Benz-O-Rama

Car was being serviced anyway, so I asked them to drop it via Star Diagnostic. They said "No problem, $105.00 bucks." So I said DEAL!!!

My new 19" wheels are coming next week and I'll post pics then too. But here's what you can expect after dropping with Star.

mbuskuhl

looks good, I'm jealous - the rest of a need a dealer like yours....

VD500

How much did you drop? 1"?

Benz-O-Rama

From what I was told, every car is different when it comes to lowering via Star Diagnostic. You can't really tell them how much you want it lowered. You just ask for it to be lowered and you get what you get. I didn't measure before and after, but if I had to guess, I'd say 1 to 1.5 inches.

mmgrad

that drop looks good....

i've only had my car for about a wk now, and i've driven via normal/sporty1/sporty2 mode... the normal mode is very comfy & the sporty2 mode is a little too sensitive to bad roads...

given that you lowered it via diagnostics, does the "normal" mode still ride like normal? or does current normal ride like previous sporty2???

Benz-O-Rama

That's a great question and I was VERY concerned about that very thing. I love the ride of this car and did not want to upset the smooth ride. Believe me when I say that the car still feels like it was never lowered. Sport I still feels like Sport I and Sport II still feels exactly as it did before I lowered it. I'm soooooo relieved about this.

Now the next question should be:

How's this thing gonna feel when I put my 19's on next week. I'm so scared it's gonna ride harsh. I kept going back and forth trying to decide if I should go with 18's or 19's. We'll see.....

mmgrad

thanks for the response... those are the same steps i went through...

i know with the CLK, the 19s didn't ride rough at all... the E with the air-ride should do well with 19s...

gotta look up steve when he's in town for the lowering... i just don't want it to mess with my warranty... thats my only concern

MB Fanatic

Hey, I have 19" SL 65 AMG rims on my E55 and I would say dont worry about the ride quality. Anything over 19" rims is overkill and you will feel every bump and crack in the road.

Ride quality with 19" rims is great.

mmgrad

excellent... that is good to know... thanks

MIB

That does look like a nice drop! Do you see a drop in the front though? I can't really tell from the pictures and I'm not sure if the finger test shown above is from the rear wheel well or the front. I'm concerned if only the rear height drops while the front stays the same. By the way, would you mind telling me which dealership you went to for this? I'm also in the DC metro area and I've gone to the Germantown dealership and they told me they don't do lowerings of any kind. Thanks!

Benz-O-Rama

The 2 finger pic was taken from the rear wheel. Yes it does drop the front too. My driveway has a kind of low spot in the middle, and the front just looks a bit funny in the pic. But trust me, parked on a flat surface, the car looks right. I'll post some more pics when my new wheels arrive this week.

Look at the pic in my signature, before the car was lowered. You can see the difference.


I got it done at EuroMotorCars in Germantown, Maryland.

bsmoove

I got mine lowered at the Germantown MD location with no problem. Send me an email and I will hook you up

55fanatic

Anyone In The Boston Area Know Where I Can Get It Done?

KosherBenz

Nice Area! I see the homes across the street, I can only imagine urs is jsut as nice!

Wish I got airmatic, mine would have been dropped by now. I got to go the old fashined way, springs.

moldyhands

Benz-O-Rama,
in the picture above, what suspension setting is that on? i leave mine on sport II and i can't see much of a difference between your car and my sport II.

(PS - the skins suck. they pulled off a lucky one against the bucs last year in the playoffs.)

Benz-O-Rama

Now what makes you think after insulting my beloved Redskins, I would give you ANY kind of information???



--cut and paste from www.superbowl.com

With their sixth straight victory of the year, the Washington Redskins stunned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-10 at Raymond James Stadium to earn a date with the Seattle Seahawks next Saturday in the divisional playoff round. Defense sparked the victory, with LaVar Arrington's first-quarter interception setting up the Redskins' first touchdown -- Clinton Portis' 6-yard run -- and safety Sean Taylor scored the second on a 51-yard fumble return.

Sixth straight victory......sounds like luck.

"Offense fills the seats but defense wins championships"

BTW - that picture was taken in comfort mode....jerky

moldyhands

ha ha, thanks. if you have any pics of it in sport II mode would you mind posting them up? i just got my E500 last weekend, and i'm going to talk to the dealer saturday about the star diagnostic drop. then i just have to find suitable wheels (i'm VERY picky).

btw - i was pulling for the skins against seattle. i was actually at the game in tampa when the bucs pulled off a narrow victory. portis is a beast!!! i hate that guy, lol

zergcerebrates

Well lucky you. Before I got my car dropped at the tuning shop, the benz dealer I asked refuse to drop it with star, they just simply said not doable.

MIB

bsmoove....your email receiving option might be turned off because it wouldn't let me send you an email using the forum. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the service agent I spoke with just 2 weeks ago told me that they don't do lowerings of any kind and then started to tell me a story about how I shouldn't get it done because "someone else" brought a star-lowered car to them for other service which they couldn't perform due to the lowered stance and ended up sending that owner to another location to have it "raised" again.

But I can see that you and benz-o-rama both did it at that dealership so I'll try talking to a different service guy or maybe their manager. Thanks

knifegun

Does the lowering help any in terms of handling? Also, does the "highest" setting still go the same height or is everthing shifted down the amount it was lowered?

HaZeY

Lowering always helps handling. It creates more downforce, and leaves a better center of gravity. Also, less air goes under the car, making it stick more to the ground. Yea that's as much as the dealer would drop the car. it is illegal to have your car to low. So they don't take the risk. The car has to be 22 inches from the headlight to the ground. If your to low like 19 inches from the headlight to the ground, you get a ticket, or if it's a nice cop, he'll let you go and say "fix it".

knifegun

Agreed. However, if you lower a car for handling purposes, you get stiffer springs and shocks that reduce the suspension travel. My concern is that if you lower the car via star diag but the suspension travel remais the same, is there a chance you can bottom the shocks out? Would the body roll be the same as the original height?

For those in the San Francisco area, is there a dealer that will lower the car via Star Diag?

hazehk

I'm wondering the answer to this question as well.

Benz-O-Rama

I can only answer based on personal experience.

My car, when lifted via the little button on the left of the sport mode button, lifts the car to just a bit higher than the original (non-lowered) comfort mode height. I definately don't get the 4X4 look anymore but it still sits pretty high when raised up.

I've had this done for about 3 weeks now and I haven't had any issues what so ever. The car hasn't bottomed out at all, and I live in the DC area. Our roads aren't the best in the country.

The only thing that I have noticed is that the driver side rear sits about 1/4 inch higher than the passenger side rear, when the car is turned off and has been sitting for a bit. I didn't even notice it until I measurd the othe day. I have no idea what it looks like when I'm driving down the road.

Don't know if this helps or not.

hellolarry

I have a question -
Just because I enjoy poking bears : When it becomes "popular" to have "raised" suspensions, will that be the thing we all have to do also?