Just lowered my Merc

[Caribe]

Looks great. I hope you fitted new shocks designed for lowered cars as well or you will have a terrible handling car that will bounce up and down like a yoyo.

Did your insurance company increase your premium? If so by how much or what percentage? I have toyed with the idea of modding a car but the question of "has your car been modified" has always put me off a little and I don't fancy an insurance assessor poking his nose around a modded car if the insurance company was unaware after a prang.

Loads of things online advising what it will do to your premium.

All insurers are different as to what they will and will not cover and how much affect it will have on your premium.

 

[Lawds]

Hello Carbie - your car look great with the lowered suspension. I have recently bought a CLS 320 cdi and want to lower it as it sits too high in particular at the rear. How did lowering the car affect the wheel alignment. Did you have to get additional components fitted to bring back into specification such as camber adjusting bolts or arms? I look forward to your reply. Cheers.

 

[TheFoX]

How does it handle now that you've had it lowered? How does it corner?

Looks are one thing, but handling and ride is something completely different, so how does it compare to the original set up?

To be honest, even if I wanted to lower my own CLS, I wouldn't, simply because where I live is very rural, with roads to match. Mind you, there is a world of difference between the Standard Edition and the Sport, or AMG Line, of which I have driven both (prefer the Sport, but the SE does ride a lot smoother over undulating road surfaces).

 

[LiamMoran]

might be a little late to the party but I'm about to lower my CLS320cdi with eibach springs and would love to know which size shims you used?

 

[clk320x]

might be a little late to the party but I'm about to lower my CLS320cdi with eibach springs and would love to know which size shims you used?

OP hasn’t been here since February 2016

 

[LiamMoran]

definitely too late to the party then

 

[clk320x]

definitely too late to the party then

By all means post a new thread as someone else may be able to help

 

[LiamMoran]

By all means post a new thread as someone else may be able to help

thanks I've just made a thread

 

[David404]

Did your insurance company increase your premium? If so by how much or what percentage? I have toyed with the idea of modding a car but the question of "has your car been modified" has always put me off a little and I don't fancy an insurance assessor poking his nose around a modded car if the insurance company was unaware after a prang.

Agree entirely, don't give insurance Co opportunity to bail. For this reason I've never modified a car and never will apart from fitting tow bar which I declare and has never impacted cost.

 

[LiamMoran]

Agree entirely, don't give insurance Co opportunity to bail. For this reason I've never modified a car and never will apart from fitting tow bar which I declare and has never impacted cost.

When got my 190 back on the road I replaced the shocks and springs with eibach and bilstein and uprated the brakes with e320 w124 brakes all decleared and my insurance didn’t change in price, I just received a bit of stating my mods from the insurance company.

 

[baxlin]

We never did find out what the OP's insurance company's response was........

 

[LiamMoran]

We never did find out what the OP's insurance company's response was........

If it helps I declared all my mods to my insurance, bilstein b12 shocks and springs, Eibach swaybars, Eibach wheel spacers 10mm front and 15mm rear and a remap by DMS and it lowered my premium! but I still had to pay a £25 Admin fee

Not the plate is only in the window while the paint on the front bumper hardens after being repainted (damn stone chips! )

 

[Gazwould]

Take the Eibach writing and numbers off the springs with cellulose thinners and they'll look like an aftermarket Suplex etc replacement .

 

[LiamMoran]

Take the Eibach writing and numbers off the springs with cellulose thinners and they'll look like an aftermarket Suplex etc replacement .

Look like, that's it.

 

[popuptoaster]

Loads of things online advising what it will do to your premium.

All insurers are different as to what they will and will not cover and how much affect it will have on your premium.

I have modified almost every car I've owned, my current (and many previous) insurance company go on the value of the vehicle, they don't care if I add a 1200bhp jet engine so long as the value of the car doesn't go over set steps. Once you reach a certain age they seem to stop caring what you do and care more about what the potential bills might be.

 

[markjay]

I have modified almost every car I've owned, my current (and many previous) insurance company go on the value of the vehicle, they don't care if I add a 1200bhp jet engine so long as the value of the car doesn't go over set steps. Once you reach a certain age they seem to stop caring what you do and care more about what the potential bills might be.

When I declared the modifications to my insurer (Aviva), they asked about bhp increase, and as there was none, the premium remained the same. But they did say that there would have been a premium increase had the car been remapped etc.

Interestingly, they also said that the COMAND retrofit and audio system upgrade will be covered once declared (in spite of the premium remaining the same).

But I guess it differs from one insurer to the other.

On a general note, the value of your own vehicle isn't the main factor in the cost of a comprehensive policy, because the risk for the insurer in terms of pay-out to third party is far higher then the value of your own car, as these pay-outs can potentially be millions of Pounds (e.g. in case of personal injury claims or damage to third party).

 

[popuptoaster]

On a general note, the value of your own vehicle isn't the main factor in the cost of a comprehensive policy, because the risk for the insurer in terms of pay-out to third party is far higher then the value of your own car, as these pay-outs can potentially be millions of Pounds (e.g. in case of personal injury claims or damage to third party).

If you are fully comp and end up in a ditch or with a car fire or theft though, they do get the bill, i had a Cortina with a Cossie engine in it that burnt out, that cost them about ten times the value of a stock one at the time so there is some relevance to them wanting top know the value of your car.

 

[markjay]

If you are fully comp and end up in a ditch or with a car fire or theft though, they do get the bill, i had a Cortina with a Cossie engine in it that burnt out, that cost them about ten times the value of a stock one at the time so there is some relevance to them wanting top know the value of your car.

Yes, what I was saying is exactly this, that they will need to know the value of your car, because this is what they will be paying you if it's written-off (and there's no other party to claim it off), or more precisely the book value.

But while this is an important figure in itself, this does not dictate the cost of your policy.

You often hear people complain that the policy 'cost more than the car is worth' - but this is because they do not fully understand how car insurance works - it's the third party pay-out that's the greater liability here for the insurer, and not the value of your own car.

So, if you buy a car for (say) £50, insure it (either fully-comp or 3rd Party F&T only), and then drive it into a petrol pump on a motorway services and the entire petrol station gets demolished by the resulting fire.... or drive it into a Dubai-registered Veyron near the Dorchester in Park Lane and write it off... the value of your own car is the least of the insuerer's worries

So I think we are in agreement here... no?

 

[popuptoaster]

Yeah I do understand all that, my current company said I can do what i like so long as the car remains legal, I notify them of any mods and the value stays under £40,000 and it won't effect the policy price.

The risk to other parties is already factored in to the cost of the policy on even the most basic of third party insurance so the only increased risk to them is if my car increases in value. As far as they are concerned i'm not at increased risk of an accident however the car is modded probably because of the category they have me in based on their "bumper book of statistics".