Jrocket

So the same problem could have occured if you used an ELM also.

OzE55

Of course.
The method of lowering isn't the issue, I think (unless the nut comes off the bolt etc).
Its the lowering itself. By lowering the car the suspension travel must be reduced and therefore the pressure in the system rises.....increased stress on the seals. Thats my theory anyway (it seems logical to me)

Anthrassat

Hi All, I just picked up an R500 for my wife and stumbled upon the "washer mod". I just played around with this on her car and I have a couple questions and some info that is model specific to the R-class. I know my w251 platform is a bit different but as all AirMat cars this seemed to work. upon inspecting the front and rear sensors, I found out there are independent sensors at all four corners. Fronts and rears are exactly the same. I assumed the washer mod would apply, however, I was mistaken. I noticed in the earlier pics that your brackets all mount from the bottom and you are in essence lowering the arm further with the washers. Mine is the opposite. The bracket actually mounts to the top of the control arm! Before I found this thread with the pics I added washers to mine which actually caused the car to raise even higher!!! oops total 4x4! So I then decided to go the other route and removed the bracket and attached it to the underside of the control arm. Well, it sure as hell lowered it.............to less than a 2 finger gap. Totally slammed. It actually looked quite good but I know she would S&$#t tomorrow AM when she saw it so I had to jack it up to get my hands back in to return it to stock height.

As for the rears, it too looks like I will have to lower the bracket which will be tough. I'm debating bending them but not sure I want to do that. Has anyone on here had experience with the R-class and if so what did you use to rig the existing brackets? I'm planning on going with the adjustable links but figured this would be a good quick mod to at least give it a more aggressive stance. TIA

Don

Chargin55

I am going through this whole lowering options myself. I did see somewhere here that the dealer can lower the car by simply entering a code into the ECU and SHAZAM...your in the weeds. Can anybody confirm this?

Benz-O-Rama

They can lower it with the Star Diagnostic machine. It has nothing to do with the ECU. They do it on the alignment rack. I lowered my E500 this way and it costs about 250.00, including the alignment.

jimmydagreek

Star diag. is the best/least expensive way to do it, my MBtech is going mine shortly. This washers method if done correctly with locktite seems like it will work, especially since I don't see many issues posted in here with failures. Since this is an old thread as someone just mentioned, any issues with the washers method, just curious!

hbr

1/4" as described and mine reads "car too low" on the message screen and has the front of car lifted higher than I've seen it............

chiromikey

you have the elbow in one or both of the sensor arms bent the wrong way.

hbr

Thanks bunches, couple more beers and I'll have it

gonzjed

oh sh*#...thats what happen when I did mine, so I took the washers out and put it back to stock...will try again!

OzE55

Once you've made the mistake once you'll double check everything the next time.

hbr

+1................and be a bit easier on the brackets. Oh, and save the red lock tite for after you make sure everything is good first.

hbr

Ok..........trying the rear now. Same "car too low" light came on, the rear raised real high like the front did. Have done some readjustments but the rear won't come back down. "car too low" light is out, but rear is still at max height, any advice?

chiromikey

start by telling us exactly how you did the rear.

OzE55

with photos........its likely you 'moved' the bracket the wrong way. I understand the rear is much more sensitive than the front to adjustment ie a smaller change produces a larger drop.

hbr

Bit late, but that was exactly the case. Now she sits nice

EZE55

I don't believe I saw anything re: this, so can anyone answer my question (sorry if it has been covered already): Using this method, can one, then, "slam" the car really low -- i.e., too low to drive normally due to rubbing and such -- and have it sit like that when parked, but then use the raised, "SUV" mode button to bring it up to a drivable, albeit lowered, stance (lower than stock) when you want to drive? Or, once you reach the "auto-lowering" speed, will it "re-slam" itself to the parking-only level and thus be too low to drive safely or will it lower only a little bit (i.e., not as low as the slammed parking-only level) at the designated speed and be OK to drive w/o any issues? I thought it would be cool to be able to have it sitting super low when parked, but raise it up -- kind of like you have switches -- when you want to go. Thanks!

hbr

I would guess it would "re-slam".................

OzE55

You could with the washers BUT the warning lights would come on and I doubt it would be safe to drive - even if raised. Use an ELM if you want frequent adjustment of the height.

EZE55

Thanks, OzE55. I didn't think it would a good idea but wanted to see what someone else thought. Would be cool if it were OK tho'.

dpavid

anyone ever thought of using spacers instead of washer for better precision?

OzE55

Good quality stainless steel washers are pretty uniform in thickness and allow different height combinations to be tried. Machined spacers would be ideal once you've assertained the height you want for the final product.

jangy

Spacers make no difference on safety. It really blows my mind that ANYONE would understand that it is a tappered thread and yet only be concerned with the nut side. Adding spacers makes the nut grip on the skinnier end of the threads. Then, you can try to remove the welded bolt and replace it with a longger one but then you need to be concerned that you weakened the link itself when you tore the bolt out. It gets SUPER ugly.

I am still ABSOLUTELY blown away that anyone would do this method, when you have $100 mechanical link or $1200 electronic modules as options. At least the links are tight and stay on.

Last thing, don't forget that the computer doesn't know when you are on spacers or links and so it will not react as it should. It will UNDERREACT to every situation. Why? because at stock height, the car will have to dip a certain amount to signal a lean. In reality, the car is lower so it will not lean as much and never get the computer assist. Screws the refined ride 100%.

chiromikey

this is not a structural connection...it's simply an attatchment. use a thinner nut that allows the bolt to use all the threads and double up with some locktite if you're worried and you'll be absolutely fine.

as far as knowing that the computer will underreact, that's all speculation. but i'm not pretending my car can handle that well either.

jangy

Mikey, speculation? Ok, lets walk through this really slowly and you tell me where it becomes speculation....Can we take a first step and agree that the computer monitors parameters like ride height, pitch, etc.? Assuming so, then could we agree that the amount of pitch that a car will show is likely to be less on a lowered car since it has a lower center of gravity AND the suspension has been stiffened up? That is EXACTLY where I am saying the car underreacts.

In real life, here is my speculation and I have the Palomar mountain footage to prove it. When I had my car lowered by washers and then links, it was low, BUT it leaned horribly in the turns and the active suspension was always behind, causing my rear to flip out. No lie, my car was faster to the top with only a few washers than with lots. Then, I switched over to the Renntech ELM and that changed everything. Then, all of a sudden, the car was holding pretty flat in the turns again and I was able to lower it. My times went up from that a good bit and I haven't been back.

Save a buck and use a washer, I don't care. But please don't fool yourselves into thinking that it is a neat little trick when it is nothing more than a hack job.