beachjustice

I just wanted to introduce myself, and show you guys the new suspension I put in over the last few months. First off just wanted to thank my buddy Nocturnal G for all the help and advice, he sourced the Euro AMG springs for me and patiently answered an endless sea of questions as well.

I got my car last may with 80k on it, color is Midnight Blue (my favorite Mercedes color and apparently super-rare for the W210 E55, I couldn't even find a picture of another one), and within a couple thousand miles the front shocks started leaking, which was honestly fine by me since I wanted an excuse to drop it anyway. I didn't want a slammed car, just sporty and classy. I like keeping things stock when possible, so the Euro AMG lowering springs seemed like a good fit, with supposedly about a 1 inch drop all around.

I struggled on what shocks to get, and almost got the Koni Adjustables, but was afraid the softest setting would be too stiff. Tire rack did a great performance comparison with the Bilstein Sports, the Koni Adjustables, and the Koni FSDs, plus some other members have raved about how great the FSDs are. Basically they have 2 chambers and auto-adapt to different frequencies, so they have a good ride but also handle and respond well when needed. Lamborghini puts them in the Gallardo, which is a pretty good endorsement. I decided to go with the FSDs because I still wanted this car to feel and ride like a Mercedes, just lower and with better handling. Also, I swapped out the spring pads to #1s all around.

The end result was perfect imo, its a nice drop but not slammed. I know some guys like the #2 pads up front, but I went #1 all around because the car came from the factory with the back a little higher, so I wanted to keep it that way. After the drop, there's about a 1-inch gap up front, and about 1.3 in the rear, it took an inch off up front (maybe slightly more) and 1.25 in the back.

Performance-wise, the result has been fantastic. It handles faster, tighter and digs into corners, it looks a lot better, but on the highway its, nice and smooth, but will respond very firmly and tightly at high speeds. I don't track it, so for normal driving its a perfect combo.

I also replaced most of the other suspension parts, ball joints, tie rods, etc, and put on new Michelin Pilot Super Sports. My rims btw came with the car, they appear to be Carlsson Reps. I like them, they handle well and appear to be well made (in Taiwan, much better than China), so they are staying.

Hope this helps someone else make some decisions, all the other posts like this were a lot of help for me. Hit me up with any questions.

Before Pics:













After:
















Front wheelwell after the drop (needed a wash):



Rear Wheel-well after the drop:



Midnight Blue on a sunny day:



Midnight Blue on a cloudy day:



Interior:

tsquare

The color and stance on your car looks great. Nice write up on your suspension changes. I have been considering upgrading my suspension, but haven't decided on what spring shock combination would be best - your combination of euro AMG springs and FSD's is exactly the pairing I was considering after doing research over the last few months. How does the ride compare to the stock setup as far as comfort? I do not want to loose the comfort of the stock setup, but would like a tighter more composed handling feel. Also, how much did changing out the suspension parts (ball joints, tie rods, bushings) help with the suspension feel? Great job on your car

amthatiam

Hey Beachjustice,
Thank you for this, this is the exact set up I'm going to do to mine, euro springs and Koni FSD's The only difference will be camber arms for the rear and the camber bolts for the front. Speaking of that, do you notice any excessive camber with this set up? Have you had it aligned yet if so what kind of camber readings did you get? the height looks perfect to me. Nice car by the way. Thank you again.

P.S. I don't like many wheels on these cars other than the stock mono blocks, and, the wheels you have look really nice. Welcome.

beachjustice

Thanks guys, glad you like it.

To me the ride feels very much like stock, perhaps a hair firmer, but in a good way. It rides very smoothly, but the car also feels more planted and more stable. If you like the stock ride, I really think you'll like this setup a lot. To me its the best compromise possible, great stock-like ride, with a very good handling upgrade. Replacing the other parts did help me, but some of them really needed the change as well, the ball joints had a little play, etc. I think it makes sense to just do everything at once anyway.

beachjustice

No problem, happy to hear the post was helpful. The after pictures are post-alignment, which was done at the dealer (I've read in several places to only have the dealer handle the alignments). There's no negative camber now after the alignment, but before the alignment there was crazy negative camber. I unfortunately can't speak to the camber ratings though, I just checked my receipt but didn't see that data on there.

Glad you like the wheels, I actually thought long and hard about getting a new set, but like you, I couldn't find another set I really liked on this car other than the stock monoblocks. The Carlsson reps look good and are different, so I kept them (although I couldn't resist changing something, so I put new center-caps in). I was lucky the previous owner had good taste. By the way, before I lowered it, I was sure I needed 19" wheels, but now, the 18"s are perfect.

Nocturnal-G

It was a pleasure helping out! Glad you love it.

Welcome to the forum officially!

Dan04mcs

Wow! gorgeous E55.

Those wheels look very similar to a set I have been considering.
http://www.tsw.com/alloy_wheels_zolder_5.php

I have Koni FSD's on my Mini Cooper S.
110000 miles and many many track days and they are still perfect.

After seeing your set up I know exactly what I am going to get.

slownrusty

Looks great!

dfreret

Car looks great. Did you happen to buy this in Baltimore, MD ?? I remember seeing a blue one for sale there a few months back.

Interior looks fantastic as well.

JamE55

Never seen midnight blue before. Looks pretty good as well as your whole lowering setup.

beachjustice

Thanks Dan, great to hear about the longevity of the FSDs. Those wheels look nice, I like the polished lip.

beachjustice

Thanks, I actually got it from a guy outside Chicago, I think I remember seeing a Capri Blue one in Maryland when I was looking for mine though, probably the same one.

GreggT

I am just catching this older write up.......great job. Hope it's still wkg out for you.
Can I ask where you sourced the euro AMG springs?
In 2001 I sourced euro suspension parts for the wife's new E55 from AMG-Germany. I now have a left front broken.....will replace both if I can source. Thanks in advance.

benzokirk

[QUOTE=GreggT;6401825]I am just catching this older write up.......great job. Hope it's still wkg out for you.
Can I ask where you sourced the euro AMG springs?
In 2001 I sourced euro suspension parts for the wife's new E55 from AMG-Germany. I now have a left front broken.....will replace both if I can source. Thanks in advance.

Gregg, if you'd be interested in a set of Euro AMG springs I bought a year ago, and only driven an average of twice a week, I'll be selling mine I bought from Gert at Carnewal. I paid $400+ for them new, but I'm selling them for $200. I'm moving on to Vogtlands this week.

Inbox me if you're interested.

GreggT

Kirk....if you (& Gert) are positive they are ROW-Euro springs for a W210 AMG....I will take them.....PayPal $200. My email is GreggT@DrivingFanatic.com ........send me yours for payment.

benzokirk

According to Gert at Carnewal: "Since your car is a 2000 model, the correct springs for the European E55AMG are A210 321 21 04 for the front ant A210 324 36 04 for the rear." I'm at kirk@kirkdenson.com

I'll inbox you for additional info: scheduling, shipping, etc.

At this point, consider them SOLD and Thank you!!!

Tall Giraffe

Does anyone know the part numbers off hand for the FSD shocks for our cars?

PelicanParts.com

Looks much better!

-Luccia

beachjustice

I tried to find it, but no luck. Feel free to PM me and I'll tell you the shop I ordered the FSDs from, I just told them my car and they made it happen.

beachjustice

All - Quick update, 11,000 miles later and things are rolling along nicely. I'm about to get new tires with a set of refinished OEM monoblocks.

I had a tire wear issue after 5,000 miles where the front insides were shot, turned out to be a bad alignment and the dealer took care of it for the most part. Make sure you get the front camber bolts and a good technician to do the alignment, because lowering it does make it harder to align well. For the second set of fronts, I asked the MB techs (not the service reps) who their best alignment guy was, and I told the service manager only he could do it. He reduced the front camber from -2.02 to -1.14 on each side, and 6,000 miles after that the fronts are wearing evenly.

After 11,000 miles however, the rears are shot, that's not god-awful for Michelin Super Sports, but I need more than that out of the next set. My rear camber is -1.48 and -1.53 (left and right wheels).

I'm thinking about either the Michelin AS3, or the Continental Extremecontact DWS, does anyone feel strongly one way or the other? Given my mileage from the Pilot Super Sports, I was thinking I'd get 18k-20k on the all seasons?

Would you guys recommend tracking down a rear camber solution like the Kmacs or Renntech bushings, or some adjustable rear camber arms? What would a reasonable rear camber number be given the lowered suspension and stock rims?

Tall Giraffe

Thanks for the offer, Ill PM soon to compare. I looked on Koni NA site and it seems they have a little bit of contradicting info. They have the shocks under W211 but the model numbers are both E320 and E430 with years being 2002 -2007. No FSD under W210, only sports.

That part number without spring kit is 2100 4009.

I wish I could give you input on the camber adjustments for a lowered car. FWIW my last alignment for normal car height is Rear-L 1.15 from -1.24 and Rear-R -1.17 from -1.20. My front numbers are similar to yours.

I am procrastinating my purchase (FSD/Vogtland) trying to find more data about this subject. I am afraid the springs may be to aggressive for the design of the FSD.

I got 15K solid out of my Bridgestone S04. They are still on at ~20K but I dare not show pics of their condition- can you say drag slicks? I may repeat the purchase of the S04.

Is it the rear camber that has worn out the tires?

beachjustice

Thanks for the reply, really helpful on all counts, I'll look for your PM, hopefully just some mis-info on the FSDs for the w210, they've gotta still be making them for our cars. I had to wait 8 weeks when I got mine because they had to built first, so maybe for older cars they just fabricate as the orders come in?

Those camber numbers for a stock suspension are really helpful, apparently I'm really not that far out of what would be normal. Its hard to tell how much of the rear wear is the soft tires vs. the negative camber from the lowered suspension. The 3rd variable is that my current rims are wider than the monoblocks that are about to be installed (although I'm going to double check the offsets today) and wider rims are easier to reduce camber on, so I don't know if that will make things worse. I'm most likely going to err on the safe side and get some camber bars installed, relatively cheap insurance since I love this car and really have no interest in replacing it.

Tall Giraffe

Spoke with Koni North America and they state that there is not a part number for the W210 at all for FSD. If any of you have these on your car please share your part number if possible.

Another possible part number 2100-4055

Edit which is discontinued....