My rear suspension just took a crap today!!! I'm taking the car to the dealership tomorrow…
I installed about a month ago the KW's from Vivid with the adjustable rear links and was not able to set the rears at the same height as the front.(was set 2 times)It would always self adjust higher than initially set, after about 2-3 days. Yesterday, it was set for the 3rd time really low and was thinking than it will come up like it did before and it would match the fronts. Well, it did and everything was beautiful until later on today…I went to do a eraand and noticed that the car became very bouncy and rough/stiff…sure enough i pulled over and the rear is sitting really, really low/ slammed…the fender is like 1/2" close to the rim. Looks like i'm a low rider…Anybody can suggest what could've happened?
I restarted the car after a couple of hours and the rear does not come up anymore…springs blown, compressor…what you guys think went bad?
Any input greatly appreciated.

 

Ok I was never able to get the links with KW to match the fronts with my CLS- so we used the links (leaving it higher) and then my tech did some manual adjustments to bring it down. What I think happened here is over correction which occurs after various periods of driving. The odd part is its not raising so Id put the stock links back on and see where the car goes. Hopefully you have a local tech who can do such things. I have had two sets of KW sleeves for airmatic cars the rear links were never correct to match the front so both times my tech manually went under the rear and adjusted the sensor to lower the car.

I never had the car recorrect but we would drive the car for about 3 miles after each adjustment and initially the car would correct so once we got it dialed then it remained stable for the remainder of my ownership.

 

air bellows

 

Hey Vic, thanks for your input.
Update on the suspension: driver side adjustable link that came from KW with the kit was broken off completely...made out of plastic !!!
I called Vivid Racing and they have also adjustable rear links made out of metal....man, i wish i knew before...I'll have them tomorrow and i'll be back at it again with the same approach.
It worked for me by having it adjusted lower than the fronts because it compensated and it came up every single time. Hopefully we'll be able to guestimate it close enough, so when it comes up, it will match the fronts.
I wish i had a MB tech that can tweek/fine adjust the sensors...
Here are some pictures.

Yesterday, before the link broke

After


Back on stock links...till tomorrow, lol.

 

Actually, it came down a little more after i drove the car about 15 miles.

 

Thats an interesting link from KW- mine were both orange. And get this, both had the words "eibach" etched on them meaning KW was outsourcing Eibach for their links. I never saw links like the one you have. Im glad its just that since its an easy fix.

 

Thats what Vivid Racing sold me with the KW kit.
When i called today and *****ed about it, they said they will get a warranty claim from KW...but they can get me the metal adjustable links....

 

Vic,

KW in the beginning sold the springs with non-adjustable links but later switched to these plastic adjustable links... Hope this helps

 

Now that makes sense, clarity- thanks.

 

I have the same links and for now, all is good. knock on wood.
Adrien, it must be the way you drive and the crappy Miami roads that broke the link

 

You are funny Emeric...but if i were you, i would change them also, before the same thing may happen to you...it's only $90. They should've made them out of metal...the OEM ones are not plastic...KW made a mistake..

 

Good idea. I will double check if I have the metal or plastic ones.

 

best looking cls i've seen

 

Thanks Berti. Remember, we met last year when you came down to Rage-tek to fine tune your E55…i had the white C63 coupe...

 

Are these new KW links adjustable ? I got the old orange plastic ones

 

ohhh sh!it thats you dammm man whats up bro, you got rid of the C class huuu... wayyy better choice on this one. Looks gorgeous bro wow

 

They are the new " plastic **** " because they are no good...and your car sits beautiful...i still have yet to fix the rear to sit properly to match my fronts...

 

Thanks for the compliments! My C63 was nice, but i just wanted more power and did not want to dish out $20k+ for the supercharger lol.

 

I got the adjustable rear links which were installed along with H&R springs up front (KW won't fit the 2013 4MATIC molds). They were all metal and excellent quality, looked better made than the OEM links.

While I didn't get an aggressive drop with this setup (about 3/4" all around) it looks much better and did not affect the ride at all. And it was inexpensive. So I'm very happy with it. Dyno-Comp here in Scottsdale did the install/alignment.

 

maybe one day i can get on one of these too you have my dream car right now

 

I'm interested to do the same thing, I live close to dyno comp, can you post a picture after dropping it?

 

See you Jan 11th at Rage-Tek for dyne tune day?

 

This is the only pic I have since the car was lowered. The 3/4" is just about perfect - it didn't mess up the ride or camber and eliminated the unsightly wheel gap. The adjustable links were all metal, and seemed to be superb quality.

And unless K&W has revised their coil-overs, the H&R springs are the only option on the 4MATIC models.

Dyno-Comp charged 3 hours labor plus $120 for an alignment, which I was happy with. Another shop down the street from them wanted nearly double for the same job. I supplied the H&R springs and links myself, got them for $350 shipped from Mike @ AdvancePerformance

 

I agree, it's just enough, looks much better, thanks for the details and pic, much appreciated!

 

Your car looks good. Perfect stance. These are the exact same links that i bought from Advance Performance. Do you know by any chance where are the rear links set for the height you got ?