Finally finished my coilover installation. Thought I would make some notes in case it helps someone. There are some good threads already.

Tein coilover installation on W203 (same as W209).
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ml#post2254601
Strut bearing replacement (pretty much part of the coilover install)
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...placement.html
Full suspension refresh but there are some useful pics and parts for this job.
https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...n-refresh.html
A few more useful pics etc
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...lover-set.html

I installed KW V1's which are height adjustable but no damping/rebound adjustment. I already knew that the spring perch hits the tire if you lower it too much. I found out exactly how much- basically stock level (for the CLK55 anyway), maybe 5-10mm lower max before you start to get worried. Here is my clearance at the front at approx 5mm lower than stock. Bear in mind my collars will reduce the clearance by approx 5mm- more about that later.





You will need 10mm hubcentric spacers if you want to go lower.

The next part is the swaybar end links. I was not aware beforehand that there were M10 and M12 bolts used on the links across the W203 and W209 range. Someone mentioned that the V6 models had 10mm and the V8's 12mm but I can't confirm that. All I can say is that my coilovers had a 10mm hole and my endlinks were 12mm. So out they came once everything was bolted up nicely. My local engineer was nice enough to enlarge the holes for free.

I had some new collars made which I designed. I hate the notches they put in them so the adjustment tool falls out the bottom or the top so I had holes drilled instead. I am not a superlow hella flush kind of person. I wanted to be almost at stock height with the ability to drop 10-15mm later on if I find myself with a different driveway. According to the instructions which I downloaded from KW the minimum drop is 15mm so I had the collars made much thicker so they could actually sit above the top of the threads if needed.





I had the back ones done as well just in case the stock ones sit too low. As it turns out it was not necessary at the front. The stock ones would have provided no drop at all at the highest setting. Their instructions are probably based on C-class non AMG ride height.





I made another thread as I couldn't find where these parts go (apart from the bump stop and boot of course).



KW were nice enough to respond very quickly with the following.



As is in many threads now you need this tool to remove the strut mount on the front as there is a small threaded collar holding it on. It is below the nut, washer and plate you remove on the top.









You can see how this mount with the bearing fits into the car. The fatter notch should be lined up with the swaybar link on the coilover according to WIS before installation back into the car. Removing the stock strut is easy. Getting the spring off with normal bolt style spring compressors is a nightmare. I highly highly recommend just taking it to a garage and get them to use their wall mounted one. It would have saved me 3 hours and wondering if I was going to kill myself. The stock springs are very hard to compress and you can only easily access about 2 coils at a time. Putting the coilover together doesn't require a spring compressor. Just sit on the mount, screw the threaded collar on a few turns and tighten it down once it is in the car and the weight of the car compresses it.





Measurements of original collars if anyone wants to copy.







I highly recommend getting new strut mounts / bearings, swaybar endlinks, swaybar bushes, replace the rubber “bumper” which sits between the car body and the “plate” with the nut on top. I wouldn't skimp out with non genuine stuff. I think Lemfoerder is the OEM supplier so I went with that stuff. Part numbers below. I am awaiting the order from pelican parts and then will pull it all to pieces again.

Strut Mount (Front Left or Right)
Brand: Lemfoerder (2003 Mercedes-Benz CLK55 AMG Base Coupe)
Part #: 203-320-02-73-M69

This is the swaybar bush for the 23mm AMG swaybar. Not an easy part to find. I am not sure if my swaybar has bonded bushes or not so no idea how these will turn out. Apparently they bonded them on to eliminate squeaks but you are supposed to order a whole new swaybar, not replace the bush.
RUBBER MOUNTING, Part #: 2033232585

This is the threaded collar.
Genuine Mercedes-Benz Part: NUT, Part #: 0009900365

Sway Bar Link (Front Left or Right) Part #: 2033202989
Sway Bar Link (Rear Right) Part #: 2033200889
Sway Bar Link (Rear Left) Part #: 2033200789
Strut Bumper (Front Left) Part #: 2033220344
Strut Bumper (Front Right) Part #: 2033220444

I found the rear coilovers much easier to install. You can even do it one side at a time, no need to jack the whole rear up. The jack point is the differential if you do want to. I took out the body side bolt rather than the hub side bolt of the lower spring arm. Getting the tension off was impossible so I ended up prying the bolt out. Getting it partially back in was easy, getting the other side lined up to push it all the way was not. If you loosen (but not remove) the hub side bolt the whole arm will tilt to get the angle correct.

The adjustment collar goes at the top and is hidden inside the “cup” under the body so you cannot adjust height without pulling the whole lot to pieces, nice one guys. Of course they are all like this not just KW. Make sure to remove the 3/4” thick rubber mount from inside the cup thing. It has indentations for a spring without a flat bottom, so will be less stable and safe and will not allow you to lower the car much if you leave it. Most likely it would be easy to do height adustments with the OEM spring compressor tool. Unless the car is way too low I wouldn't bother adjusting the height for a week as the springs will slowly settle 5-15mm in this time.

Torque values- front
The large bolt and nut is 120Nm
The 2 bolts underneath that is 110Nm
The swaybar endlink and top nut are 60Nm but you cannot use a torque wrench anyway since they turn and you need a torx and allen key respectively to prevent this. I just did them up as tight as I could with the spanner and it was beyond 60Nm as the torque wrench clicked.

Rear
It was 70Nm hub and body side bolts for the spring arm. It was superceded to 55Nm and 45 degree turn from what I can tell from WIS. This is for the W209, the C-class is different.
The top nut inside the trunk is 25Nm from WIS, 20Nm from KW but again there is no way to actually use a torque wrench.

Hope this helps someone avoid the same problems.

 

And after all that I have a clunk when driving. It was there before the coilovers but much much quieter. Hopefully when all the parts arrive and are replaced that will take care of it. Otherwise off to the dealer.

 

What a pain in the *** install. Thanks for all the info though. I am sure it will come in handy to plenty of people.

Where is the clunk coming from and when does it manifest itself? How does the car handle now?

 

I have taken the quote exactly from this thread https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...nk-solved.html
Even very slight variation in smooth tarmac will cause it. Sounds like metal on metal. I have torqued all the bolts I touched perfectly and rechecked them. I think it is either the swaybar endlinks/bushes or the strut mounts. I have only been driving it to work and directly back. I only just did the rears yesterday. I finished the fronts after putting them in and out 3 times about 2 weeks ago. Just with the fronts the transformation was amazing. The car was much flatter in turns, the steering required much less effort and it felt like there was much more grip.

If I have trouble with the swaybar bushes I will probably end up getting H&R swaybars. I know the dealer prices here will be insane for a new AMG bar and I saw yesterday my rear one has rust staining around the bushes

 

Everything arrived and was installed last month. The swaybar bushing was correct. None of the parts made a difference to the clunk.

Mercedes spent 2.5 hours unable to find a source for the clunk. They put it down to the noise from the coilovers. Doesn't explain why it was there before (but quieter) the coilovers went in. In any case they checked everything and pronounced the car safe which is enough for me.

The coilovers are great. I only have the worn stock AMG suspension to compare to and it is a huge improvement. Much much firmer. Normal driving you don't notice anything negative unless you are traveling slowly and get to bumps in the road where it is a lot less forgiving. At speed it is exceptional. Much more responsive but still comfortable. They give a huge amount of confidence in hard cornering. Much less body roll.

Only thing left to do is install the rear swaybar links and bushes. Then raise the rear left height as it is a little lower than the right. I am having the engineer make a tool for this as the rear coilovers cannot be adjusted without taking the lower spring arm out. As I mention above the adjustment perch is hidden inside the "cup" under the body. I have asked them to make something that can compress the spring from underneath so only the plastic cover has to come off. Will post details when I get it.

 

Nice Upgrade,

I bet the car is ready for business now, Might get fun tweaking though.

How is the ride quality now compared to OEM? The variable rate spring should make it close to a sweet predictable ride over stock.
One thing for sure, When carving twisty roads you will never be weary again.

 

Ride quality is slightly worse as expected. Any aftermarket shock will be firmer than stock but it is still mostly quite comfortable. Very suitable to the street. Not shaking your teeth out like some of the track only type setups or el cheapo brands.

It also depends on the quality of the roads. Of course its a trade off between wafting along on stock suspension and gaining the awesome handling and responsiveness of the coilovers. Definitely a great mod to do. I would love H&R swaybars as well but a bit out of my price range with shipping, currency and customs duty.

 

I don't know the system really well.
I just did the rear air bag on my GL 320 2008.
I may be learning a little bit about the front I just had a wheel bearing done and the next day it look like from right beside the little bit I'm hoping they didn't damage the airbag system at all.

 

You might need to raise the ride height in the front, mine clunked after I fitted coil overs I raised it, but drop link were bad, so might lower it back down as I changed back to standard drop links, the ones in the kit only lasted 800 miles

 

[deleted].