I have a CLK430 with H&R's and I'm expecting the Koni's to arrive this week. I'm curious which setting your shocks are on and what the ride/handling compomise is like for your particular city. I'm in the DC metro area and I'm trying to find that holy grail balance between aggressive handling and relatively comfortable ride for those ventures into pothole-laden DC. Thanks.

 

Hey LOH,

I am also thinking of putting HR and KONI on my ride 2002 CLK320. Just curious to know where will be getting the stuff installed on your car. I am having the hardest time finding a good high quality place to hook up my ride w/ springs and shocks.

thanks,
djamer
-----------
2002 CLK320

 

I just emailed Ben at Evosport regarding doing the same to my 2002 clk 320 cab.

I am doing it for looks only, the ride on my car is just fine for my daily commute. Any advice on settings is appreciated as well as any pictures of a clk cab lowered with stock wheels.

Also, can anyone recommend a good place for installation near my office (Pasadena) ? As much as I would like to use Evosport for the install as well, Huntington Beach is kind of out of the way.

 

You should probably set it on soft. It's not really soft, but just the softest setting. Rides pretty good IMO.

 

sup donbiz. i would definetly recommend d2technik located in alhambra, only 5 minutes away from pasadena. they installed springs and shox on my car and i couldnt be happier. call 626-282-2727 ask for david he's very helpfull

 

I've got that setup on my CLK430, and as you may have seen from my seemingly dozens of posts on the subject lately, I'm having a lot of issues with rubbing. The paint from the edges of my front fenders has worn off because of all the contact with my tires . I'm on my 2nd front fascia, and I will need a 3rd soon (driveways, speed bumps, and heavily sloped streets are killers). Los Angeles, until recently, had roads that rivalled the worst I've seen in Laos, so I can sympathize with your pothole concerns. I've had to have my wheels fixed dozens of times, and I've had to replace 2 that have been completely destroyed by potholes.

My advice about the shocks- I find that setting 2 (with 5 being the stiffest) isn't stiff enough, especially given how low my car is. I'm going to have my wheel shop change them to 4 soon, because I need more resistance. The ride quality on #2 is firmer than the stock MB shocks, but not at all jarring. I think putting them on #1 would pretty much defeat the purpose of the Konis altogether.

Also, do you have stock wheels/tires? If you're concerned about potholes, inflate your tires more (I use 42 front, 43 rear)- I haven't dented a single rim since I boosted the pressure, but I used to dent/break them with nauseating frequency at the stock air pressure.

 

My advice about the shocks- I find that setting 2 (with 5 being the stiffest) isn't stiff enough, especially given how low my car is. I'm going to have my wheel shop change them to 4 soon, because I need more resistance. The ride quality on #2 is firmer than the stock MB shocks, but not at all jarring. I think putting them on #1 would pretty much defeat the purpose of the Konis altogether.

Newbie,

So do you think I should set them on #2 or just forget about it all together ?

I have stock 16" wheels and stock continental tires.

Eventually I will get bigger tires, and I like the idea f red calipers (post a picture if you have one and did you buy new ones or just paint them?)

 

I am sure that this topic has come up several times. If I am after just better looks, should I be buying the Eibach springs instead of the H&R springs. Much like the first poster, I am looking for a comfortable ride as well, so may be the Eibach springs are a little softer and better for my taste. Please comment.

Not to add more confusion: How about the H&R Cup kit? Is the H&R Cup kit a really hard ride or can it be adjusted to soft as well?

 

Thugged_out,

I took your advice and stopped inD2technik this afternoon and talked with David. (It was kinds of funny when I started to explain that I was refered by some guy I met on the internet who calls himself "Thugged-out" ) Anyway, he was very helpful He suggested that i go with Bilstein shocks instead of the Koni.

Is that what you have? can anyone vouch for which is better between Blistein and Koni

He also said they could paint my brake calipers red (is this worth doing? would it look stupid with my stock 16" rims and tires?

 

He also recommended the following 18" wheels (staggared)

Lowenhart BR5

Anyone familar with these wheels?

 

lol donbiz, my name is Levon, he should remember me. just tell him im the guy who bought the xenons from him with a black 430. anywayz, i have bilstein and i honestly cant say that they are better or worse than konis. the reason i went with bilstein is because the CLK-DTM cars use H&R/Bilstein combo. i love the way my ride is, even with 19" wheels. as far as painting bake calipers go, I woudnt do it especially with stock wheels. the only way i would have painted calipers is if i buy the real stuff like brembo.

 

Before we decided which brand of shock to promote for the Mercedes, we did extensive testing, both on and off track, of both Bilstein and Koni shocks (pre-Kleemann). We determined that there is no sacrifice in performance using Koni's over Bilstein, yet they are more comfortable. While many don't change the setting, Koni adjustables also offer the ability to custom-tune the dampening to your needs. Bilstein sport shocks are nothing close to the suspension setup of the CLK DTM.

Thanks

Ben

 

Mach I know the bilstein sport shocks have nothing to do with DTM cars. u missed my point.

 

No, I wasn't in any way implying that I thought you chose them expecting the same suspension. I just mentioned that because hundreds of people visit these boards daily, and I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Thanks

Ben

 

So Koni is better than Bilstein, they are bothed priced the same, Kleeman are the best but they cost a lot more.

 

That's probably what the 'edit' button is for....

 

Thanks for the input. The Koni's I got from TireRack (26-1575sport for the front and 26-1576sport for the rear) apparently only have three adjustment settings 0,1 and 2. I decided to go with the intermediate setting. I get it back today so I'll let you know.

djamer, I let Euromotocars install everything. They are good to me, I got an E320 loaner (nice new car smell) and they only charged $200 to install the springs with an alignment.

 

there is no need to do alignment right after installing springs. u should wait at least 500 miles before u do an alignment.

 

WOW!!!!
I got my car back and the shocks make a world of difference. If I had known I could improve the handling of my car this much, I would have done this a long time ago. The car has a much more stable and solid feel to the handling and the ride is not bad. It definitely rides harsher than stock but it's worth it for the huge improvement in handling.

 

LOH,
How much did it lowerr your car? Did you get an alignment? What city & shop did you use? How Much did you pay?

 

donbiz,
The springs lowered my car a little over an inch. I did get an alignment but it's recommended that you wait a couple of months/few hundred miles until the springs settle. I got both the H&Rs and Konis online from TireRack and I had my dealer Euromotorcars in Bethesda, MD install everything. They charged about $200 each time but I put the shocks on about a month later. The stock Boge shocks weren't well matched to the stiffer H&R springs. The car kind of pitched and bobbed over some bumps with poor rebound control. If you're going to do it, I'd recommend getting both at the same time. I think it's a great ride/handling compromise for the money.

 

EIBACHS SUCK...!!!!!!!! i have them and wish i never bought them..!!

CLIFF

 

IDOITBST

what dont you like about your eibachs? is the ride too harsh? do they fall short of your expectations of the improvement on your suspension ? just curious...


B