The Jury

Trying to figure out where I want the car to sit so we are cutting the rings off and trying to get a feel for what looks good before ordering anything. I think this 2 inch drop looks pretty good. We removed the wheel gap and its even with the back wheel gap so there is just a little rake to the car, which I love.

Whadda ya think about this 2 inches? I like the gap where it is.







A shot of the rake




Before was 3 1/2 in gap after we put the new OESpectrum struts on.

samaritrey

So you are going to get new springs very soon right?

The Jury

Oh certainly, we already went to the junkyard and picked out the leaf springs from the rear axle of a 76 Ford F100 to replace them with.

jkowtko

I think a 76 F100 is too new for your car ... it won't fit. I think this may work better --

ambit

Cutting springs
A set of H&R's is like $200

Boom vang

looks like the gap I have with the eibach springs I put on my non sport C230

The Jury

What's wrong are you broke? Need a better job? Might wanna fix that. Reading skills could use a polishing as well. It's been my experience that people who are the prikky elitist types are the ballin on a budget one's with the least money.

Moving on,

Looks like the measurements are showing 1 1/2 inches. I think I could go 2 inches and be happy so I'll look for some 2 inch springs. I definitely want to look for some progressive springs that retain the stock ride quality. As you would expect the loss of one ring changed the spring rate and it's a rather annoying ride at the moment. I was actually ok with the stock height until we out these OESpectrums on and the car came up an inch. That's actually why I am not buying coil overs as we didn't plan on lowering the car, the $600 in new struts and shocks caused this issue and forced me to get the car back to the stock rake.

This is before and after from this morning.

Boom vang

Most of the out of the box spring sets will drop between 1.4 and 1.6" from OEM. The Eibach drops about 1.4, Unless you are changing the strut, it is not usually good to go beyond 1.5 on an OEM strut as you might have travel issues and possible bottoming out issues. The Eibach pro kit will work on stock OEM struts and not cause any issues, lowering beyond that and keeping them will invite a whole host of issues.

From the photo, looks like you need a new sway bar link as the boot is torn and leaking. If you are going in to the expense of lowering and putting on more performance springs then you really should change the sway bars to a thicker version - the best bang for the buck when it comes to handling improvements.

Not sure why you are going through all the trouble (and cost) to re&re the job, looks like too much work only to redo it again

The Jury

I don't have to actually do the labor at all so it doesn't matter how many times we do it. A buddy owns a shop and he is getting his use out of his hourly employees. On your observation of the drop of the pro kit I am wondering about possibly spindles being an option for this car if anyone makes them. Unfortunately it was not foreseen the OESpectrum struts would lift the front of the car. After you are $600 deep in them, even if it is the hard way, it has to be fixed. I do like the way they ride. My tires are 19" staggered 30 ZR and they are hard as a rock, but the car rides like it has stock 17's.

On the sway bar, I have been looking at the options provided by the vendors. I've had CLK's, SEL's, everything I can get my hands on in Mercedes since about 1993 and been on this forum ten years, but I just got this car a month ago so I'm having to make a maintenance list as I go. Today was the first time I had gotten a chance to see under it since it was purchased a few weeks ago. I really am not so much as excited about the W203 as I was the W208 and W209 I have owned, but this car came from a buddy for a good price and I made room for it. It's pretty good for a budget benz and I plan on replacing anything it needs. Just haven't had it long enough to really do much.

The Jury

SO HAWT. See that has just messed my plans all up now and I gotta re-plan everything.

I was pleasantly surprised with how the underside of the car looked when I got under there. I expected a nightmare because you never know..... It actually looks like everything is where it should be an unmolested. Stock everything, no scrapes from bottoming out. Really pleased after looking at it for the first time today.

Easily and by far the most pleasant thing however......... NO LEAKS.

Boom vang

oh to have a car that has never seen salt, car looks brand new underneath

VVF

The flex disk seems a little tired IMO. Or is it just the picture?