hey guys, Last night I took my car up Mt. Lemon (local mountain in Tucson AZ). The roads are awesome, so many nice picturesque curves and turns. Before with my stock rims and tires the car would not turn at all. But with the AMG rims and low profile tires it really handled very well. There was obviously still understeer, but it was very easily controlled. The transitions were very good and it handled amazing for still being on stock suspension. I could definately still feel the sway but it was taking some very curvy sharp turns at 40, 50, 60+. Next I'm gonna do bilstein shocks and eibach springs, with #1 spring pads.

I'm still running on original stock suspension (72k miles) so ride quality is really starting to suffer, so instead of replacing with stock i might as well upgrade all the way. the car should handle much better after that too.

its pretty amazing how a W140 can handle so well, granted i do have short wheel base so that may help as well.

anyways just wanted to share with yall

 

Glad to hear that you like and enjoying the result of your work. Keep us posted. Cheers!

 

Good! Just wondering, does your 300SE or S320 have ADS?

 

its 93 300SE, There are so many acronyms i forget what ADS is, remind me. I probably don't have it but not sure

 

ADS is for Active Dampining System for the Suspension. The 600SEL has it and I use it all the time. Just wondering if you have it?

 

i highly doubt it, it doesnt have many options so its probably base. I will be getting suspension so it should handle great

 

OmeyHomey,

Do you plan on lowering your car? If so, which way are you taking and why? I'm trying to find the best way to lower my W220 (I know this is the W140 section but any idea would help).

Sidd

 

sure thing, if theres one thing i know its suspensions.... I had over $3000 invested on my M3 suspension and it handled like a dream. People always assume coilovers are the best way to go but i highly disagree. A really good conventional spring/shock/swaybar setup is the best. coilover suspensions are too darty and abrupt, whereas the other way the car transitions much more smoothly and you feel much more in control. In conjuction with good tires the car will feel like a dream. Another great thing is weight reduction that always helps. The one back thing about Mercedes is that aftermarket suspension choices are limited. Eibach makes the best swaybars. For shocks i would defiantely go Bilstein (regular or HD or sport depending on what u want). For springs its a toss up, Eibach are alittle softer, H&R are alitter firmer but few say its slightly better performer. I would probably recommend Eibach for springs and sways just b/c they are engineered to be together better (even though i had H&R/eibach on my M3, ride was very firm). also with mercedes there is another variable: Spring pads. I would suggest getting the lowest spring pad not only for looks but it also lowers the cars center of gravity and there will be less play between body and suspension. Again these are just my suggestions, but i hope you find a setup that best suits you. good luck

 

Thanks for your reply. I was wondering if you've heard of the RB Tech lowering kit that's been discussed in the W220 forum. What are your thoughts about it? Wouldn't that seem like an easier way to drop the car?

 

not familiar with that , sorry

 

No problem...

Can I also ask why you didn't go for maybe 20" rims? It's my understanding that the larger the wheels, the better the handling. Wouldn't 20's and your suspension setup be best?

Sidd

 

And people said I was crazy for taking my W211 E55 to the track!

 

not true, you sacrifice ride quality the larger rim you go and 20 inch tires are not nearly designed for the same performance levels as 18 inch tires. i'd rather have dropped 18 inch than 20 inch on stock suspension.

 

18's have the best performance? So people go larger than that for looks only or are there advantages in having larger rims?

Sidd

 

anything larger is basically all just looks.