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Who did the struts for you? they were modified from the original ones? Do you know how, did they retrofit coils/airbags onto the original shocks?
SF Racing in Taiwan made my coils. I sent them my OEM coils and they made them based on OEM specs as they are very different compared to RWD.
These are not retrofit as I have my OEM back in the shop for storage.
SF Racing has a tie up with Accuair dealer in China so with their help we had the coilovers custom made.
Hope that helps you
did your C have adjustable shocks (agility control, dynamic select etc) and if so, did you somehow bypass that?
Originally Posted by janusgrimnitz
SF Racing in Taiwan made my coils. I sent them my OEM coils and they made them based on OEM specs as they are very different compared to RWD.
These are not retrofit as I have my OEM back in the shop for storage.
SF Racing has a tie up with Accuair dealer in China so with their help we had the coilovers custom made.
Hope that helps you
You guys have to forgive me for my ignorance but. Why do some people lower their car this much? I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that this isnt for me but i am wondering why you lower the car that much? Does it not damage the car?
You guys have to forgive me for my ignorance but. Why do some people lower their car this much? I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that this isnt for me but i am wondering why you lower the car that much? Does it not damage the car?
I am not trying to offend, i am just curious.
no offense taken and each to his own. What I like about bagging a car is that I can adjust the ride height from inside the car. I can drop it on the ground when I park. I can raise it to OEM height if I want. I can lower it a little bit when I feel like it. I can drop it and drive it like that. It just gives me a world of options on how my car looks. And I love how the suspension feels. It's firm yet still soft.
Last edited by janusgrimnitz; 09-26-2016 at 08:16 PM.
no offense taken and each to his own. What I like about bagging a car is that I can adjust the ride height from inside the car. I can drop it on the ground when I park. I can raise it to OEM height if I want. I can lower it a little bit when I feel like it. I can drop it and drive it like that. It just gives me a world of options on how my car looks. And I love how the suspension feels. It's firm yet still soft.
Thank you for the answer. Why do you drop it on the ground when you park it? That is the thing i am most curious about
Because it looks very cool. You probably wouldn't care for the way the car rides at that height though, so an adjustable air suspension lets you put some more air in the springs when you're on the road.
I believe this thread was started by an owner of a C63 or 450, for which AirMatic wasn't an option. But a 300 can be configured with factory air ride, which can then be easily lowered a little or a lot. Although the aftermarket system has a lot more flexibility and control.
I've dropped a 220 before. Looked great, rode like crap. I ended up putting it back to stock.
Because it looks very cool. You probably wouldn't care for the way the car rides at that height though, so an adjustable air suspension lets you put some more air in the springs when you're on the road.
I believe this thread was started by an owner of a C63 or 450, for which AirMatic wasn't an option. But a 300 can be configured with factory air ride, which can then be easily lowered a little or a lot. Although the aftermarket system has a lot more flexibility and control.
I've dropped a 220 before. Looked great, rode like crap. I ended up putting it back to stock.
agree it looks super cool. But I disagree about ride quality mine rides really great. I think ride quality depends on the coils you use with the bags. Mine also has e-level so it adjusts automatically when load is changing.
This is your car right? I see an air strut with the air bag up top and a conventional strut below on the fronts, and a conventional strut with separate air bags where the springs would normally go. Where are the coil overs? Also, how is camber adjusted by the strut?
You're saying this car, which basically now has nothing isolating the struts from the cabin, rides the same as one with full suspension travel?
This is your car right? I see an air strut with the air bag up top and a conventional strut below on the fronts, and a conventional strut with separate air bags where the springs would normally go. Where are the coil overs? Also, how is camber adjusted by the strut?
See enclosed photo. I have shocks with 30 something dampening adjustments soft to hard. And I'm wrong about the camber, mine doesn't have. I thought it did.
Last edited by janusgrimnitz; 09-28-2016 at 03:04 PM.
Got it. Without getting too deep, there are two parts to a strut assembly, basically a shock absorber and a spring. The shock absorber's job is to apply constant downforce to the wheel, to maintain contact with the road. So it always wants to push downward.
A bump in the road causes it to momentarily get pushed upward (absorbing the shock) but by design it wants to get back down as quickly as possible.
The speed at which it returns to the down position is the rebound rate. The stiffer the damping, the quicker the rate. All of this back and forth fighting between the strut and the road would make the cabin uncomfortable. To isolate the strut from the cabin is a spring. It can be a steel spring with a set amount of tension and travel, or an air spring with variable tension and travel based on how much compressed air is in the air chamber of the strut. The greater the air volume, the softer the ride,and the taller the strut (and the car) becomes.
Generally when you entirely evacuate the air (slamming) there essentially is no longer a spring, and the oscillations of the strut are being transmitted directly to the cabin.
If your struts have variable damping, you may be able to compensate by softening up the rebound enough, but generally a dropped or slammed car by sheer physics rides firmer. Mercedes Airmatic systems don't have adjustable strut damping so slamming an AirMatic car makes for a brutally hard ride.
Got it. Without getting too deep, there are two parts to a strut assembly, basically a shock absorber and a spring. The shock absorber's job is to apply constant downforce to the wheel, to maintain contact with the road. So it always wants to push downward.
A bump in the road causes it to momentarily get pushed upward (absorbing the shock) but by design it wants to get back down as quickly as possible.
The speed at which it returns to the down position is the rebound rate. The stiffer the damping, the quicker the rate. All of this back and forth fighting between the strut and the road would make the cabin uncomfortable. To isolate the strut from the cabin is a spring. It can be a steel spring with a set amount of tension and travel, or an air spring with variable tension and travel based on how much compressed air is in the air chamber of the strut. The greater the air volume, the softer the ride,and the taller the strut (and the car) becomes.
Generally when you entirely evacuate the air (slamming) there essentially is no longer a spring, and the oscillations of the strut are being transmitted directly to the cabin.
If your struts have variable damping, you may be able to compensate by softening up the rebound enough, but generally a dropped or slammed car by sheer physics rides firmer. Mercedes Airmatic systems don't have adjustable strut damping so slamming an AirMatic car makes for a brutally hard ride.
To this I can say the following
I have 3 settings on e-level..
1, low for cruise... Firm
2, normal ride height comfortable
3, high ( for clearance or my wifes preference ) very firm as the bags are full.
My setting on the strut mine is 3/4 towards hard, so I guess its medium hard.
Air out, not drive-able as car rests on the tires.
Yeah, the AirMatic cars let you play with the fullness of the bags as well, but it takes an aftermarket module to get the flexibility you have. Plus the OEM struts aren't adjustable at all. If I had a C63/43 I'd want your set up.
Yeah, the AirMatic cars let you play with the fullness of the bags as well, but it takes an aftermarket module to get the flexibility you have. Plus the OEM struts aren't adjustable at all. If I had a C63/43 I'd want your set up.
thats exactly where i LOOOOVE ACCUAIR E-level... fantastic product... 100% adjustable on all 4 struts/bags independently
So decided to get for a tune upgrade this time. I have gotten the Tornado Tune Box and pedal tune installed for a new week including the custom air cooler
The tune box was installed at my local shop and took about 45 min to install.
Impressions are the following.. The car reacts completely different now, pedal response is sensitive and car revs faster than before.
In city driving even in E-drive the car just pulls and pull especially from 40kph and up.. Highway driving is the same, the low end power band feels much stronger than before..
It took a few days before I actually felt the difference so I assume the car's ECU or software needed time to adjust to the tune box..
We did a OBD2 test and car has ZERO error codes and throws no codes so far. I got to say that for a small price for a tune its one of the most fun upgrades I have done.
I dont know about actual power increase as no one knows how to DYNO in China but hot damn I love my car now.. Its turned from a luxury sedan into a Sporty Luxury Sedan.. Oh and I can even hear the turbo spin now :-)
I had the Tornado tune box on my W204 and was very happy about it back then..
As you can see also is that the intake temperature is quite low with the custom intercooler. So I think the combination of new intercooler and the tune box is really working fantastic !!!
It actually comes with a 5 year warranty and 60 days return right..
Below is a link to Tornado tuning http://ttsauto.eu/
Thumbs up for a good product!
Next upgrade is bigger compressors for my Accuair suspension :-)
08-19-2016, 10:27 PM
