[hoggy]

I know there has been many posts on this subject & I have read most if not all of them, have had the car about 4 months now ( 420SEL ) and am generally very pleased with it, it does however have one fault which is starting to bug me, the car sits about ½ to ¾ of an inch lower on the left side than the right, normally I would attribute this to springs gone soft, I have the self levelling rear end which I want to retain as I use the car to tow a boat every few weeks. My question is this, could a fault in the self levelling system cause an uneven ride hight ( unloaded ) from one side of the car to the other. If it’s not the self levelling, how do I tell which springs ( front or rear ) are bad, I ask this as the 126 chassis is fairly ridged and I’m getting similar differences when I measure front and rear hight

 

[cyberdrakon]

although it's possible that the self leveling suspension is at fault, you'd probably notice a drastic difference in handling. It'll be hard to tell which spring has gone soft, and since they all wear out, it'll be nearly impossible to find a spring that has worn out similarly to replace with. I'd suggest getting a bunch of the spring pads and just adjust the height with those. If they won't take up the difference, you either have a bad suspension, or the springs are completely shot.

BTW, self leveling is a VERY rare option on the 420.

 

[Romell J D]

Get the Hydraulic Accumulators changed, there are two in the rear. Which can be changed with only new ones, toghther with an hydraulic oil flush, ure job should be done and get your car sitting pretty again.

 

[mramay]

The hydraulic rear suspension is a parallel setup, side-to-side. A bad accumulator will make the car ride very hard, but won't affect ride height from one side to another.

Eddie was right, You likely have a soft spring or a collapsed rubber shim on top of one spring.

 

[hoggy]

Thanks for your input guys, the car has a full service history, checked with the service center, the hydraulic accumulators were replaced less than a year ago ( still nice shiny black ), I still have the original Australian spec sheet indicating 420's were fitted with self leveling down under, was thinking that the system may not have been bled properly, if one shock has air in it could it increase the hight on one side ?, feels very spongy without the engine running, will look at the shims as you suggested, it's the cleanest MB I have had to date ( 6 so far )and I would like to get it right and need it to last a few years.