hey folks! Happy Friday...
I've just replaced the shocks/struts on my 87 300e...this after having KONI reds on for 2100 miles - just to harsh a ride for me...
My question is - what manufacturer of springs would give me the best combination of good ride and better handling? I don't want to go with factory replacements as the wallow and dive is getting a little tiring... I do love the car, but going around turns too quickly is not it's best feature!

thanks - hope everyone is having fun!

steve
scapchak@yahoo.com

Go with Eibachs.
You also might want to invest in some new sway bar bushings all around, they are cheap and help a lot when cornering.

I would try bigger sway bars first. that will reduce body lean w/o sacrificing ride. springs, you have be careful because if use stock or comparable shocks with lower and stiffer springs can wear out shocks real quick. Also, pm me if you're selling the konis.

__________________
2005 Mercedes C230k sport sedan, 6 speed
1987 Porsche 924S - 968-engined track car

look into the full sportline conversion. factory oem, nice ride but better handling.

I myself am more partial to H&R/Bilstein sports combo for springs/shocks...

I have yet to do my shocks, but the stockies have held up fine with my Neuspeed (simply Rebranded H&R's) springs.

Now if only I could get a spring pad for the rear that was thicker than 3 bump....

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon - Sold
2006 E350 Wagon - 368 - Dead
2015 GL350 Bluetec - 197U

I just posted this on another thread, but it seems an appropriate response to this thread too.

"I wasn't content to go with the Sportline modification, because it seemed quite expensive and in the photos it didn't look like it would lower the car much at all. I think it is true that too much lowering creates issues with negative camber, but you can fix that with adjustable camber arms or the K-MAC eccentric bushings. For me, the problem was that my car was just too darn high when it was stock. Even with only the +1 wheel and tire combination, my car looked like it was on stilts or that it was ready for the Baja. I think that if the Sportline modification lowered the car, then it would have had to include some kind of camber adjustment. Since Mercedes chose not to allow for rear camber adjustment, I think it is safe to assume that the Sportline isn't much lower than a normal suspension. I wasn't looking to slam my car or anything. I just wanted to get rid of the 4x4 appearance.

I chose the Eibach springs, because I read that the Eibach springs were a bit more comfortable than the H&R springs and I knew that AMG had used Eibach for some of their parts. They may have also used H&R, however, so H&R is certainly also a good choice. There are some guys on the forums saying great things about Vogtland springs. They claim that the Vogtlands are comfortable like Eibach and that the springs defy the laws of trigonometry by not affecting the rear camber even though they significantly reduce the ride height. This may be one of those things that sounds too good to be true, but I did check some reviews for Vogtland and they do sound like very good springs.

If you don't want to tempt fate with lowering, then I honestly think the best thing to do is to just get the Bilstein HD shocks and big swaybars. I bet the car would handle very well with very little degradation in ride comfort. It also wouldn't cost much to just change the shocks and the swaybars. You could also reduce the spring pads for some very subtle lowering. I think shocks and swaybars would go a long way to making the car handle like a Sportline. Changing to a +1 or +2 wheel and tire combination would also help the handling and even professional car reviewers have commented that the stock wheels were a little small. Finally, when your car needs bushings, you can simply replace things with Sportline parts."

I am very happy with my current set-up, but it was trial and error to get everything figured out.

__________________
I just couldn't give up on my 1995 E320.

I think it might be like always going back to that same bad relationship with an ex girlfriend.
You feel you love them too much, or you are just too stupid to know any better.



Flickr slideshow of my 1995 E320
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24145497@N06/sets/72157616572140057/