SCFALIA

hi everyone. I've been reading this board for over a year now and this is one of the few times I have posted. I have a 2005 C230 Sport Sedan...I'm thinking of buying some 18" wheels within the next few months. i've done a search of the forums but because I'm a newby when it comes to mods, I need to start a new thread that is specific to my needs.

I'm wondering if anyone here has put on 18" rims and if so, did you have to lower it any more since the 2005's are already lowered. When I do a physical check on my car, I get about a 2 finger space gap in the rear and about 3 in the front with the stock springs and 17" wheels. The 19" rims look nice and all but I don't want to have to deal with spacers or rubbing as I have read in other threads.

Also, if I have to lower it anymore, is there a certain type of spring size that I should use? As you can tell I haven't done these types of mods before so I don't really know what I'm doing (or saying for that matter ). I also read about coilovers but I can't afford that at this point. Hopefully I can get some good ideas from you guys....thanks a bunch.

808_230K

if you can live w/the uneven fender gaps, 18's shouldn't look too bad on the '05 stock height... I know there are pics on here of guys who have done it.

if you are going to drop, H&R and eibach both make inexpensive drop springs. tein also started making euro-application sets, but I don't know if they have for MB yet.

Deutscher_Wagen

Im in the same situation as you. I was thinking about 18 (possible even 19) and slightly lowering just the front. Rear hight looks fine for me; especialy living in Colorado, where clearance is concern. But some 18s with a 1.5 inch drop in the front only should complete the car's look.

SCFALIA

Is it possible to buy just the front springs or do you have to buy it as a complete set? I think 18" in the rear will look fine but the front will look kind of funny if it isn't lowered a bit. Is 1.5" in the front a bit too much though...wouldn't a 1 inch drop be better? I'm not too sure about these things which is why I'm asking you guys since you have more experience. Thanks again for your replies.

Oil Change

can u guys post some pictures

Deutscher_Wagen

An inch would work... i just like more of a raked look.

I don't know if vendors will sell just front set (never tried getting just front), but with enough research i'm sure you can find it.

Also, as long as you don't go lower than 1.5 the front 'sport' struts should be find too. They may wear out slightly quicker due to the travel difference, but not insainly noticable.

If you find some AMG ones, you dealer may also not pee on your warranty, or you could always claim that 'warranty act' (someone posted something about that a few days ago...)

Deutscher_Wagen

FrankW

not sure if mine's actually lower than the 05 sport, but the pic is in the sig.

SCFALIA

hey Deutscher_Wagen,

Your front looks really high...higher than mine in fact. I can see why you want a 1.5" drop in the front. I have about a 3 finger space gap but I think if I lower it an inch, I can get the space about even with the back if I get 18" wheels. Ok, maybe I'll just get the front springs replaced but if there is anyone out there that feels otherwise then please let me know. Thanks.

SCFALIA

Hey Frank,

Your ride height looks really good. What is the part number on those springs? And how much do they run? Thanks.

Deutscher_Wagen

yea, it does look huge in that picture...

these cars look like crap when the front wheels are turned too much, since it raises as you turn.

That's what I plan on doing this summer.

drexappeal

For my personal tastes, I would lower the car first before even thinking of putting rims on.

You said you were going to get 18" rims? Wrapped (i.e. including tires), that means you could be looking at between $1400 - 2400 depending on whether you get 1 piece or 2 piece/staggered or non/staggered. You'd also have to consider what kind of rims you are considering getting.

If you are not going to get "good" rims, my choice would be to lower the car first with springs or get coilovers, which would cost just as much as rims/tires, if not less. There are a lot of good deals on coilv

Now, if you have a hook up with 18" rims or you are purchasing used rims, that's a different story. Go with the rims in that case.

I think the 17's look good enough to drop the car first and give the car a lower profile. Whether you go with coilovers or just springs is purely up to your tastes/style of driving. If you are going for more "appearance" than performance, you can just purchase springs and when the stock shocks go bad, you can upgrade the shocks seperately.

All in all, I understand that the #1 thing is about not having enough money. Just realize that it may be more worth your while to lower the car with springs and keep the stock rims (which are still nice for stock rims) and have a sleeker looking car.

IMO, it wouldn't be a good decision to get 18" rims, just to get 18" rims and have different looking rims than stock. Cuz no matter what, if the rims don't look good it might even detract from the cars body styling. Does that make sense?

Good luck with your choice.

360_iti

Deutscher_Wagen, let me know when u're ready to lower ur front.
Maybe I could join u.. where in CO r u ?
I'm thinking of getting 18s too.

SCFALIA

Drex,

Thanks for your reply. you have some good points, the 17" stock rims look ok but I just want something different on my car which is why I want to get some 18" wheels...I'm thinking of HRE or iforged but money is the problem as I don't have too much of it right now. (I know...pretty ironic). Just a quick question though, would having lowering springs with the stock shocks make the shocks wear out faster? I'm not a technical guy so I wouldn't know that. Also, what would you say is the average life span of shocks? I guess that would depend on how you drive your car right?

Deutscher_Wagen

Money isn't as much as a problem is as involvment and after effect. Just about every other car I've owned I've modded the crap out of it. And after a while it just isn't confortable to drive daily. Due to that, I plan on stearing away from that technique and soothing my itches with light, but tasteful, additions to the car.

I figured I'd just do the rims and front springs at the same time.

On a seperate note, as good as staggered rims look, I can't stand not being able to rotate them.

Deutscher_Wagen

like i mentioned, summer time.

SWEET another Colorado MB'er! That makes 3. We need to have a GTG... lol all 3 cars.

Another Colorado MB'er (SAguirre) and I are from Longmont (just north of Boulder)

Karsa

I think the stock suspension w/ 18" looks OK. Having lowering spring w/ stock shocks will make the shock wear faster, that's what I heard.

Btw, SCFALIA could you check your PM.

Thanks

ChristianJan

i was also considering just buying the springs to lower the car an inch due the price of coilovers, because im buying some 18"s too. but like earlier said, they will be worn out quicker

SCFALIA

So I guess the remedy is to buy the lowering springs but also to get the appropriate shocks...how much will this run, maybe it'll be better to get the coilovers then...or am I missing something?

Deutscher_Wagen

With only 1 inch drop the extra wear is barly noticable. It's not like your MB will bounce on the road like a Honda with cut springs in a month.

360_iti

That'd be fun

drexappeal

To answer your question before, yes, lowering your car with aftermarket springs will most likely cause faster wear&tear for your stock shocks.

Now, with that being said, you said that money is a factor, but you're also planning on getting HRE's? And you'd rather spend the $1400-1700 per rim on HRE's than spend less money and just get your car dropped? That doesn't make sense at all.

Okay, just to give you an idea on coilovers (which include shocks), you would spend in a range from $1400 - $3500 for the entire set up.

If you went with Springs and Shocks (both aftermarket, but separate assemblies), you would spend probably between $600 - $900.

If you went with 18" HRE's, on wheels alone:

The lowest possible "retail" price (according to the HRE website) with the C Class type fitament would be $932 PER RIM! That's a 7.5 width rim. So at a bare minimum for rims alone, you'd be at $3728 (NOT INCLUDING TIRES). And, that's just for the 7.5 width. If you want to go staggered, it'll be even more expensive.

Now, if you're saying that "money" is an issue and you're thinking of getting HRE's, that is TOTALLY a contradicting statement.

That would be like saying, "I want to get a C32, but I only have money for an old VW Bug (the one's they sell in Mexico for $1000)".

So, in essence, I'm totally confused on what your budget is. You said you don't want to get coilovers because of the cost, but at the same time you're thinking of getting HRE's? Please explain.

SCFALIA

Yo Drex, no need to get hostile man. Calm down. I guess what I needed to say is that I can't afford to do too many things at this point in time which does make money an issue to me.

It's either the rims in which HRE's are a possibility (never said that I was going to get those for sure) or a decent suspension setup. I graduated from school not too long ago and being that this is my first benz I don't have too much money to throw around whether it is on rims + tires or on suspension.

I had already acknowledged that it was pretty ironic in my post (go see for yourself), by doing so, I pretty much disclaimed the contradiction. I never threw out dollar amounts on what I can afford so I don't know how you know what is reasonable by doing the math that you did in your post. All I'm asking is for some advice from experienced drivers on what should be done, not criticism on how I do things or what I post. So far I'm getting a lot of good info until you started to go off and that wasn't cool. I think I'm speaking for the majority of the people here when I say that the reason why people even come on to these boards is to get some help from people with experience not to get chewed out just because somebody contradicted what they said. Again, I'm thankful for your help and it will aid me in my decisions....

drexappeal

No hostilities at all on this end. Just want to make sure that I'm answering your question, otherwise I'd feel bad. Sorry if it came off that way. That's on the realz. So, my bad if it came off that way.

I was just trying to use some analogies to find out where you were going with the info we were all providing, so in essence I was trying to in fact give you more detail than you were asking for. That's all. Take a look at many of my other posts. I try to help out. Take a look at the top of this w203 board. I made the Bodykit thread for people so that they didn't have to search. Believe me, if I was trying to be hostile, you would know it. And this is definitely not a time that I was trying to do that.

I used CAPS sometimes, just to emphasize some things (and I understand the all caps meaning that I'm yelling), but I just wanted to emphasize the words (i.e. too lazy to bold)...LOL.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand, what I was trying to say in terms of "reasonable" prices is point out that the rims (especially the ones you were referring to) were much more than coilovers. That's all with that. Like I said in my first post, if money were an issue in terms of what I was going to get, I would just get coilovers/suspension upgrade first before rims (for the simple fact that the stock rims are very nice compared to other stock rims). Putting it simply, a car that has 18's and is not dropped does not look good in my opinion. The wheel gap will pretty much be the same (despite the 1" increase in wheel size). You have to take into consideration that it is more likely that the tire will be a lower profile than what is currently on the stock 17" rims. Just my take on that. Which way you decide to go is up to you and obviously whatever money you have to spend.

Take it easy and good luck.

SCFALIA

No problem Drex...thanks for your help and everybody else who contributed as well