tbDallas

Hello all,

I am new here as I have just picked up a 97 e320. I am installing my wheels and springs this weekend. I purchased the Eibach springs and was wondering if i needed to order these "pads" you guys are referring to. Forgive my ignorance but I didn't want any surprises once the car is apart. Also, would it be a good idea to go ahead and replace the shocks also? Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
tbDallas
97 e320
06 Corvette Z06
71 Chevelle SS
02 Ford F250

ohlord

need sport shocks,shorter travel than the oe shocks.Wait on pads for several months to let the springs settle and then you can use the pads to adjust final ride height and then get it aligned at the dealer.What rim and tire size are you going to?
ohlord
sport shocks autohausaz.com

raymond g-

folks who expect one stop shopping are having to take a bit of a gamble. if
you're thinking that you want to do the drop all at once, this isn't totally
predictable.

• after the springs are installed on your car, the compression will cause the
  spring to settle and will adapt to a constant tension height. depending on
  manufacturer, lot #, etc, it will be in the neighborhood of .5" or thereabouts
  
  
• the gap you want will be different than someone else's preference and is
  somewhat subjective. if you want your ride 'slammed' more so than others,
  you may not want to consider first stage lowering spring (roughly 1.25-1.5"),
  plus thinner spring pads....but instead, that of the next stage lowering spring
  (1.5-1.75"), plus thicker spring pads

1 - look at the wheel gap and determine how much of a drop you want

2 - buy the springs and roughly gauge how much of a drop you will get (from
their estimation, as well as reported from other forum members using same
springs and same model/year)

3 - take the measure in #1 and deduct the figure in #2

4 - pull the wheel/tire off and determine the spring pad being used...in the front,
as well as the back (chances are high they are using different thicknesses)

5 - assess the figure/remainder in #3 and, using the chart below, determine the
closest (thinner) spacer needed to make up the difference which will result
in the figure in #3

if you pause and think about it, it's a simple math problem, with a touch of
personal preference thrown into the equation.

210 spring pad part # and thicknessif the gap is sooo crucial for you, you make your best guess and then throw
caution into the wind when you buy pads. that's the best you hope for. then,
after installation....and spring settling....you can reassess. yes, you may have
to change the pads once more.

in my case, i've swapped out the pads and shocks about 3x now. I kniew
that I would be experimenting and just bought my own spring compressor
at the start of the lowering project.

tbDallas

I will be running 19x8.5 front and 19x9.5 back

tbDallas

I will be running 19x8.5 with 245/35 in the front and 275/30 19x9.5 in the back.

jimmydagreek

Here are some pics. of my previous E55 on 19X8-19X10 with Eibach Pro springs and Bilstein Sport Shocks. I have also attached what a "spring pad" look like and where it goes:

tbDallas

Oh ok thanks! Is it absolutely necessary for me to immediately change to sport shocks when I change the springs or can i get away with the OEM shocks for a little while?

jimmydagreek

No, you can "get away" with your stock shocks for a while but your ride will begin to suffer after time, I've done it. You should change your stock shocks out to shorter sport shocks as soon as you can after you change your springs. It's just the fact that you won't get the full range of motion that the shocks need when you install shorter springs on the stock longer shocks; thus causing a harsher ride.

tbDallas

Thanks abunch. I'm assuming I can get these #1 pads from Bekkers or are they available at the local parts store? Sorry for all of the questions...

koskesh

the sport shocks are about 1" shorter to work with shorter springs. If you use oem shocks you are running the risk of bottoming out the shock and that's not a good thing.
this is because with shorter springs, the oem shock will use some of its compression travel as a resault of the lower height so you will have less travel left to accomodate for the bumps while driving. In other words, sitting still, when the oem shock is compressed say half way with a shorter spring, the sport shock will sit 1/4 way compressed and will have 3/4 of its travel range left. These are obviously arbitrary numbers i used for the purpose of explaining this.
The shocks also have an intended operating range as far as their compression goes and you get close to hitting that limit with oem shocks on shorter springs. Think of if you had your shock compressed all the time, it wouldn't act like it is designed to in it's intended range.

koskesh

Spring Pads are available from Mercedes dealer.

ohlord

till the springs settle.That will give you time to understand why you should not have chosen 19's
then you can change to 18 which not only perform better,ride better ,handle better,wear better,but will also save you from having to spend another grand on camber eccentrics and rear camber links,to do it right.

jimmydagreek

I would agree on the spring settling part but not on why not to choose 19's, lol.

ohlord is right about everything on the 19's he mentioned but the look is awesome and for me, the ride was perfect! Yes, you will have to get some custom rear camber adjustment rods depending how low you go but they're only a couple hundred bucks and you can install them yourself. GL and don't forget to post some pics.

Oh and yes, spring pads at the dealer are only like $7-8 bucks each so you don't have to search the internet to find another supplier.

B189s

Bumping up an old thread

I've been STFFing for half an hour and couldn't get the answer/picture I'm looking for.

I just took over my dad's 1996 E320 and planning on installing 19X8.5 235/35 and 19X9.5 265/35 wheels. I went to a shop today and they tried a set of wheels on my car. My car had 4 fingers gap on the front and 3 fingers gap on the rears.

I'm thinking to just change the pads to the thinnest (#1) for lower stance and get the 19s they put on earlier today. Can anyone tell me how much drop would I get by doing that? Can anyone show any picture maybe? I'm guessing the fronts would still look higher than the rears even after replacing the pads to the thinnest all around . Maybe, I should try do 2s on the fronts and 1s on the rears?

Which pads are our stock pads BTW?

THX guys, appreciate the help since I'm really2 new here in W210 section.

raymond g-

j-
you need a base measure, ie what pads do you have now? the chart showing
part number *and* thickness of the pads is listed above. so it's a simple
math problem:

current pad thickness minus pad #1 thickness = effective drop

generally speaking, you're only going to get approx 3/8" or 8-12mm drop via
pad swapping.

changing rim size should not affect the wheel gap. presuming that you
always strive to maintain the recommended circumference (to maintain
odo/speedo accuracy) the gap will be same whether you're using 18, 19,
20, etc rims

B189s

THX for the reply..

You were saying that it might be different different pads in there for every W210? I just thought I could just see a 'before and after' picture for easier measurement.

Do I need to uninstall my spring/shock to see my current pad? OR removing wheel would be enough?

I've noticed that most owners here have H&R springs/Bilstein shocks combo on their cars and some with Eibach springs. What do you have on yours? How's the ride? I just thought I'll keep my W210 as my relax/comfortable car since both of W203s already have pretty harsh ride (Tein COs and Eibach/Bilstein combo), BUT comfortable with style tho . That's why I want 19s and lose the gap all around a little.

Which one is stiffer? Eibach/H&R with the same shocks if you know?

Yes, you were right on that, but it looks better with 17s than 19s. It looked like a 4X4 with 19s when it's not lowered

Sorry for all questions, hope you don't mind.

THX

raymond g-

in this pic (from above) you can barely see the nubs. yes it *is* possible to
see the visual indicator simply by removing the tire/rim. the nubs are moulded
in every 33º of rotation so the chances are good that you should be able to
spot them and determine the thickness of your pads.



it may not be realistic to view pictures and conclude accurately because of
the variances in spring rate, spring type/model, arguably...spring age (sag),
car model (weight), etc etc. you're just as apt to get the same idea by
photoshopping this (or similar graphics editor) with a few seconds of work.

I started out my lowering trials 2 yrs ago and sampled H&R, then Vogtland
springs. didn't like them as I viewed them harsh. I settled for OEM springs
in which 1" of height was cut. i used an air powered Dremel type tool with
composit cut off wheel. this took about 15 mins total. the spring rate was
just perfect for me.

I also tried Bilstein HDs, Bilstein Sports, and Koni Sport adjustables. I felt the
Konis were way-too-soft (setting #1), still-too-soft (#2), and too-soft (#3).
I settled for the Bilstein Sports.

The combination of OEM spring lowered by 1" max, and the Bilstein Sports
was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want 1.5" drop given the streets
and poor pavement maintenance and conditions in my city.

Matched with wider tires (take offs from E55 - 8.5" front and 9" rear) the
overall balance of parts made me smile as I test drove around town for the
past 2 weeks. Very compliant suspension, great compression and rebound
dampening and still with sufficient clearance and travel for most of the roads.
Slalom type transitions were day/night improvement over OEM rims, tires,
springs and shocks.

see if any of this blather helps... click happy face --->

B189s

When you felt that the H&R and Vogtland were too harsh, were you on Bilstein sports as well? Do have any thoughts on Eibach springs? I'm guessing the ride quality should be better compared to H&R or Vogtland?

My guy is coming over tomorrow at noon and he'll replace the pads to 1s for a starter. I will take it from there for my next step.

Is there a possibility that my stock pads are 1s now? I always had 4s on both of Cs. I'm guessing I have 4s/5s all around on my W210?

Please advise..

I will also have another guy coming over to fix/replace some parts as my right rear window couldn't roll back up after being rolled down. I've just had the car for 2 days and already found that problem, small matter like rearview mirrow all wobbly that bothers me and how car the felt/sounded really harsh whenever I hit a small hole/bump. I'm just too ****