C55 Suspension setup

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RSTurbo50

Active Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2014
Messages
772
Location
Cheshire
Car
W212 E250 CDi AMG Sport
Im looking to upgrade the suspension on my C55. The previous keeper fitted C32 front dampers and springs to the car and also fitted C32 dampers to the rear. He said on the C55 setup it was hard and trashy on normal roads.

However the drive feels a tad vague to me though it is very comfortable.

Would I get away with simply fitting say for example H&R springs all round or would the dampers have to be changed as well?
 
I'd recommend fitting coil-overs from Bilstein gives great control without becoming harsh. The Sports pack setup on my 203 was far too rebound happy fitting the Billies sorted it.
 
I had a C32 on H&R springs and standard AMG dampers, and it worked well. Ride comfort was almost unchanged. I couldn't say whether it handled any better, as I'm not a could enough driver to notice! For sharper feel, I would probably refresh all bushes and suspension componenets but it's not cheap.

How many miles has your car covered?
 
How much are we talking for Bilstein?

About £1k plus fitting and geometry setting if you drop the ride height as I did, by about 25mm. Fantastic control through the twisty bits :)
 
I haven't got that sort of money to spend purely on suspension. My car has covered 75k miles. Would H&R lowering springs be enough???
 
I'd always use matching shocks, spring support and set car height, shocks determine compression and rebound characteristics.
 
I haven't got that sort of money to spend purely on suspension. My car has covered 75k miles. Would H&R lowering springs be enough???

It really depends on what you're looking to achieve. I was pleased with the H&R springs on mine, because I wanted it to be close to standard, just without the spring snapping from time to time. Read more here.

As you want to sharpen the handling it may not be enough to simply replace the spring. The C55 suspension was designed to offer sharper handling that the C32, so perhaps returning the car to standard could be enough.

I don't think you mentioned the ride height, however this is a side view when fitted with C32 AMG dampers and H&R springs, and it is low:

bobby-dazzler-albums-sale-my-c32-amg-picture9108-c32-amg-side.jpg
 
^This

The stock C55 suspension is very good for every day "spirited" driving and should leave the car feeling pointy and planted.

The issue with suspension that has been "played with" is you have no reference point as to what is "good". Hence the returning it to stock or going with somebody else's experience.


Not cheap either way.
 

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