folex187

I sold an old set of wheels so I have a few bux in my car fund. I'm thinking that lowering springs are the next logical thing for my C55 but I'm really worried about my warranty. This is my first MB and I have heard nothing but negative things about warranty claims.

If I put a set of H&R lowering springs on my car am I going to get denied when I take it to the dealer? I was thinking one possiblilty would be to spray paint the H&R's matte black and just play dumb if it ever came up...

Harry Madan

they will most likely void all suspension warranty on ur car. so if u have any clam again the suspension it will not be covered.
i have had this talk with the dealer before.

moosejaw

keep your old springs just in case.

dont just do springs, i can tell you from two benzes i have owned aftermarket springs put a lot of pressure on the stock struts. They' wont last very long with that setup.

My suggestion do a full coilover or upgrade your struts

turbo16lbs

I highly suggest going H&R. They're the best in the market for our cars in my personal experience. And if you do go that route, remember you might have to get a 10mm spacer for the front wheels if they're designed to fit your car like HRE's. I learned the difficult way.



How about inviting me earlier next time to a ball game...

moosejaw

Well since you live right down the road, i figured you would like to go
Heres another pic to make you feel badd!

folex187

Hmm I def don't want to go with a full coilover set-up. I like the feel of the stock AMG suspension I just don't like the wheel well gap of the c55.

I was under the impression that the stock AMG struts were stiff enough for a moderate spring (only 1in lowering). I was going to go with the H&R moderate lowering springs because that's what I've run in the past and I love them.

If I only drop 1in is that still going to stress 15k mile old struts too much?

Thank you for the replies,
Alex

jgsx

If you go with springs from Renntech, they are black and unmarked like the stock springs. The dealer might not notice. C32/C55s are rare enough that they don't have a good reference point for their height. Now if you slam the car, it'll be obvious.

I used to have H&Rs and they were obvious both in drop and spring color/markings. I now have Renntechs and haven't heard any lip about them from the dealer. This was even after I had an awful dealer make a thorough list of every mod they could find on the car (making some up too) and submitting that to MB. They didn't list the springs (but did list 19" wheels).

folex187

Wow I hope I never encounter a dealer that bad. Are they going to deny an axle claim because the added weight of your wheels? That's just crazy!

As far as H&R vs Renn- did the H&R's have a larger drop? I thought it was only 1in front and rear. How was the ride?

folex187

Where can I get the info on the renntech springs? The site just has lowering modules.

moosejaw

Yes, you would be lucky to make it to 25K

moosejaw

I was under the impression the Renntech springs are outsourced to Eibach or H&R. Renntech doesnt make their own springs

BTW if you look at your springs, you'll see they say AMG/Eibach. Same with your calipers, the backs say Brembo

jgsx

While that may be true on a Honda Civic, I really doubt that a 1" drop is going to kill the AMG struts in 25k miles.

jgsx

This was on my c32. C55 stock springs have a higher spring rate than c32 ones (and are also lower). On my c32, the renntechs dropped me less than the H&Rs. Also, the spring rate on the renntechs was lower than the H&Rs, so the ride was noticeably better.

jgsx

So? The point was that the Renntechs do not scream aftermarket spring with a bright color or tons of stamps.

folex187

There isn't a C55 application listed for the renntech springs. Do they even make them?

I was wrong about the H&R heights. The C32 is listed 1in all the way around while the C55 is 1.4in. That kind of puts those out of the running because I do NOT want the rear tire tucked into the fender.

moosejaw

killed mine in less than that

c32AMG-DTM

Out of curiosity, what overall mileage were you at when you had the H&R Cup Kit installed?

I thought your car was on Renntech springs when you bought it? FWIW, Many C32 owners have used their stock AMG shocks/struts with H&R or Renntech springs for many years/miles without major wear issues... maybe yours were defective or abused prior to purchasing the car?

moosejaw

Thats a long story
When I first bought my car, a poster suggested my ride height wasnt stock. By looking at the drop which was conservative that poster suggested it may be Renntech springs.
Upon looking under the car I saw H&R Springs so for some reason I assumed it was the cup kit. It gets worse, the guy kept the rears and cut a coil off and then MB certified the car as a CPO (along with the bixenons and command that came from Steve.)

It was then pointed out to me the cup kit doesnt have dimples on the struts which meant it was stock. Again I was mislead.

I now have coilovers on I purchased from SteveK.

BTW My stock struts started giving out at around 40K on all four sides, rears first then the fronts. The car was lowered by the previous owner at around 22K miles.

folex187

Well guys I called renntech today and spoke with one of their people about the options. Renntech has discontinued the C55 suspension stuff.

According to them- the problem lies with the camber after lowering. The springs should be just fine if the camber can be adjusted back to normal specs which unless you have the camber kit- it cannot.

The other thing I am curious about is the C55 struts vs the C32. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't both the ride height and stiffness different on the two?

moosejaw

yes to the c55 is stiffer, the ride height has to do with the weight of the engine
however I did give my old H&R springs to MikeGPR03 who has a c55. Therefore you can use springs. Check the photos for his car uploaded last week in the C Class forum

c32AMG-DTM

Thanks for the info

I've been meaning to ask you about your wheels. They look great - but they look EXACTLY like the J Line 10RL3 3-piece forged wheels (at least, as best I can tell).

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/j...2.html?image=3

Does J Line make the wheels for DTM? Or vice versa? Just seems too coincidental that two custom forged wheel companies would have wheels that are identical designs...

splinter

DTM wheels…







quite sharp, imho.

moosejaw

Correct, they are the same ones, as a matter of fact ,the link are my wheels bought from a fellow in california who sold his to Anthuny85 who then sold em to me.

ANthuny told me Jline bought DTM Kreuz last year, however i saw DTM's booth at HIN in Miami Beach this year, in fact I still have the brochure.

///AMG4EVER

I have C55 struts w/ Renntech springs. No problems at all. Also have 18s. Ride is harsher but more predictable.

folex187

How many miles have you had them?