E55 W211 Lowering - any experience

[smillion]

For 8 years I have been a member of a US Merc forum and they are very into lowering their cars. I have a 2004 W211 E55 and am looking to fit some larger alloy wheels but think the overall look would be enhanced by lowering the car slightly. Their is very little on this forum on lowering the W211 and wondered whether anyone had any up to date information?

This is the sort of look i'm after - (and the wheels are on order .... ) but maybe not quite as extreme. Kleeman? Brabus? Other options? Input welcome.

Thanks

Marc

 

[trainer]

Very stealthy looking car.

 

[shorty]

I have never lowered an Airmatic 211 , but i have raised them .
The raide hight is controled by 3 protenometers ( spelling ? ) . Theres one on each front strut and a 3rd under the car in the area of the diff . These are connected to the cars suspension by small linkages , on a pre face list car there steal , and on face lift cars there plastic .
To raise the suspension i would extend the linkage , about 8 mm , this gives me around 1 1/2 extea ride height .
To lower the car the reverse could be done , ie shorten the linkages , or i think shortened arms are available to buy to lower the car , try searching on the yank forum for these .

 

[Alps]

can be done via star, mbworld has a guide, take it to your indi and get him to do it! , i lowered mine slightly, not that much but enough to make the stance better, you will need to get the alignment done afterwards

 

[shorty]

When getting the ride height changed via star , the car needs to be on a leveling bench and a mesuring device to check the wheel angles is needes ( romus indicator i think its called )

 

[Alps]

mine was done sitting on a level ramp at my indies....

 

[ricky s]

Theres always the Brabus airmatic lowering module, I have this fitted to mine, and it would appear that it gives a lowered setting much in line with the Star setting, (Alps and myself have discussed this matter before), but would guess that having it done on Star would be a cheaper option

 

[e55]

Love those Monarch 63 wheels!

 

[lopes80]

£200 for the links and a few hours fitting/adjusting and your good to go!

 

[Alps]

lopez theres a pic of your car on the lowermyairride ebay advert, did you say they could use it? they have dropped their price of the links to £120!

 

[ricky s]

I ask out of my own intrest, Lopezs car is sitting a lot bit lower in the photo than my own 55 with the Brabus module, how low could these cars be lowered before its not drivable, I only ask as I had intended to trackday my car in the near future. I have spoken to these Lowermyride people in previous times, (really nice guys), but did,nt go with it as MB said that any suspension issure/claims with the links fitted would void my extended warrenty, hence had the Brabus module fitted. But would be intrested to how low these links allow the car to sit.

 

[mercedescl500]

how low....

I ask out of my own intrest, Lopezs car is sitting a lot bit lower in the photo than my own 55 with the Brabus module, how low could these cars be lowered before its not drivable, I only ask as I had intended to trackday my car in the near future. I have spoken to these Lowermyride people in previous times, (really nice guys), but did,nt go with it as MB said that any suspension issure/claims with the links fitted would void my extended warrenty, hence had the Brabus module fitted. But would be intrested to how low these links allow the car to sit.

You can pretty much make the car so low that it will be impossible to turn the front wheels left or right. I have my car very low, less than a finger gap between tyres and arches and if I know I am not going to need to drive the car above 80mph (thats when my car's ABC system will override any suspension modifications, whether they are links or electronic module) then I can drop the car so that the wheels are tucked into the arches, if I need to make a turn or go over a speed bump then I can just use the raise button to life the car up. Hope this helps.

 

[lopes80]

lopez theres a pic of your car on the lowermyairride ebay advert, did you say they could use it? they have dropped their price of the links to £120!

Thats very cheap! And yes I did send them pics.

I ask out of my own intrest, Lopezs car is sitting a lot bit lower in the photo than my own 55 with the Brabus module, how low could these cars be lowered before its not drivable, I only ask as I had intended to trackday my car in the near future. I have spoken to these Lowermyride people in previous times, (really nice guys), but did,nt go with it as MB said that any suspension issure/claims with the links fitted would void my extended warrenty, hence had the Brabus module fitted. But would be intrested to how low these links allow the car to sit.

You can go as low as you like. In regards to how it drives, mine is ok, I dont think it would perform well around a track, I would not even consider going on a track with this car, lowered or not.

You can pretty much make the car so low that it will be impossible to turn the front wheels left or right. I have my car very low, less than a finger gap between tyres and arches and if I know I am not going to need to drive the car above 80mph (thats when my car's ABC system will override any suspension modifications, whether they are links or electronic module) then I can drop the car so that the wheels are tucked into the arches, if I need to make a turn or go over a speed bump then I can just use the raise button to life the car up. Hope this helps.

How are you lowered?

 

[smillion]

The wheels come next week, and I am still undecided between Star/Module/Links. The Merc dealer seemed very reluctant to consider Star ..... maybe an Indie is the answer as Alps suggests.

I like the flexibility of being able to raise the height using the in car controls I already have - will this be possible with both links or module?

Marc

 

[ricky s]

The Brabus Module gives you the same selection on the suspension switch albeit its around 25-30mm lower. I believe the links act in the same manner, but the links can be adjusted so as the car may sit lower, and the switching adjusts accordingly. The other option for you would be the Renntech module, expenscive but very useable, can be adjusted from within the car via a control unit. Hope this is of some help. Be intrested tp hear what you end up going with.

 

[smillion]

Do you have a rough idea what the Brabus unit costs?

Thanks

Marc

 

[smillion]

Just found one for around £1,200 - phew - more than I thought

 

[Alps]

i sold one 2 weeks ago for £350, i think Nick at Euromercs has one for abt the same

 

[ricky s]

I brought mine from Ebay for £350 (brand new), and local MB dealership fitted it for £160, I have seen them on the Ebay more recently £3-500, albeit theres still fitting charge to consider. If I could have afforded another option I would have the Renntech module, but its quite a lot of money. What I would say is the brabus unit when fitted, I noticed the difference as soon as I left the garage and started playing with the settings, and MB are happy to keep my warrenty intact with this fittment.

 

[smillion]

Alps out of interest why did you sell the module and go for the STAR option? I'll buy Nick's module if its recommended but just curious.

Thanks