Ihopaz

So I have a 2013 C63 P31, the car has 20k on the odometer and maybe 10k or less with the springs on the car. They were .75 inch lower springs but larger wheels were put on. So over all lowering was less than .75 because the wheels were 1 inch total larger.

So my question is my car now has a bad strut, something is wrong with the strut internally. The dealer suspects whoever installed the springs over compressed the strut when installing the springs.

I'm just curious is other people with those springs and at least 10,000 miles or so on the car with the springs installed have had the same issue. Let me know your thoughts please.

tpliquid

weird what tire sizes did u go to to get 1inch overall dimemsions

Roswell

Installation gone wrong for sure, no way a shock would blow after 10k miles lowered.

I had mine since 4 years ago & no issue.

Ihopaz

I don't remember the previous time size but when I stood old wheels next to new with tires overall height change was about .75 taller.

Ihopaz

That's what I thought, I gave Mercedes permission to cut the old strut in half so they can determine if it was over compressed. Because it is not being covered under warranty so I believe the shop that did the install did this intentionally! Stay tuned because if I find out that it was done by the shop you will see another post as they are a Vendor here!

They are a very large dealer and they said they have never seen this.

Roswell

Dang that sucks, but let's not rule out a defective shocks from the manufacture.

Stealership will tend to blame the h&r springs right away.

Eric ATP

I doubt they would over compress the strut on purpose. Issues can come up and it's hard to prove what happened. Cars cost $ and modifying cars is very expensive. Even if it was a parts failure the dealer will always blame the aftermarket parts.

Imo if you want to play the warrantee game you need to stay 100% stock. And then stuff happens tell the dealer to fix it! I've had dozens of modified cars and just accept very mod will cost more than I think it will.

Ihopaz

Oh please know I fully expect to possibly pay if I have any issue with any part related to the mod under warranty. You are correct I have always factored the cost of a mod by also looking at the effected parts that it works with. Then factor that risk into the purchase. But at the same time if I lower it and the engine blows I'm not paying one penny. And federal law protects me!

The delearship isn't blaming the springs at all. They when asked if something could have been wrong with the install could that have caused the failure. They said possibly and when I asked what type of install error could have caused this they named a few including the part could be defective of course.

I have a very big reason to suspect the shop however. I'm not going to say why yet. They are doing some things I asked them to do to possibly determine how. Trust I know more than anyone that cars and their parts can break. With the thousands of parts in cars it's only a numbers game that some will be defective and break. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't even at least partially investigate the cause especially when we suspect foul play.

m a x i m u s

If it's determined that the shop over compressed the damper and caused the damage, then that is straight negligence. In the end, though, at least it wouldn't cost much to replace one. Keep us posted, please.

Ihopaz

Yeah this in no way questioning an H&R Product! I love the springs and when I needed help on alignment there techs took the time with me and helped my shop out with my alignment.

This was just to see it was an issue on this car., because I have always been concerned the shop abused my car.

Eric ATP

Definately don't go back to that shop then. Sorry about the hassle and hope you get it resolved.

Jasonoff

How do you over compress the strut? You compress the spring to remove the pre-load pressure from the top hat so it can be removed. This process doesn't compress the damper.

Even if you did crank the spring compressor down as much as possible it still wouldn't affect the damper in any way.

Unless the installer dropped it damaging the damper body and or seal. The dealer is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

Have a look at the below vid if you're not familiar with the process.

Ihopaz

You guys have to understand that I'm the one who suspects the shop may have had something to do with it. The dealer is simply answering my questions and repairing the car. I worked in the car business before trust me I know all too well how great dealers can be. Especially with a modified high performance cars.

I appreciate the feedback and the video, i just wanted to hear about others experience with the springs. Like was someone previously said earlier, I do assume the risk on the car when I start modifying the car. But if there is suspicion about the cause I'm going to look into it. Especially if there could be foul play done the aftermarket shop. You have to pay to play. I road raced sports car in my 20's and all but one was a street car but non of them ever remained stock. They were all expensive cars, a year or two old and still under warranty. So I'm use to playing the modified car game with dealers.

Even when I went to pick the car up from the shop they had forgot to put the hard rubber/plastic type stoppers that go at the end of the springs back on the car. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the part I'm describing. But I was told they do lots of Mercedes cars and install wouldn't be an issue. But I did have issues with the shop.