Does anybody have any experiene with Koni Sport shocks on the W202 (C-Class) or W210 (E-Class) cars. I'm considering them for my '99 E430. I used Koni's on my BMW's and they transformed the cars, but have stuck with Bilstein's on the Mercedes over the years due to the gas pressure design. Koni offers a gas pressure sport shock now and I thought Koni might have an edge for sporting handling.

Vince,
You might want to address this question to Luke (from Tirerack) in the Wheels and Tires forum. I know he has in depth tech knowledge on the various shocks for MB fittment.

Hope this helps...Lee

Thanks, Lee. Luke was my first choice and I spoke with him a few days ago. He is checking his sources for info. Funny, not many people seem to have much info regarding Konis and Mercedes.

Vince

Ed Ayres (GWS secretary and next VP)autocrosses and runs his E 430 at summit point. You might contact him. As you know my 2.3-16 uses the adjustable konis and Bruce Adams and Alex Dearborn have suggested I use the the adjustable konis on my 190 SL instead of the bilsteins.

Hi Robby. Regarding Konis on the 190SL, back eons ago when I bought my 250SL I looked into Konis and drove a 250SL equipped with Konis. In my car with the oem Bilsteins the suspension had tremendous response to bumps, dips, etc., especially in mid-corner. The Koni equipped car was slow to respond by comparison. The reason seemed to be that the Bilsteins, with the characteristics of their gas pressure design, added a rising rate effect to the suspension that the Konis did not. I've stuck with Bilsteins on Mercedes ever since. On the BMWs I owned, they were not using a gas pressure shock, so the Konis performed wonderfully. However, on your 190SL, with the shortened springs, and with what I believe you are trying to improve (track preformance) perhaps the Konis, which are adjustable, are the right choice. I don't really drive track events any more and I am interested mostly in road performance, with all the variables that introduces. I have noted that Koni has developed a gas pressure design very similar to the Bilstein in the recent past. What I am trying to find out is 1) Do the Koni shocks (supplied only in their Sport version for the E430) cause any deterioration in the "quality" of the ride. By that I don't necessarily mean the firmness, as I expect they may be firmer, but their response time and whether they add harshness and 2) Do the Konis offer an improvement in handling (response in transient manuevers, roadholding over mid-corner bumps, whoop-de-dos, etc.). Thanks for the advice about Ed Ayre; I'll try to contact him.

Hi Vince, I did a search on "KONI" and came up with your posts on this subject. With your experience with KONIs, I hope you'll help me with this one.

I've just bought a set of KONI Reds for my 1983 W126 (280SEL). It comes with 4 levels of adjustment (0,1,2,3). What does each level refer to? And is the adjustment done before installing the shocks?

I am intending to lower the car with lowering springs too, probably Eibach or Terra. Which level (0,1,2,3?) in your opinion will be most appropriate for a heavy car such as a W126? I use my car for city driving, no racing at all.

Hope I provide enough info for you to help me, thanks!


Cheers.
Mervyn
1983 W126 (280SEL)

I just got my Konis installed about ten days ago on my W202 C Class. Between them and my new H&R springs, I couldn't ask for a better ride. I had a sports car before and was unfavorable of the Mercedes' boat like handling. It now handles like a sports car. And the firmness is adjustable (I now have mine set at full firmness all around after riding a week with soft in front, medium in back). I highly recommend them, they change your ride a lot.

Hi DTM Fan,

Got a couple of questions here.
1. Are your KONIs red or yellow?
2. Which level is full-firmness (0 or 3)?
3. Is there a marked difference in ride/handling quality between full-soft and full-firm?
4. Did you do a wheel alignment after the suspension change?

Hope you can enlighten me, thanks!

Mervyn
1983 W126 (280SEL)

0 should be softest setting. Start soft. On the reds I believe you must remove the shock. At least that is the way they used to be before the "colored" ones came out. They were all red at one time (more orange, to be exact). Lowering is a different issue involving the length of travel, etc. I have no experience lowering a car.

My Konis are yellow and the full firmness is 3. There is a marked difference. My car would do a very slight (VERY, VERY slight) nose diving during hard braking when it was set to soft. It was so slight that it wouldn't cause any problems but I wanted a real firm ride and the firmest setting is just what I wanted. Little swaying on turns, little diving on hard braking, and no crouching in the back during hard acceleration.
I haven't gotten my wheels aligned yet because I wanted to allow a full two weeks to allow the springs to settle to their final position. The wheel does not pull to any sides however because the shop I went to did a wonderful job, It steers great, but will get an allignment Friday or Monday.

My C250D has Bilstein/Eibach lowering springs and Koni adjustable (yellow) sport shocks.
I have lowered the car at 140.000km (or whenever) and have installed the sport shocks much later (approx. 340.000) and am very pleased by these shocks. The handling became much, much and much better (the W202 originally has a very nervous rear in high speed corners).
I have set the front shocks at pos0 (soft) and the rear at pos1 (medium) because of that nervous rear.

The ride is a little harsher with the sport shocks (the difference was very well noticeable after I first installed them, but I am used to it now while driving 1500-2000km per week). The shocks need to be removed before they can be re-adjusted.

Vince, just go for the Konis; they are perfect!
DTMFAN, how is the ride now? Do you need something to keep your kidneys in place or is the ride still durable (pos3 in front and rear?).

greetingz,

__________________
1990 300SL-24
1993 C250D with a minor 600+k kilometer
www.MBenzNL.com(the Netherlands)

Actually, with the firmest settings on all four corners, it doesn't ride any harsher than my old 1993 Prelude VTEC. I had that car since high school so I have grown to love the firmer ride. Now I get it in my C Class !!!