Bipasha493

ok guys....is the "washer method" used to lower the car reliable? I heard of some stories on the forum where the suspension fails due to poor labor, etc. The last thing i want is to be driving on the highway and the suspension jus dropping to the ground as if the car had damn hydraulics. Also im comfortable with adding the washers to the front suspension, but how does the rear work out? Thanks
RiCh

Bipasha493

thanks

Stiggs

Why do you always refer to everyone here as ladies?

Bipasha493

i dunno, i think its funny....if i offended anyone you have my apology
now if i refered to everyone as "ok gentlemen" would you have asked me the same question? Theres "ladies" on this forum to ya know.

clos

Bipasha, I also just got my cls55 about a month ago, there is lots that i want to do (look at my sig). Lowering the car is such a heated debate, I had a 93 gs300 big car lowered by eibach springs that where cut by one of the best shops in town becuase the old owner of the car was the service manager for a local dealer. I was a little concerned when I purchased the car that the ride quality would be too bouncy.

I spoke to a couple of people about how it could be lowered and they all admitted that the way it was done is way too expensive but, it was done the right way! which did not effect the ride quality as much.

A lowering module is not cheap. I will not say price becuase I may get it from a member of the board, but from what i understand is the right way to do it...Again there is a huge debate and untill I have more response from people that have done it throught the washer method that can convince me to go this route I will purchase a module.

I would be very interested to see what you finally decided and if you think you got out of it what you expected.

Sorry for the long thread!
Cloa

Bipasha493

Hey Cloa...the longer the thread the better my friend Jus as i was about to go and workout today i took a shortcut and was about to go to home depot to buy the washers the nuts and bolts and the tungsten carbide cutter...then the same thought you had popped right into my head. One side of people said "suspension failing and that failing and this failing , voiding warranty" and the other side said "its safe and reliable and cheap". That being said, i turned into someones driveway and turned the other way around. Still more thinking to do.
Its a very hard debate. The modules are expensive, but the washer method is too good to be true. There are some members on board who have gone the washer method and came out with fantastic results with our cars. As of now:

90%-washer method
10%-module

p.s. the 10 percent i can tell you...is holding on reallllllll tightttt bro

-RiCh

spinsonic

why dont you just get the dealer to star diag it? I think that's the safest route to go, imo... not to mention FREEEEEEEEEEEE!

Saint Ari

Which dealer in the bay area does Star Lowering??

spinsonic

Try beshoff motors. They did it on my E500... just complain the car feels unstable

Saint Ari

Did Beshoff lower enough that it required alignment?

clos

From what i was told it can not be done with the 2006 model. I haven't asked my dealer yet because im not ready to make the change right now. hopefully as more time goes by there will be more options.

Kevin M.

So here is my $.02

Lowering module benefits.

Well tested by major tuners such as Brabus, Kleeman, and others.
I've heard of no major issues with these modules.
Adjustable height, from low to very low.

Downside of module
Cost
splicing into factory wires

Now if for some reason the module malfunctioned and screwed up some factory harness or wiring or suspension, and lets say the dealer finds out that this was installed, depending on your relationship with your dealer they could say SORRY, you have to pay to play.

Washer or drop links benefits

Simple installation buy anyone with a jack and a dremel
Cost
Easily removable
Undetected by dealer if something were to go wrong and you removed them.
More of a range of drop.

Downside to washers.

I can't seem to find any other then guys that have spent nearly $2k on a lowering module, then bash the washer method cause they didn't use washers

I will probably do a combo of the Star Diagnosis if my dealer knows how, and the washers when mine comes in

spinsonic

That makes a lot of sense to me... washer it is!

I did actually got turned down by a local dealer for repairs on my E500. I brought the car in for some clunking noise underneath the car, but the dealer refuse to repair or diagnose the problem, since there were aftermarket parts on the car. They blamed it on the lorinser body kit and exhaust.

I'd end up taking the car to a friends shop to lift up and discovered one of the cover underneath the car was loose. A two minute fix....

in short, save yourself the trouble and try to keep it as stock as possible.

jikjak

i used the washer method on mine. everythng works fine and i got the drop i wanted. also all the functions of the air suspension work fine. i tried star diag beofre that and i wasnt too happy with it. every car is different when doing the star diag and for me one side was a bit lower than the other and it wasnt as low as i liked. as for the modules, i think they are waay overpriced and u lose some functions with them.

well so far so good with the washer method. everthings perfectly fine and best of all u cant beat the price!

Bipasha493

jikjak, how many washers did you use on each side? Did you change the oem bolt so that you can add more washers??

Heisenberg

Here are the Home Depot parts I used:

Crown Bolt Inc., Flat Washer 6mm, stainless steel, UPC# 3069901238 (3 pc)
Crown Bolt Inc., Lock Nut Tension 6mm, UPC# 3069957348 (1 pc)

[find these in the the drawers holding metric nuts, washers, etc]

Tungsten Carbide Cutter #9901


The washers fit perfectly and were reasonably consistent in thickness. I bought four packs and rejected a few that were a bit thicker than the others. I placed four per side which created a spacer of about 5.3mm. The factory nut, which has a flanged base, would barely tighten and I was afraid of stripping the bolt. It probably would have been okay with some Loctite applied. But since I don't want to take any chances I replaced it with the tension nut, which lacks the flanged bottom and hence is thinner. It tightens very well, with the bolt just extending through the top of the nut, and it will not come loose. I still may apply Loctite for added safety.

The tungsten carbide cutter costs more than the high speed cutters, but one bit did the job and it is still ready for battle. The support frame holding the rear sensor bracket is not aluminum (as someone mistakenly told me) but rather hardened steel, and I would think several high speed cutters would be needed to finish the job. I slotted the rear bracket holes about 6mm towards the ground / away from the engine as in the picture below. Using the tungsten carbide bit it took about 10 minutes per side with a cordless Dremel on a partial charge; less time would have been necessary if I had a corded unit, more if I were using the high speed cutters.



End result after raising/lowering a few times with the console button and driving around for a few days was 25-7/8" between ground and the top of each wheel well. I use the Airmatic Sport 1 setting almost exclusively. The stock height was 26-5/8" up front and 26-3/4" in the back, so the achieved drop was about 3/4" up front and 7/8" in the rear. This did eliminate the tire gap, and car looks great with no detectable compromise of ride quality. Also I would expect camber to remain in spec because of the modest drop, although I haven't yet had an alignment to confirm this.

Total cost including the cutting bit was about $13

Kevin M.

Great write up Doc, question for you, are these measurements from when the car has lowered after driving, If I recall from my 3 weeks of driving mine that it lowered after I locked it. And after getting in and taking off it raised up. So from your pics I assume thats the low parked position, and when you drive off it will be higher?

Heisenberg

Kevin, I think you're right in that it may rise a bit, about 1/8" - 1/4", when driving. When I turn the car off and shut the door I can hear some air being released. It also did this before the lowering, so I think the drop I calculated is consistent.

Pics and measurements were indeed taken with the car turned off and parked.

newton22

Don't you guys have rear sensors? I lowered my front and back with ease. Front with washers and back by adjusting sensors. No dremel, no drilling.

Best way to lower.

EPower

Can you explain in more detail what you did to "adjust the sensors" for the rear? I have done the washer/dremel method on two of my past cars (E500 and E55) and just got the CLS 55 last week. It works great, but if there is an easier way to lower the rear than breaking out the Dremel, give me the details please.
Thanks

clos

Ok so looking at the picture, with time what keeps that from moving back. Since it is not a new drill hole but instead an existing hole made bigger in order to move the location?

I would think that with car vibration it will eventually move back, i could be wrong just a concern.

Clos

Bipasha493

went to three different home depot's today. Three.They had the 6mm stainless steel washers UPC# 3069901238 which i got, but none out of the three had the Lock Nut Tension 6mm. I still replaced the oem nut with a 6mm nut, like Ekovalsky, without the flange there is more room for tightening. Unfortunately, i didnt get time to do the back....will do soon. I took some pics, ill post them up tommrow. Took no more then 25 minutes both side.

Saint Ari

Dude, you should post before and after pix so the other potential washer followers would be able to visually determine the drop....Thanks

Bipasha493

i guess if u do a search of my car, you can see what it looked like before

JAY55

As for the back, you still have to use the washers?