Lowering a W126, need some advice

Hello all,

Well I think I learned the hard way not to try and save a little and just purchase what I should in the FIRST place.

got some springs (thema) from Germany for around $175 (more than half of which was freight) and they said they were for W126 6-cyl. But as I've had them on, with 17x8s and 245s, the tires have been hitting the fenders (esp with 2+ people inside!) and sometimes even the front bumper hitting the GROUND over major bumps, etc.. Needless to say this is horrible and I needed to find a solution.

I thought I needed stiffer shocks. But somebody told me that because the springs were designed for Euro market 6-cyls, most did not have equipment as American models do, as well as smaller bumpers/reinforcements to the tune of some hundreds of pounds (?) and that would explain why the springs were seemingly too weak to support my car, esp. when I load a few passengers.

So now my question to those who have springs installed on their W126s -- which should I choose? I want a good drop but I hope I can avoid the tires hitting the fenders and the front bumper scraping the ground! So far in my search I've found: Eibach, H&R, Intrax, and Spax.

Are any of these progressive? Are progressive preferred to regular coiling? The ones that I put in my car were not progressive I could tell you that, but don't know if that would hurt or help with my problem. What experiences have yall had with the various brands? Ride of course is one consideration but mine rides smoothly now and that is the main concern of my problem I believe (too softly sprung) so I think that stiff is not necessarily bad.

Also anyone know of the best prices on where to purchase these?


Thanks for any advice.

Larry Ferguson
86 300SDL 169K needs suspension fixed

Go to www.bergwerks.com, they will sort you out with H&R springs and Bilstein OEM shocks. Definitely the best combo. I fitted mine about 2 months ago.

Matt.