socal, your car looks good with the new wheels. i threw a set of winter tires on my old wheels to help keep the miles down on the 19's. we get snow and a little ice up here in Reno/Tahoe so it was a necessity. it is nuts how different wheels can make a car look

thanks bro. I'm going to do the same as a winter set-up with my 18"s. We don't get snow in SoCal, but we do get rain ("Storm Watch 2009", lol) and we get slick roads and a bunch of loonies that like to play bumper cars in real life.

The wheels really make the car, I'm a little more careful driving it, but it's better than the alternative!

Anyone have 8.5" front with kw's and know what spacer size/wheel offset they used that works when using 235/265 Thanks.

honestly i am not sure if that is possible. i am running 8's with a 10mm spacer. the offset is +34. the problem with the AMG is that you have to clear huge brake calipers on top of an odd offset. There really is not that much room to go wide up front in my opinion.

i would call a wheel expert that is comfortable with MB.

Thanks for your response. It is possible actually, as another member with a c55 has done it but he used a 5mm spacer and shaved the collar down 1/8". I don't want to shave the collar so am having 7mm spacers made for use on 31mm et sl55 8.5 rims, due to running 235 dunlop zstars that are a whopping 9.6" section width. I'll likely roll the fender ends and/or space the fender out with washers. Thanks. Sean

I have KW's and run 8.5 wide rims with 235 in the front on my 208 without a problem. Then again I do have custom DPE's on the car

just about anything can be accomplished with custom wheels. i think the W208's have a little more room to play with up front too.

Does anyone know what number (#1 to #5) our W209 CLK55's stock front and rear spring pads are?

Yeah, BB, I thought about you when it was suggested it can't be done with 8.5 rims - you have some good evidence proving the contrary! Even better for me, you have a 208. What is the offset of those DPEs up front? Do you think there would be some reason why those wheels would work but another wheel with the same offset would not? IIRMC you have 19s on that bad boy. Do you think 18s would make a difference? Any rubbing issues?

How much of an imporovement in handling did you get? I'm trying to get away from excess body roll and understeer while driving on a twisty track. Ideally without sacrificng much if any ride comfort when back on the street.

Unfortunately DPE doesn't release their offsets. I think it's a ET35 because I've run many different 8.5" wheels up front without a problem. My kinesis wheels are 18x8.5 in the front and I dont have a problem with those either!

Handling is greatly improved You still get a bit of understeer but its alot less. Body roll is also greatly reduced. The great thing about the KW v2's is they are adjustable so you can set it up nice and firm for the track and soften it up for the street. I even drag race with this suspension too! I just soften the rear so it squats on the launch

Just a recap

Coilover: W209

-PSS9 (2000$)
-KW V1 (1300$) or V2 (1600$) NB: you need a 10mm spacer front to clear tire against suspension
- any more?


Springs: W209

-H&R (500$)
-Eibach (500$)

Thanks for the info - I'm itching to pull the trigger.

How hard is it to adjust the ride on the suspension? A good mechanic I'm not.

Sweet - let us know your results please!

H&R is also a good brand and their CO for W203 can be used on our car. Tein makes CO as well but some members have issues with Tein Basic (Tein CO Issues).

2nd Recap


Coilover: W209

-PSS9 (2000$)
-KW V1 (1300$) or V2 (1600$) NB: you need a 10mm spacer front to clear tire against suspension
- H&R (?$)
- Tein Basic (1300$)
- KSport Pro (1000$) Ebay
- D2 Racing RS (1000$) Ebay


Springs: W209

-H&R (500$)
-Eibach (500$)


Conclusion: Coilovers are your best choice... but which one haha
never had any review on the last 4

I can't wait until someone else responds to this thread to review those last 4 sets of coilovers also.

Might be a good idea to field this question in the Technical Assistance forums for suspension and braking. Maybe one of the sponsors will get some visibility on it.

FYI, I have kw2's and only needed a 5mm space with 235's with the section width of 245's on 8.5" et31 18's.

I just got a set of used H&R coilovers. I'll let you know how they run once I put them on.

Great, we'll have another great review

Maybe SPR can elaborate on a KW2 review

KW2's are great. Much more control and tunability of course. You have to run a spacer in the front to clear the tire. I will provide exact specs re: offset, spacer, rim and tire section width later so that anyone can use it as a guide and not go through the headaches of "does it fit, oh crap I need to buy more/new stuff." Overall I find the suspension much better. At the middle setting its softer than stock c55 suspension with reo1r's and sl55 18 x 8.5/9.5 with 225/255. I have it currently set at 12 and like it. With the eibach rear and stock sway front I had to set the front at 14 to combat oversteer (acting like a stiffer front sway basically). 14 is a tad much for the poor sd dt streets however so it's set back at 12.

The best part is that there is no more midcorner deflection due to lack of dampening, e.g. front of car jumping when unsettled by bump in constant radius turn making it go wide. I really like that, it was incredibly annoying. Not much else to say other than don't go too low so that you don't sacrifice performance. I have rubbing issues however with the rear still under full compression despite severe flaring of the quarter panels, even after raising the rear to 1 finger all around. This setting is when you spin the collar to be flush with the bottom of the hat. If you see a pic you'll know what I mean.

Otherwise couldn't be happier. Don't know what else to say?

How easy it is to go from "12" to "14" etc? Can it be done without jacking up the car? Adjustable by hand or do you need tools?

If you have 8.5 inch rims 31 ET, compared to my 8.5 inch rims 25 ET, then according to the on-line 1010 wheel offset calculator your rims retract 6mm compared to mine. Which makes me think spacers will not be needed. Good news! But you have a C55, not a 208 CLK. Does anyone know if that makes a difference?

I cannot comment on c 209 v. 208. Remeber c55 has w209 front end. In any event adjustment of the front is simple remove the wheel and change the height no problem. The rear is more difficult as you have to drop the lower control arm to pull out the entire spring and adjuster as the adjuster is located and burried on the top of the spring. If you have a lift this actually doesn't take that much time (and you don't have to remove the tire), but you need a jack to prop up the lower control arm to release and reinstall the spring and control arm.

Now in relation to my wheel fitment and what spacer you need, again, my deal is limited to w209 front end. I have an 18 x 8.5" x 31et sl55 rim with a 235 tire. The section width is the most relevant issue besides the rim width and offset as the tire is what will contact the spring, hence the required spacer. I am running a 5mm spacer with dunlop z stars 235/40/18 with a 9.6" section width on a 8.5" rim (remember that measured rims width is important, e.g. a 225 is measured on a 8" rim and each .5" will add .2 to the section width. I believe the max section width on a 209 without rubbing again assuming offsets are correct and perfect on a 8.5 front is 9.8, so I'm right there. I'm running 265/35/18 rear with rear section width of 10.7 incidently, which required major quarter panel rolling.

HAHA oh sorry you meant change the dampening not ride height. Ride height was such an issue with me that I went straight to that. You adjust the fronts with an allen on the top of the struts under the hood, and in they are on the top of the shocks in the rear. Adjustment is actually easier than on my 911. I left the plastic retainers off the two front sections of the side panels in the trunk closest to the rear seats. As such, I can fold them back and access the shocks for adjustment quite easily.

Next, I'll be adding some strut and shock tower braces like the clk63 black

this is spot on good advice. the issue with clearance is that the wheel spokes have to clear the brakes and if you put on coilovers the tire has to clear the coilover. At the same time you have to be mindfull of how far the wheel is pushed out in relation to the front fender. because on the front fender there is nothing to roll. i have 19x8's up front, +34 offset and i am running a 10mm spacer. rubber is a 225/35/19

Was looking around Ebay and found these 2 Coilovers:

KW2 : LINK 1900$

PSS9 : LINK 1700$

I guess it's the top 2 coilovers out there for the W209

Anymore reviews anyone?