swadhwani

I am thinking of putting an Renntech ELM in my 09 E63. Any positive or negative feedback? Whats the difference between the V2 and V3?

lolachampcar

V3 is smaller, draws less power and has adjustment increments fine enough to allow corner weight work on the active suspension cars. There are other differences but those are the main ones

Worth the wait

I have version 2.
I like it, but if I had it to do over I would have got the Version 3 with remote. This despite the fact that that I paid $400 for a used one on Ebay, and the version 3 w/remote would be like $2k new.
I would love to have the added benefit of being able to verify, via display, the actual settings. IMHO adjusting the version 2, which requires being in front of the unit and can be rather confusing, is a bit of a PITA.
Add in the fact that the version 3 is a straight PnP, the install hours will be much lower (my installer had to splice/solder in 8 wires) which would help defer the hardware expense.

Of course a valid option is Star lowering. I can't remember anyone paying more than $200 for that, which usually includes an alignment.
My experience with the ELM has lead me to believe I probably would have been happy with Star. Once the ELM is set low enough to look aggressive, the ride is definitely compromised. In addition I have to beleive the added compression of an ELM has got to effect the reliability of the air suspension. Renn recommends setting 5 for driving, which is about the same drop as the Star. Of course I set it lower most of the time...lol.

Now if i had adjustment via a remote, I would be much more inclined to say the ELM was significantly better than Star.

Good luck!

swadhwani

@worththewait -- wow thanks. I was going to go the route of star but someone told me the renntech elm was the way to go. said i could lower the height easier vs star and star can only go so low. if i ever wanted to get aggressive and low then Renntech was the way to go...

lolachampcar

I looked at doing a quick lowering using factory adjustments and there was not enough available adjustment to provide good results. Perhaps there is enough adjustment range to handle some applications.

Worth the wait

Star is all about who is running the laptop. Find someone who has experience lowering the cars and getting it to stick. It is not an aggressive drop, but the ride is very compliant and it SHOULD not cause much additional stress.

***** of it is that once it's down, it's down. However if it needs a dealer visit the star should pass muster, the ELM....not so sure.

One thought I had regarding the stance of our cars is that the wheels are too far back. I am going to play around a bit with the offset of my 19" wheels. I am not happy with the way the car looks, even on a lower setting like 2. My thought is to run some small spacers on all for wheels to push them out a bit. I honestly think this will help complete the somewhat aggressive look I am after. Maybe 5mm in front and 8mm in rear, with longer bolts of course.

And remember this is just my opinion...lol. So do all the research and listen to everyone

Benz-O-Rama

With the ELM, I normally drove on 3/3/6, which put it just a little bit lower than my SDS lowering. However, it was very cool to be able to dump it at meets/shows/photo shoots, etc... If you're the type of person that will set the height and leave it alone, SDS may be the way to go. Another great thing about the ELM is when you get tired of being bounced around by the stiffness associated with the lowering, you could simply turn it off and go back to stock height. SDS lowering and links deprive you of that feature.

Worth the wait

Very good points.
Where is the ELM set in the rolling shot in your sig?
I swear those wheels have a different look on my 55, maybe it is an offset issue.

Worth the wait

Very good points.
Where is the ELM set in the rolling shot in your sig?
I swear those wheels have a different look on my 55, maybe it is an offset issue. You weren't running spacers were you?

andy_meng1024

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RENNt...Q5fAccessories

$1325 shipped for a brand new V3 from an authorized Renntech dealer.

Worth the wait

Plus @$600 for the remote

And BTW, I am an idiot....I just realized I have version 1, not even available anymore.....DUH!
Version 2 is PnP as well. I believe Version 3 upgrades to digital circuitry.

lolachampcar

The new (almost released) hand held adjuster for the V3 SLM is nice, small and makes it easy to change the ride height at will. The cost should be nice as well.

As for ride quality, damping increases at lower ride heights and thus the ride is rougher. However, the lowering is removed back to stock height as a function of speed (to keep the wheels from grinding into the wheel wells as MB does their lowering with speed in cases where the car is lowered too much) and thus ride quality returns as the car picks up speed normally. The whole speed thing is programmable if you wanted to get that deep into things but the default settings work well.

komp55

Version 2, which I installed my car - https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...te-diyers.html - is fully compatible with the remote Renntech introduced with v2. Here's a shot of the remote in action:



With V2 and the remote, you can adjust all settings on the fly. I don't know that v3 offers enough improvement over v2 to justify upgrading from one to the other. Both are superior to v1 though.

novae500

i ordered the V2, but when it got installed, i was given the V3. Somehow Renntech shipped the V3 instead of V2 to me(via James @ACG). Its pnp via laptop and you can dump it up to 4inches. But i have mine at 2.2F and 2.0 R for now. With this setting i have one finger gap in the wheel well. Come summer i might drop it more once all the potholes are fixed.

Benz-O-Rama

I think my sig may be photoshopped. I don't think I had the ELM when that pic was taken. That was a couple of years ago...

But, offsets for our two cars should be identical. No spacers.

Look at pics on the for sale thread for those wheels. Those pics weren't edited in the least. Hell, they were taken with a crappy point and shoot.

yonatan_tan

I have the v2 Renntech, and I want to sell it because I change my air matic into air suspension. Is there anyone interested in buying my Renntech? =)

swadhwani

Yonatan_tan -- how much do you want for your Renntech v2? I have an 09 E63. Not sure it will work unless you have an E63??

Ammi

I'm happy w/ my V2 + remote. I have it at exact same setting. Installation took about 1.5 hrs doing a thorough job.

yonatan_tan

I think it doesn't matter. Because the Renntech can be used in all type of MB with air matic. I will sell it for $750(including shipped). It is easy to install. It's plug and play.

Worth the wait

OMFG...You mean I'm chasing a unicorn....damn!

Actually I kind of suspected, but it looks great and would love to see my car set up similar...in real life...lol.
Thanks Clayton.

Benz-O-Rama

HA!

But this is live, not memorex.

They don't look exactly the same as this?

infantry

Anyone still have any of these for sale with remote?

Nasty50-Five

If you are looking for new one (V2), Lowering module dot com has them for like 1300 bucks I think. I bought my v3 from them, no hassles, fast shipping, prices are the same as the sponsors here or any where else I checked.