Chasis stiffening

[ymsin]

The 126 300SE had its chasis stiffened by injecting the main-frame with foam (Wurth's). It is said to improve the road handling and stability of the vehicle.

Now that its done, I don't notice any significant improvement although it has been said that the W210s have shown some remarkable and significant improvement , i.e. eliminate the floating feeling on cruise.

Am hoping for thoughts or whether anyone has actually done the same on their MBs?

[Q-Ball]

Never heard of such a procedure.

FQ

[Duke2.6]

Sounds like another fish story. The "floating feeling on cruise" is a function of damping - shock absorbers. Most cars are somewhat underdamped, especially in rebound, which can make them "float" over road undulations at high speeds.
Most Mercs, at least vintage models have excellent damping, but I'm not sure about the later models. Maybe they reduced rebound damping to cater to American customers who value a "smooth ride" over vehicle control.

Duke

[ymsin]

BMW uses the same foam in their M3 and a little on their 5 series. In particular, their pillars.

[nachi11744]

Hello,
The *floating feeling* is a function of the progressive action dampers(shoks) the new cars have, for small undulations, there is minimal damping to give a smooth ride, but for large amplitudes(movements) the damping is very much stiffer. I have driven a E230 W210 at over 160kmh on the north-south highway and the ONLY criticism I have is the power steering is a bit too light weight for my tastes.
I doubt that any aftermarket foam can make a W126 chassis any stiffer, the car is already built like a battleship !
The foam injection into the a-b-c pillars has been done by manufacturers for years as it insulates wind and reflected road noise, my brother's Audi 200 Turbo had foam in all the body pillars and around the *doubled* firewall.
One last thing I should mention, I have seen a trend of using 16in and even bigger wheels and tyres on the W126s around here, be aware that the wheels have to be for a W126 as the offset for the Mercedes front strut suspension cars is not correct for a 126 and will caused premature wheel bearing failure.
Have a good week.

[haasman]

We are discussing two different types of foam applications- one to reduce noise and vibration, the other for structural support.

Regarding quality of ride, Mercedes like any other car is the sum of its parts. Springs add significantly to ride quality. They do more than hold a car up on its suspension.

My .02 cents,

Haasman

[ymsin]

With the 126, I agree that this is not one investment that you may want to dig into.