newyorkkopter

Hey guys,
I've been lurking here for awhile, but today's my first post. I have a '02 240, haven't done anything too crazy to the car yet. But hey, slowly but surely.





So today I had brand new S-Techs installed



Was really happy until the car was on the ground again because it looked almost the same as the oem springs!(excuse the brake dust; was busy with work and school)





After driving about 30min, the car now does seem abit lower, but its nothing like the S Tech pics shown on Teins site and what not:
http://www.tein.com/tech_info/g00.html

It seems wierd to me because I know someone who did S Techs on his 4th gen eclipse and the drop was immediately noticeable.

Do springs really drop like 1.5in after settling?
From what I read S-Techs are supposed to be a 2.5, 2.6inch drop in the front.

So what gives?

CHiKompressor

Not sure about Teins, but coilovers do settle after a while. From the pics the front does look lower than OEM.

newyorkkopter

I've read springs take about a week to settle fully, is that about right????

Yea its definitely lower than OEM, but I was expecting it to sit much lower in front since theyre advertised at -2.5in for the front.

phister

you cant go off teins site for the drop because each w203 model suspension height is different. the same tein springs can drop an older w203 about 2" where they only drop them 0.6" on a SS 05+ model. If you wanted a lower drop you should have opted for eibach or H&R. Springs shouldnt take a week to settle in really maybe a day or two if that. Many discussions are whether or not springs really do need settling or not. What some do on coilovers to make sure the height is what they want is drop the car and roll it back and forth a couple of times to let them seat in right then measure and adjust the height if they need to.

newyorkkopter

oh okk, I bought S Techs because from what I was reading on ebay, they had the biggest drop in the front. Eibach and H&R were listed at around 1.5in for the front. Experience now proves otherwise.

So between H&R and Eibach which have the biggest drop in the front?

I'd really like 1 finger gap up front.

phister

H&R gives the biggest drop overall... sometimes the rear drops so much that some buy #4 pads in the rear to pick it up to even out the rake of the car. but since you have a c240 you probably have the #4 pads already or a #3 at least. usually the AMG and sports models have #1 or 2 pads already on the car.

newyorkkopter

oh okk thanks,so time for me to hunt for W203s on H&Rs to get an idea of the look.

To be honest, I like absolutley love the rake look, so I'd prefer less of a drop in the rear. Number 4 Pads should do it for me.

My main concern is the front. I want the front to be low, to the point of a single finger's gap.

W203E35

If you want the front to be a single finger you have to cut the front spring (which I dont like cut springs) or go with coil overs. I have H&R and the rear is pretty good but the front can go a little lower (but then again the fender arch is longer so it gives the illusion that it's higher. Also when I had my 19 inch wheels on there was a bigger gap than my stock wheels.

It looks good though...dont be discouraged. The drop looks good. I'm sure there is a big difference between before and after.

W203E35

Here is the front and rear on stock wheel (sorry about bad picture quality). I couldnt get a good shot at the rear because of a wall at the garage (the other side has a little dent ). Again on my 19 inch wheels the high was a little higher.

W203E35

I take that back...if you can have it cut professionally and the shop knows what they are doing and you don't mess up the spring rate too much then go for it. But if you're just going to chop off a coil or torch it down then I think you'll have a nice bouncy car

phister

Different struts/shocks also will drop the car a lil more.

TTR

Here's mine with the H&R springs on a 2001 C240. The stock rake was already really weird and I believe it was 1.4" drop all around. There's still a bit of gap in the front and the rear is really tucked into the wheel well.

newyorkkopter

thanks guys for all your input

I think I'm gonna try cutting a coil in the front. After seeing azn.ttr's drop and a few other H&Rs it doesn't look like the H&R drop is that much lower in front than S Techs.

And I really want the rake look, so cutting a coil should work.

I've been looking around and it seems alot of people cut the front springs 1/2 a coil or a full coil on the W203s to even out the drop with the rear.

btw, nice cars!

phister

start with half first because it may not seem like a lot but it is.

newyorkkopter

1/2 would be good enough? I have a 3 finger gap

phister

I always recommend 1/2 at a time because I've seen plenty of members cut one then two coils and then they end up being too low and end up buying another set of springs.

Coilovers is what I would opt for if you want to dial in your stance. also as karo has mentioned before since our front fenders are arched a bit higher and flared out more its not going to look like its not as low when looking at the car from a side angle.

newyorkkopter

point taken. Honestly I don't think I'd do 2 coils, from the pics I've seen one coil already brings the nose down quite a bit. Plus, I live in NY, there's almost always some crazy unexpected potholes/bumps.

Coil overs would be a better option, but abit out of the budget at the moment.

Thats tru too about the fenders.
Ok so I think I'm going try to get the springs cut like this weekend or next.
Lets see what happens

Thanks again

kirax2

don't ever EVER spring cut, i had Tein S-tech in my coupe i got so sick of it because of the rubbing i went to coilover,

my coupe only had 40k miles and i feel the S-tech is really wearing out all my shocks, i hate everything about it, it make my car wobble, it makes the fender keep shaving my tires, it handle like ****... cutting it will make everything worse and there is no going back

i got so sick of it so i upgrade to Bilstein PSS9 coilover and is heaven and hell differences

just like what u said i wanted to drop the car a little bit but not a lot but lowering spring doesn't do any justice so might as well save up the cost of cutting and go for a set of coilover, if budget is an issue keep an eye for a good set of used one they are well worth the investment.

phister

if you want to get rid of brake dust I recommend getting akebono pads. hardly any brake dust with those pads.

newyorkkopter

Okay so I ordered the Top Speed Camber Kit for my car like last week, and it came in end of the week. So I got excited and had that put in over the weekend instead of having the springs cut. I'll post pics soon

Kirax, I do get what what you're saying, but I really want to try the 1/2 coil or 1 coil cut.

And YES i do want to minimize if not get rid of brake dust Thanks Phister!
btw your car with the gold wheel setup looks gorgeous

phister

its actually copper! I've done gold already but it looks gold from far away then copper penny up close. You should've bought ghostriders or made your down camber kit and saved some money. but you already installed it so as long as it works.

TTR

Yaaaa mine is bouncey as effff. Gotta get new shocks soon. Thinking Bilstein or Koni. It's something I didn't think about when I got springs, but I kinda regret it now and wish I got coilovers.

kirax2

Bilstein

newyorkkopter

copper! thats awesome, I like that, its different.

Thats true, but I didn't look all that much into ghostrider's kit even though I probably should have. The Top Speed Kit was abit of an impulse buy. How would I make my own camber kit??

But anyways here's a few pics


From the side


Its about a finger gap from the fender edge


From the back outside the shop


In case you're wondering... yes, me and a friend of mine did grind the bumper tabs and also cut the part of the fender that was rolled inward to get this close to the edge of the fender without any major rubbing issues. We just dremeled it.

Its got that nice hella flush/stance look, but honestly I'm probably going to make it less negative after this wedding I have to go to on Saturday. Or should I just keep it?

Thing is I don't want it eating up my tires, I just got them a couple of months ago.

By the way, how much does a basic Bilstein coilover setup run?

phister

lol that aint hellaflush or stanced look. you got to be stretching tire and riding low for that.