Wardsweb

I have a '03 240 sedan. I'm putting on some staggered 17" style 1 (170) wheels with factory spec tires. I like the ride of the car but want to minimize body roll to avoid any problem with running the bigger back tires. Should I get a set of AMG front and rear sway bars or would just one serve my purpose? If only one, would the front or rear do the most good?

TimmyC230boy

Do both. When you do both you wont believe how much better the car will handle. It will really make the body roll alot better, but wont affect ride comfort much. Oh yeah, do both!

KWiK

do both they were designed to be a set

Harris

Yes, definitely do both. If you just change the front only, you car will be heavily oversteered, the rear stock sway bar is a joke. Changing the sway bars will have nothing to do with the smoothness of the ride. And the AMG sways are inexpensive.

Wardsweb

Well seeing how I missed out on SilvaC32's setup, anyone have the MB part numbers for what I would need to make this happen? bars, brackets, links, bushings...

or even better, anyone have a set to sell?

Wardsweb

I just got off the phone with the parts department at my dealer. He says there are two different front and four different rear swars for the C32. These are broken up by VIN numbers and/or other options like brake size. Help

It shouldn't be this hard to try and spend money on this car.

trench

AMG Sway Bars
Front Assembly:
A203-323-22-85 - Bar-front
A203-323-16-85 - Rubber mount (bushing) - (2)
A203-323-11-40 - Bracket - (2)
A203-323-21-89 - Rod - (2) [A203-323-26-89 - Code 486]
A913023-012002 - Nut - (4)
A002-990-39-22 - Screw - (4)
Rear Assembly:
A203-326-15-65 - Bar-rear
A203-326-00-81 - Rubber mount (bushing) - (2)

For the C230s you don't need the front Brackets (but apparantly they are needed for the C240). The rod (or end-link) part number was also superceeded by the number in brackets - this part may not need replacing as some C230s come with it already, I'm not sure about the C240 (measure your end-link, if it's 11mm it's already the AMG part, stock end-links are 9mm). The nuts and screws are larger ones for the bigger end-links. There is some arguement whether the end-links need replacing at all. The Eibach kit, which are larger sway bars than the AMGs, uses the stock end-links. Decide what you want to do and go for it.

Cheers, BT

Wardsweb

Please correct me on this if need be. Lord knows I'm still learning about my car, but my homework has yielded this info:

The '03 C240 uses the old AMG sway bars
front: A203-323-19-65
rear: A203-326-14-65

The AMG bars have changed several times over the build of the C32's.
The fronts four times:
Starting with the A203-323-19-65
(Trench lists a A203-323-22-65)
(Patronus lists a A203-323-31-65)
to the latest A203-323-32-65. dealer=$80 / MBZ=$57

The rears have changed four times:
Starting with the A203-326-12-65
then the A203-326-14-65
then the A203-326-15-65
to the lastest A203-326-20-65 dealer=$103 / MBZ=$86

I'm going to call MBUSA Tech Support tomorrow to verify the lastest will fit my car.

CitronC230K_03

whats a set of amg sway bars go for, and how hard would the install be. is it somehthing that would have to be done by a shop?

KWiK

The set sells for about $200 and it take me about an hour in my garage.

Buellwinkle

I paid about $180 for front and rear including tax from my dealer. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to do the rear and 1 hour to do the front. With proper air tools and a lift I probably could have done the entire job in 45 minutes without rushing. It's just a bolt off/bolt on deal, no mechanical skills or fancy tools required, just a jack, a pair of jack stands and a socket set. Undo a bolt on each end, take of the 4 bolts on the brackets and it pops off, put the new sway bar in and bolt it back on. Use loctite to prevent the screws from backing out. The rear does require that you remove the wheels to give you enough clearance to slide the new bar in place. I'm sure the dealer can do it for you, probably with a 1 hour labor charge and be done with it in half that time.

CitronC230K_03

would the dealer know the part numbers? i would have to take you up on your tool fund and make a trip up to temecula for the sway bars. i was able to do the spacers myself but no way could i do the sway bars.

trench

I wonder if the initial run of C32s (with the first set of AMG bars) had essentially stock W203 suspensions? Or maybe what comes on the '03 C240s were the original "stiffer" bars that the literature claims cars with a "sport" suspension was supposed to have, and this suspension is what was on the first-run C32s? Shoot, maybe some of the C32 guys will have to get AMG sway bars.

My bet is that the latest bars will work fine. Even if there is some variation due to brake size, my guess is that since the C32 has larger brakes that any of these bars will fit on a W203 with non-AMG brakes.

- BT

Mach430

If you are going to buy C32 sway bars, you should try to find a used set from someone one of the many C32 owners who have upgraded to our sway bars (or just buy our bars ).

Wardsweb

I would buy yours except I need to keep all the parts on my car OEM, as not to void my all enclusive warranty good to 100,000 miles. I spoke with the head of service during the new owners meeting last month and verfied that as long as I was using factory parts ( AMG specific for performance enhancement ) I would have no problems with them covering any warranty issues.

Mach430

Warranty isn't an issue of what is made by Mercedes and what isn't. It's an issue of what came with the car and what doesn't, and what caused the problem and what didn't.

That being said, the only part of the car that could be effected by chaning the sway bars would be the sway bars. Unless you install the bar in the wrong location (such as you air intake!), you aren't going to have any problems with them. We stand behind our sway bars just the same as Mercedes does, so don't let non-factory parts discourage you from getting the best.

oggle

Wardsweb, you should also check out the Eibach sway bars. That's what I have on my c320.

CitronC230K_03

whats the difference between amg sway bars and evosport sway bars. price difference as well as physical differences.

Mach430

Our sway bars are larger in diameter (to eliminate lean) and are adjustable to help make the car steer more neutral. Our swaybars are $549 for the set. I have no idea what C32 sway bars sell for, we've never sold one.

Mach430

The Eibach sway bars are cheaper than ours, but many have found the rear to be too thick. I've seen posts of people mentioning their rear wheels hoping on hard cornering.

CitronC230K_03

thanks for help. tough decision now.

totita

How much did you torque the bolts? I'm planning to upgrade mine next weekend.
Thanks

Lynn

Sway bar sizes.
Stock: 20 mm front and 13 mm rear
C32: 22 mm front and 16 mm rear
Evosport: 24 mm front and 19 mm rear
Eibach: 24 mm front and 22 mm rear

CitronC230K_03

thanks lynn. there doesnt seem to be that much difference between the stock and C32 version. i mean if you compare the stock and eibach or evosport. so is the difference handlingwise really that much different between stock and C32. it must be good i would assume. will it stop the body roll or will there still be some with the C32.

KWiK

I did 25 ft-lbs. I remember if that is correct, but it's what I used.