ascates

I have Bilstein Hd's with H&R Springs up front with stock pads, but i'm disappointed with the drop. It sits higher in the front than in the back and i'm looking to get it lower.

currrently the gap is about 1.5 -2 inches or 3 fingers. I want it to sit right at the fender like the picture of the white CE.

Would swapping to Bilstein Sport & removing spring pad get a decent drop?

YNVDIZW124

I know what you mean, I have the same setup. I'm looking for different front springs because i do like how it sit on the back. I'm going to try to remove the bump pads too but let me know your progress. I think the height is perfect for 19s but i don't like the front height.

ascates

Well the back sits perfect on mine, the fender sits right at the tire. The front just sits hire and there is a noticeable gap.

ascates

Any other comments? I see a lot of views and no comments. I have searched but a lot of links with pics are broken & not many have switched from HD to Sport or gave a comment on the difference from experience.

ZedStyle

why don't you try to remove the front spring pads and see what it looks like?
It will only go down very slightly, i know, but it will give you a better idea of how much you need to go down by.
i had the opposite issue (front springs were too low) so now have cut OEM springs in front and vogtlands in the back with no pads

jnolte

Either go to smaller spring pad front or cut a half coil to a coil off the front spring. chaging the shock wont do anything

RBYCC

If that is your car in the picture it looks like the front is lower then the back.
The coupe by design has a "natural" rake with the rear always higher then the front.

You slam it too much and your car will not handle

bluecoupe

Prior to the widebody conversion, I had Vogtland springs all round & I loved how the car sat at the front - nice & low with no rubbing issues at all.

When we put the 500e front fenders on we realized that the arch sat lower, so I had to go with a set of sportline springs to even it out...

I think the Vogtland fronts are still up at Mototrwerks - let me know if you are interested.

Here's a couple of older shots:

ascates

This is the gap on mine:


The white coupe in the first post is how i would like it to sit.

ascates

Wow, i think thats a perfect drop. If you have those springs i'm interested

optimizer

bluecoupe - how's the ride quality changed with your setup? have you ever had yours on a stock setup for comparison?

epowers777

I have heard of many people going without pads at all. or maybe just pads in back? Ive done lots of research just cut your stock springs. I know its a sore subject but I know lots of guys who cut them and love the ride. And its easy to doand you get the ride height you want. Use a small cutting wheel and do it slow dont let it get glowing hot!! And you can get a cheap pare at junk yard.

bluecoupe

When I had the set up shown in the pictures above it was not just the springs... I had a set of Brabus Bilstein shocks/struts along with sportline f&r swaybars added at the same time. The entire conversion was night & day from stock - the car was truly transformed. I found the Brabus parts new in England & haven't seen another set since.

ascates - check your PM...

Makahveli

Wow and how do you know this? I had an HD shock setup on one side and a sport setup on the other side with the same set of springs, and their was a noticable difference in height when standing back.
Yes I've done and seen this in person on my 300ce and what about you?

YNVDIZW124

^^ he's right... I've done that too...well except i saw it once i changed all four shocks to HD. My car was about 1/2 inch higher..

Makahveli

yeah the shocks are trying to help maintain a specific ride height, thats why they make lowering shocks.

V9.

wow thats sits really high....I have Bilstein sport (shorter piston) with 1 bump pad and HR sport springs (1.3F 1.3R spec) and I can barely get one finger under the front fender.....its perfect

RBYCC

Shocks do not maintain a specific ride height ( unless they are a pneumatic / hydraulic load leveling type ) ...springs do !!!

The HD and the Sport bottom at the same point, so when the weight of the car is on them they both compress to the same point.

The valving and internal parts are identical and shared between the HD and Sport with the only difference being the location of the upper internal stop.

The Sport internal stop is set lower which limits the travel by about one inch compared to the HD.

The reason the travel is limited on the sport is so that cars with an extreme lowering spring will not pull the springs off the pad under full extension.

I run HD's with H&R sport springs...why?
Because it is not a track only car and I want a bit more of a compliant handling which will prevent my suspension from slamming against the stops on a harsh road surface.
Don't want to bounce around a curve as I need to put a lot of power to the ground so maintaining control by keeping the tires with as much road contact at all times is imperative.
Too stiff of a suspension with limited travel hampers weight transfer which is an important part of handling !

ascates

Well the specific spec ifor HD uncompressed= 635mm, compressed = 466mm. For the sport its uncompressed = 605mm, compressed = 458mm. Compressed height difference is so smail its negligible. But the uncompressed height has a difference of 30mm = 1.18". The overall stroke difference is 22mm = .87".

So to me it may change the height slightly, as the 2 previous posters have notice dfrom their actual experience of about .50 inches. So it seems understandable that although the shocks don't dictate ride height, it may help slightly in supporting a little weight of the car especially when brand new.

Hopefully the official numbers i posted will help others in their choice.

YNVDIZW124

^^ He's right... All springs and shocks will eventually settle with use. Even on Sports and H&R set up expect to go down about .25 more. My fastest way to solve the gap problem is just to buy one size up on the tires. I liked the way it looked on 235/40/18 and 245/40/18 because it had no gap.

ascates

Hey guys well after a lot of thought, I had one coil cut off, & i went to the #1 dot spring pad & achieved the perfect stance and ride quality is unchanged & seems better actually.

But remember these were brand new springs, not old or used ones.

Makahveli

Wow, same year, model, and color combo!!!

ascates

yep, its almost the same as yours. Got a lot of changes coming by the end of this summer.