GTA23109a

I'm looking for a set of springs for my w210 e55 to lower it slightly as well as enhance handling performance. I'm stuck between H&R and Eibach. Both have good reputations, are readily available and fairly inexpensive.

Anyone have any suggestions, input or experiences to add??

Thanks!!!

PUREMS

Also look into Vogtland springs.
OE Supplier to Koni, Tokico, Hotchkis, Lorinser, TC Kline, some AMG applications and numerous other tuners, manufacturers and suppliers like over 80% of Winston Cup racers like Dale Jr.


For the W210 lowering is 1.6" (adjustable with various spring pads).
And prices competitive with all the popular brands.
Visit our website or email if you have questions!

MTI

As a general "rule of thumb" H&R springs are "stiffer" than Eibach and the resulting ride quality a bit more jarring.

GTA23109a

Is there any performance gain to the added rate or is it mostly just ride quality???

MTI

Like most of the universe, you don't get something for nothing, and suspension setups are exercises in compromise and give and take. The stiffer suspension setup keeps the tires on the road under loading, like hard cornering, but in return, you give up comfort in normal driving situations. Ther are owners that find the H&R/sport shock combination to be too harsh for daily driving, feeling every little road irregularity and expansion joint in the highway, but they probably enjoy the feeling of taking a curve faster with a greater degree of confidence.

GTA23109a

Well, if I feel the need to have my fillings jarred loose on these SoCal freeways, I've got a racecar for that . . . . Besides, I don't want to hear about it from the Mrs.

Sounds like I may be better off with the Eibachs.

Thanks!!

KWiK

Like suggested above, you might want to consider the Vogtland springs paired with the Koni adjustable shocks. I put that combo on my C43 and it made a drastic improvement over the amg stuff. plus, Mrs. KWiK even likes it

RU_MATRX

I just had Eibach Pro Kit springs installed on my 2003 FX45 today. Lowered it about 1.5"s all around. Since they are progressive rate springs, they ride very well, better than stock. They will also be firmer than stock under cornering loads as they compress more and more.

Even though I ordered H&R 20mm spacers fr/rr, I decided against the H&R springs solely because they have been known to sag more over time vs. the Eibachs on various vehicles, not as consistent on sag and like someone has stated here, firmer than Eibachs for the same vehicle application in general. H&R springs are less expensive than the Eibachs though for my FX45.

I love the Eibachs and have used them on other vehicles before.

BlackC230Coupe

go with H&R!

E55Cent

I have H&R with Koni adjustables and the lowest #1 spring pads. The ride is very close to stock even with the 19" wheels. I have the Koni's set to the middle and no one complaints. I might soften up the front to give the car more oversteer. I perfer H&R because I like the lower stance.

My Mom drove in my car and didn't even notice the stiffer ride but she did have a hard time getting out of the new lowered Benz.

V8power E500

where can i get H&R springs???

E55Cent

Shox.com, Tire Rack, or EvoSport. I would guess around $250 for all four corners.
Mario

JamE55

Go with Kleemann! :p

V8power E500

Thanks...

ksing44

To me, it seems like a waste of time and money to change the suspension on a W210 E55. I can’t imagine there will be a HUGE change in performance that would warrant the modification. Now if you had a "normal" suspension, then I think it would be worth it if you wanted to get the firmer suspension. You might already have Eibach springs, Eibach swaybars, and Bilstein shocks.

I switched to Eibach and Bilstein in my E320 W124 and I LOVE IT , but I started with the standard soft suspension.

Are you sure you really need to tweak your suspension on that already fabulous machine? Maybe check your spring pads to see if you can get it a little lower without any major changes.

I LOVE this car

E55Cent

KSING44

I understand what you are saying about "why uprade AMG suspension". I wanted the car much lower than spring pads could do. Not only did I change the struts and springs but also put the lowest spring pads. I also wanted the abilty to adjust my shocks, so I could dial in more oversteer. The car handles much better than stock and to be honest I never thought that highy of the AMG suspension. Also my car had 60K on it and it was time to change out the struts any way.
Mario

ksing44

Your car sure looks GREAT, so it is hard to argue with anything you said. The 19" wheels look very nice and a 3" lip is to die for on these cars.


You made quite significant and noticeable changes to your car, so I’m sure it was worth it for you. At the same time, I know you must have some issues with negative camber and maybe other things related to aligning your car properly or maybe some rubbing. From my experience, there are some headaches that arise with the modifications and you have to be willing to deal with them. It didn’t sound like GTA23109a was planning such dramatic modifications or that he was really that dissatisfied with his current configuration. I just wondered if he was prepared to accept the consequences of making significant modifications to his suspension.

I am still working to get things straight on my W124, since I lowered it. I played with the spring pads and added the K-MAC bushings to adjust the ride height and gain rear camber adjustment. Even with the new bushings, I still have quite a bit of negative camber. I also worry about stripping those bushings all of time. I may be worrying needlessly, but it wouldn’t be cheap to replace them and I would hate to have them slip when I was cornering at high speed. I also just learned that the front caster has to be adjusted to the maximum or even a little more, so that the wheels are centered in the front wheel arches after the suspension is lowered. It seems that the caster angle is affected when the car is lowered. If you don’t adjust the camber back to specifications when you lower the car, it will be higher than it was before the modifications. My mechanic adjusted it back to spec and now I have a rubbing issue. I should have told the mechanic to keep the caster angle at the maximum or slightly more. It has just been hard for me to figure this all out on my own. I had help from guys on the forum, but nobody around here seems to know anything about lowering a Mercedes. I have been going to a Porsche "Race Tuner", and he seems to be very knowledgeable about SOME things, but he doesn’t know anything about lowering a W124.

It has been trial and error for me.

E55Cent

Sorry about that hard time you are having with your Benz. Luckily I have had no issues with the car being lowered. The AMG's come stock with rolled front and rear fenders, so no rubbing. The front is dropped about 2" and the tires are wearing out even, as far as the rear they are also wearing out even but that is do to smoking them in parking lots.

Good luck and let me know if I can help
Mairo

ksing44

Thanks for the sentiments about my problems. I love my sporty set-up, but it has been a struggle at times. Even knowing what I know now, I would probably do it again, since I love it so much.

You are lucky to have escaped any issues. Maybe a W210 is the way to go, as long as you can get an E55 AMG.

Chappy

Order a set of euro-spec AMG springs. You won't have to change your stock dampers with this set up.

Good luck

Chappy

I didn't realize you were having so many issues with your setup. One of the reasons I selected the OE Sportline for my W124 coupe is because Mercedes-Benz already invested the $$$ to do the engineering and provide customers with a balanced suspension package. I've never had one issue with the setup and can get it aligned properly at the dealership.

Hope it all works out for you!

ksing44

I have to say that I think it is actually the lack of any engineering to provide for rear camber adjustment that causes most of the problems.

I think the only real problem is the amount of lowering. From pictures I have seen, the Sportline set-up isn’t as low as the aftermarket set-ups. The sportline may be very slightly lower than the stock height, but not as low as most aftermarket set-ups. I think I could just use thicker spring pads to bring it up to the Sportline height and then the problems would go away. It is just hard to give up that more aggressive lowered look. My car isn’t slammed or anything, it is just a little lower than the Sportline and that causes some small problems. I will get it sorted out, but it has been trial and error, since nobody around here seems to know anything about it. Thank goodness for the information on these forums, or "I would be up the creek without a paddle" or "lost in the woods without a map".

Thanks for the concern Chappy.

Chappy

FWIW, my sportline measures about a two finger gap in the front and a three finger gap in the rear (1 bump pads all around). Keep in mind, I am running 15" sportline-spec 8-hole alloys with 205/60-15 rubber (this is my daily driver). A plus one or plus two fitment would provide a more aggressive appearance.

ksing44

Your Sportline CE sounds GREAT!

I would love to see a profile shot of your CE.

In general, the reality of the W124 suspension is that there is no way to adjust the rear camber and the camber is directly affected by the ride height. If your car does not have camber issues, it probably isn’t much lower than stock. My car is definitely not slammed, but it is 1" to 1.25" lower than stock. As minimal as the 1" lowering may be, it did create issues for me.

I am a bit of a perfectionist and I am especially particular about my car, so I may be overstating the issue. I just want it to be perfect and I am not quite there at this time. I need to adjust the front caster to the limit and I desperately need to get the "Sportline Plus" swaybars installed. I should have everything done this spring and I will be cruising and cornering like crazy in the summer.

If I crash this awesome vehicle, then maybe next time I will consider an awesome AMG version of the W210. It sounds like you may be able to do a little more with the W210 wheels and suspension. Then again, I would probably go for some kind of hybrid, if I ever have to buy another car. I especially like the idea of diesel hybrid.

Chappy

I'll hunt around for some pics, or may have a chance in the next week or two to snap some new ones and post.

My AMG is a W208....but when kids come, who knows? I may unload it for an AMG 4-door