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So my car rides like garbage. And I think I'm using garbage lightly. I can hit a small crack on the road, and the car will act like I hit a pothole.
With that being said, I'm looking at options in terms of my suspension. In another thread I made I suggested overhauling the entire suspension system, but I think I'd rather just get the car back to stock ride and leave it be. It sits ridiculously high up front (I can fit a fist and then some in the gap) and pretty much flush in the back.
Keeping the above in mind, I'd like to see what my options are. I am not too keen on suspension stuff, so I'm not sure what I'd be looking to replace. If I push down on the car from any corner, it is bouncy as holy heck. If I'm inside the car and move the slightest bit, it shakes around. If I come to a stop at a light, it wiggles and jiggles and it "lifts up" when accelerating, as if I were in a muscle car with 500HP.
Am I looking to replace shocks, or struts, or are they the same thing and I'm just retarded? If so, what are some good parts/brands to look at. Firestone offered me a good deal on struts, but I didn't do it because I wasn't sure on what I needed to begin with. I didn't want to start replacing things without figuring it all out first.
I just put new Michelin Pilot AS3s on my 2004MB C320 Sport. It handled and drove terribly before I made the switch. The new tires have made a tremendous difference. We bought the car a couple of weeks ago with 3 different brands of tires. 3 were 245s and one was a 235. There was a constant pull due to the mismatch even after the alignment. I refused to drive much above 50 mph. With these tires, the new sweet spot is 65 mph. Needless to say, I'm loving the handling now. The tires were $716 at Costco which included a $70 instant rebate.
I wonder about the suspension change too. I can feel every tiny crack in the road. I think it's the sport suspension, but I truly am clueless about changes there.
Last edited by MrsJustice; 11-29-2014 at 07:08 PM.
2019 C300 Wagon; '75 Triumph TR6; previous: 2004 C230 6spd sold after 17 years of driving
Originally Posted by neurodave
So my car rides like garbage. And I think I'm using garbage lightly. I can hit a small crack on the road, and the car will act like I hit a pothole.
With that being said, I'm looking at options in terms of my suspension. In another thread I made I suggested overhauling the entire suspension system, but I think I'd rather just get the car back to stock ride and leave it be. It sits ridiculously high up front (I can fit a fist and then some in the gap) and pretty much flush in the back.
Keeping the above in mind, I'd like to see what my options are. I am not too keen on suspension stuff, so I'm not sure what I'd be looking to replace. If I push down on the car from any corner, it is bouncy as holy heck. If I'm inside the car and move the slightest bit, it shakes around. If I come to a stop at a light, it wiggles and jiggles and it "lifts up" when accelerating, as if I were in a muscle car with 500HP.
Am I looking to replace shocks, or struts, or are they the same thing and I'm just retarded? If so, what are some good parts/brands to look at. Firestone offered me a good deal on struts, but I didn't do it because I wasn't sure on what I needed to begin with. I didn't want to start replacing things without figuring it all out first.
Thanks!
The Sachs struts and shocks are quite robust and tend to last a long time (but if it is bouncy then they are done, I would change the strut bearing if you are changing the struts), saying that the rest of the suspension gives lots of issues. I would start with the springs as this car tends to break springs, also the cross struts and torque struts wear out fairly fast as with the tie rod and the sway bar links. With the 5 ball joints of these parts and bushings there are a lot of areas that will give lots of play and make your car drive like crap. All these parts have been updated from an A203 XX XX XX number to a A204 XXX XX XX component. Also make sure your fr wheel bearings are tight as well, they tend to wear out in about 100,000km
Finally after years of warranty claims and subsequent replacement my car has never been so tight and clunk free of noises (I have replaced every part on the front suspension and updated the sway bars and replaced the springs with Eibach). The front suspension has always been a lightly engineered and failure prone part of our cars. The rear suspension other than the links and breaking springs is generally quite hardy
Listen to Boom. New struts & shocks are a must if bouncing.
Thank you for the advice, guys!
Please excuse my ignorance, but are struts and shocks two different things? My novice assumption is one is for the front, another is for the back?
I can say that the back springs were replaced not too long ago. The receipt from the previous owner states MB did it because they cracked on her.
On a side note, the cars window sticker from original purchase says it came with the Sport package. Not sure if that plays a role in my decision making...
A strut is a damper (shock absorber) used in MacPherson strut front suspensions like the W203 uses.
Sport package is lowered. Different spring height & rate.
I figured it would be different. The window cling states the car was purchased with the sport package, but there is no sport insignia anywhere on the car.
Should I be weary of making sure I purchase the parts designated for the sports package? I'm sure many places might just throw me whatever they have and call it a day.
Have you had the bushings checked out? The suspension bits on these cars go out very quickly, and I wouldn't be surprised if you don't need a bunch of things swapped out in addition to the springs/struts. Blindly doing a spring/strut swap without looking at everything else will not give you an optimal solution.
The Sport package is just what your car came with from Benz; you can do whatever you want from here, since you are getting new springs. You just have to make sure that the new struts and springs make sense when paired together.
If it makes you feel better, you can always get "Sport" badges from another Benz model and stick 'em to the front quarter panels.
2019 C300 Wagon; '75 Triumph TR6; previous: 2004 C230 6spd sold after 17 years of driving
Originally Posted by neurodave
It sits ridiculously high up front (I can fit a fist and then some in the gap) and pretty much flush in the back.
Thanks!
If you can get a fist in the gap, then I highly doubt you have the sport suspension. You can still have a broken coil and have a space (mine was like that because a broken half coil turn will result in less than an inch difference, it was not until I jacked up my car that I noticed the broken spring)
ND - could you measure how much it is from the top of the tire to where the quarterpanel is? Your description isn't very helpful. Sucks that they didn't do all 4 springs at once.
The front of the 2001's were like that for some reason, not sure why. I've tried lowering springs which I didn't like and am now on coilovers. Wish I had just gone to coilovers from the start. Stiffer, but still comfortable.
One thing you can do is paste your vehicle serial number into this website and it will give you a complete list of what are the options and standard equipment in your car. I tried it for my CL and it works fine. You need to scroll down and you will find the hyperlink for Mercedes.
11-29-2014, 11:30 AM
