vlad957

Hi, guys. I was wondering if you guys ever had this problem with your c43's: I lowered my car with bilstein sports & Vogtland springs on the 17 inch amg rims. I want to get the car aligned, but for me to do that, I have to get the right specs for the alignment. I went to a shop and they told me to call the company I bought the shocks from. Do you think I should call bilstein or vogtland? Also, the mechanic said that I need adjustable cambers. I already bought the rear ones (the Mb art ones.) I will be buying the front K-mac camber kit. The mechanic also told me the car is too low and I should have kept the car stock. I wanted a better stance for my car. I didn't even think it would drop that low. I will try to get thicker spring pads to see if that works.

Saaboteur

Which spring pads are you on? I have 5s up front and 4s at the rear. With adjustable rear camber arms and KMac kit up front, allowing alignment to get close to what is required. Don't have a really slammed look, but on 18s looks great.

vlad957

Right now the car is on the original spring pads. I want to do the same pads. #5 in the front and #4 on the rear.

Saaboteur

Do it up! I bet it'll run you under $50 for all four spring pads. But of course it will take a bit of effort (or labour cost) to R&R the springs to get at the pads. Plus another alignment of course. If you have the KMacs on the way, just do them all together as one job.

vlad957

Will do, Can you send me a pic of how high your ride height is? Your running 18s right? If I put in the spring pads I still want to get a nice stance.

nd4spd13

No offense, but that mech/shop sounds like they don't know what the heck they're talking about.
When I lowered my cars and went to my shop (36 and 43), they had no problem aligning the car. I have no idea why the shock company would tell you alignment specs. Maybe the spring company would make more sense, but good luck getting them to give you them. My shop also told me that with my vogtlands (spec'd for 95 C36, so I don't think they are quite as low as the 43s), new shocks and #1 pads front #3 rear (again this is C36 style pads), the camber wasn't off enough to warrant spending the money on the adjustable arms. Though my car definitely is low.

And on top of that, I would have walked out of there the moment they told me "the car is too low and I should have kept the car stock." Who are they to tell you that?

mbsickness

I'm running #5 up front and #3 in the rear. I am going to change the rear to #4 but have been lazy lately. Here it is riding on 18" Mono IIs. In front I used the factory repair kit for camber that moved it from -1.7 to -1.2 which isn't too bad on the tires. The factory repair bolts cost around $20.

DRBC43AMG

I would keep it as it is. Looks great even if a bit too low at the back, but that's my opinion.... What's the gap front and back?

The gaps on mine can be seen here after KW installation: https://mbworld.org/forums/5322915-post134.html

Saaboteur

If you click on my C43 thread in my signature, you should see some pictures of the C43. But if you don't want to go through the whole thread, the most recent pictures will be from last August/September.

vlad957

I felt like the mechanic didn't know what he was talking about lol. He tired to make me feel bad. I mean I wouldn't have done it if I didn't read on here that many people have it. And they like it.

mbsickness

Which shop didi you go to? Was this the shop that installed the springs in the first place? Get your ride height the way you want it first then an alignment. I go to a gas station for the alignment in Palo Alto because I found out the nearby Mercedes Dealer mechanics send their personal cars there. Let me know if you need the contact info.

ProjectC55

I have to do this! i still have the #5 pads waiting to go in as well as the kMacs!

vlad957

I usually do the work my self or take it to a shop in San Rafael Ca, called Collies Auto works. Recently several weeks ago Triple (AAA) had damaged my car when it was towed. They bent the tie rode that I've just replaced recently. I called them up and they towed my car to their certified shop called Auto clinic on Divesaedero. Im a bit upset they put an after market tie rode and didn't refund me for my v12 hankooks. That wore out in just 800 miles. But I told him if I buy my own tires will you put them on. He said he would do alignment and tires for free. But before he does alignment he said I would have to put the cambers in. I asked how much it would cost if he puts it in. $300 for front and rear.