w124 te lowered suspension

[vince320]

hi anyone know where i can get lowered springs or suspension kits for my 93 E320 estate, the self leveling seems to be a problem to get round. any advice at all would be appreciated thanks

 

[Dieselman]

You must be able to adjust the height corrector for the self levelling setup.

 

[vince320]

thanks for the tip,finding the springs seems to be the problem

 

[bolide]

Lowering the tone

You can drop the rear end a little using the height corrector. The front will need shorter (or older, knackered) springs

But why would you want to lower it? The answer "to make it handle better" is not admissable because it won't do that

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[MDMB69]

Eibach springs are supposedly the best to use without lowering too much so thats what I used. They still dropped it by about 40mm though which I thought was excessive. It did improve the handling loads but obviously at the expense of ride comfort. I paid about £180 from Roadrunner in Nottingham.
Other makes of spring are about half that price.
The self leveller is a simple screw adjustment from underneath the car.
I would advise getting bigger rubber spring pads as well from you local dealer to prevent dropping it too much whish I wish I'd done.
Instead I currently have 3 rubber spring assisters in each front coil and 2 in each rear coil. The same as you use for towing.
They are a cheap solution to raising up the springs slightly and firming up the ride more. It works for me and I've done this on all my cars to give good handling. I shall uprate the anti-roll bars when I can afford it.

Word of advice on changing springs. Rears are a doddle and take and 15min each side if you undo the inner lower arm bolt.
Fronts however, I nearly lost a thumb and it was very messy (lots of blood).

 

[vince320]

thanks for the advice, i want to lower it because ive put 71/2 x 17 amg 5 spoke replicas on sportline springs im told are the answer anyone know if you can still get them

 

[bolide]

thanks for the advice, i want to lower it because ive put 71/2 x 17 amg 5 spoke replicas on

I don't follow this logic

sportline springs im told are the answer anyone know if you can still get them

Direct from a Mercedes dealer. You'll need to find part numbers for them. If you can find a 320 Sportline of the same year as yours & with a similar spec & use the chassis number from it it'll make it easier for the parts man to locate the bits

I think the Sportline springs are used with shorter shocks (MB dealer also) but am not sure. Using shorter springs without changing the shocks will affect the damping & make the car less stable. Sportline shocks would have different rates to standard ones. Sportline also has different bushes, anti-roll bar and steering box ratio so just using the springs won't achieve what Sportline does

I'd just drop the rear end about an inch on the self-levelling and leave it at that. Cars with the 6-cylinder engine tend to run pretty low at the front after a few years and you'll be hitting speed bumps with the undertray if you go much lower

If you just want to lower it and are not worried about the ride & handling just buy any lowering spring. Eurocarparts do some. I wouldn't fit them yourself - the fronts require a special compressor to avoid possible decapitation & death

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Howard]

I seem to remember that as well as needing a VIN of a Sportline equipped car , there are many different varieties of Sportline springs and shocks, each one dependant on what options the car has and hence how much weight, they really are that particular ......

 

[bolide]

I seem to remember that as well as needing a VIN of a Sportline equipped car , there are many different varieties of Sportline springs and shocks, each one dependant on what options the car has and hence how much weight, they really are that particular ......

When you think about it, any resonant system (suspension, loudspeaker, it's all the same) has a fundamental frequency set by mass & compliance. So to get the right fundamental - and, I assume, to match the front frequency to the rear, you need to alter the spring rate as the weight alters. Hence the spring choice being dictated by the weight of the fitted options. The hydraulic rear suspension on the estates is rising-rate so I wonder if that was left alone?

I drove (and bought) an E320 Sportline yesterday. I've driven a few Sportlines that didn't ring my bell at all - they seemed to run out of ideas on bumpy roads - but I've had a couple recently that have been really good. But it's still not, to my mind, enough of an advance over the standard setup to be worth modifying a car to make it Sportline-ish

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk