This is my experience so far with the coil over conversion, I’m not a race car driver just a normal guy driving normal roads..

Damper settings-
Front - 12 clicks from soft
Rear – 10 clicks from soft
(I had them first on full hard at first which was a little bouncy now I am experimenting with different damper combinations and heights , If the car was higher I would go softer but I’m trying to make sure the tires don’t hit the fender)

Height-
I lowered the front a little more today after a few hours of driving then got it aligned looks much better. I would like to go 0.25 inch lower in the front and back as well. I figured let me see how this feels first before going any lower since my wheels stick out I don’t want to ruin the fender. I don’t want a slammed car just a nice stance and not high that it looks like I’m going off roading either. Eventually when I put better quality tires I will change my tires sizes a little as wheel for a better fitment , narrower front and wider back .
Comfort and ride-
Not as bumpy as I would expect , I always felt like the air bags had a hoverbopard type of handling which I was not a fan of personally even though some people seem to like it because to the height adjustability. I have not gained the confidence to really corner hard yet but the car seems to be able to corner much better than before. I thought the air bags if you hit a bump on a corner had a side jiggle which made me nervous and it doesn’t seem to happen with the coilovers. Bumps feel great actually smother and a more natural way of going over them. In my opinion
Parts Needed-
-Coilovers
-Lower rear control arms from a e350 I believe non-airmatic
-I also changed a bunch of the suspension parts in the front which were worn out and brittle; bushings, ball joints, arms etc.
-I had a shop install them, they bypassed the red warnings Via Star although I still get a white visit workshop once I turn on the car, work on that later
All in all I feel more connected to the road, I would recommend it if you are on the fence or have a blow bag or two.

 

How much were the BC coilovers?

 

$950

 

How are you liking the ride so far vs. the stock setup?

 

I really like it occasionally ill have the double bounce which you get from coilovers going over certain roads but I think with the proper damper adjustment I can eliminate that problem.....but even so I still think its better than the air bags, mind you my whole front suspension arms bushings, ball joints were old and brittle (which I replaced) so some of the new comfort I'm getting are partly from that as well. The car just feels much newer and I like that for a 2004. Like I said before way more connected to the road is the best way I can describe it.

I'm looking forward to really testing them out at higher speeds but it's been raining here

 

That's awesome!

 

Pics of the height of current setup

 

Do you know what spring rates you went with?

 

I'll get some pics this week.....I have the BR version if that tells you the spring rate (I'm not sure)

 

BC coilovers are 16k/front and 15k/rear rates. The fronts can easily be replaced with the rate of your choice, the rear will require some customization of seat mount etc to fit other spring rates

 

 

It looks bad ***. Can you send me the link to where you bought them? I'm going to do this on my E63. I did not know the lower control arms needed to be replaced.

 

Looks awesome! What wheel& tire setup is that??

 

Very nice! Glad you like them.

 

these are BBS LM replicas offcourse (cant afford the real ones at the moment, especial after the airs bags went out)

I got the airbags from a shop (JS Benz in Miami) which ordered them from BC directly they take 2-3 weeks to arrive since they don't have that many in stock. You need the rear arms because the way the rear coilovers sit. I don't know about e63s much I assume the same

Front = 19 x 8.5 Tires 225/35/19
Rear = 19 x 10.5 Tires 275/30/19 I will go 285 next time for a little more chunkyness

I got cheap tires this time so that I can get properly fitting good tires on my next
purchase didn't want to spend $1200 on nittos then they wouldn't fit correctly. This was like more like "fitment" tires.

 

Can anyone confirm, Coilovers designed for w211 E55 AMG will fit the CLS55 AMG pls? thanks

 

To get rid of white 'Visit Workshop' message... pull the fuse for the AirMatic.

 

And more importantly, how do you feel about them now a while later?

 

I can't wait to get this done.....

 

Oceanstar - I'm not sure if they will fit the CLS but the technician who did it has a CLS so you can give him a call at JS Benz in Miami and he would probably know.
(305) 269-8999

MTV10 - Thanks man I hate warning lights going to try pulling that fuse off tonight

Papieye - Now that I have them a while I'm still very pleased, took me a while to figure out what setting feels best. Too soft and the tires would rub... too hard and it would be too bumpy for the roads I use. Yes they are slightly stiffer than the stock airbags but the handling really outweighs that by far, its honestly slightly more bumpy but not enough that it bothers me at all, I never felt too safe on those airbags but that's just my opinion.

 

May I ask what the total cost of this mod was for you?

Ride looks GREAT

Thanks

 

Would you mind describing how difficult/easy it was to adjust the rear ride height and rebound with the BCs? I have the opportunity to replace all 4 airbags, and would go this route, but have read the rear shocks must be unmounted to adjust ride height. Thanks.

 

ditto, any help with the number of turns for the height settings would be much appreciated for front and rears. i'm looking for only 1 finger gap between tire/wheel well all around.

 

Toymr2trd - Its hard to say how much the total cost was because I also replaced a bunch of the bushings and a few other suspension parts because they were worn out because I figured let me do this right since the suspensions is off....which you may want to do as well but you may not even need to do it depending on the age of your car , I also sold my rear Arnott bags in the process. To give you an idea

The coil overs were $850 plus the rear part which the name of the part slips my mind at the moment was another like $250 (so the coils can sit on them , you can get from a another Mercedes part if you search the forum you can get the part needed that's the only part you NEED everything else is optional ) plus labor, alignment. My guess is around just under $2000, maybe you can sell your bags also or trade for labor but if you planning to do this be ready to spend about $2000, which is basically what a new set of Arnoott bags would costs plus labor. The arnott bags are great I had them on my rears but tot me there's nothing like coil suspension for handling .

BTW I used to have a 1992 MR2, miss that car ...

Bierry - As for heights adjustment the front is standard coilovers you can adjust by just turning them very easy, I have no eeded to do the rears but the technician said its a little more of a mission but nothing that hard. Hard/soft adjustment you just turn the knob on the top that's even easier but everyone like different rides so you have to play with that a little on your own depending on your rim selections, road conditions etcs.

Novae500 - Height adjustment you can go high or really low but with my tire and rim setup I really cant go much lower than the pic above because the rear tire will rub, if I lived in a place where the roads were smoother I would go a bit lower but I cant be driving around 5mph over bumps all day long so I leave it "somewhat low" but not slammed even though i could theoretically.. Also since this isnt a JDM car ( which is where I generally come from) going too low seems a but ricey if you ask me , I prefer a sporty look not a crazy slammed look on these cars

 

Great. Thank you for that detailed information.

Ahhh yes the SW20 my first love