maxbhp

Need to get rid of the excessive wheel gap on my C43. It turns out it came with number 2 pads but it sits with about 4-5 finger gap.

Not that the stock ride is great, but I drove a C43 with H&R/Bilsteins and the ride was much worse. I'm also not looking to lower it too much or tuck the wheels, just a finger or two gap.
Recently I was recommended by my indy mercedes shop to cut just a quarter of a coil on the stock spings and then fine tune the height and balance with the pads. This way the spring rate won't change too much from stock.
I've been modding my cars since I got my first one in 1995, but I have never cut a spring on a car. It was also preached to be a big no-no and just a cheap way out. For me it's not about the money, however I won't be using the car enough to justify coilovers.
Has anyone done this or had any experience cutting their springs on a C43 and how far did you go? Happy with the results?

Also, ideally I would like to also stiffen up the sway bars and find thicker ones while retaining relatively soft (stock) springs. Is their a thicker sway bar available for our w202s, perhaps off the c55?

PJmak

I know for a fact that a swaybat from a ML works on w202s because my friend had it on his car and he was able to run 19s without much rubbing. I believe some custom work went into putting the swaybar on the car.

Also im pretty sure stock shocks are only gonna wear out faster with cut springs. They are not built to take on the extra stress.

This is why you need bilstein sport or super sport shocks if you wanna go even lower

Jasssc

I've had stock, springs, eibachs, and now air suspension.
I have also cut the springs on my buddies 190e.

My conclusion: go air if you've got the money, lowering springs if you want a nice ride and drop, and cut springs only if you're broke. There is a huge ride quality difference between lowering springs and cut springs. Cut springs are very bouncy and don't provide any help in body roll in turns. I don't know why the c43 you rode in was much worse. I don't think the ride quality gets worse with springs, obviously stiffer, but thats expected.

maxbhp

I'm not sure why the car I road in felt as it did, but honestly think the stock suspension is pretty crappy ride wise as it is. For being so high, it's surprising it rides like a lowered car.
I'm agreeing with you all right now regarding cutting the springs, since the rates would naturally decrease as a result.

Again I dont really even want it to look lowered. It will be sharing daily driving duties with my gti and probably not get more than a 100 miles a week. I have other cars for spirited driving and weekends including track days. I really just want to get rid of some of that gap. I'm now thinking that worst case if I don't like the ride after cutting no more than a 1/4 of a coil I'll just toss in some h&r/bilsteins.
Btw, how do the Eibachs compare to h&R? Do they lower more/less and quality if ride in your opinion?

Dziner82

my car has the Euro C43 spec springs with the Bilstein super sport shocks, its quite firm of a ride. its a lot lower even though most members with vogtland springs think its not low enough... i have 2 fingers in back and one finger in front.
you might be able to just try the eibach sport springs and not the super sport only a 1.2" lower vs 2".
i wouldnt upgrade shocks if you dont want a firmer ride. maybe just put new factory replacment on when you put new springs?

cutting the springs is OK if you do it right , but as you mentioned most likely it will give you a stiffer ride, which you dont want.

my reccomendation would be the euro springs or eibach sport on stock shocks.

to my knowledge.. and i have searched pretty extensively; there is NO upgrade for sway bars for this car. only ones that i have heard talked about at all required some sort of customization of the front suspension and not many people have done that and i wouldn't recommend it.

maxbhp

Thanks for the input guys.

I agree now after doing more research that cutting a 1/4 of a coil off the bottom of the spring can work if done right although it is still sketchy in my mind.
However, I have some great techs on the car who are recommending it and I am confident would do it eight. One was lead mechanic for Jon Marconi when he won the Ferrari Challenge Series Championship and another has been a factory Mercedes tech since 1981.

Going to look into the Eibachs now

DRBC43AMG

If you have #2 pads on the vehicle, try dropping to #1 first before cutting the springs, or as suggested go for Euro spec springs with #1 pads. That's how they where made here.
I concure that no sway bar upgrades exist on the market. Remember this model is getting on in age and tuning companies no longer make or stock parts for it. You can go the custom road for anything suspension related but that's going to cost $$$

99CEEFOURTHREE

I have stock monoblocks/Voghtlands/Billy super sports on stock pads all the way around.Its low..about 1 fingergap with a slight rake which I love..the car rides amazing 100x better than stock.NO rubbing,bottoming or noises,NOTHING.Great handling! also had alignment done /kmac installed.This is a must IMHO.

DRBC43AMG

How do you like the KMAC's? Any squeaks?

99CEEFOURTHREE

My car almost exclusively is used for highway runs to see my family which is approx. 100 mile round trip.On smooth roads nothing.City driving an occasional squeak here and there but not annoying enough for me

mickey13

theres the old kmacs and the new kmacs (supposedly) so the old ones are squeakers and the new ones aren't, according to kmac anyway. there was a post on here that i was on and the guy from kmac said they fixed it but he wouldn't give me a guarantee if i remember correctly. kowalski of course was on the thread too so maybe he'll chime in

KJI3jflarryfe93

there was a forum sponsor, it's been a while since then.

maybe it was him where we were questioning their products?
https://mbworld.org/forums/members/275236-k-mac.html

mickey13

Has anyone put the D2 RS 36-way Adjustable Coilovers on their c43? Looks like there is an alternate choice to KW although D2 is not regarded as well, I'd like to hear experiences from any w202 owner with D2s.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...428660&alt=web