Another Infamous Spring Pad Question
 

Hey all,
I am doing Eibach lowering springs this weekend for my 87 300e. The car has 4 bump pads in front and 3 bump in the rear and is still a little higher in the rear. The question is, if I go to Eibachs, should I go to 3 bump all around, I am trying to lower the car but not slam it, however, I want it level. Are the spring pads meant to change the height in relation to the spring or shock? Any advice?
Thanks
Scott

If you want it level, you should go with a 4 pad in front and 2 pad in the rear. The more bumps on the pad, the thicker the pad. Now, if your rear end is still higher, then you should get a thinner (#2) pad. It should help out a little in leveling out your car.

it is like a box of chocolates
 

As Forest Gump would say, it is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get when you drop your car with Eibach springs.

I started with 3-bump pads all around when stock and then switched everything to 1-bump pads when I had the Eibach Pro-Kit springs and Bilstein HD shocks installed. I then switched back to 3-bump pads in the rear because the rear dropped a lot more than the front on my 1995 E320 SE. I also added the K-MAC bushings when I increased the rear spring pads because my camber was almost -3 after dropping the car and it could not be adjusted without the new K-MAC bushings. The camber is now adjustable to within specifications. My mechanic used the alignment specification defined for a sport suspension.

With 1-bump pads in front and 3-bump pads in the rear, my car is about 1 inch lower all the way around, but I do have some differences from side to side. The driver side is exactly the same gap front and rear, but on the passenger side the front is about 0.25 inches lower which makes the back look a bit too high. I am not sure how my own bodyweight affects the ride height and gaps. Maybe when I am in the car, the driver and passenger sides are the same. I am thinking about switching the rear pads one more time to 2-bump in the rear but I don’t like the car to look like it is hauling heavy weight in the trunk. To me, if it is too low in the rear it looks like your car is old with a broken down suspension. I am constantly looking at the car, measuring, and wondering if I should try 2-bump pads in the rear. I am getting a little crazy I guess.

ksing 44

I have done my fair share of lowering in past years.
To me, a car only looks " right ", if the rear is slightly higher than the front.
If you ever load some people, or luggage in the car, it will level out and not look like an MB with a worn out suspension.
Boy, I sure see enough of them around here.
;)

I have noticed that with the pre-93 w124's its a good idea to go with one more bump higher in the rear than in the front. On the post 93 cars it seems to be the other way round higher bump in the front than in the rear.

scott

just this week i replaced spring pads on my '92 300e.

4 bump front, 3 bump rear [from factory].
i went with #2's in front and #1's in rear.

btw i have bilstein h.d.'s about 1 year old, original reg springs.

my car has [already] dropped about 5/8" and will go more when the new pads 'seat' themselves a little better.

if you don't go at least 2 sizes i don't think you'll notice much of anything.

it is not slammed looking at all.

you don't need to change springs to drop it a bit.

front end alignment done to sportline specs, hope it was the way to go.

i will post some pix, i started a thread on this last week.

peter