W124 wheels and suspension

[GregorJP]

Hi all,

Very pleased to be joining this forum as the proud new owner of a mint E320 Sportline convertible, which I love dearly already. First job once I bought the car was to fit some AMG Monoblock wheels, which I've duly done. However, the wheels I bought didn't have centre caps, and I have now scoured the earth looking for some, but with no luck. They are the 65mm caps which I think have clips behind the back. See attached picture. Any advice about where to get hold of some gratefully received.

I'm also considering changing the suspension for something a tiny bit stiffer, but don't want to totally ruin the waft-factor in the ride. Any members had good experiences with particular set-ups?

 

[ray_hennig]

I'm also considering changing the suspension for something a tiny bit stiffer, but don't want to totally ruin the waft-factor in the ride.

In my opinion, "DON'T DO IT".

Be content with the original Sportline setup. By all means, renew everything but stick to original. I know I have.

Everything on mine has been renewed and a friend said that it performs and handles like new. He used to sell new 124s in Amsterdam and has about 24 today.

By the way, we had a Bilstein B12 spring/damper setup for a few years and it was good but lower, a bit harder and offered little in terms of improvement. Not bad, but unnecessary.

Mine is an original Sportline but a coupé, not a convertible.

R

 

[grober]

People mistakenly equate stiffer suspension with better roadholding. This only holds for very smooth road surfaces. With uneven road surfaces more compliant suspension may keep the tyres in greater contact with the road surface leading to better roadholding. If modifying anything suspension wise you may wish to increase the role stiffness via stiffer antiroll bars but I'm with Ray on this --that the standard sportline suspension is best. Cheapest way to increase driving pleasure is to make sure small steering damper shock absorber is in top nick- makes a huge difference to the feel of the car.

 

[Yorkee]

I agree with previous comments, MB employed a lot of clever people, time & money to design the suspension which gives such a good ride. My E320 Sportline Cabriolet is the best handling car I’ve owned, but underneath it is obviously tired with the majority of parts original. I am slowly collecting all parts, original spec, to overhaul & replace next winter. Can’t wait to see how this improves the current ride & handling.

 

[GregorJP]

Thanks, all, for the advice. Appreciated.

 

[Wagon]

you can get the caps from from MB , as far as changing the suspension you can change the ride height by changing the spring shims (rubber shims on the top of each spring) for different thickness ones .