So I decided to pick up some of the Sonic Tuning ST180 wheels in 19" staggered. I installed them yesterday and they look sooo badass and absolutely amazing! I love them! The ride quality is perfect. And the quality of the wheels is top notch. They feel very solid and smooth. Im running 235/35/19 in the front and 265/30/19 in the rear. Thank you Sonic Tuning for the pleasant transaction and all your help! They also through in some wheel was which was really nice! Overall I give them a 11.5/10 for everything being perfect.
I attached some pictures. They are just iPhone pics and they definitely do not do justice, the wheels look tons better in person. And my car needs a detailing badddd.. I will get on it when the sun is out.







Conti DW tire

 

Nice!

A drop couldnt hurt

 

I know I would love to drop it a little its just to expensive for shocks and springs right now.

 

Nice wheels. Did you get those from the group buy?

True that a drop couldnt hurt and what I would also recommend is a little polish. I noticed scratches and swirls in the second picture, nothing too crazy but i think it could be a good investment.

 

I got the same wheels... No clearance issues? I have a clk 500 and caliper requires a spacer in the front

 

You gotta drop it. It looks like a 4x4 now lol.

 

all you need now is to drop the car

 

Whats the cheapest drop option if i just want it to be a little bit lower?

 

+1. lol

 

I would have spent the money on springs before wheels and tires. you don't need shocks right away if you go with eibach. and sprins are cheap.

 

If I go H&R will i need springs the same time as eibach?

 

u need springs, shocks, full set of camber kit (F&R), and a proper wheel alignment. u are looking at around $1000. otherwise your tires will worn out like no tomorrow.

 

For most people, you don't need all of these. Good idea - yes. Better handling with aftermarket shocks - yes. But many have gone on Eibachs with stock shocks for awhile before upgrading.

You don't need a camber kit if you are ok flipping your directional tires and expect to get new tires every 20,000 miles. I replace mine every 1.5 years - no big deal. If you want to make your tires last longer then yes you should get a camber kit.

Ultimately you should try and phase all of these in, but it's not critical to do it all at once.

 

yes its not critical to do all at once but the longer you wait more problem will occur. this is basesd on my tuned car experience for over 14 years. trust me if you have the money i would do all at once but like you said yes you can get away with just drop spring but the issue here is how long your stock shock will hold? also his car is over 10 years old now think about it.

 

You've just had bad luck then. I've been in the game longer than you and never had or seen significant problems. Now how much is it a problem depends on each person and how much they want to deal. Ive put min. 50,000 miles on 3 different cars on springs before I upgraded the shocks. Now I don't track so it was just fine for me as far as performance. But my suspension didn't fall apart. I've also never installed a camber kit even when I was at one point flush - no camber kits on lowered cars totaling 340,000 miles. And nothing fell apart, nothing broke. The only thing I ever needed to replace due to premature wear were the bearings and that's debatable at 100,000 miles. My clk is almost 10 years old, no camber kit, waited on shecks for a long time - and nothing has come apart.

The important message to the OP is all of your suggestions are good things to save for - but I wouldn't have him stressed out trying to do all at the same time, or within a few weeks or months of lowering his car with springs.

Anyways I'm not arguing with you that they arent good investments. If you have the money go for it - But I don't think there's much risk to waiting, especially if you are cash strapped. Of corse there's potential for various suspension and tire issues. There.s always risk when you start modding. But I haven't seen many people have the bottom fall out on them, in fact more the opposite. Ultimately the Most typically evident sign you'll see is the tire wear and if you're willing to buy tires on a certain schedule it's not a big deal at all. If you want to not worry about tires then you better get that camber kit.

 

this has nothing to do with "LUCK" those are proper way to lower your car. like i said if money is issue u might get away with the spring only for the moment. u can asked any tuner they will tell you the same thing. why they have those parts available in the first place if u actually dont need them why make them anyway. i am just state the facts that is all. its up to the people to make their own personal decision. no one point the gun at ya

 

I know a lot of tuners in the Sf bay. Some are friends. They will all tell you the same thing I just posted.

Aftermarket shocks will help you get the most out of your sport springs. Aftermarkets springs will probably decrease the life of your oem shocks. None of that means you have to switch to aftermarket shocks immediately. My w209 experience is you can go a long time on the oem shocks. My CLK definately performed and handled better on H&R shocks than oem. But my car did not suffer damage for not having sport shocks.

Camber kits will help you maintain better contact with the road, and decrease premature tire wear. However none of that means you have to get a camber kit immediately to correct camber but you will wear out your tires fast. YOu could go through tire set after tire set if you wanted to and nothing really bad will happen to your car. Now if you are inclined to push the handling on your car, then yes it would be safer to adjust the camber to best suit your driving. But for most drivers....it doesn't really matter. it's just tire money.

I mentione luck becasue I thought some bad stuff happened to you and I'm trying to understand what your conern is, other than some shops telling you you need to do all that. None of which I am disputing for best performance or tire care. Some shops are always trying to sell product- that's their job. Some shops will tell you you don't need a camber kit - unless your camber is severe or if it's not necessary for your particualr vehicle. My oringal response is meant for this OP. His car would look much better lowered, and it wouldn't cost him much to get a set of springs. He can drive safely without a camber kit or shocks for a pretty long time until he saves up enough to do the rest. That was my main point. I didn't see the need to scare him whenit's completely not necessary. At the end of teh day it's his decision, but my experience is it's not the end of the world.