Bilstein HD or Sport w/ Eibach spgs on W210
 

I have a 97 E420 with Eibach springs (slighly more than 1" drop). Should I get Bilstein HD or Sports?

you need the sports if you lower the car any

Yep, I spoke with an engineer at Bilsteins office in San Diego, CA, and they mentioned as such.

You must use the Sport shocks with lowering springs like Eibach or H & R.

Clap, clap, clap...........everybody has it right. ;)
HD's & Sports have the same valving, ( in case you're concerned about ride quality ) and the sports have a shorter shaft to maintain the same travel, in combination with the 1" drop.

Great! My only concern is that I do not want to further drop the car, would the Sports not cause the car to drop another 1/4 inch or so?

Springs affect ride height, not shocks.

When I put the Bilstein HD shocks on my W201 the car lifted like crazy. People asked me if it was a 4x4. I used the factory springs at the time.

My W124 has Bilstein HD shocks as well and I intend to lower my car with Eibach springs. Don't forget that the pads for the springs affect the ride height also. You could buy different pads if you wanted to.

There is a member on this forum " ksing44 " who has some great experience and knowledge about this very subject. He has Eibach ProKit Springs and Bilstein HD Shocks on his 1995 E320 SE.

You could also read some of this:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/search.php?searchid=303236