I've got an 86' 300E 4Dr and want to lower it. Anyone got any advice? I also want to buy some new wheels (chrome monoblocks). I'd rather stick with a 15' wheel (cause the tires are much cheaper) but will it look good? I'd like to see some pic.<br> <br> JR
The C280 sport came with amg monoblocks in 15'. I think they are too small of rims.<br> <br> 16s ride great...maybe try some CLK or SLK wheels in 16s, the tires are about 100 a tire just like 15s, assuming you buy michelins because thats all I buy.<br> <br> You can get monoblocks in 17' from the C36, C43 usually with decient tread left on them. You dont have to spend 1000 on michelins, you can get some dunlops for like 700-800. You could even get pirelli p7000 for about 700. You can buy probably yokohamas for about 600, and then junk nittos for about 550, well actually a lot of my friends have nittos and they like them, same with kuhmos, I have heard a lot of good things about kuhmos, but I stick to michelins.<br> <br> Austin
Thanks Austin,<br> <br> I'm not in a rush, so I'll keep my options open. The stock rims are 15' so I'll get an idea how the 15' will look on my car lowered. <br> <br> JR
300E's don't have an adjustable rear suspension so if you lower the car too much you will cause uneven wear on the inside of the rear tires. There is a kit to fix this but it goes for around $500 or so. Look at the 'Sportsline' suspension upgrade that mercedesshop.com sells, it is the factory sports suspension and it does lower the car a bit.<br> <br> hope this helps you...
I got 16' rims to replace the 15' oem rims. Theywere take-offs from a 98 E320. Fit perfect, no spacers. Not only are they bigger at 16' but they are 7.5' wide as opposed to the 6.5 of the OEM 15' rims. <br> <br> They look great, modernize the look, fill the wheel well nicely, provide better cornering and put more rubber onthe road with 215/55/16s.
300E's don't have an adjustable rear suspension so if you lower the car too much you will cause uneven wear on the inside of the rear tires. There is a kit to fix this but it goes for around $500 or so. Look at the 'Sportsline' suspension upgrade that mercedesshop.com sells, it is the factory sports suspension and it does lower the car a bit.<br> <br> hope this helps you...
Lowering can be done with aftermarket springs (Eibach, H&R, etc). The amount of lowering depends on the spring pad you use -- you can even get about 1/2" to 3/4" lowering (even with OEM springs) just by changing spring pads.
Contact an experienced MBZ suspension shop, ideally someone familiar with aftermarket parts (note: this is typically NOT a dealer).
I have a 1995 E320 SE W124. I just installed Eibach Pro-kit springs, Bilstein Heavy Duty Shocks, 16" AMG Monoblocks, 205-55-16" tires, and changed from 3 bump to 1 bump pads all around. The rear dropped 1.5" and the front dropped 1". The rear camber was -3 after the mods. I then purchased the K-MAC rear bushings so that the camber could be adjusted. I also did a lot of measuring and decided to put 3 bump in the rear and keep the 1 bump in the front. I was looking for a symmetrical drop. I thought the car looked like the rear was kind of old and broken down with it too low in the rear. After installing K-MAC bushings, the 3 bump pads, and adjusting the camber the car was higher in the back than it should have been if only the 10mm increase in pad height had been added. I think that adjusting the camber may have added to the increase in height in the rear. 1 bump front and 2 bump rear may have been OK with the adjustment in camber. Right now the car is 1" lower all around and it is 0.25" higher in the back than in the front. This is the same relationship front to back as it was before the drop, but the smaller fender gap makes the small difference a bit more noticeable. I like the way my car looks, but it would have been OK with 2-bump rear and 1 bump front. I didn't like the rear lower than the front. I measured a lot of Mercedes cars before I made my decision and the W124s are always higher in the rear. BMWs are lower in the back, but as I said, I thought my car looked broken down with too low in the rear. As far as the quality of the ride, well, you do loose the luxurious turnpike ride after the modification. It isn't horrible, but definitely harder. Even though I chose the less stiff Eibach Pro-kit springs, the less severe Bilstein HDs instead of sports, and a grand touring tire instead of hard core performance tires I did loose ride quality. I run my tires soft at MB recommended pressure of 27 psi cold and it is still quite nice, but not as nice as before the mods. I should add, however, that my car is outrageous on a twisted back road. No more floating like a tuna boat. I am sure that I can hang with any sports car.
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I just couldn't give up on my 1995 E320.
I think it might be like always going back to that same bad relationship with an ex girlfriend.
You feel you love them too much, or you are just too stupid to know any better.
I have a 1995 E320 SE W124. I just installed Eibach Pro-kit springs, Bilstein Heavy Duty Shocks, 16" AMG Monoblocks, 205-55-16" tires, and changed from 3 bump to 1 bump pads all around.
Sounds like you have a nice ride.
I have my 93 300CE Sportline with similar mods. See pictures at http://www.geocities.com/mcantoria/mc-mbz.html
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