top part of spring - evidence of YELLOW paint
- Bottom part of spring - evidence of BLUE paint”

Eventually the UK supplier advised that they couldn’t figure out the correct part numbers, and said they couldn’t help. I thought that German suppliers might have better insight and went to euspares. The seemingly helpful sales staff there advised me to get the following Sachs items.

Shocks Buy SACHS SHOCK ABSORBER Item No.: 115 069, EAN 4013872020546 online Springs Buy SACHS COIL SPRING Item No.: 997 109, EAN 4013872344352 online

After fitting, see appearance in attached photo: I sure don’t have a wheel-rubbing problem any more, because the ride height is now 50-60mm above standard

I pointed this out to euspares support, whose replies can be summarised as

• That’s the shortest variant of Sachs front spring compatible with your car
• We couldn’t get the OEM part number from your VIN, so we picked the most suitable “compatible” product.

I was tempted to give them my view of what constitutes compatibility and fitness for purpose, but I don’t want to get involved in acrimonious disputes, I want a car that works properly and has a reasonable standard-ish ride height. I’m not obsessed with stance, nor handling, and I’m not demanding anything extraordinary here – just a basic decent suspension setup. I’m not particularly bothered, either, about the money I’ve wasted on the Sachs units – another 50 quid isn’t really a big chunk of the running costs of a car in 2018.

So it’s been a rather long and sorry tale (this is actually the abridged version) and it seems to boil down to this: My VIN (unlike others, it seems) doesn’t accurately identify the front springs, so no-one knows what to supply to replace them. All I know is that the current Sachs units are listed as Length [mm]: 427 – and are far too long:

Any ideas on where to go from here?

Thanks very much

Chris
93 220CE, auto, red / black leather, 138k, Manchester

 

[GP801]

Try the main dealer. Springs are different depending on which options (extra weight) the car has. They are not that expensive either - or at least they were not a couple pf years ago.

 

[grober]

The springs you were sent would appear to be correct. Length 427 mm, Outer diameter 109 mm, Ø 14,5 mm
On my 96 E220 AUTO W124 COUPE springs were as follows
front yellow,yellow,red 2 pip spring pad thickness [13mm]
rear yellow whitex3 3 pip spring pad thickness [18mm]

As standard they do ride rather high with a clearance of about 3 inches tyre to the wheel arch .
Increase the ride height of the rear [ REAR SPRINGS JUST AS LIKELY TO BE TIRED] and the car would level out a bit taking the front down slightly

USING A THINNER SPRING PAD WOULD LOWER THE CAR SLIGHTLY otherwise you need to be into sports springs

ps on an older car its imposible to know what springs were fitted at the factory as they have undoubtedly been replaced- wouldn't be the first time someone has shortened an innappropriate spring with an angle grinder to get that slammed look

 

[del320]

Your ride height is really not that far out. There's no doubt that a C124 does look better with larger wheels and lowered suspension but the fact is, the standard issue rides quite high.

Mine, with recently replaced springs, looks like this:

...whilst a Googled "official" picture looks like this:

...preferrable (IMHO) to wrecking a comfortable ride.

 

[CreosoteChris]

Thanks very much for those responses - great quality of info, real insight from real experts. I think that I definitely have tired rear springs as well, skewing the overall "trim" of the car & exacerbating the weight distribution....

.... so right now I think I will probably opt for Rears to match. I'm no spring chicken and value comfort / "glide" factor more than slammed appearance - if I can get the car to a state where it looks like the del320's pics, I'lll be happy....

...still seems like the fronts are really high though

 

[CreosoteChris]

Put the car on some reasonably level ground on the way home from work and took a few smaps

Suspension Saga

Thinking that - notwithstanding the commentsw above which make a lot of sense, the front is still 20 or 30mm too high....

....maybe it'll settle a little with use, maybe those Sachs springs are really for dealing with the weight of six-pot engines

Chris
93 220CE, auto, red / black leather, 138k, Manchester

 

[grober]

The rear Sachs spring number to match the fronts is 996071 336mmx100mmx13.75mm 1yellow 1white [ slightly different colour code from the one I gave you from my car.] check with the supplier! Check the burls [ pips] on the spring pads they vary in thickness also from 8mm,13mm,18mm, 23mm = 1,2,3,4 pips. Remember also that there's a lever effect- a drop of 5mm pad thickness translates to a greater drop in the suspension arm ball joint height because its further out on the arm!

 

[horatio]

They very slowly settle, I would take a view in a few weeks.

It's best to buy them from the dealer to be sure but I bet it will be fine.

 

[optimusprime]

Creosote this is looking at my W124 and yours looks about the same And i have larger tyres on

 

[CreosoteChris]

Hi Optimus.

Lovely-looking car. I take your point, though I still suspect mine is still a tad higher - but overall I think my current predicament is a combination of various effects...

- My sagging rear end (car, that is) makes the front look especially incongruous
- Maybe it will settle a little further with use
- The sheer before-and-after difference (because the previous setup was lowered so far by spring fatigue and possibly deliberate lowering.

....and it's somewhat pyschological - the initial perception was really bad, but it's not actually a SNAFU, in truth.

So I think the best thing to do is drive it for a couple of weeks - let my perception change if not the actual front ride height - and give myself the opportunity to make well thought-out decisions on where to go from here.

Guess I should order the rears as a starting point, I can't see that not being part of the solution (and anyway it will be nice for me to drive a 124 with new shocks and sproings all round).

Cheers

Chris
93 220CE, auto, red / black leather, 139k, Manchester

 

[optimusprime]

creosote you car is also very nice .The wheels in your first post for example , can go in the other direction if your springs are higher \-----/ so you will need to check steering trigonometry after you have finished .

 

[grober]

I would be interested to know the thickness of the spring pads on the car[ front and rear] - you should be able to count them from below the wheel arch with the aid of a torch. here's a picture of a rear spring pad with three burls [pips] ---- never mind the arrows as they refer to a spring compression tool.

and heres a piccy off the car

 

[Smart320]

Until I joined this forum I thought all springs were just springs! Now I know about colour coding and Spring pads and Spring compressors . When my front Spring in my E class went I had the Dealer fix it as I was 200 miles from home.
Now at least I feel I could try it myself, won't as have no garage or equipment but at least feel I could organise the correct parts for my local garage to do the job if I had to.
Great forum

 

[CreosoteChris]

Hi grober - thanks for your continued interest in this thread / my suspension - Like Smart320 I'm learning about this subject as I confront the situation, - and that's definitely a good thing.

Interesting to see the pics of the spring pads, it certainly looks like they'll make a significant difference. Just went outside with a torch (light fading here in CrosoteVille, so not ideal) and had a quick butchers - but unfortunately didn't manage to get a clear view
Front - looks like I can see a bit of the pad, nbut not the bit with the pips on
Rear - didn't have a view of any suspension components, I think that's all inboard of the sheet metal (and the lowered / sagged state of the setup means there's far less gap to see through)

I'll try and have another look when I'm not wearing clean clothes - but anyway I am interested to find out and learn stuff - so I will get this answered in due course. My local workshop mechanic is friendly and helpful, and it's certain he'll be doing further work on the car in the not-too-distant. I can get him to read this thread and advise on stuff like that. May not be for 2 or 3 weeks though.

The mechanic did comment after discussing the "jacked-up" look of the front that if I want him to try some different springs, I should order "top mounts" as well - I presume those are different from spring pads? (showing my ignorance here)

Also tried mailing my VIN and other details to the local main dealer and asking for a quote on original springs, waiting for a response on that

Kind of thinking... the car's still perfectly driveable, so no desperate hurry to do this, I'd rather understand it properly / get advice here / make the right decisions.

Cheers

Chris
93 220CE, auto, red / black leather, 139k, Manchester

 

[grober]

No I think he means the spring pads- they sort of screw on to the flattened top of the spring bit like a bottle top- its quite a clever helical moulding in the inner rubber of the pad- the bottom end [ tail] of the spring fits into a recess pressed into the track arm when it was stamped out- its a classic trap for water and road grit to abrade the coating /rust the end of the spring.
ps sometimes the pips are easily visible sometimes you need to get right under the car to get the right viewpoint to see and count them

 

[WDB124066]

The right thing to do after 100K odd miles is to replace the suspension rubber, springs and shocks fairly much as a matter of course on a 124 - if you have the budget and inclination to keep using the car. It tightens things up considerably, makes it feel precise-ish and able to change direction smoothly without having to turn the wheel much at all.

Yes to the top mounts if they haven't been done since initial assembly because it is not always possible to see the cracks in the rubber when they are installed and ths makes things impossible to align especially when on the move. They aren't nice when they let go either.

I would go Genuine parts or with a brand that the people on here recommend based on experience for other cheaper options, Check with your Dealer for part prices though because some suspension parts are now close to aftermarket stuff.

Blisiten do damper kits [and springs to match?] for 124's, H&R do a nice spring set up for a 124 too, do a search on Te net for the details, but make sure your shocks are operating in their designated stroke range if you go for an unmatched spring set up.

You are also able to choose if you want a lower sport look, or a standard ride height car. Even though the car is high now, don't go too low if you decide to change it, there are many people who have reverted the car back to sportline trim [because it just works better!] and to be honest if you don't mind a bit of roll they really do hang on!!

Check those pring pads - you might well be able to lower the height.

If you cut springs make sure your shocks are still in range; a 1/4 turn makes about 10 to 15 mm difference.

 

[CreosoteChris]

OK - resurrecting this thread, mainly as a courtesy to the community (though there's a remaining slight niggle).

After driving around for 6 weeks or so with absurdly jacked-up front suspension, I eventually got to the point where I was willing to pay whatever it cost to get back to a reasonable appearance and ride height at the front. Discussed with local mechanic my intention to stump up for parts from Mercedes, and he commented "I'll cut the springs - might as well give it a try, there's almost nothing to lose".....

....£80 and a visit to the workshop later, my car reverted to "sport" appearance with lower-than-standard ride height.
- (Presumably) standard springs on the back, with 25 years of usage rcausing reduced ride height
- Replacement Sachs springs on the front, cut down by mechanic's best-effort intervention.

Which is all good, except that I'm partially back to where I started, and if I go round a bumpy corner to fast whilst steering hard right, I hear the telltale noise of contact on the wheel-arch. Not as easy to provoke as before I started looking into this matter - but the fact is that I could do with 10mm more clearance at the front.....

.....which makes me think I can get a fully-corrected setup by swapping the current spring pads for chunkier items. I haven't been able to get a decent view of those pads, but I did mention the subject to the mechanic (who's taken a look at this thread) and his opinion was that they're standard thickness - I guess that means 5mm / "one bump"

Anyway , the car now looks like a 124 coupe should, and the handling seems fine even with cut springs, so I guess this issue can be marked up as resolved.


Thanks to all contributors!

Chris
93 220CE, auto, red / black leather, 141k, Manchester