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Hi, my 09 e350(64000 miles), front shock is siting way too high and want to lower them. These are stock Sport shocks btw. If you are diy person and know how to adjust the ride height, I will pay cash… PM me if you can do this work at your or my garage. I’m in OC area.
Talk with FCP Euro, they told me I can adjust them( see below)
the circlip located under the lower spring perch of the strut to one of 11 different ride height settings for your desired height.
By default, the front sruts come at the highest setting. You have to remove the spring with a good spring compressor. It's basically the job of changing out the springs/struts, but you're just going to put them back in. You need a really good spring compressor too as there's a lot of tension on that spring, got to be careful not to let it get away as a spring that breaks loose from the spring compressor can easily kill someone or cause serious injury. It's why auto shops have their spring compressors mounted on a wall so that if the spring lets go, it just goes straight up and not sideways into somebody. I believe normally the clip is 2-3 from the lowest setting but I suppose you could put it on the lowest for the lowest ride height although that might just mean the spring has more travel room.
I actually went to 2 other shops but this was exactly what they told me “ We never adjust the ride height on Mercedes unless only if you replace new shocks””
they also told me my front is a normal ride height for this car…lol. I’m able to put my 4 fingers in between the tire and fender.
Can you explain what you said “that might just mean the spring has more travel room.” ? You mean there will be more bounce on the spring when you adjust to lowest setting?
I actually went to 2 other shops but this was exactly what they told me “ We never adjust the ride height on Mercedes unless only if you replace new shocks””
they also told me my front is a normal ride height for this car…lol. I’m able to put my 4 fingers in between the tire and fender.
Can you explain what you said “that might just mean the spring has more travel room.” ? You mean there will be more bounce on the spring when you adjust to lowest setting?
Thank you!
Well the fronts are struts, not shocks, it's the rears that are shocks. And if you just replaced the springs instead of the struts, then yeah, they probably wouldn't have adjusted the clips because they were probably at the correct height anyway. New springs take a few weeks to settle down, the weight of the car will eventually compress them a little but probably not to the extent of the old ride height as springs get weak with age so probably the old ones were sitting lower than what they should have been at anyway. And yes, if you lower the clips, the springs will have more travel room, might make for a softer ride. The top height is fixed, but lowering the clip a few notches gives it a little bit extra room and it might also lower the height of the front until the springs weaken with age and then at some point it will probably look too low. But it's not a simple job, basically the same job as replacing spring/struts as you have to take the spring off to get at the clip and that basically requires removing the entire spring/strut setup and at that point, you could just drop new ones in.
Originally Posted by juanmor40
May I ask what tire size is in the photo? Is it R17, or R18 ? Also, are those the stock wheels? or you upgraded them after purchase?
Those look like stock rims from the sports package. They were just 18 inch rims, very popular on the 2009 models, it was a no cost sports package option on the 2009 models so lots of them had the option. On the 2008 models, the sports package was just the 10 spoke rims.
Those look like stock rims from the sports package. They were just 18 inch rims, very popular on the 2009 models, it was a no cost sports package option on the 2009 models so lots of them had the option. On the 2008 models, the sports package was just the 10 spoke rims.
from that link, sister's E350 2008 look like this, and definitely a lot lower than the OP's photo.
My line of thought was that for 64K m there should have been no need to change springs, perhaps struts (if). Next question was going to be: what type of suspension work was done recently.
Well springs do rust out and break but I'm not sure if the OP is in a rust state. Not sure why they'd replace just the springs, normally in a rust state, you do both as it's about the same amount of work so you mind as well get a new set of springs and struts if you just need one. Could also be the wrong springs, there's a color code on the old springs and you're supposed to go by that. The luxury model was one inch higher than the sports model and that could have been from the different springs. Also who knows about what aftermarket springs do, lots of times quickstruts aren't quite as good as OEM because it's one size fits all instead of specialized ones from the factory depending on the option setup.
I’m in SoCal area so no wet or rust, very dry… and my car is bone stock. No suspension was done in last 13 years. The suspension on my car fells solid and tight, no weird noise… I’m pretty sure that height setting on these are on the highest setting. Huge gap!
Pls look at my 4 fingers gap on the front, the rears fit only one finger
I’m in SoCal area so no wet or rust, very dry… and my car is bone stock. No suspension was done in last 13 years. The suspension on my car fells solid and tight, no weird noise… I’m pretty sure that height setting on these are on the highest setting. Huge gap!
Pls look at my 4 fingers gap on the front, the rears fit only one finger
So did you change out the springs or not? If it's bone stock, it should be fine, otherwise it looked like someone did something as it's too high to be bone stock. It's not really complicated to fix, pretty much any mechanic can do it, just call around for a price.
I’m in SoCal area so no wet or rust, very dry… and my car is bone stock. No suspension was done in last 13 years. The suspension on my car fells solid and tight, no weird noise… I’m pretty sure that height setting on these are on the highest setting. Huge gap!
Pls look at my 4 fingers gap on the front, the rears fit only one finger
My main concern is that you have had the car for 13 years, nobody has modified/maintained the suspension and you just noticed the gap? or that gap has been there since you bought it?
Adjusting is not the problem, but has the gap changed over the years on its own?
My main concern is that you have had the car for 13 years, nobody has modified/maintained the suspension and you just noticed the gap? or that gap has been there since you bought it?
Adjusting is not the problem, but has the gap changed over the years on its own?
I knew the gap from the beginning but didn’t really care all this time because didn’t give me any issue. The gap did not changed at all…
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