John H

I want to lower my e55 but I would prefer to maintain the same ride as it is my daily driver. I've heard the H&Rs are stiff and linear. The Eibachs are progressive and are my current first choice. Has anyone used the progressive B&G springs? They only list one part number for the w210 class so I'm a bit leary. Thanks!

Eurosport

from what you wrote, "you want to maintain the same ride"
same ride height? comfort? what exactly are you trying to keep the same?

B&G springs never heard of them on an MB

here's some choices for you:

A). Euro springs - lowers car about 0.75 to 1 inch (comfort about the same, no need to change shocks; they could be harder to find.)

B). H&R sport springs/Bilstein Sport shocks - lowers car about 1.25-1.5 (more aggressive drop after they settle in a little, harsher ride, better handling than stock by far)

C). Eibach springs/Bilstein sport shocks - lowers car about 1.3-1.4 (harsher ride, better handling than stock, but softer springs than H&R)

D). Kleemann springs/kleemann speed sensitive shocks - lowers car about 1-1.2 in (when they say comfort power they are not joking, this setup is more spendy but you can feel the difference, hard to describe have to feel it when you drive yourself; it's more comfortable than stock, and handles way better than stock)

E). any combo of the above with Koni adjustable shocks instead of Bilsteins etc. as well as sets from Carlsson, Brabus, etc. (they are all variations of H&R and Eibach)

another thing is your spring pads #1 to #5, you can additionally alter your height a little changing pads as well.

besides euro springs, any other lowering spring you choose you'll have to choose shocks as well, otherwise you'll have a very harsh bumpy ride, that'll handle worse than stock. ;p
hopefully this helps, feel free to add to the list

ProjectC55

Choice "A" or "D" are his best bets.

SaMaS

I heard a lot of good of H&R springs...

jimmydagreek

I had choice "B" above on my '97 E420 and I have to say, I loved the $h!t out of the handling. I would love to drive a car with the Kleeman set up...

John H

Thanks for the great responses, especially Eurosport!

My goal is to lower the car 1-1.5". Ascetically, there's just too much wheel well showing and the car just looks too tall from the rear. Better handling, while nice, is not my primary goal - I have an early mustang dropped 3"+ (w/koni's & more) for that. The Kleemann arrangement sounds perfect - anybody in the Bay Area have this setup and want a free lunch to let me check it out?

John H

I had the same setup of H&Rs and Sport Bilsteins on my 300e. The car was a joy to toss into corners. If I had gone to a 17" or 18" wheel it would have been too stiff for a daily driver for me.

jimmydagreek

That Kleeman set up sure does sound nice...

MARK CUMMINS

I have the H/R Sport springs with #1 Notch spring pads and Bilstein Sport shocks on my 2000 W210 It Rides Very Good as The Wife does NOT complain about the ride....Rides Smooth on the freeway and Handles FLAT on the corners

ProjectC55

I hated both the eibach's and the H&R's on my car. Not great on a C43! I'd be surprised if they r any better on a E55. They will sag in time.(H&R's) And the Eibach's are too jiggly. Go stck 1/2 coil cut,Kleeman,or "Euro".

John H

I lowered many a Ford by clipping a 1/4 coil at a time until I liked the look! I even had the foot thick Ford master part catalog which has the spring spec's on 1,000's of coils used in fomoco vehicles and their various combinations of options (AC, AT, PS, AC & AT, etc.). I would scour the JYs to get the rate spring I wanted. This was well before aftermarket springs were readily available. Ah, the good old days when I was brokea$$ college student with a mid-13 second car that got 6mpg.

CQHall

I'm a big fan of H&R. I rode sports on my VWs. I had the coilovers on my A6 4.2, and I have sports on my E320 W210 (with Koni Adjustables + #1 pads).

They work exactly as expected. Corners flat, very little body roll. I have no complaints.

I'd advise against cutting coils. I did it years ago (also when I was a broke college student) and it rode like crap and blew out my shocks/struts within a month. Cutting coils changes the starting point of your shock's travel. If you cut coils, then you will likely need sport shocks. If you are gonna pay for labor to disassemble all of that and buy shocks, then you might as well pay the $300 and get real sport springs.

To the guy suggesting that. Come on. We are talking about a E55, not a 83 Rabbit.

The ride comfort will be a combination of the shocks and tires moreso than the springs. If you are concerned about comfort, why not install H&R sport springs to lower the car and use Koni EXTERNALLY adjustable shocks to tune the comfort to your liking? You can go from racecar hard to soft with a twist.


*Make sure you get externally adjustable where you twist the button on top. They also make "adjustable" shocks that you have to remove to adjust which would be a pain.

jimmydagreek

I have also heard throughout the years and numerous people including suspension shop owners that cutting and heating coils is the worst thing you can do. You are actually loosing the integrity of the coil by cutting hence weakening that coil causing for poor response and eventual uneven sagging. I drive fast and hard and the H&R Sport Springs combined with my Bilstein Sport Shocks was an aggressive and great combination. My $0.02.

TruE320Ridah14

I run H&R springs with koni's and #2 pads, k-mac camber kit in the rear. Works great when I go 130mph. Koni's are on stiffest setting. I love my set-up not bouncey like my integra on gound control and kokico's.

ProjectC55

Hey you can feel free to take a ride in my car if it were possible. On any other car I would not recommend it!(cutting the springs.) On the AMG W210,W202 MB's, cut 1/2 a coil and you'll have no problems. These are not GM's ,Fords and what not, correct.

We(three people I know personnally) have AMG's with cut MB springs and there are many members here as well who have not had any problems.
My car handles and drives much better now compared to when I had bth H&R's and Eibach's installed. I've tried them all other than kleeman! And the two I had on my car were garbage. Went with the stck spring with 1/2 coil cut after driving my friends c43 and I was sold.

Folks told me that the 5.5L motor would not run in my car and guess what? It's in my car and bolted up to the stck tranny. Don't knock it till you've tried it and tru not all brands of car are treated equally. Say what you want but H&R's are garbage on these cars but they work wonders I must say on BMW's.

I will post pics of both cars. 1/2 a coil is not going to hurt the integrity of these springs.

X55

Eibach no longer makes an application for the W210-E55, I had wanted these springs and called Eibach direct. They have been out of production for over a year now.

jimmydagreek

You could be right based solely on the AMG spring but I've never heard of this being the case. Also, maybe to each model and driver the H&R springs might feel different but on my old '97 E420 when paired up with Bilstein sport shocks and staggered 19" Carlssons it handled incredibly IMO. Now you've got me curious and I'm going to go and ask my Benz mechanic...

John H

1) Never ever heat the spring to drop the car. It will change the temper of the steel which could cause it to fail. This was a hack 1950s way of lowering a car.

2) Cutting springs is not the ideal way to go but can be safe if done correctly. The key is to limit the heat you input to the spring. What I have done in the past is to put the coil in a bucket of water just above where you want to cut the spring. Using an air grinder with cut-off wheel I take small cuts at a time making sure not to get the end too hot. Water will be flying everywhere so do not use an electric grinder. Using this technique, the very end of the spring is losing temper however I doubt enough heat is created to affect more than the last 1/8" to 1/4" of the spring. Reducing coils will make the spring stiffer as well as shorter.


From what Eurosport said, I still think the Kleemann setup is the way to go. Any takers on my free lunch offer?

JamE55

I'll take that free lunch but sorry i'm only located around the LA area. But it's worth it... Plus you'll get to experience what "Kleemann is really all about.

John H

I get down to LA a few times a year and I'm guessing your not a "half soy, half non-fat latte" kind a guy so I may just roll-up to your digs with a couple of smoked half racks steaming away. OK?

E55 PWR

instally #1 spring pads all the way around THEN decide the next course of action. Spring pads drop the car more than you think.

ProjectC55

I agree 100% Never good to put heat to the springs!

Thank you! Someone who knows what i'm talking about with these MB springs.

Believe me I was not for cutting these springs until my mechanic (head mech for my local MB dealer) did the same thing on his Twin Turbo AMG C36 and another AMG C43 that another friend of mines owns. He used a similar method to cut the springs but with an air tool and a wheel on the device that is used to cut steel. No heat was applied whatsoever.

jimmydagreek

Speaking of spring pads, do all of the W210 E55's come with the same size spring pads across the board??? I haven't had a chance to crawl underneath mine to check them out but I'm just curious. Thanks...

Eurosport

i think most come with #3 all around