Sportline Height

[MERCEDES300CE]

After ordering a "Sportline suspension" from Mercedesshop, I was taking some measurements of the height of my 300CE. It seems my car is already lower than the specs posted. It is about 7" in the rear and 6" in the front, measuring to the bottom of the rocker panel, in front of thr rear tire, and behind the front tire.

Will the Sportline suspension lower it even more, or has the car already been lowered? Is there a difference in ride height from the coupes to the sedans? I would not say the car has a preformance ride to it, feels very much stock. I am ok with the present hight, but hoping for better handling.

Hope I made the right choice. After all the talk, on this site about Sportline, I went with it, against my mechanic's advise. I appreciate any info you can provide.

Thanks

[yal]

Dean, visually inspect your spring pads and look for the little tiny rubber bumps on their edges. Your car may have the thinnest pads. If this is the case then the sportline springs will not lower it that much further but will definately tighten up the ride for you. Hopefully JCE will respond to reassure you even further, he has experince with the kit

[ke6dcj]

Dean- if you're looking for better handling, the SportLine package IMHO is the best compromise in handling and comfort.

If you ever have to renew the control-arm bushings, you should also go to SportLine bushings.

It makes a big difference IMHO in feel.

:-) neil

[Ashman]

Dean, I have driven JCE's car, and it drives great. The suspension feels very nice, firm, but comfortable. It begs to be tossed into the corners.

After a couple of months it will settle down a bit more and lower it a bit more.

Lets see some pics of your car?

I put neuspeed springs on mine, I couldn't pass up the price, and they are rebranded h&r's so I'm happy. next step for me is some bilstein sport shocks.

I was going to do a full sportline conversion, but I decided I wanted mine stiffer than sportline.

Alon

[MERCEDES300CE]

I went for the whole kit, bushings, stabilizers and all. the only change I made was Bilstein, sport shocks, instead of the Sportline's. I hope it makes a diference, I am a little nervous, rolling the dice on all your input. My mechanic has advised me not to do it, he thinks it will not make a big enuf diference, and monies should be spent elsewhere. Hope he is wrong! I am trusting your judgement.

Thanks for the support!

[ke6dcj]

Don't forget to get a comprehensive 4-wheel alignment. I use the dealer because at 90-dollars they do the best work in my town (approx. 2-3 hours), have all the tools, and their tech. is a SportLine fanatic.

Use the SportLine alignment settings and you will enjoy the twisties.

The only problem I see with the Bilstein's SPORTs is that they don't have as much travel. Fine for short springs (H&R, Neuspeed, etc.), but doesn't use all of the travel of the SportLine springs (I have Bilstein Sports and Sportline Springs).

Per a Bilstein engineer the only difference between SPORT and Heavy Duty for Bilsteins's W124 shocks is the travel, valving is essentially the same.

Best of luck,
:-) neil

[JCE]

There is a very strong difference in handling and steering feel between the stock and the Sportline. My mechanic loved the new feel, and asked if his new tech could take it out last time it was in. The new tech was likewise amazed, he had "never felt an MB with 4 doors and a roof that handled this way". It really wants to be cornered hard, to the point that I want take a track driving course to refresh/upgrade my driving skills to match the car.

I stayed with the Sportline shocks, as they are designed for the package. If I get an all season high performance tire again, next time I might get the Yoko AVS dB over the Pilot XGT V4, as it is less expensive and supposedly handles as well, but with a more quiet ride.

Let us know how the install goes! If your Tech can't feel the difference afterwards, you need a new tech!

[bobjohnston]

On my E420, I can choose dealer model, Bilstein comfort, HD, or sport, or use stock E500 struts. Perhaps, even the sportline 300E models would work. My stock struts are too soft (though admittedly worn.) I thought I'd try Bilstein HD, and thinnest spring pads with E500 front sway. Does anyone have an opinion about the relative firmness of the HD's, sportlines, and E500's?

[MERCEDES300CE]

Well, I started the install myself. The new front sway bar is in and it alone made a big difference.

Curently the spring pads are 2 bumps in the the front and 3 in the rear, the new ones will be 1 bump all the way around. Do you think this will make a big diference in the height of the car?

Aside from the danger of the springs, do you think I can do the whole install my self then just have a through 4 wheel alignment? My tech is complaining about the install, and wants $1200, to do it insisting it will ride the same. I had the car up in the air this weekend, and aside from the springs everything looks straight forward.

Let me know your thoughts, any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

bobjohnston,

I have basically that seup on my 92 400e.

Bilstein HDs all around, 3 bump pad in front 2 bump in rear (factory installed), and 500e front anti-roll bar.

I'm running stock 15 inch rims with 205/60/15 Dunlop SP5000s.

The ride is a bit harsh, but not "teeth rattling". If I had a chance to do it over, I would probably go with the comfort Bilsteins. Just to get a bit softer ride.

On the upside, the car handles great. The nose still feels a bit heavy compared to my 89 300e, but it is fun to toss around in the back roads.

I was going to change out the pads to the thinnest, but I am going to upgrade my rims/tires to 16 inch 205/55/16s. Then maybe I'll just change the rear to 1 bump just to get the car to sit level. Righ now the rear is about 3/4 of an inch too high.

Hope this helps

[Michael]

Dean,

You need a new tech! Anyone that would doubt that a Mercedes-engineered sport suspension would change anything is simply narrow-minded or naive. Or both.
And $1,200 for the install?? Clearly he's not very good at price/labor-estimating, or he's a thief.

This is just my 2% of a buck, but I would not let that guy touch any of my cars.

BTW, I would offer that the 500E struts are not harsh at all...if I had a 400E I'd assuredly employ 500E front struts, and likely go Bilstein HD at the rear.

[JCE]

Dean:

Are you doing the lower control arm bushings and rear sub frame bushings as well? I understand that the rear sub frame has to be dropped (carefully!) a bit to swap the rear sway bar. I have also been told that a proper spring tool is needed. I think springs and subframes were discussed a while back, but can't recall the details. Take care.

[ke6dcj]

Dean- other than the springs and bushings, I believe you can change out front swaybar (you already did), and front & rear shocks.

If you can carefully drop & support the rear-subframe, you can change out the rear swaybar.

I don't know if the 500E rear swaybar (similar in shape but different diameter to a 300TE/E320 wagon) can fit the 400E, however that would provide a better balance.

The problem with going to a FAT front swaybar on an already understeering vehicle, without changing the rear swaybar, is that you get even more understeer, and the car feels even more sluggish in the turns.

Best of luck,
:-) neil

[MERCEDES300CE]

Michael,

I agree with you, thats whay I decided on the "Sportline", think I am just going to try the install myself. $1200 sounded high to me as well. Should I shop for another tech to do the install?

JCE,

I am going to do the lower control arm bushings and the rear sub frame mounts. It appears like its easier to do all of that at the same time, I do the shocks and springs. I will just have to rent a spring compressor for the install. The rear subframe does have to be dropped to install the rear swaybar, looks like only 4 bolts though. The rest looks very do-able.

Neil,

It looks like your right, the rear subframe has to be dropped for the swaybar install. Have you done this before? Looks like only the four subframe bolts and then support the rear suspension while you install the new bar.

Thanks for all your input. I am nervous about doing it my self, but am sure I can do it sucessfully. After all I have you all for technical support right? Wish me luck, figuring I might go for it this weekend, if all is well. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again!

[ke6dcj]

Dean- my local MB independent tech. charge me a total of $400 to do the front & rear install.

If you rent a spring compressor, make sure you get one that uses a big circular plate with a hole through the middle (kind of like a large washer with a lip) to compress the springs.

All the other types are don't compress the spring equally and are very dangerous.

When my tech. did the rear sway bar, all he did was support the rear subframe, and remove the four subframe bolts, and carefully lower it enough to wiggle out the sway bar.

Good luck,
:-) neil