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I bought a C220 cdi and noticed that it sits quite low in the back. Attached is a photo of the vehicle. It wasn’t quite clear to me how to make it so low, although it has the elegance of a chassis trim and should be comfortable.
It also didn't have the right height at the front like the other elegance Mercedes and after driving on bad roads it drove too hard.
Hard to tell exactly on the picture, but my rear suspension was sagging a bit as well. I replaced the springs a year ago with the exact same OEM part number. It ended-up raising the vehicle height by about half an inch. The original springs looked decent with no rust, but the tensile/compression properties must have degraded over time. Or you may be able to use a thicker rubber spring seat as an alternative.
Hard to tell exactly on the picture, but my rear suspension was sagging a bit as well. I replaced the springs a year ago with the exact same OEM part number. It ended-up raising the vehicle height by about half an inch. The original springs looked decent with no rust, but the tensile/compression properties must have degraded over time. Or you may be able to use a thicker rubber spring seat as an alternative.
which brand of springs you replaced, the original Mercedes or Sachs, which are also the first installation ? I might believe that the originals also settle a bit over a period of 10 or more years
Springs were sourced from MB directly. I also replaced the shocks with Sachs, but they should not affect ride height.
I have to confirm the exact opposite. Years ago, on my previous W210 (E-Class), I only replaced the new Sachs shock absorbers on the front axle and left the old original springs, which were 19 years old. When I replaced them at the front, the car rose like a speedboat at the front. I was happy about that . Then I replaced the new Sachs shock absorbers at the rear axle with the old original springs and the car grew in height at the rear as well. After that, he drove very comfortably, like new again.
I think the power of the new shock absorber helps to push the force of the spring and so the spring also has less work in holding the weight of the vehicle. Therefore, the height rose with only the new shock absorbers.I would like to know who is the supplier of original mercedes springs? is it Sachs?
Last edited by cylaptor; Sep 15, 2020 at 07:16 AM.
let me continue with the topic. After a more detailed inspection of the chassis on the elevator, I undertook a rust inspection on the rear axle and on closer inspection I was surprised by what I saw .....
at first glance everything looked fine and then at the foot of the spring I noticed something that had not been noticed for a long time even at the technical inspection
Where do you live? What part of the Country/world?
Yea, you have a broken rear spring. The other side is also like about to break.
Sorry that you bought a car with that problem.
My guess is that the previous owner knew that, and that was one of the reasons they sold the car.
It's not hard to fix.
New rear lower control arm (that one is GARBAGE/NOT-SAFE), new springs, new isolators, and hope that the other side control arm doesn't have the spring rusted to it.
Fwiw, for cars is snow States, yes, that happens to many older cars.
Where do you live? What part of the Country/world?
Yea, you have a broken rear spring. The other side is also like about to break.
Sorry that you bought a car with that problem.
My guess is that the previous owner knew that, and that was one of the reasons they sold the car.
It's not hard to fix.
New rear lower control arm (that one is GARBAGE/NOT-SAFE), new springs, new isolators, and hope that the other side control arm doesn't have the spring rusted to it.
Fwiw, for cars is snow States, yes, that happens to many older cars.
Good luck.
i live in Slovenia, a country next to Austria by the sea in the middle Europe. The car was a cheap buy and I expected to have to replace a few things but I was looking forward to it. I immediately bought a new rear spring and when we mounted it, I was surprised that the car lifted sharply at the rear. Also the car leaned forward strongly, which I didn’t like while driving. After all is an elegance chassis, which is meant as a level of the highest comfort, which it was not now.
one picture before changing the rear spring and after changing.
I have to admit that before the change it looked kind of nicer and also in the back it had a fairly stable position on the road, but in the front it was not as hard as it is now. The rear has a 1-point, dot support rubber above the spring, which means that it is the lowest with a height of 5 mm. i only changed one original spring, the left one because the right one is in very good condition and no rust. I'm also wondering if anyone knows maybe who the original spring supplier for Mercedes is ? This is possible Sachs because they have their original shock absorbers.
Last edited by cylaptor; Sep 16, 2020 at 01:56 AM.
I'm not familiar with that area.
I'm barely familiar with the States in the United States.
It looks like the broken part of the spring came/fell right out. Weird!!!
In America, we use a lot of salt/etc on the roads where it snows.
The salt and the snow rusts metal. Metal parts can rust together and "become one" - similar to welding.
When when see broken springs, it's because the bottom spring has rusted forever to the lower-control-arm.
Any used lower control arm that isn't very rusty (or bent ) is just as good as a new lower control arm.
In America, it's not hard to get used lower control arms for a lot of common vehicles. I don't know about other countries.
Regardless, it looks like you're all set and you did a great job.
Originally Posted by
The salt and the snow rusts metal. Metal parts can rust together and "become one" - similar to welding.
When when see broken springs, it's because the bottom spring has rusted [u
forever to the lower-control-arm.
I have to say that both parts were not rusty here, so I just cleaned lower control arm preventively, protected it with some anti-rust chemical and installed a new spring. but I have now got its original height at the rear, so I have to tackle the problem going forward when lifting the front, new springs and shock absorbers, as the current one after 14 years and 200,000km has obviously already settled well down.i looked at pictures of european w203 and those made for the USA market and i noticed that for the USA they were made with elegance equipment with a slightly higher front height. Pictures
in the attachment
Last edited by cylaptor; Sep 16, 2020 at 03:32 PM.
well the car got a new pair of rear springs today. I opted for the lowest springs allowed by my chassis number with 1 gray dot mark. I have 2 red ones on the front, which indicate the sporty height of the spring, so I also had to choose the sporty version on the back, which is also allowed with the same shock absorbers. The new height looks like this. What do you say ?
Always change coil springs in pairs. If one goes bad the other will follow. I just changed mine on my '06 C280 as well as the shock absorbers. At 127K miles both rear coil springs were broken at the base. I had felt lack of stability recently as well as the 'boing' of the spring upon slow turning up into a driveway. Bought the parts from FCP Euro and it was about a two hour job last Saturday.
did you buy the original mercedes spring? whereas other manufacturers may have differences in the height and hardness of the rear of the chassis. Are there any differences?
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. Then I replaced the new Sachs shock absorbers at the rear axle with the old original springs and the car grew in height at the rear as well. After that, he drove very comfortably, like new again.
