HeissRod

I have been in touch with K-MAC about a possible group buy on their bushings and this is the deal that was presented:
If you are lowered and killing the inside of your front tires like I am, then these front bushings should solve your problem. Let's get this done! I need to get new front tires put on and I don't want to start killing them before getting this mod done.

1) HeissRod (front only - #502216 K)
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Edit - Please be advise that shipping costs are higher than what we are used to because these are shipping from Sydney, Australia.

Updated 8/11 to reflect lower shipping costs.

urbamworm

Those shipping prices seem like a little steep to me. Sounds like they are supplementing your "discount" with a jacked up shipping cost so you aren't getting a discount.

We are talking about little bolts/washers/nuts/bushing. Something that fits in the palm of your hand and weights next to nothing. It would probably cost under $10 to ship. and definitely wouldn't cost more than a flat rate USPS box. I hate when companies do this, you see it on ebay all the time, there is this low price to entice you in and then an insane shipping cost where they plan on making all their money back, but you feel good that you only bought the actual product for XX.

I need to get something for the rear of my car to fix the camber, not the front though since those tires have worn fine.

HeissRod

I have no idea what international shipping is, but these are shipping from Australia. I expect to pay more. Normal price with UPS shipping would be $515. This GB gets it to your door for $445. No discount being eaten by the GB there. If you order through the website, they only offer the $70 air freight option for shipping.

Also, you can get the rear bushings with this GB.

Edit - UPS says a 2lb $400 package from Sydney to Houston is $105, so....?

shardul

iTrader: (1)

Make sure they have the updated fine thread for the bolts.
If they don't the alignment setting will change in less than 100 miles.
Nice prices on the GB, probably install will cost more than these bushings, but you will save on tires!!

urbamworm

Didn't realize this was shipping from overseas.

typhoon43

So I assume the rear kit will help lowered cars like mine with the insides of the rear tires wearing out crazy fast? Just have to do the math. 485 + install vs. 2 new Nitto Invos every 10k... hmmm...

urbamworm

I just paid $720 for two new 285/25-20 Pilot Super Sports on mine after about 6000 miles. Sucks because the rest of the tire looked great but the very very inside had threads coming out.

HeissRod

These are coming from K-Mac, so I don't see why the newest revision wouldn't be sent.

I updated the original post to make prospective buyers aware.

Another thing about dealing with an overseas company is the timing. It is Friday night in Australia right now, so we may not hear a response to any questions in this thread until sometime on Monday (Sunday evening our time). I have given K-Mac the link to this thread and asked them to answer any questions.

Yes, this should help even out the treadwear. That's why I'm looking to buy the front bushings.

If the bushings allow you to get nearly twice the amount of miles out of your tires, then you just paid for the bushings in the first 12000 miles.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

2 years ago AUS-E55 ordered a set they came with a coarse thread.
6 months ago another local member ordered a set they came with the same thread mentioned above..... upon receipt KMAC was notified and replacement bolts were sent.

HeissRod

Good to know Good to see that K-Mac took care of it as well.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

when you install your bushings take it to Steve's Auto on Richmond the British tech has aligned a couple of MBs with Kmac on them

HeissRod

I'll be doing my own install and I have access to an alignment rack, but thanks for the tip. If I have any issues, I've use that place.

GregMB

I just received a brand new K-MAC front bushing set last night, and the latest "update" parts for the rear bushing set that I bought about a month ago (which wasn't actually the "latest and greatest" version that K-MAC sells now).

It will probably help if I post up photographs for the complete front kit, and the rear kit so everyone can see what is included in the box. For those of you who don't know the kit is more than just a couple of bushings and bolts... each box is probably about 8Lbs worth of stuff including the special pressing tools that you'll need to do the installation. Kevin Macintyre (K-MAC) personally worked with me to make sure that everything was up to date and complete.... yes, he lives half-a-world away (Australia) so his phone calls sometimes came at odd hours!

The timing wasn't very good for me. After getting an alignment about 6 weeks ago, I realized that my car had way too much negative camber (front & rear) so I ordered the K-MAC parts so I could resolve the camber problems once-and-for-all. Unfortunately, about a week ago I saw that my front tires were already corded on the inside edge after maybe 1500 miles of driving on the new lowered suspension and alignment settings.... not good.

So earlier this week, I gave up and put my car back to factory height (easy to do with the ELM!) and got another alignment done. The camber went back to the normal range (as expected) and beacuse of the new ride height both the front & rear toe settings were completely wrong and needed to be reset. At this point, I need to buy a new set of front tires and then make a new appointment to have all the K-MAC stuff installed (I'm guessing 8 hours labor?) and then another alignment to get toe and camber set correctly for the lowered ride height.

I will caution everyone that even small changes in ride height (using an ELM or whatever) will lead to substantial changes in your toe settings both front and rear. The only time you will have "good" toe settings on your car is when you are at the ride-height where the alignment was intially performed. Running the car a bit higher or a bit lower is going to substantially change your toe values and scrub your tires mercilessly... pick the height you want your car to be, then get your alignment done and then leave your ride height alone.

Personally, I also believe that the speed sensitive lowering of the AirMatic suspension further exacerbates toe issues on cars that have been substantially lowered. Working from the stock ride height, a change of 10mm - 15mm doesn't make a big difference in toe. However, if the car is already 1 or 1.5" lower than stock that additional 10 - 15mm of additional lowering that occurs by the AirMatic system at 68MPH has a much more profound effect on the toe values (this is my hypothesis).... the toe change is non-linear at the extreme ends of suspension travel so a lowered car with beautiful toe values on the alignment rack might still end up eating the inner tires when it runs at highway speeds..... My own strategy will be to disable the speed sensitive lowering completely once my car is lowered, K-MAC'ed and aligned. The dynamic lowering is sort of pointless once you drop the car below the factory ride height anyway...





-G

typhoon43

Holy hell.. 8 hours of labor to install the kit? I guess if I only need rears that cuts it to 4 but OUCH. I need a DIY for this.

GregMB

I'm guessing at the hours...

You need to pull the suspension apart to get to the lower bushings and press them out. Not sure if that can be done without STAR to deflate the airbags or not?

For a non-Mercedes shop I'm giving them some extra leeway, they aren't going to know all the tricks to getting stuff apart quickly and efficiently.

YMMV.

-G

taurran

A US company just needs to make some reasonably priced alternatives. I know that someone recently mentioned SPC looking at making them for our cars. I wish, because SPC is excellent for the price.

taurran

I just emailed SPC customer service and got a reply - they confirmed they are currently working on a rear camber solution for e-classes (w211). I'm going to wait for those. I also said that there are plenty of people that want both front and rear adjustment. We'll see what they say.

viren.89

My car isn't lowered even a centimetre and 4 weeks back my front right got a huge gash and

then the driver side got a huge gash 3-4 days later. First I thought I went over a glass or something cuz the outside of the tire seemed like it could last

another 3-4000 kms easy but when it happened with the driver side, I was like okay this is something else.

Got new tires and I had alignment done but still pulls to the right a little. My car ain't even lowered not one single bit. Alignment shop said , this is the

best we can do. So I put in Nitrogen in all 4 tires and got new rims too, now hopefully they'll last longer since at least i'd have even tire pressure.

All guys with no lowering at all , still have huge negative camber ? and this is front I'm talking about rear I don't even know yet. I'd assume fronts would have less camber than rear stock?

HeissRod

No one is interested?

HeissRod

Just got a better deal on shipping from K-Mac

So instead of the $70 for 1 kit/$85 for 2 kits air delivery pricing or the $35 standard UPS shipping, it's now $20 for 1 kit/$30 for 2 kits air delivery.

Also, this is an 8lb package, not just some small 2lb bag of bolts.

210e55

I wonder if they will give a better price if they do not include the bushing press? I already have the factory bushing tools. Seems like a waste in my case or if someone is going to have a shop do theirs since the shop is likely to have this tool already anyway....

Manuyc

I agree Ebay is the worst when it comes to buying stuff and thinking your getting a deal when the shipping is astronomical

AgSilver

If I recall, the total weight of the front & rear kits is around 20#. I includes their installation tools FWIW.

HeissRod

8lbs per kit

cij911

I'd like to get the front and rear kit, but only if there is a guarantee that the "new" design will in fact work and hold. I have spoken to several suspension shops here in southern California and not one of them had pleasant things to say (all said they did not work or hold the settings).