ViKTORiOUS

Bought the H&R Springs from TireRack and had them installed in time for a mega-meet in NJ... It lowered my rear about 2" from my measurements and lowered the front myself with about 17 revolutions per side to even it out. The front is .5 lower than the rear. I have a 4 finger gap from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender. Ride isn't as bad as I predicted, however the ride is soft. I'm taller than my ML now... I love it!! Install was $150 at a BMW Bodyshop and they did an awesome job! Sorry for the big pics! [:I]

Before:



After:

exexpat

Nice! What wheels are planning on?

pointman

Vik, you had the front end off the ground when you did the lowering right?

ViKTORiOUS

22x10" OZ Canyon ST's --> already ordered them, waiting on my tires, recieved 3, one is still stuck in Indiana, and I don't know why!! The wait is killing me!!

I used a hydraulic floor jack, and jacked up one side, did my revolutions and measurements, and lowered it, and jacked up the other side and did the same accordingly.

exexpat

Great choice, I would do those exact wheels if I was the ML's primary driver. Wife needs a bit more pothole and curb protectrion.

55fanatic

sick... Now I know I need to lower the 55, that looks hott. Any plan of removing the roof rails?

ViKTORiOUS

Not sure, I kinda want to leave them, plus I do alot of snowboarding, and i need my rack and crossbars. I'm going to try to do the polished rack DIY like the Special Edition ML's

55fanatic

aaah yeah I could see how that would be a problem... when you smokin the tails?

ViKTORiOUS

this weekend for 35 bucks...

They will look like this

jojobos

Hi all.
Mr. VIk, very nice. now I want H&R installed on mine!!
As far as lowering front, how low can you go? Do i have to worry about the torsion bar screw bottoming out if you lower too much?

Mr. 55 fanatic, or any Boston crowd, can you recommand a good shop in Boston for the spring swap?

Thank you.

ViKTORiOUS

You wanna keep the front as even with the rear as much as possible, if you lower it too much, the front will be "mushy" and not stiff, you want the front to be as stiff possible. Also if you slam it too much, you'll rub your front tires at full turns especially with oversized rims. I believe you can lower the front 3 inches, I did two inches. H&R claims a 1.25" drop, but i experienced close to 2", and i still have to wait for the springs to settle, so it could be even lower than that. It's a must have mod, I'm very happy. I'm taller than my SUV now!!

55fanatic

nice 430... call up East side performance in waltham. tell them Pete With the Silver ML55 sent you to them... Theyll take care of you...

Also where around MA are you? You should def come to one of our meets...

Thanks for showing me how nice the rackless roof looks... mine are coming off soon, but the spoiler isnt going on for a few months

jojobos

3" drop on front sounds like more than enough, thanks for the info.

Also, if you swap the springs or put aftermarket shocks such as Bilstein, will it void any warranty? (may be on axle and/or suspension?)

Pete, I'll defintely try the shop in Waltham. Do they sell rims too? It'll be perfect if they do.

You probably know already but be sure to heat up the screws well. I broke few srcrews and it was PITA to take them out.
After I took the roof rail out, I had body shop to make the fiberglass (I beileve it is) strip for cleaner look.

I live in Brighton and commute to Boston. I used to see same silver 55 here and there in allston Sunsetish area, may be it was your ride. Please let me know if any meets coming up. Thank you.

55fanatic

yeah what kind of rims are you looking for? Ill let you know if its worth it to go to them for wheels... we can continue this convo via PM... You may have seen my Silver 55 in that area but only when I was going to meet friends at BC, I go to Northeastern so you may also see it then

Filbuster

hey vik, i love the wheel selection, bro. very clean & perfectly blends w/ ML design. I have a silver 2005 ML 350 Special Edition & very interested on the wheels you got & how you got it to look the way you set it up. Would you kindly send me the specs on the wheels:

1. rim specs w/ offset info:
2. tire specs:
3. suspension specs:
4. any mods on brakes due to bigger wheels now?
5. any pricing info is greatly appreciated for comparisons.

thx!!!

fil

BTW, my opinion, your ride is second best in this forum ...just behind eyceburg11"s Lorinser ML...thx again!!!

pointman

hahaha, Vik another one gettin' them rims.

ViKTORiOUS

Thanks for the kind words, but please please please please don't get the same wheels! I might suggest the Rial Daytonas or the Kahn RSC's.

55fanatic

thats like the third person getting the wheels?

ldangeli

Nice job on the lowering. Anyone know where I can pick up shocks to go along with the springs. We are doing a project ML500 and just purchased the H&R springs. Would like to upgrade the shocks and anti-roll bar as well. We put a set of Mandrus Regenmeister 20 x 10' on the beast and are in the process of lowering it. Pics to come today or tomorrow. We are also ripping the system out, replacing the headrests with independent video, replacing the nav with an Alpine W200, PDX amps, X-type surround sound, x-10 Sub in a custom box. It should be hot when done. If anyone has any info on the suspension upgrade, please let me know ASAP.

ViKTORiOUS

I am running Bilstein shocks right now, I think they go best with H&Rs. If you got Eibach springs, then Konis would be best shocks for them, this is my personal preference.

I believe H&R has anti-roll bars, but I'm not too sure. You'd have to look into them.

55fanatic

check tire rack for em... hey Vik, which do you think would be most comparable to stock set up eibach/ koni or H&R/Bilstien, Im not looking to lower it, just replace the snapped spring I have and bad shocks...

ViKTORiOUS

H&R/Bilstein... Eibach has more of an aggressive drop. If you want comfort, get stock springs, and Bilstein shocks.

ldangeli

Here is the project car with wheels only. Lowering to come next week. Big brake kit as well.