95 Millenia Strut and EGR valve help needed
 

[align=left]Hello All,
I just bought a 95 millenia 2.5 from my brother in law for $1000. It has 103,000 miles and is in excellent shape inside and mechanically (sort of). The problem is that the car has been sitting for about 7 months due to a bad EGR valve. This was diagnosed by the dealer and instead of having it fixed, by bro goes and buys a Ford Explorer. Well he totally lost interest in the Millenia (hence the cheap price). The car runs but after a while, it sputters and the check engine light stays on. I had the same problem in a MB 300E which turned out to be a bad egr valve as well. I have priced the valve at Rock Auto.com for $307. I have 3 questions:
Does anyone know where to find one cheaper?
Where on the engine (2.5 is the egr valve located)?
What's the deal with replacement struts on a 95 mill? I read on this forum that the front can only be replaced with oem struts with the aftermarket not offering anything performance wise and that I would need 99+ upper strut mounts in order to upgrade stuts. Is this so, and if so, who makes good performance struts. I want to lower the car about 1-1.5 in. all around.

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