66 Roadster

Just installed my new H&R sways on the Coupe. What a difference! I am now exiting my favorate corners much faster. Came back from lunch and put the Coupe in a nice 4 wheel drift coming out of a hard right, slight left, right at 65 MPH - very controllable. The car has very, very little roll. The first thing I noticed was under hard braking coming into corners, the transition is smoother with a lot less nose dive, roll off. With the much larger bar in back the car has less understeer, but a bit easier to spin the inside tire. I do hear/feel more tire noise over the bumps but well worth it. I have the bars set at the stiffest setting.

I highly recommend this improvement if you are into the handling aspects of a car. Working with Evosport was great and the H&R bars are very nice.

wdougla1

My C230 SS is coming in this Saturday and the one mod I wanted to put on the car first was a thicker set of sway bars. I was thinking about upgrading the stock sway bars with a set off of the 2005 C55. I hear they are a few mm thicker. How many mm are the sway bars you installed? Did you do the work yourself?

66 Roadster

The H&R bars are 26 mm front and 19 mm back.

The front was just a matter of pulling the plastic skid pan (6 bolts) and taking off the bar. You can jack the car up, but the front tires must be level so you don't bind the bar.

Jacked the rear up by the chunk (put on jack stands) and took off both tires. Then dropped the plastic pans under the floor slightly (2 back bolts each side) to get room to take off the bushing bolts. I "threaded" the bars out/in from the right side without problems.

In all it took under an hour for each bar.

Guest0001

Very nice. I really need some sways myself. Im still not confident during hard turns. Still debating between the AMGs and H&R.

vadim

Only if you cross a bump at an angle. If you hit it with both wheels at once, there should be no difference compared to the stock bars at all. If there is, it is in your perception only.

CitronC230K_03

arent the C55 bars the same size as the C32 or did the increase the size?

66 Roadster

Yes vadim you are correct. However you do feel and "overall" stiffness in the car - which I really like.

Nobel - confindance comes with really knowing your car and its limits no matter how well it handles. I use a favorate corner - a 270 degree on ramp - and take it at increasing speeds to learn the limit of a new car. Start off with what you feel confindent and try again and increase your speed. Keep making more runs increasing your speeds until you hear your tires complain. It will be your outside front, then start giving it more throttle until you feel the rear come out slightly. It really is just a matter of feel and practice. Join the local sports car club and start taking driving classes - they are a hoot and they can teach you the limits. Be very careful on the street and don't experiment on wet roads. I am no race car driver, but have been running corners as a serious hobby for 20 years and taken many classes. To me a car at its limit in a corner is what it is all about - what a cool rush.

The MB is not the ultimate corning machine by far, but it is not about speed. It is about taking a car to its potential. Because of their light rear, pickup trucks are a blast in corners with the tail completely out in a full slide.

To fuel the MB and BMW debate - I test drove many bimmers before buying the MB. All the bimmers - 330 ci, 325 coupe and four door, a 5 series all would hit their bump stops in hard corners. Your head would feel like a bobble doll. The salemen finally said the BMW is just not designed for my kind of driving?? They are nice cars, but "the ulimate driving machine" is just a marketing ploy.

wfb1746

Does anyone know if the C55 uses the same sways as the C32?

Saprissa

For the COUPE, I would recommend AMG's unless you're really into high-speed cornering and taking the car to the "limit" like 66 Roadster, then go for the H&R, Eibach, or EVOSPORT thicker sways. The AMG's come off the SEDAN (C32), and work wonders on the COUPE !!!!!!

For the sedan, I would definitely go for the later 3 and not the AMG's, only because you really won't feel the difference that much. The C32 owners will tell you, that their AMG Sways are OK, but many have upgraded to after-market sway set ups, in conjunction with a plussed up Suspension.

Still interested to know, however, if the C55 AMG sways are thicker than the C32 AMG sways ????? And if they're the same size fitment for the W203 chassis ?

now, C55 AMG sways would go great with my CARLSSON / BILSTEIN RS Adjustable Sport Suspension....

accbenz

how much are the H&R's or the AMG's?

66 Roadster

I dont have my paper work from MB, but the AMG bars from the local dealer were $500.00 plus. This is a rip off - I think most are getting the bars around $200.00.

H&R bars are $223.00 for the front and $151.20 for the rear. Shipping to Al was only 27 bucks.

Saprissa

Yeah, the AMG bars are approx $220 from the dealer, including bushings.

You can probably find pretty good used ones from C32 owners who've moved on to after-market sway bar set-ups. I would recommend buying NEW bushings however, as these tend to wear down with time anyway.

Carlos / Saprissa@aol.com

CitronC230K_03

i paid about $230 for my AMG sways from Hoehn MB. that was over a year ago.

Guest0001

I think H&R is about 450 im not sure.

Anaheim_Drew

$405 shipped for sedan.....front/rear and bushings....... $13 less for coupe

Saprissa

Drew, I wasn't aware that the H&R Sways for Sedan and Coupe were any different, since the W203 chassis is the same.

For the AMG sways, the part # for the Sedans & Coupes (AMG Euro model) is the same.


???

Anaheim_Drew

You could be right.... but when I priced them out the rear for the coupe was less................ Why I don't know.......

CitronC230K_03

maybe the sedan sways are larger in the rear?

Saprissa

my rear AMG sway, came off a sedan, and fit just right.

maybe the H&R Sways are different size on the rear.... could be !

Guest0001

my mistake its 380 for the bars. Im not sure about the brackets, bushings, endlinks, side links, rear links, and whatever other links are needed.

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/S...d=all&x=45&y=8

Anaheim_Drew

They are the same...I used the wrong car for the coupe.....