Hi guys...!
I am an owner of an ML 350 2007 (W164). with no airmatic suspension, imported from the US
Recently, I bought and installed a set of H&R springs on this car (there is only one product for this car)
All I wanted to do was to stop my car moving like a "boat in the sea" from left to right in every bump I fell on.
Apart from that, I made no other alterations or installations, and I kept all the other factory fitted equipment.
As I result, I found my car lowered for maybe more that 4 cm front and back. maybe it was quite a lot but the looks was very nice.
THE PROBLEM, IS THAT the car is behaving rather dangerously, jumping on every single bump it hits on the road, giving a very very unsafe ride, especially on high speeds and rather unpleasant when moving in low speeds. It is giving the sense that the absorbers are not working and this just is done by the springs! So, for the moment I have left my car aside looking for solutions...
DOES ANYONE OF YOU HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE, OR IS IT JUST ME?

My questions are:
Is it a matter of rubber bump stops (os something like that)? Someone said that US specs are the installation of 3 of them in every spring, whereas Europe specs are only one! Is it true, or is false? How can we find out?

Is it a matter of changing the absorbers? Some Members of the Mercedes Benz club in Greece and the UK (mbclub.gr, mbclub.co.uk) say that it is so. Well, if it is such, do you know what kind of absorbers (brand , type) would you recommend for this specific lowered car?

People also say that I should learn the libra strength those springs support. This could help me find the best solution for absorbers in order to avoid any further strengthening of the feeling from the suspension system.

According to the knowledge acquired after searching the internet all these days, it seems to me that the only proper solution would be to go back to the originally fitted springs and change the original absorbers with the ones Bilstein has - B6 offroad.
According to Bilstein, that would be the proper solution, since the B6 offroad are more stiff and can help handle the "boat effect" better..
Any experience on these shocks?

I am sure that only you can help me on this, guys, so I count on you.
Zisis

 

I would go back to stock If I was you. This reminds me of when my friend lowered his srt4, he installed springs to get better handling and it got worst, then he bought a 1,000.000 set of tein coilovers and it didnt help. It was really bad and felt unsafe at speeds over 100mph, too stiff of a suspension makes the whole car jump.I have lowered many cars before but never felt a car react like that srt did.

 

Thank you very much...

That is pretty much, what i get from my car..
Thinking, I should go back to original springs and fit new stiffer shocks..
Bilsteins B6 offroad, might be good, but I have no feedback received... Still looking for opinions on that...
regards

 

At last, the day that I installed the Bilstein B6 Offroad on my ML350 came.
Now, I am driving the ideal SUV, in terms of riding fun.
Excellent shock absorbing, it rides like a magic carpet. It filters every bump and it doesnt have this boat effect it used to, when the original setting were giving this pain in the ***.
I took out the H&R springs and came back to the original ones.
So... B6 Offroads.
HIGHLY recommended for all of us who dont have airmatic option installed and need a much improved driving experience.
Well done Bilstein !

 

Thanks

I am in the same boat, I will try the bilsteins

 

do you have a part number front and rear?

 

Would you by any chance be talking about a non 4Matic car? I test drove a 4Matic with no airmatic and this was not an issue but I have driven a '06 non airmatic vehicle and I know what you mean.

I had a very stupid accident when I had to emergency brake and stopped 2 cm before the crash. I sighed with relief too soon as the inertia caught up and made the chassis bulge forward and hit the car. There was minor damage on each side but, that is definitely a design flaw.

 

As far as I am concerned there are NO 2006 ML which are NOT 4matic, which stands for non all time wheel driving system.
Mine is a 4matic and I pretty sure about it..
As stated in some other topics, it seems that the 4matic emblem is just a marketing oriented badge.
Anyway, for my car the driving was a pain the ***... Maybe for someone else it is not..

 

All ML's are 4wheel drive, but not all ML's are 4Matic. With 4Matic comes locking diffs and a bunch of other cool 4WD amenity's. ML's with out 4Matic, just have open diffs front rear and center but are AWD. (this is based on a conversation with a salesman)

Many things can cause the jumpy feeling you are getting, I had the same thing on my W210 (with H&R springs & #1 pads) hit a bump on the freeway and it seemed to jerk the car in a lateral direction and with an uneven rebound, I suspected the shocks, took it to the dealer, pulled the shocks they were fine, so i got new tires and an alignment, BAM rides like a dream once again.