Klinh

Alot of people asked me about spring pads in the past. What it look like? How can you tell the sizes...etc? The way you tell the pad by sizes is by the "dot" indication on the pad. As you can see, the larger/bigger pad has 4 "dots" and that is the indication the pad size is #4. The smaller pad (from an old W210 E-class) only has one "dot" and that is the indication of pad #1.

Klinh

Oopsssss....I forgot to attach the pics.

quaalude

Thanks for the pics Klinh. What is the measured difference between the one dot pad and four dot pad, about 0.5"?

Klinh

I really never measure it. But it roughly about 5-6mm diffference from one size to the next sizes.

v12

Here are the 4 different pads available for the rear of the CLK, they are the same pads on 202 c-class's, 210's and 203's, maybe even a few more.

2103250184 (5 MM )
2103250284 (9 MM )
2103250384 (13 MM)
2103250484 (17 MM)

Due to the spring being inboard of the wheel the raise is approximately 1.5 times the pad difference.

So if you have a #4 pad on your car and switch them for a #1 pad you will get an effective drop of 18mm, these are brilliant for "fine tuning" your ride height.

P.s. Part numbers are for our european cars!

gottarex

Klinh, where can we buy these pads? Do we just go to a Mercedes dealer and order them? Also how much are they?

Klinh

Go to the dealer. Depending on the dealer, the price is from $5-$9.

05clk500Art

thanks for the info!!

lychyrychy

Klinh do clk55 and clk500 have same pads since they're both V8?

Klinh

Yes.

lychyrychy

ahh thanks what's the front and back? did switch both? Im thinking about getting vogtland springs...

Klinh

There's no pad in the front on our's car.

v12

Actually the pads used are dependant on the trim level and the optional spec.

For example, a car with bose sound system and electric seats will be heavier and will thus have larger pads to keep the ride height the same no matter the option list.

Elegance vehicles generally have larger pads than avantgarde.

They are basically used by MB to "fine tune" the exact ride height.

You will find that many CLKs of the same engine and same year will have different pads for this reason!

lychyrychy

So the best way is to provide the VIN# to the dealer and have them check?

Klinh

Alot of us already known that Mercedes use the pad to adjust ride height based on the options. What I think he asked was, can the pads from the Clk 500 be use on the Clk 55? The answer is "YES". The pads can be use on all CLKs (Clk 320, Clk 350, Clk 430, Clk 500, Clk 55...etc) depending on how much you want to low/rise your car.

v12

Right you are!!

lychyrychy

so next question guys... can you drive o/w pads?

v12

without?? no.

lychyrychy

hm i see.. so when you said to ichange pads to help "fine tune" your car... this only applies to lowering springs? I'm thinking about getting h&r springs but have read many threads about the differences in gap between front and rear drop. I want to get the right pads to make the gap even front and rear

v12

All springs must have pads fitted on the top so that the spring will be seated correctly.

Regardless of whether you have original MB springs or lowering springs, you can swap the pads for different thickness ones to increase/decrease the height.

If you feel the rear is too low after having H & R springs fitted then just swap to a thicker pad, you can make the rough calculation using the specs i posted earlier.

A picture says a thousand words...

lychyrychy

/\ Thanks for the clarification! I will call the dealership and see if they can tell me which pads I have

v12

Hopefully your dealership is more helpful than mine!

Klinh

Why don't you just use a flash light and check it out yourself?

lychyrychy

/\ Ahh I didn't know I could do that... I thought they're hidden. will try today! thanks!