docpaul

My '91 300e with 66K miles is in need of new front struts. Read shocks seem fine at this time...

Bilstein offers 3 flavors...
comfort
heavy duty
sport

I would prefer less body roll and will be upgrading wheels and tires to 16 or 17" as soon as I can find a good deal on some 5 stars... but will not be changing the springs or lowering the car. I don't want the ride to be at all punishing.

Please advise those of you who have been there and made this decision.
Also if there is a great source for the shocks themselves please share.

All the best,

Paul

Saijin_Naib

Its my understanding that the Sport shocks are shorter and are meant to be used in conjunction with lowering springs, so if you are unwilling to lower, you may be stuck with Bilstein Comfort only.

STLe320

I'd say sport. They're the most universal with all cars and will be perfect if you plan to lower

rayhennig

Hello,

You specifically say you're not going to lower the car with shorter springs. In which case, your options are:

1. Bilstein Comfort B4
2. Bilstein Heavy Duty B6
3. Sachs
4. Other

My view is that 1, 2 or 3 would be best.

If you want things a little stiffer (harsher?) then the option 2 might suit.

In any event, go for original quality parts and that, to my knowledge, means Bilstein or Sachs (although others may have supplied parts of equal quality).

Best of luck to you.

RayH

YNVDIZW124

Sports for anything lowring more than 1.5" (h&r/vogtlands) and HD for lowring less than 1.2" (eibachs). I wouldn't use comforts unless you have a stock suspension. You can also go with some monroe sensa-trac struts.

dan_c

for less body roll, prepare to open up your wallet!
sport struts, lowering springs and larger sway bars (e500 work)...
I went with a bilstein b12 kit (springs and struts), 1,5" drop. ride is awsome, havent lost the comfort, tighter corners, increased stability, betterfeel of the road, but still has a lot of body roll... so I'm searching for e500 sway bars, witch are thiker.
no vote, cause it's more complicated than just struts!

BrabusBenz300E

I like how half of you didn't read that he has no plans on lowering.

Go with comforts

dan_c

sorry mate, we all did, but we all got stuck on the body roll part...
since we've all been there, we all stated our opinions!
off course, that if he didn't wish to lower his ride, harden the setup, etc., the only option remains the stock (comforts, sachs, monroe, witch ever brand).
so, "what's up, doc?!" what itches you most?
retain original posture or improve stability?

RHW

Maybe they read that but since he thinks lowering = punishing ride, there is room to change his mind.

The Sportline drop is minor, but there is no comparison in ride quality - it made a garage dweller out of my 1989 78K coupe.

If you are already spending a chunk, adding a little more to capture the ride benefits of a light lowering might not be a bad idea - at least "punishing ride" should not be the reason to nix lowering.

So my vote is comforts but suggest an open mind about lowering...I run some rough roads and still prefer a Sportline every time.

docpaul

Getting some good info here!

I live in Hawaii where many roads are less than smooth and with the rain we get in the winter, potholes are common. For that reason I was hoping to find suitable 16" 5 star wheels and run 215/55/16 tires. Larger wheels mean less tire sidewall and more likely wheel damage.

Correct me if I am wrong but lowering results in less ground clearance but improved cornering with cosmetic improvement ie: taking up the gap between the tire/wheel and fender.

What if I just went with Bilstein HD to stiffen the front end up a bit and left my stock rear shocks (they are not bouncing when tested like the fronts)??
It would seem that later I could add stiffer anti sway bars if desired.

BTW does a 400e have stiffer anti sway bars or only the 500e / sportline models?

dan_c

still, don't think it compares to the ruff roads we see out here, and I'll return with picks if you don't belive me... I think a medium lowering setup is just fine (1,5" drop), without loosing comfort, on 17"ers btw. I like mine more each day...

the geometry is something you don't want to be messing with like that! you either go the full monty, either go home... it's way to dangerous to toy around! diferent class shok's might turn into some really scarry behaviours while braking, or launching, high speed stability, and the list goes on...

my recomendation, and I dear to say it's a safe one, is: if you don't have the gold nuggets, time or acces to parts, stick to stock, and enjoy your car as it is, cause it's one great feet of engineering!
take good care of it, and it will take good care of you...

if you want to talk about performance, that's a different story. start reading some old threads, search tool is your friend, and pay good atention to all info. there are some real wise guys around here, with a hefty experience with these cars...

the w124 400e and e400/e420 sway bars are 26,5mm diam. front, and 16mm diam. rear. your staock '91 300e has 26,5mm front and 15mm rear, if not sportline... best way is e500, with 28mm front and 18mm rear. these ones should give a good improvement over stock. there also are other little triks to a good setup, it just takes patience.

best of luck!

Damocles74

Where can I get the (front) Bilstein sport shocks for my w124 E320 wagon? I ordered them a website and they sent me the wrong shocks,they sent me the rears and even they were wrong because my car has the sls hydro.So where are you people getting your Bilstein sport shocks???

Damocles74

Well,I just ordered them from buymbparts.com for $127 each.Why do they call shocks struts? don't most mercedes have the side by side springs and shocks?
http://www.buymbparts.com/item.wws?c...tid=buymbparts