curt.r

After a lot of research, I've decided to pull the trigger on a set of H&R lowering springs with 17mm spring pads. From what I've read it seems like the C63 is prone to pulling right and will need anywhere from 0 to 4 crash bolts to correct the alignment. Being that the alignment sounds finicky, I'd like to take my car to someone who knows what they're doing. That being said, are there any members in the Bay Area that could help point me in the right direction? Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

AMG3.2

Auto RnD in Fremont.

m a x i m u s

Check ESR in Redwood City. This is my friend Rafael's shop. He also builds and races race cars. Not sure if he has an alignment pad at his shop, but I'm sure he could help you. Tell him Max sent you.

curt.r

Thanks AMG3.2 for the recommendation! I see in your build thread (I love your C63 btw) you had H&R springs on your C63 a while back. Are these the people who installed them on your car? I'll give them a call tomorrow and see if they can give me a general estimate on how much it would cost to install.
Thanks maximus for the recommendation! I'll do the same and give them a call to see how much it would cost to install.

AMG3.2

Thanks. Negative -- I installed them myself, but I know that those guys over there do good work,

myn8m3is8ndy

curt.r

Ah gotcha. Will definitely still shoot them an e-mail tomorrow and see what happens.

I appreciate the recommendation! I'll definitely shoot them an e-mail tomorrow and tell them you sent me. Thanks!

curt.r

Just wanted to post a followup to this thread so far. I have contacted AutoRnD, ESR, Stancelab, as well as a couple of indy shops near me. I spoke with Rishie at AutoRnD and he informed me that he is not doing suspension installs due to an injury. Stancelab (spoke with Wilson) has gotten back to me with a quote of $450 + $80 for the alignment. I have not heard from ESR yet, I will update this when I do hear from them. While I wait for ESR, I stopped by a couple indy shops to inquire about the cost of lowering spring installs. Kahler's Werkstatt (this is the indy shop I always bring my MBs to) as well as Edge Motorworks quoted me $1000 for the install + alignment .

Hackin247

curt.r

Just going to swap out my stock springs with H&R Sport Springs w/ 17mm spring pads in the rear.
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UPDATE: Just heard back from ESR. Rafael quoted me $834 (6 hrs of labor @ $139) + alignment (so probably close to $1000 total). He did mention that he doesn't do this type of aftermarket install since he is not familiar with it.

I've read that people have gotten these springs installed for around $350, but I guess that's not in the Bay Area. I'll most likely be going with Stancelab and be coordinating the install maybe sometime next week or the week after. Update to follow then

gtracer

This almost costed me a new laptop as I almost spat my water everywhere when I read 6hrs to install springs.........................

Its a three hour job at most.

AMG3.2

Oh man that's sad to hear.

Kahler's is such a joke in terms of pricing Stealership V2. I took my C32 there a few years ago. Never worked with Edge, but have also heard they're also very expensive for the work they perform.

m a x i m u s

Sorry ESR didn't work out. If you are handy, you could consider installing yourself. I installed springs on my w202 C43 by myself.

curt.r

Tell me about it... the second I heard the $1000 quotes, I got up, thanked them for their time, and left. I couldn't believe they quote 6 hrs for the install because "that's what the book says".

Good ol California, am I right? I'm considering moving to Austin in the future... how is it over there so far?

Yeah, I remember when Kahler's was good to us, now we're just another invoice at the end of the day. I almost lost my s**t when I brought my W221 in for a check engine light (they've serviced this car all its life) and they kept throwing parts at it and charging me when it didn't fix the light. I brought it back to them four separate times for them to get it right. I also had to bring it back to them two other times to fix the squealing brakes they installed on it (it SQUEAKED like crazy). I'm thinking it's time to shop for a new indy shop in the east bay who will appreciate my business...

No worries man, I appreciate the lead. The more quotes I get the better.

I am an avid DIYer, but when it comes to the C63 I'm not too confident on wrenching on it. I wrench all day long on my 1996 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban (it's fairly done up) but like I said I'm a little iffy when it comes to this car. For the price I might be paying for install, it might be worth it for me to just do it myself. If I do end up going this route, any tips or tricks that would help the install go smoothly? I found this DIY, but the pictures & instructions aren't very clear to me: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...g-springs.html

I know that Jasonoff suggests removing the inbound LCA bolt to remove/install the spring for the rear, but the front looks a little tricky. I only have a 1/4" impact along with a variety of sockets (excluding the E sockets) and ratcheting wrenches. Also, I didn't see any mentions of torque specs on the bolts in the DIY?

AMG3.2

It's great, but it all depends on what you value in terms of life style. Bay Area and NYC are second to none in terms of employment and economies. Also has some of the best nature / outdoorsy life you're ever going to find, etc. Really has it all if you're willing to live in a shack (assuming you're young like me), and sit in traffic (depending on your employment situation). Lots of California's out here actually. Turned into the neighborhood to see a Warriors flag hanging from a house and my neighbor used to live in Huntington Beach. Dropped of my car at a shop here locally and one of the guys there used to live in Los Angeles. It's being built up very quickly though. New homes and shopping centers seem to be going up everywhere, mostly thanks to a lot of Bay Area HQ'd tech companies opening shop here.

If I had to compare it to a Bay Area city, I'd compare it to Brentwood with a lot of tech company's. It's kind of out there, and basically all new-ish.

curt.r

Good to know! I've been hearing about a lot of Californians moving out that way, so I figured it's going to be the next California-esque area, without the Bay Area price tag. Thanks for the info, not sure when it will happen, but we'll see how California is doing in 5-10 years haha.

m a x i m u s

Curt,

Not sure if this is helpful since I did this on a w202, but the fronts were pretty easy. I just disconnected the lower wishbone and removed the spring. Of course, you will also need a spring compressor to do the job. When I did the rears, trying to align the LCA with the hole to get the bolt back in was a major PITA x2. The Stancelab price doesn't seem so bad, especially if you need to buy a spring compressor, so I would recommend taking your car there. Just my 2 cents.

curt.r

I'm pretty sure it's fairly easy to install springs, it's just a little daunting when you're working on an expensive car. But yeah, I've read about that too, I figured that maybe it was just a select few that had that issue with the rear when removing the LCA bolt, but I guess not. The Stancelab price isn't too bad, I just don't like the fact that they won't be the ones doing the alignment and one of their employees are going to be driving the car to some alignment shop away from their shop, I can already imagine the parking garage scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off (I'm very paranoid with who I leave my car with). Plus, they're all the way in South San Francisco while I'm in San Ramon, so the drive isn't too appealing (especially in morning commute traffic).

But, I had the time to stop by one of the shops I'm a regular at (Music 'N Motion in Dublin) and Michael quoted me $300-400 to install the springs. I think I'm going to go with that route, but will update you tomorrow when we finalize the price. I priced out how much a 1/2" impact would cost me and it's about $299 before tax, so if he's closer to the $300 range I'm going to have them install it. If not, Harbor Freight here I come haha. If his pricing doesn't work out, I'd have to work in my driveway (sloped) or on the street. All the summer toys are in the garage and the tools I'd need to buy will equal the amount I'd pay someone to do it, but then on the other half I'd have the tools and knowledge to do a job like this again if need be... decisions, decisions.

Mort

If you are going to do it yourself you will need a spring compressor for the front and you have to drop the exhaust on both side on the rear as the bolt will not come out as the exhaust is in the way. If you do it yourself or have someone else do it make sure you/they put the bolt in the other way around so you can get it out again without having to drop the exhaust.

myn8m3is8ndy

curt.r

Spoke with Music N Motion today, and decided not going with the DIY route. I don't really have the space to work on my car here at my house. The driveway is sloped and the road next to my house gets a little busy at times. I'll mention the bolt thing to Music N Motion, thanks!

I don't doubt that, I'm just very paranoid with leaving my car with random people haha. I talked with Music 'N Motion today and they said $400 + alignment ($95) so I'm going to go down that route. I appreciate the lead though. I would've chose Stancelab, but the drive there + the toll fee makes their quote $540 total ($530 to install and align + $5 toll fee for me and $5 toll fee for a friend). Music N Motion is near me and they work on high end cars all the time to install springs, coilovers, airride, etc. Thanks again for the referral, I'll keep them in mind if I ever consider getting wheels.

EDIT: I noticed I mentioned that I would choose MnM if they were closer to the $300 range, but I've decided it's worth the extra money not to deal with this install. Too many other things going on in my life right now to even think about considering to install these springs.

myn8m3is8ndy

curt.r

I completely agree with you, but both the drive and the time I'll spend over there I just can't do at the moment (weekdays and weekends are extremely busy). Could I put off this install for a while until my schedule clears up? Sure. But when that will happen, I have no clue. Maybe I'll end up regretting this decision, maybe I won't. The C63 is going in tomorrow morning for the installation and I'll find out then. They were very knowledgeable on the whole C63 lowering spring install (which took me by surprise). I'm all for starting new relationships, and with that being said, if Stancelab was closer to me I'd choose them in a heartbeat. I was looking forward to working with Wilson and his team at Stancelab, and that's not saying I won't ever use them. In the future I plan on getting wheels and tires for the C63 so who knows. Or, if I ever need any performance upgrades for the C63 I'll know where to go When I do end up going there, I'll definitely keep your name in mind. Thanks again Andy, I really do appreciate your input.

EDIT: Re-read my post from yesterday... in case it was interpreted wrong, I didn't mention the parking garage scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off to badmouth Stancelab. I wouldn't say anything negative about a company I've never used before, that would be ridiculous. It was purely used as an example of how paranoid I get when I leave my car with people.

curt.r

Got the springs installed on Friday and I couldn't be happier. Aside from one minor hiccup (will explain later), the car looks amazing and the ride quality is surprisingly smoother than stock. With 4 adults in the car it doesn't rub even with 12.5mm spacers in the front and 10mm spacers in the rear on an OEM wheel/tire setup. I would highly recommend this mod to anyone thinking about it. I was worried that the ride would be significantly stiffer and I would rub with 4 adults in the car (approx. 190lbs a person) but both of those concerns are no more. If you have any questions about the H&R Springs, feel free to shoot me a PM!

**First let me start off by saying this, I'm not writing this next part to bash on Music 'N Motion. I'm giving my honest experience with them.**

Ok so, going back to the one minor hiccup, Music 'N Motion did have one error in their install. Upon delivery of the car, it looked amazing. I took it home and there were no noises or anything coming from the suspension on the drive home. The second I got home and made a u-turn into my driveway, I heard a distinct pop noise come from the front suspension and a clunk in the steering wheel. I researched it on the MBWorld forums and people said to check the front sway bar end links and make sure the nut didn't start backing out. I took off the front passenger wheel (that's where I felt and heard the clunk come from) and found the issue:

Crya

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