560SEL front suspension rebuild

This week I got my 560SEL back from having a front suspension rebuild.   This wasn’t something I really wanted to take on myself.  My SEL drove well, but there was some looseness in the front end.   As I plan on keeping the car long term, it made sense to rebuild the front suspension to restore an as-new ride.

The front suspension rebuild included new upper control arms and associated bushings, lower control arm bushings and sway bar bushings.    I went with genuine for the upper control arms and Lemforder for the lower control arm bushings.   The genuine parts are expensive, but they are inexpensive compared to the labour required and I am confident they will last the distance.

As well as the sway bar bushings at the front suspension there are also a set on the firewall.   Replacing these was a big job.   One of them is under the battery tray which is quite easy to get at.   The other required the removal of the brake booster and fuse box.    Having removed and replaced the brake booster on my old W111 250SE, I’m glad I didn’t have to do it on the w126.

While I was having this work done, I also had the brake hoses replaced.   I had experienced brake fade on a long downhill stretch, and I wasn’t sure how old they were.   I am glad I had them replaced as they were swollen inside. The picture below shows some of the old parts.

At the same time, I also had a couple of o-rings replaced in the transmission.   This was the cause of a transmission leak.    After all this work you can tell the front suspension is far more supple.   Since I re-installed the rear self-leveling suspension, and not fixed the front suspension this car rides really well.

Prior to this work being carried out, I also had the flex discs replaced.   I had noticed some minor cracking in the discs when inspecting the underside of the car.   I probably could have left them for a while longer, but it is better to be safe that sorry with parts like this.   There are plenty of stories of major damage and accidents from failed flex discs.