Here's a question though, Tom, does the spring pad affect the ride quality at all? I've never changed the spring pad, so I'm not sure if it has absolutely no affect on the ride quality or if it is primarilly for ride height. That's always been something I've questioned since I've had the car.

Can you or anybody else clarify?

 

The spring pad in itself should not noticeably change the ride as you are not changing the spring compression or configuration.

That being said, the ride may suffer because you are decreasing the travel of the shock absorber. In the long run this will reduce its effectiveness, increase wear and reduce its life but not to the same point as will happen if you change to sportier springs.

 

jlm003, thanks for the clarification. That's the one part of the suspension that I never had to deal with in past cars that I've worked on or seen, so never wanted to assume I knew exactly what they would do.

I did assume that it would affect the ride very little, if at all, but I definitely appreciate an accurate description as you gave above.

drex

 

Hey guys. Looking into some H&R springs but i'm alittle confused about rear spring pad #'s that i read people mentioning. What exactly do the #'s mean? is it ride height? stiffness? I don't want a tucked look in the rear. picking up 19" TSW Bremmas with a 9.5" width in the rear. What would be good and not rub with 2 friends in the rear. never have more than 4 people in my car total. Thanks

 

well the spring pads are different thinkness.. from #1 as the thinnest and #4 as the thickest... to ahve all even finger gap you need a #4 pad in the rear.. the stock pad for w203 is #2..

 

i have some spring pad for sale

 

It's Friday and I'm a little slow, so be nice............When you say "to have an even finger gap you need a #4"......does this mean that you use the #4 pads on the front AND rear to acheive an even gap? Or, does it mean that you use the #4 in the rear with the stock #2 in the front????

Also, does anyone know what the change in height is for each of the pads??? Are they each like 15mm difference from each other or something totaly different? Reason I ask is that if a #4 pad in the rear with an H&R spring will give you a gap of roughly 1/2" between the wheel welll and tire, changing to different pads should raise or lower the gap amount by _____________ much???? Make sense??

 

you dont need pads for the front only the rear. stock springs would use stock springs and #2 pads. if you dont want the tuck look and your using H&R then you would use #3 or #4 pads depend on you.

 

im not sure anyone has really measured the "exact" drop differences between the pads. most people unfortunately go by guess and check.

 

If I remember correctly, when I went from #2 to #4 (raise car), the difference in ride height was 3/8" - 1/2". Then went back to #2

In the end, I got the TEIN Basics, and adjusted ride height, front and rear, exactly how I wanted.

 

PAD 1 = 5mm
PAD 2 = 9mm
PAD 3 = 13mm
PAD 4 = 17mm

 

so if i use a #4 in the rear, will it still look dropped? how much would that lower the rear w/ the H&R springs?

I found the H&R's for $239 new. are there any other places that i could get them cheaper or at least from a forum sponsor for the same price? I'd rather give my business to one of the sponsors to help support the forum.

 

sorry fellas, couple more questions. first, where can i pick up #4 pads for the rear. and how much do they run? second, should i need to roll my rear fenders, how much does that usually cost?

 

you can buy the pads from the dealer--I think they're like $20 a piece.

depending on your wheels, you should roll the fenders.

since you have an 05, the drop won't be very significant (that's why I was discouraged from getting new springs, but eunosracr's looks good and I may end up doing it). I would suggest trying the #3 pad b/c the #4 pad may just look like you're on the stock pad. please post pics when it's all in!

 

Wow... I really just got confused! What is the stock pad #'s on the '05+ sport sedans? I like the stock height in the rear, but I would like to drop the front a little to even out the gap between the tire and fender w/ the gap of the rear. What pad would I use?

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! More 05's coming out of the woodwork! I was trying to do this a few months ago, but everyone discouraged me from it and said that only coilovers would give me a good drop. I like the rear on the 05 too, but want to even out the front as well. I was told that the springs wouldn't lower it more than half an inch in the front so it wasn't really worth it. BUT, after seen eunosracr's 06, I have to believe that the H&R's will drop it a little more than that without having to deal with the price of the coils and possibly getting thicker spacers.

as for the spring pad, I think and can remember hearing that we have #2 pads in the rear.

 

anyone have pics with the #3 pads in the rear?

 

Do you know the pad # for the front?

I just measured my car, to get an even spacing front and back a 20mm drop would be needed? Whats the closest drop to that that I can do using only pads?

 

there are no pads in the front.

as for the spacing, I have no clue. I was going to get springs, but since none of them were specifically developed for 05's and up, I didn't and people that had put springs on their 05's changed them (bigjohnny) to coilovers b/c the drop wasn't significant.

 

According to Trekman.........."you dont need pads for the front only the rear."

I have not gotten my car yet, so I can not verify this. I would think that you have to change springs in the front, but

Here's some info that I found doing a search but not sure if the part #'s are the same for our cars. This was on the E55 forum.

FRONT SPRING PADS
210 321 01 84 5mm
210 321 02 84 9 mm
210 321 03 84 13 mm
210 321 04 84 17 mm
210 321 05 84 21 mm

REAR SPRING PADS
210 325 01 84 5 mm
210 325 02 84 9 mm
210 325 03 84 13 mm
210 325 04 84 17 mm

 

older Mercedes benz used spring pads fro the front. if yo want to lower your W203 you will need springs or coil over. if you use the stock #2 pads on a H&R or eibach springs you rear will be tucked . and if you have 19 like I do I rubbed alot so I need to change it to a #4, but I might buy a # 3 pad to make it more even on the front but I also dont want to rub on the rear.

 

Ah ok, thanks guys! Guess I'm leaving it the way it is for now!

 

trekman, got any side shots of your ride?

 

This is as close to side shot of his car that I could find...........



I want my new C230 to grow up and look like his C32!!!!!!! Love the grill!!!

 

the rear was real tucked using #2 spring pads so now I'm using #4