S204 Saggy Rear End

[DaveyBoyWonder]

I've read a fair bit about s204 era estates seemingly having this weird "back down" rake as standard but I noticed this morning when the wife took the kids & friends to school (so 5 up in the car) that the rear end was almost on the floor. I've got a set of new springs to go on as a spring snapped the other week (just the bottom inch of one of the fronts) but wondering if I should bang a brand new set of shocks on at the same time (maybe just rears?) and if so, what do people recommend? Gone Bilstein for most things shock related (on VWs) but not even sure they're an option on the Merc?

Any other s204 owners run a non-oem suspension setup they can recommend???

[trevalvole]

I've not done any of this myself, but my impressions are:

You may well be able to replace the rear springs without removing any of the trim in the boot. Replacing the rear shocks will probably require the removal of the boot trim. Presumably the front suspension is struts and to replace the springs you'll need to remove the strut/shock?

How many miles has the car done? The rear shocks on my 203 were very stiff at 60k miles. My impression re. shocks is that Mercedes/Sachs will keep the Mercedes feel to the car, whereas Bilstein B4 (which I'm sure they will do for the S204) will be a bit better controlled but firmer. I'd be cautious about fitting Bilstein B6 as there are various reports of a lot harder ride, including on BMWs in Readers Cars' on here.