New to the forum, own a 2000 pearl white CLK430 and looking for better handling, any recommendations for suspension kit? What type of pricing are we looking at installed?

 

Well prices differ, but here are your suspension options:

1st Priority:

Springs/Shocks -

I have Eibach, others have H&R, and occasionally you'll see people with other tuner springs (Brabus, Carlsson, etc.) With the tuner springs, you're essentially paying for the name - your performance will be just as good with Eibach or H&R. New springs run between $2-300.

For shocks, your best combination of price and performance would be the Koni Yellows. The stiffness is adjustable (though unfortunately, not while the shocks are on the car). Koni's run between $350-450.

2nd Priority: Camber Kits, Sway bars.

You don't have many options when it comes to sway bars. AMG CLK55 bars are made by Eibach and an easy to find upgrade.

Camber kits: For the front, you can buy the crash bolts from the dealer, but on a lowered car, they don't correct the camber as much as you probably need. The better (but more expensive) solution would be to get the K-Mac adjustable bushing kit for the front (about $450).

For the rear (where your camber will be the worst), you can get a bushing kit from K-Mac, or for more complete adjustment, you can get adjustable suspension links. There are some cheap ones out there for under $200 but I wouldn't recommend them as the material isn't very high quality, and suspension pieces aren't a good place to cheap out. Speedybenz makes a set of arms that are mid-grade quality (several members have them and are happy with them), and top of the line would be HoP's TRAK-Links. I have a set on my car and they kick ***.

I didn't mention this before, but I can't stress enough how important it is to find a good alignment shop. A place that only does alignments and specializes in hi-perf cars will be superior to a tire shop's job. Make sure you get a shop that will weight the seat according to your weight while the car is aligned.

I tried to make this suspension guide as thorough as possible, but if anyone has something worthwhile to add, do ya thang.

 

Joshk knows his stuff....listen to him

 

great writeup!

 

alright, im gonna probably get flamed, but i installed my hr springs with koni yellows on my 99 320 convertible. The drop is pretty slammed with 1 pads in front and 4 in rear from the extra cabrio weight. i never got any alignment done because on the rear, it seems as if there is no adjustable linkages or bushings. As for the front, there is toe adjustment or camber if you choose to get the crash bolts. So far i have put on 14000 miles since i installed the kit in february. My rear tires are definately almost done on the inner edge but there is at least 50% on the rest of the tire, obviously showing there is a camber problem. As for the front, im getting even wear with no pulling issues.

Is there really a need for an alignment, im just wondering. On my 944 turbo the camber/caster have such big adjustmetn since it is a macpherson strut assembly, but on our clks there is nothing to play with unless you buy kits. I am using cheapo falken tires for my 19's and im happy with the tread life, but definatley a rear camber kit is in order for next year.