ArMaNi S500

Just put the lowering kit on today. Actually tonight, I took it to my friend's gas station and the 3 of us did the installation ourselves. One very important thing to watch out for is making sure you put the torsion bars on accordingly. it's not in the instructions OR on the bars them selves, but THERE IS a Right and Left (Driver and Passenger side) set of bars. Make sure you do not get them confused. Make sure the bolt on the bottom of the torsion bar isn't tightened all the way so it has like 1/2" room. next the rear is adjusted from tightening the bolt. you use the provided aluminum guide and extend it until where the outside hole reaches. and you're all set. i did this considering my 20" x 9" wheels and didn't have any problems with rubbing at all. pictures should be up by tuesday.

ps: the car feels like it grabs the road with authority.

tmushy

Congrats on the installation please post pics.

Crankin

Has anybody figured out how this mod will affect a Starmark warranty?
Also, is it necessary to realign the car and where would you get the new alignment settings?
Thanks

ArMaNi S500

Not sure of that. There's a possibility that my camber may have been altered so I will see if an alignment will be necessary.

Eriktu, do you happen to know the gap between your fender and tire once the car is on for the front/rear? When on, there's a space of 1" in the front and 1.5" in the rear. I was thinking about lowering the rear some more to a 1" gap. What I've noticed is that once two people sit in the back the rear sits lower (probably by a 1/2" atleast) Is it the same for you? I just want to confirm since I just did the install and want to make sure everything matches up. Thanks.

sportlichE430

Arman,

Congrats 0n the install - I've still got my kit in orig. packaging - not sure if I'm trading the car for an S55 yet (Bush tax refund [BS])- Looking forward to seeing your pics!

ArMaNi S500

Don't know why I'm having problems posting pics on the forum. It said maximum size 1 byte?? Anyway, I added the pics to my Car Domain site on Page 4. I'm most likely going to lower the rear maybe another 1/4" so it's perfectly matched with the front. On another note, I too am considering trading my car. (Minus the mods of course) I'm looking at a 2001: S55 AMG, S600, or CL500. I'd have to see all three in person and test drive them in order to make up my mind.

mikeblah

yeah, that's just about where mine is at once you match the rear to the front...

about 1/4 inch from the tire to the fender...

great car armani

ericktu

mikeblah - i bought my grill (official lorinser grill) a bit more pricey because its lorinser...i bought it from Dtmautohaus.com (dtm auto haus)

armani - ive never measured if my car gets lowered when ppl sit in it

um this is how low i lowered my car... i wanted to lower the front a bit more but i would lose some of my radius turn

ArMaNi S500

thanks for the compliment mike. eriktu ur car looks fine the way it is. haha.

JimmyK

She looks gorgeous

BUT ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS do alignment job after any and every suspension job no matter how little.

before you know it your wheels will start feathering and you will lose easily 20,000 miles of usable tread.

ArMaNi S500

I was actually thinking of doing too. Do you know if I have to take it to Mercedes to be aligned or can I take it to a shop of my choice?

sportlichE430

Arman,

Nice pics (page 4) with the RB kit installed! I think I'll install my kit now, too. What did you mean about the kit's R and L front bars, how do you distinguish? Is the rear diff bar only replaced, too? or is it only a gauge for existing bolt settings?

I've reconsidered my trade for '02 s55 for now- If you are going to trade yours, I'd be interested in the '03 taillights

Charlie

ArMaNi S500

Thanks for the compliment, Charlie. What I meant by the bars is that there's one that goes on the driver side, and the other on the passenger's side. Basically, when you go to do the install it should be able to bolt on easily. Otherwise putting the wrong one it doesn't line up but appears like the gap can simply be tightened which would result in a crucial mistake. The instructions don't state this, which is why I wanted to give a head's up.

The rear suspension is surprising. There's a bolt which you unloosen and simply slide across to adjust the height of the rear. (I didn't understand why Mercedes didn't do the same thing for the front) So basically all you do is use the guide and adjust it to the outer hole. But as you can see in the picture my rear isn't as low as my front, and since there's plenty more room on the torsion bar to lower it i might try to even it up better.

As for the taillights, sorry. I'd be using them for my upcoming s class. And I don't think I'll be wanting a CL, the S class is much more appealing to me.

Ciao,
Arman