Just wanted to let you guys in on a new project that we have been working on... We have been researching suspension setups for various MB vehicles.

A very prominent suspension company will be making a line of VRP specially valved coilover setups for select 55, 63, and 65 MB cars.

Our first vehicle to test this on will be on the 63 platform. We have a CLK63 Cabriolet that is inbound to our California location which will be getting this first coilover suspension setup.

For the 55, and 65, the coilover "Kit" will include everything necessary to convert your existing airmatic suspension to a fixed Coilover setup. It will also include the necessary electronics so that the computers in the car dont freak out...

Once the CLK63 vehicle is done and we've completed our tests, we will move onto the next platform..

I wanted to get a feel for how many people would be interested in something like this for their vehicles... My main motivation was to give some of the non-Black Series guys a cost effective solution for a great street & track suspension setup.

I'll post more info on this as we progress through the development stages.. I'll also post some pics once the 63 is all set up..

 

I'm sure I'd be down, but I like active suspension. Do you have a ball park price? I dunno how many here actually would care about handling. I think it would be nice, because I will be tracking it by then.

 

Too premature to give pricing right now...

Like I said, the main drive was for the non-Black Series 63 guys..

The suspension components will be salt-treated so they wont rust, and there will also be a line of custom swaybars to go along with it..

You can stop by and see the stuff in person once the 63 arrives there.

 

Hehe, I'm sure I will. The CLS setup shouldn't be too different than mine, so it should be an easy swap.

The beauty of what you are doing is that you can now come in and replace all the arms and get the best geometry. Maybe consider the beefier control arms, larger rotors, etc. as an added option? Once we go coilovers, all around handling will actually be possible.

 

aww finally!! no more floating... ive been craving for some handling ever since i switched to MB

 

I am VERY interested Especially if you could restore it to stock when time to sell the vehicle.

Victor your the man!!!!

 

I would say a fully active Air susp would also be attractive ...

Coil over is a no go for me ... its a very radical change to the basic car setup. But hey I like your thinking!!!

How about adding an extra sensor to rear (so you have 4 corner mapping) and you plug in a geek at a computer for a week ... and viola fully active air ride! Make him sit down for 2 weeks and you can make it adjustable on the fly...

Much less hardware and probably much cheaper too if you take the install costs into account.

Alternatively we could just modify the CL fully active system and plug it in our cars...? Any thots?

 

Its a CLK not CLS... The main pieces will look the same so you'll get an idea of what the 55 kit will look like.

I am going to try it on my own car first and see how it behaves. But, I am in the same boat as you.

Thanks! It will revert back to stock with no problems.. Nothing will be hacked or cut up.. that was one of the requirements I gave them.

I believe that is what the ABC does on the SL55 and SL65... I've driven a SL65 and it still has that floaty feeling though.. I know it stiffens up each corner based on yaw angles, speed, etc..

I'll do some more digging in this area once we get to this platform.. I'm really looking forward to the 63 setup once it's complete.

 

Damn, wishful thinking.

 

Just wanted to post an update...

We have 1 set of the CLK63 coilover kit and 1 kit for the SLK55 inbound to us.. I will post an update soon with some pics...

 

So tell me.... Will this help us Loose some of this Weight our cars have? Can you do a before and after weight inn?

 

Not 100% sure about the weight savings, but things like corner balance and cornering feel will be drastically improved.

I am sure Vadim will go through it with a fine toothed comb. Once the CLK63 is torn apart we can check such things as weights of components.

The CLK63 was supposed to arrive by enclosed transport today, but it hasnt shown up yet.. maybe tomorrow?

 

Victor,
I think a coil-over Kit to replace the DC airmatic will be a great addition to your line up. For the guys that want to improve the handling it is a great option. I think more importantly as the fleet ages and the airmatics fail, most owners faced with replacement will opt for a suspension that would be less susceptible to failure. I have read some accounts here of airmatic failures and quotes on OEM parts that are well ob$$$$$cene.



BTW guys when the airmatic goes, the car bottoms out and you are
NO GO SOL.

 

I've been reading over on the C63 forum that the 030 will not be available for (at least on the '08s).

If it's true, and continues into the '09s and beyond, there could be an opportunity there...

Couple that with a Quaife LSD and you could have the VRP 030 package...

 

If the price is right many people wold be intrested but as for 65 cars I would never put coilover suspesion into it...luxury and comfort 1st...

 

Yup.. Exactly my thoughts.. That's why I am trying to make a retrofit kit out of this.

I'll most likely use my own car for testing purposes on the 55 platform.

I know.. That's why its perfect timing..

I like it.. I'll talk to Quaiffe and see if I can get special pricing...
VRP 030 Package... Sounds cool!

 

Case in point - One of my struts developed a leak and the car dropped. Luckily, I was close to a dealership and was able to drive there. They replaced the part in warranty, but said that if I had to pay for the repair, it would have cost in excess of $3K. Those are not Monroematics on our cars.

 

I wanted to check in and see if there were any updates. I think this could potentially be the greatest single upgrade for the 55. Hopefully this will rectify the one weakness in these cars...handling.

 

victor

any updates or pics of the coilovers for the CLK 63?

 

5 kits were ordered.. waiting for a build date..

2 are for 63 cars.
2 are for 5.5 N/A cars
1 is for an E55 which will be our "testing" car to see if we can make a cost-effective upgrade kit for Airmatic cars.

 

Jangy,

Back in the day you were a big fan of the ride of the AMG when explaining why you loved your car so dearly. In the current situation you keep talking about new links with hemi joints and firm bushings etc. I just sit back and scratch my head because putting those parts in your car will guarantee a ride that is insanely punishing and extremely firm.

Going with a coilover kit on the car will also further degrade the ride to a point where you will have a 4000 lb car that rides like a truck and still does not corner like a light car.

Having been playing with a 335i with a well known coil over kit and custom springs I can say that a spring rate needed to keep a car from bottoming out once lowered is so firm that the car will ride and bounce down the road. Having started out at the so called sport spring rate and realized that a 375-400 pound spring was just ridiculously soft and going to custom valved double adjustable shocks wit 500 lb springs I can say the stiffness needed to corner well is a disaster on the street. In addition a heavy car like the E55 or even a 335i needs such a stiff spring to support the weight of the car in dynamic driving situations that you end up with a pretty terrible ride. Going extremely firm just makes the car miserable on the street and going low and soft just gives you no drive ability and nice looks.

I just am curious what you want your car to be in the end? You want to have a car you can switch between track and street settings and do well in both situations? I really doubt that anything will give you that flexibility. I can say taking a 335 and converting it over to track driving set-ups is a huge pain in the rear. Jack the car up, unbolt the strut towers, hammer the strut tube over to set the camber to 3.5 degrees, set the toe, tighten it all back up, set compression, set rebound, install race rubber, install track race pads, etc..... No arms or bushings will allow for quick and easy adjustments. Changing any camber will totally skew the toe so you need to align the car every time you move things around. Or you set the toe to be in your range at one setting and just expect it to change when you go from one setting to the other.

What is your take on this all?

I love the idea of a coilover kit for the W211 but its just a big head ache I think.

 

I asked about this months back and after going over my car with some SCCA racer guys I met the coilover will be a waste of time for several reasons I feel from cost and defeating the the airmatic system

Our airmatic cars handle so poorly not just because of the airmatic shocks but look at the huge soft bushings which have loads of deflection on the contral arms. This is by far an area I rather see improved. Renntech makes toe links for the rear for a reason, Its just another weak area.

The cars suspension geometry just isnt race inspired, the CLk63 Black is the first real attempt at this and I think its a nice package.

I also feel the steering rack can offer more road feel and sway bars could also be upped but the chassis needs to be stiffer to take advantage of these changes.

So with a nice coilover kit I dont think it will help much with these other areas left untouched.The car isnt meant for the race track one bit the cars chassis cant handle stress well my car has so much torsional flex its just a shame the creaks and rattles in the roofline, rear c pillars and other areas. Our chassis are no different than an E350 just with upgraded bolt on's in a few areas. Compare to the 5 series E60 its stiffer to begin with and the M5 is beefed up in that department fully that a 4000+ lb car can drive they way it does. MB has some catching up in this department in my opinion.

 

Exactly. 100% right.

AMG forgot to redesign the suspension to drive well with 500 hp. BMW changes EVERYTHING to make the M car sportier than the base version car. The AMG car has the same everything just different valving on the shocks and different stiffness on the air springs.

I can say that these MB cars have some extremely soft bushings. At the track you can watch the wheels wiggle around under full load. I once drove on the inside of an E500 that I had out at the track as a joke and the inside wheels was just wiggling around with all the busing deflection. This was in a corner that has some moderate bumps and is taken at about 110+ (turn 8 at big willow). All that bushing deflection leads to a seriously hazardous amount of steering rack kick back when you push hard. Every MB I have ever pushed hard had a terrible amount of steering kick. It totally makes you back off and you think the car is about to lose a wheel. You NEVER get that feeling in a BMW.

 

CYNcarvin you understand fully just as I do and the term steering kickback sums it up on my E63 when I go fast through switchback turns the car bounces and the steering fights from 40-60MPH making me so nervous I have now gotten conditioned to drive slower. Same roads with the M5, 70mph and 100% confidence. Then again BMW was always performance oriented and Mercedes more luxury just because they have awesome hp ZR tires and a subtle body kit and a few other goodies doesnt make it a sports car one bit. People stop me several times a week gawking at my car when I park after they hear it an see the badges layman think its a sports car similar to a Bimmer or Porsche when I tell them its just fast in a straight line and will fly off the road on certain highways they look in awe like Im joking.

As for the suspension wobble its bad on these cars. I had a 2001 CLK 55 and it was much stiffer when I joined the board in 2003 I looked at a 209 CLK and I almost wiped out on a test drive the new C 203/209 suspension platform just isnt for spirited driving no matter what you do, its those damn bushings and control arm design.

I have yet to drive the new C Class I hope it has changed and they carry changes across the board . The next Benz I get will be when I have a family and I need a 4matic cruiser. That 2009 Corvette ZR1 looks pretty tempting.

 

Any updates on these?
very very interested....
since i decided to keep my car.