new spring pads, to lower... thoughts?!
 

i have searched the archives.

i've purchased some new spring pads, in an attempt to drop my 300e a little.

in checking my car i was surprised to find 4 bump pads in front and 3 bump in the rear.

i have purchased 2 bump for front and 2 & 1 bump for the rear.

i have 205/65/15 michelin sports on my car. last fall i replaced the shocks and struts with bilstein h.d.

my car is still up a little in the back end, it's not bad.

my plan is 2 in front and 1 in rear. what do you guys think?

the dealer is treating me pretty fair at 2 to 2.5 hours labor.

also should i have the front end alignment done to 'sportline specs'?

my wheels are standard 6.5 wide.

to anyone who has done this-- will i notice any diff?

since i'm not going very low, do you all think i'll start going thru tires quicker?

thanks

peter

That'll drop the car about 3/4".

Each spring pad "lug" adds 5 mm to the spring pad and 10 mm to your ride height.

HD's may have risen your ride height a little. If you want to REALLY lower it, then shorter springs & Bilstein Sport shocks are necessary.

Changing the ride height changes alignment. MB says at 20 mm change, get an alignment. That's what I'd do.

2-2.5 hours to do four springs is a great price. Add $100 to check/adjust the alignment. Their machine should have a levelmeter to read the ride height and use the best settings within the allow range.

HTH,

10 mm = 1 cm
 

1 cm is less than 1/2 inch. I do not think you could tell the difference. I was in your shoes a while back, deciding what to do with a high (to me) stand in my MB.
I have H&R's with HD's (some people don't recommend this set up) with 2 bumps at front and 3 bumps at the rear. It seats just fine for me.
I obtained original MB sportline wheels and sportline size tires. It still looks orginal but lower. I like it that way.:D

Norm and I lowered our cars by installing the 1 Bump rear pads (Had 2 Bump) and we did before and after measurements. We haven't had a chance to do the fronts yet since we didn't have the right tool but we will be doing this shortly.

Yes you will notice a difference but not a significant one.
Right now my cars rear is lower than the front and it looks / feels funny.

The rear is a DIY and you will need a socket wrench, jack and stands. An extra hand would also be helpful but thats all. Should take about 40 minutes to do yourself

The fronts require a special spring compressor (expensive!) and are more time consuming.

A 2.5 Hour quote from the dealer is about right, any more would be too much.

Just a note on alignment. Normally the 124's have a slilghtly negative rear camber, after lowering this will be even further negative. The bad news is that rear camber is not adjustable unless you buy an aftermarket kit :rolleyes: so your tire wear will increase on the inside of the tire. On the positive side handling and stability will improve.:)

thanks for your thoughts.

now i'm kind of thinking i should not have 'wussed' out and gotten the # 1 for the front...

i'm glad i'm finally trying this. i am satisified with my car, but if i can tighten up the handling HORRAY!

3/4" is the most i'd want, 1/2" would be very cool though.

i've got to take some measurements.


anyone else lowered by spring pads?

peter

This is a very timely thread for me.

I replaced my old worn out shocks and struts 3 weeks ago with new Bilstein HD shocks and struts, and my car is definitely sitting higher, especially in the front.

I have been considering going with shorter spring pads, but am not sure it'll make a big enough difference.

Let me know how it turns out.

paul

what up man?

what is the pad set up on your car?

i will let you know how the new 'implants' work out.

when i had my h.d.'s first put on, my car was up a little all around. it 'settled' in about a week or so.

the front seems up a little and the back a bit lower.

what size tires are you running?

i just went up one width, 205/65/15.


peter

Peter,

I don't know what my pad set-up is. I didn't think to look at it when I had them changed. So I can assume I have whatever set-up comes from the factory.

I was shocked to notice a huuuge difference in height when they were installed, especially in the front. I was bummed out and wanted to change the pad height immediately.

I have noticed that the car has finally "settled in" in the last two weeks, and it's not as bad.

I can't really tell a big difference in the rear, but I can still see a difference in the front.

I'm running the stock tire size - 195 / 65 - 15's.