Battlecar / slight lift C230 coupe
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C230
Battlecar / slight lift C230 coupe
Hello everyone! Hope I don’t enrage the purists but looking into battlecar’ing/getting extra clearance on a 2002 c230 coupe.
Not full on battlecar but mainly looking to get a little lift with some beefier tires to get some clearance to hop over a curb and traverse some mild terrain, nothing crazy like rock crawling or mud pits.
Searching the google I don’t find much on lifting, only lowering. And seems only tire posts I find are about going wider and not necessarily taller.
I’ve got factory wheels with 205/55/16 and find some AT tires that look like they could work sized at 215/65/16. only questionable thing is as it is right now I’ve got about an inch of clearance between top of the tire and the bottom of the strut plate thing.
Ideally if I can get away with just slapping some larger tires on with keeping suspension stock I’d prefer to do so- found a co. saying they can do a 2-3” lift kit for ~$700. Not sure if that’s a good deal or not. Found some eBay front/back spacers for cheap but only give 30mm/1 inch of lift.
Also thought about switching to the 17” rims that they have on the later models of c230 coupes but not sure if that’d make it easier/more difficult. Seems rims are bigger but sidewall is smaller so might not make too much of a diff?
So whatcha think? What’s the best approach? Any advice/recommendations/tips?
Appreciate any info/input provided.
Not full on battlecar but mainly looking to get a little lift with some beefier tires to get some clearance to hop over a curb and traverse some mild terrain, nothing crazy like rock crawling or mud pits.
Searching the google I don’t find much on lifting, only lowering. And seems only tire posts I find are about going wider and not necessarily taller.
I’ve got factory wheels with 205/55/16 and find some AT tires that look like they could work sized at 215/65/16. only questionable thing is as it is right now I’ve got about an inch of clearance between top of the tire and the bottom of the strut plate thing.
Ideally if I can get away with just slapping some larger tires on with keeping suspension stock I’d prefer to do so- found a co. saying they can do a 2-3” lift kit for ~$700. Not sure if that’s a good deal or not. Found some eBay front/back spacers for cheap but only give 30mm/1 inch of lift.
Also thought about switching to the 17” rims that they have on the later models of c230 coupes but not sure if that’d make it easier/more difficult. Seems rims are bigger but sidewall is smaller so might not make too much of a diff?
So whatcha think? What’s the best approach? Any advice/recommendations/tips?
Appreciate any info/input provided.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,275
Likes: 236
From: BC, Canada
2003 C230K Coupe Orion Blue
The easiest way to raise the car is to replace the spring pads on all 4 corners. My understanding is that MB has 4 variants of the spring pads available, depending on whether the car is sport (such as yours), and the country/region where it was sold. Switching to the thickest variant should raise your car by 25-40mm I imagine.
I think the non sport struts are also slightly longer, as well as the non sport springs. Picking up a used suspension from a luxury variant of the car would be the most cost-efficient way to do this. Even if you go this route, I would still check the spring pads mentioned above.
I would also try looking at the PNs used by cars sold in countries with poor roads (ie outside of USA or Western Europe or Australia for example).
Pretty sure the other members here would also like to see some before/after photos of your setup.
I think the non sport struts are also slightly longer, as well as the non sport springs. Picking up a used suspension from a luxury variant of the car would be the most cost-efficient way to do this. Even if you go this route, I would still check the spring pads mentioned above.
I would also try looking at the PNs used by cars sold in countries with poor roads (ie outside of USA or Western Europe or Australia for example).
Pretty sure the other members here would also like to see some before/after photos of your setup.
Last edited by slammer111; Aug 8, 2021 at 08:47 AM.
