I've had some recent spring cutting adventures, and figure I'd share the knowledge. To start... When done right, cutting springs can be an effective way of lowering a vehicle, it is not always ghetto. Those Hondas you see bouncing around on their bump stops with blown shocks give it a bad rap. The main advantage for us W123/W126 guys is we have huge amounts of suspension travel where as most other cars have a very narrow range. Also when cutting springs the ride is only affected when you go too low and exceed the damping range of your shocks and/or start hitting your bump stops. Here's my experience with my W123 300d... When I bought the car I had 4" of front wheel gap and it drove me NUTS so after much research and thought I decided to cut some coils and see what happens. I bought the correct spring compressor on eBay (quality tool!) and replaced my lower control arm bushings while I was at it. I decided to take 3 coils off the front (2 nub spring pad) and 1.5 off the rear. The handling was quite compromised and my new Bilstein (comfort) shocks could not suppress the bounce on rough roads. It sure looked nice though... I bought a used *uncut* set of front springs on eBay and they came with a set of 1 nub spring pads. I chopped 1.5 coils and used the 1 nub pads, the lowering was not nearly as extreme but it is now level (measured the bumpers) and rides quite nice. So here's my verdict, 1.5 coils off the front and 1.5 off the rear with new Bilstein shocks will give an OEM ride while lowering the center of gravity to improve handling slightly. The non-4x4 look is just an added bonus.
If I get bored I may try taking another half coil off the front to get it even with the top of the tire, but I'm concerned that may be pushing the limits of the shocks.
I know there are many of you out there that will not be a fan of this, but let's keep this positive and informative.
OEM, 2-nub front pads and 2-nub rear pads
Cut 3 front coils w/ 2-nub pads and 1.5 rear coils w/ 2-nub pads (sub-standard handling, looks awesome)
Cut 1.5 front coils w/ 1-nub pads and 1.5 rear coils w/ 2-nub pads
