PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Ride height question / New shocks on a 1991 190E 2.6 (154k miles)

haasman · #2 08-04-2003, 04:27 PM

Here are my 2 cents ....

Feathering on the outside of the front tires can be caused by shocks but more than likely it is worn sway bar bushings, front and rear, and/or alignment. Cheap, easy to do, and results you can feel immediately. An easy DIYer, a Saturday morning project.

I will ONLY take my cars to a Mercedes dealer for an alignment. This alignment would include the use of a spreader bar, it supplies a preload that mimics the car going down the road.

Shocks- depending on the brand and model, some shocks do seem to lift the car for a while, some settle right back down. I think this is a result of stiffer seals and being pressurized.

Both the 300E and the E320 wagon (fronts) in my opinion experienced a chassis rise. Both cars got Bilstein HDs which are great, BTW. Through the years I have been disappointed by many different brands of shocks including KYB etc. I recommend either Bilstein or Boge brands.

I think .... (notice here lots of opportunity for comments from the Forum members) .... that from the least to greatest influence in ride height change with new shocks would be as follows:

Boge (OEM), Bilstein Comfort, Bilstein HD …..Bilstein Sports are the same as HDs but made for shorter springs.

You can adjust the ride height via spring pads. I was confused about the effect of changing the pads and the resulting height effect until one wise member on this forum pointed out that the spring pushes approximately half way on the control arms, therefore an increase or decrease of the spring pad translates into roughly 2x ride height change. Hmmmm....

You don't want to go too low .... check and see which bump pads you have in there now, front and rear. If it were my car I would look at one pad thinner front and rear.

In final opinion, it seems to me about 1990 Mercedes changed springs and possibly spring pads on the 201 and 124 series. It is my observation so far that ride height issues rarely come up on cars prior to 1990.

OK, maybe a little more than 2 cents ... hope this helps.

Haasman