Hello , new to the forum as of today and Mercedes by 3 months . Purchased a 2019 E450 AWD coupe. Love the car for the most part and by far the finest interior I have been in .This forum is the only info searching brings up for me on my model so figured it was active and I could get some good info .
Probably a worn out subject somewhere but has anyone with the dynamic suspension and no air control found a solution for suspension lowering ? I have contacted several industry leaders in Bilstein and Fortune Auto looking but they have no offerings for electronic suspension . I see no cancellation kits, performance shocks or coil overs. Bilstein B4 is the only thing but they just replace what I have already.
If I were to put a set of passive on the car, say the Bilstein B16 pss10 , how would it effect the Dynamic characteristics ? Would I lose Transmission shifts, throttle and steering as well , would it go into some form of limp mode or would I simply get a dash light that I can reset ? I have the H&R VTF springs with stock shocks currently and do not like it . Too bouncy, shocks are out of the sweet spot.
I see a lot of info on BMW’s and have looked at all 14 pages of this specific forum and searched for 2 months with little luck. I read someone had posted but had air so it didn’t apply to me and another member referenced an E53 lowering thread topic but I did not see it . Apologies if everyone is tired of this and for being so long winded.

 

What do you mean by transmission shifts throttle? And how is it impacted by lowering a vehicle with dynamic body control susp? Is that what you mean by electronic right? As far as I know the adjustable dampimg feature won't work. Can't feel it anyway.


And e53s all equipped with airride from factory. Your question doesn't apply to them they're making use of the lowering chip with a remote.







 

Yes , the adaptive suspension is electronic . Comfort, Sport, Sport+. Going to Sport or Sport+ makes everything about driving the car more aggressive. It does not add any power from my research but does make “throttle response” more sensative , changes shift points to higher rpm’s, makes steering tighter, and stiffens up the ride. Sport+ more so than Sport I read somewhere that it has some interaction with the anti-lock brakes but not sure if it was fact or opinion.
I would just like to know if I disconnect the electronic shocks and replace them with non-electric what will it effect. It is all controlled by me flipping 1 toggle, so will I lose all the functions ( throttle response, shifts , tighter steering ) or just the Comfort mode ride? Could it possibly go into a limp mode if it does interact with braking ? I am hoping it will just give a dashlight as faulty shocks that I can have reset
To work with my car any Bilstein must say “Damptronic”. I contacted them directly and was told the B4 “damptronic” is the only offering and it is OEM replacement. They make a B16 “Damptronic” but not for my model. They also have an another ES line that is electronic but not for my year and model. I have talked with several manufacturers. Fortune Auto being another because they advertise “Bespoke” coil overs. They had no offerings for my year or model and I was told it would not be worth their time to make a 1 off coilover. KW, K&W, D2, ST, BC, Ohlin among others have no electronic offerings for the 2019 C238 E450 4matic coupe. Many of those companies offer cancellation kits that will allow you to put non electric dampers but again none of those companies or any others that I can find make a cancellation , delete , DDC kit for my year or model that I have found. I hope someone here can educate me further or post an option for my year and model. Most everything out there that is performance and electronic is directed at BMW, Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche . There’s even offerings for the Camaro’s and Corvettes. Thanks for responding.

 

Yeah bm is light years ahead of MB in any kindoc modifications, sad true.

 

Update:
Got replies from KW and D2 today .
• KW has 1 coilover kit for the C238 -?it’s a V3 part # 3522500B. It’s states clearly not for Electronic Dampers. The representative stated in the Email “ If your car has electronic dampers , these coilovers will trigger a malfunction “ but didn’t say what that would be. I replied and asked, we’ll see if he replies furthers .
•. D2 also had a variant a step up from the RS. Forget the part # at the moment but still have the email . D2 website and the rep said they were not for a C238 with electronic dampers. It actually said W213 so I asked if the sedan and coupe were the same and he replied they were. He said you would get a dashlight but thought that is all that would happen .
• still waiting to hear from Tein

That’s 4 major companies in suspension I have direct contact with that have no coilover offerings or EDC delete : Bilstein, Fortune Auto, KW and D2 . All but D2 were adamant not to put them on but even D2 wasn’t sure what would happen . Tein does have a 1 off program so maybe they can do something . The line of electronic shocks they do have , do not offer ride height adjustability however.

 

KW - replied said they thought it would just throw a dash light

Tein - can make what is needed but had no R&D . Sounded like time and Money

Koni - has an active offering for RWD C238 with no air suspension. Does not plan on offering an AWD option. Warned it could go into a limp mode and not just dash light . I see a few distributors show the “universal Yellow “ cartridges advertised as fitting C238 but Koni said those were strut cartridges and would not fit our model.

No active offerings ( upgrades) or cancelation kits - Bilstein , Fortune Auto, KW , D2 , Tein or Koni that I have had contact with. What exactly happens is still in the air with Koni mentioning a limp mode. Most or all of these has upgraded options for the other German cars - BMW, Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen .

Still want to inquire with : Silvers , K&W , Ohlins , ST , maybe Endless ( Zeal) , Eibach and H&R . Last 2 for cancellation kits .

 

Have Emails in to : Silvers , KSport and HR waiting for response. Did not contact Ohlins as I only saw off-road offerings for G class and AClass AMG .

Sent Mercedes an email asking about effects of installing non electronic suspension - waiting on response.

I think the next step is to unplug the OEM and see what happens. A buddy that owns a local performance shop recommended it.

 

Silvers - no offerings
KSport - no offerings
H&R - only VTF springs
Mercedes - said call local service manager regarding effects of installing non-electronic dampers

To date I have heard from these and no active dampers or cancellation kits available:
Bilstein (only B4- no gains over stock)
KW
D2
KSport
Koni ( warned of a potential limp mode)
Silvers
Fortune Auto
Tein
H&R
Ohlins - only offers g class off road and 1 A class AMG Shock that I saw so didn’t waste their time .

I do have to say that all companies responded very quickly and were all very friendly. The R&D for our models just isn’t there yet . I’m fairly confident it will be one day and is just behind us with a few offerings for the C207 ( not sure I got that model right - not meant to offend) .

Will unplug the shocks to see what happens and talk to my service manager when I go in . Will report any findings.

Can’t believe their are no options for a 4+ yr old model, but it is what it is. Might be a few left in BR, Eibach, Stance, Endless, ST , Megan, etc.. but am running out of steam and more frustrated than ever . Such a wonderful car to have no stance and average handling at best. I will still drive and enjoy it but I know what we are missing out on .

 

Hello,

I read you post, thank you for doing the other half of the foot work I've been doing, I'm finding the same result I was going to put coilovers with air cup in the front to be able to rise just the front end of the car 2 inches for speed bumps and bad driveways. Then I found out about the EDC deletes or lack of ... The next problem I ran into was the rear of the car. It has leveling system with air/springs for load weight adjustments / auto leveling, ( I like this feature ) and then again the EDC delete issues. What to do?? I then spoke with a buddy and he suggested Sport Springs to help with the soft suspension and the body roll I feel. He said by doing just the springs nothing else will need to be change. I use the OEM EDC system still, so no helm lights. I will just swap out the spring in the back and be able to keep my OEM self leveling air system and no deletes. This is the least head ache way I can find to help the car with it's lame suspension issues. The stiffer springs will help with the bottoming out at high speeds and will help with the side to side body roll I feel going into corners fast. Redoing the whole suspension would be the way to go but I am starting realizes it's like opening up Pandor's box. I'm going to do the spring and if more is needed, I will start off with sway bars front and rear. If more is still needed..... then maybe start beefing up the linkage. Once I get to that point where I have confidence in the cars handling. I'm then going on the dyno and dropping a tune in it.
Then some 20's Then I'm done..... Seem so far away......

I changed out the grill and blacked out the car.

Changed out exhaust and rear spoiler and blacked out the car.

Again complete chrome delete. Need to drop 20's when ever I get through this suspension project.

 

I purchased a 2019 E450 4MATIC Coupe AMG-Line. I am curious to know if either of you have any follow-up for this thread? I started with new/aftermarket wheels (should be picking up and installing in the next few days). I too, would like to reduce the roll during turns, and stiffen up the suspension a bit.

Dumb question, My car has the dynamic driving modes that I can choose from, does that mean that I do have the air system that adjusts in different modes? I have not tried putting it in sport or sport+ mode when taking fun curves. That’ll be my next step, to see if I notice a difference. That might solve my problem.
Cheers,
FELON

 

Hey man!

Congrads on your car.... I finished off my wagon last fall. Came out pretty close to what I was going for. Pretty sure you don't have air on your coupe. What I ended up doing is sport springs in the front and tricked the car to lower the air bag system in the rear to the new lower height in the front. It cost me about $210 for the front springs ( you would need four springs) and it cost me about $1100 to have it installed at a trusted performance shop. You have to get an wheel alignment so make sure the shop has one. Worth looking into to, one stop shop. The shop for me was a hour away, after I picked it up I had that time coming home to feel the difference in the cars performance. Big improvement from stock. I didn't get the full performance upgrade due to having to stay with the air bags in the rear (wagon) but lowering the rear help my wagons performance as well. Your 450 coupe you will get four lowering springs with your kit so it will be $500 price range plus install. In my opinion this helped my car a lot from that soft suspension they set the car up with from factory. I then dropped 20 inch rims on it and went way wider on the tire size. My roll has almost disappeared unless I'm really pushing it in a corner. The bottoming out is better and I don't ever bottom out hard like the stock springs did, but I'm always watching for **** like that.. Going bigger on your rims and tires, in my case 18 up to 20's my MPH reading was off by 2 MPH now. For instance showing 68MPH on helm but GPS radar shows 70 MPH just an FYI. Next I pulled the brake calipers off the car and had them painted Kawasaki Green with the Black 20's I put on the car. The Black and Green really PoPPed!! Loved how that part came out. The last thing I did was re tuned my ECM. I went to AGAIN a trusted performance shop. The shop you use, if they know there stuff will have all the software to crack into your ECU (engine control module) and re map your air fuel mixture and timing. The V-6 Twin turbo motor already puts out 362hp with 369ft/lbs after my tune it went form that up to 480hp with 528ft/lbs. Took the car for a ride and OMG! Worth every penny at $1500. We did the math and with the mechanical loss I'm around 400 at the wheels and it feels like it. The torque now on the car puts your head into the head rest. The Sport and Sport+ function. I NEVER drive to car in sport +, it's undriveable unless you shift with the paddles yourself... I find. It revs out the motor so high and for so long. You find yourself saying "shift already....."

Springs. By just doing the springs you keep you factory damping system on your car the same. No error codes on your helm because the system function as normal. Getting shorter springs to lower the car for body roll and a stiffer springs for bottoming out. The car will ride a little stiffer but the trade off is well worth it. If I'm looking for a smoother ride I just put the car in comfort mode because the damping system still works after your performance upgrade. Also if you tune your car, when your in comfort mode the HP gain is still there so the car woke up BIG time when in comfort mode. I found before the tune the car was lazy and just wanted to get to 9th gear asap. Now it has a nice somewhat smooth ride(after the spring upgrade) but in no means is it lazy anymore, and in Sports mode! it's a force to be reckoned with. This is the most hassle free way to get more performance without opening pandora box. Oh yeah by the way they have a factory govern speed sensor on the car. Mine car falls on it's face at 130mph very disappointing....The motor has so much more. Hope this helps it took me so long to get here...

The finished vision.