The Previous Owner of my 740 wagon had installed Bilstein HD shocks and struts and shortly removed them and sent them to Bilstein's American distributor to be revalved to soften things up a little. I think he said the cost was just $25 per shock/strut, but that was quite some time ago. The car has its original springs.

I still find the ride too firm around town with the usual pavement breaks, manhole covers and so on, but the car does feel well planted on the highway. Given that the HD's have been revalved to soften them, I think the ride would be overly harsh in their original state.

I put the Sachs TurboGas shocks and struts on my son's old 240 and found them to be a good compromise between control and comfort - just a little firmer than stock.
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Bob: Son's XC70, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (V8) and XC60. Also '77 MGB and some old motorcycles