55fanatic

I am going to be lowering it soon... figured I would have the wheels refinished as well... going to order the projector headlights with 6000k HIDs and a set of projector fogs with yellow HID kit...

Before:

After:

Kar don

please dont paint the wheels... big waste of $$ and they just look dirty.

55fanatic

Im gonna have them rebuilt anyways, I was thinking to have them done in gloss black, gonna do the front grill all black too

gwml55

what springs are you going to use? How much of a drop are you looking for?

55fanatic

I would love to lower it as much as possible but because I have the flat bottom springs I am limited to only a few makes... of those I will go with H&R which is anywhere from a 1.5-2" drop says the Customer service person there

mbenzman

Do you have a different shock combo for this setup? Or are you just dreaming of this setup, because you can't get there on the factory shocks! I'm still looking for short shocks and may have to go custom. Lowering these any make them ride like complete trash because they ride barely above the bump stops stock and then on the stops lowered any. Just not acceptable. This vehicle has proven to be one of the most difficult to lower and have handle perfect because of this. I will probably go custom before it over.

55fanatic

well I worked up what I thought would be a pretty descent suspension system and then did not follow through with it...

On a thread in the W163 section a number of owners(ML55) that have lowered thought that the combination of factory rear shocks, lowering springs and a set of Bilstiend in the front might give the best ride comfort, performance, and look... but def not on the life span of the stock rear shock...

For a while I toyed with the idea of eliminating the torsion bar in the front, but I cant have the down time that the R&D of a project like that would need.

I ended up just going with a set of Bilstien HDs and the H&R lowering springs... I have a blown drivers shock and a cracked rear passengers side spring... so gettin something on there is now a priority. On stock 18"s I dont think the suspension will ride that crappy, I hear from members with oversized after market wheels how crappy the ride is... I am curious to see how mine reacts, Ill be sure to post my experiences

55fanatic

oh and to answer your other question... I have flat bottom springs, the flat bottom springs are the most difficult to get for MLs... if I had round bottom springs any of the big manufacters make springs for the V8 MLs... and they work as one of the other members demonstrated

Speakerdude

I have a pair of flat end springs that I bought for my 01. I mistakingly got them then realized mine were round end. I will be happy to sell them to you cheap, $100 plus freight. I paid $250 delivered for them. They have never been installed and I have the original box. I really like the way mine drives lowered. It has NEVER hit the bottom out point. I initially installed Bilsteins that were really stiff. The fronts went out after about 200 miles and the guy I bought them from on EBAY would not even return my emails. I went w/ standard Monroe Heavy Duty Pickup Shocks and it made a huge difference. I don't really care what purists or whatever think, they ride great. I also did the black out on the grill and rear emblems. I personally like the look. I am presently upgrading the stereo. I like the head end w/ the Nav etc and am just taking a preamp signal from the Alpine and replacing the Bose set up w/ different amps, new component speakers, and a small custom bass enclosure built into the area where the CD changer normally goes. Mine went out a couple years back and a single in-dash is all I really used anyway. This way I can keep the stock parts and return it to such if / when I sell the truck. I have previously posted pics.

I have blacked out the grills on almost every car I have owned. I just got rid of a DINAN 5-series that looked killer that way.

One other thing, mine dropped almost exactly 1.25" w/ the H&R springs. Softening the front torsion bars dropped it the same w/no apparant lack of handling or control. I drive on the street, mainly highway, and at only the legal posted speed limit (right).

Steve

mbenzman

The Ml55 is already lowered by the factory and the funny thing is that they left us with very little compression travel! I have installed the Bilsteins yellows front and rear, lowered it and raised it back on both the stock and bilsteins shocks. The limiting factor is that the car rides on the bump stops when lowered, whether you know it or not. I cannot imagine driving like this continually.
If you were to raise yours back up a little higher you would see what I'm talking about. It rides and absorbs hard shocks/potholes so much nicer when you don't touch the stops. I currently have the bilsteins yellows and cut the Bilstein stops (smaller and softer than the originals) in half which rides so much better than it had ever despite being lowered.
This problem I'm talking about would have to be corrected by either shorter bodied shocks front and rear or raising the upper shock mounts to provide the additional compression travel, not easily done.
I can't say I'm a monroe shock fan, but if it works you won't catch me knocking it if the results are superior. How about some dimensions, maybe the body is shorter, which is what we need? The original shocks were KYB, and I never liked them, the bilstein because of this issue are barely an improvement.
I have though about contacting bilstein to see if I could have them fabbed.

Speakerdude

I just like the look, it sounds good too w/ the Camaro exhaust. All in all it really is a fun truck, I like it a lot.

Steve

mbenzman

It looks nice but how about pics and info on the shocks you replaced the bilsteins with on the front?

Speakerdude

They are Monroe 911219 available from Rockauto.com

They ran me $42.99each.

I still have the Bilsteins on the back. The truck rides great for what I do w/ it and my wife also likes the way it drives. She is fairly biased as in 25 years together she has had Audis, Jags, a 911, the 944, and her current E36 M3.
The ML just feels safe. We strapped our granddaughter in her car seat and took it to church this morning. I really like the way it works, way better than my Durango. For the $20K it cost me the thing is amazing and for that amount of dough I can treat it without freaking out over any little nick or scratch, it's a driver. Even my 89YO father-in-law loves it. We took him out a couple weeks ago w/ his "girlfriend", a younger hussy @ 86. As he puts it, "that's BS about the guy with the most toys wins, the last one w/ a heartbeat and a hard-on is the winner". Truer words of wisdom I have seldom heard.

I just had a 4 hr road trip this afternoon to meet w/ my business partner, all highway, all 90-95 MPH, all good, no fatigue.

The only negative thing is the way it sucks gas, oh well, I could have bought a Scion or something for the same amount I paid for the ML. The only thing green about my ML is the paint.

Steve

gwml55

how can you tell if your ML has flat or rounded bottom springs? Does it depend on the year it was manufactured?

Speakerdude

From what I was told at the dealer you have to look and you can't do it w/o taking them apart. When I bought the flat end ones for mine I had gone to Tri-Star M/B here in St Louis who I have dealt w/ for years and the service guys assured me mine should be flat end...WRONG... but fortunately for me Tire Rack had round end ones in stock. I had waited for 4 months for the flat end ones from them. I would love to get them out of the garage for cheap. They are the H&R brand and have never been installed. I was definately unhappy w/ the Bilsteins going out. Fortunately it was the fronts. I am not a fan of mixing shock brands and I have had KONI yellows on most of my cars over the years but these Monroes work great w/ the torsion bar being loosened to lower the front. It is probably just one of those lucky combinations. I don't know of many that are available for the rear, basicly the Bilsteins.

If I had it to do again I would still do it the same, the resultant look is killer especially w/ the black trim. It really is a sleeper and looks like every other mini van out there now w/o those big chrome M/B stars. I did a road trip last week w/ my brother and a couple engineer buddies of mine and went to Columbia to see Mizzou play Texas in the Big 12 BB opener. No one could believe how fast and comfortable the ML is. It fits 4 adults, a cooler, and accessories perfectly. The radar detector is a life saver. I just gotta get that Bose stereo out, the booming low end is terrible. I have plans and will post some pictures for anyone interested.

Steve

mbenzman

Steve, which bump stops are you using, the small black ones from the bilsteins, the original large factory ones, or the ones from the monroe's?
Could you give me a measurement from the center of the wheel center cap, to the bottom of the fender flares, so I can compare.
Thanks,
Rich

Speakerdude

I need to formally apologize. I was mistaken about my springs. I had ordered the round end initially and reordered the flat end. I went out to take a picture for a member and realized I had the two backwards. I do have a set of round end if anyone needs them cheap. Sorry about the confusion, it was not intentional.

Steve

moeck964

PM sent.
Mo

00amg

ive heard of problems with pogo in the front of the ml after lowering. has anyone experienced this and what is the solution.

backdoc

It's been more than a yr since you posted about your ML 55. just wondering if you went ahead with the lowering and how do you like it. Also if you have pictures, please post it. How did you do the rear springs replacement. Would appreciate some tips since I plan to lower my 01 ML 55.
Thanks.

hanniep

He did, I rode in it and it rides like it's lowered, ROCK HARD!!! Looks cool tho!!!

backdoc

Thanks Hanniep, does it look exctly like the 2nd picture he posted back in 01/08 ? That does look cool and low ! I'm trying to find information on doing it myself but so far haven't found a site that has the step by step procedure. I'll probably just have to wing it this week end. Thanks.

hanniep

Yes it does, real steathy looking, roof rails were removed also...There might be pic of it somewhere on the forum.

55fanatic

backdoc, if I pulled my car up next to another ML... it looks pretty friggin low... almost 5 inches lower... I deleted my roof racks and lowered it. Prolly went down 3inches after I lowered it

55fanatic

and as far as ride quality, if it is anything but highway, it sucks... on the highway though its a descent ride