C270cdi Sports Pack

[Magnum]

Hi everyone from a newbie,
Just left the 5 series BMW and swaped to the C270cdi saloon.I cant fault the car except for the spine shattering ride compared to the BMW.
My question is, can I soften it up somehow. I intend to tow my caravan with it and feel the suspencion may be a bit hard for this, plus the wife is not happy with the ride.If I were still 25 no problem but alas I am not , my son will think the car is wasted on me.
Thanks

 

[Cole@MBS]

Welcome Magnum

Im sorry but the only way is to change the springs all round, if you find a good indi it wont cost you the earth!

 

[Magnum]

Thanks for your quick reply, so just canging the springs will make a lot of difference will it?.
Would it make the car higher as well?
Thanks again.

 

[brandwooddixon]

Sports pack usually means a lower ride, stiffer springing and larger diameter rims all of which mean a more bumpy ride. As well as this you have moved to a car which is a bit smaller and lighter than the 5 series and so will give a more giggley ride than E class with the same suspension would.

I don't know how the ride height on a C class is controlled.

 

[jberks]

It should help, especially if the existing springs are a bit tired. In many cases they are actually broken. You can't always tell so its worth having it checked.
Also, what wheels and tyres is it running on. Wider low profiles aren't for everyone and tyre brand can make a massive difference in ride and noise too.

 

[Rory]

I have a C270CDi too, although mine's an Avantgarde estate.

I don't have sport suspension and the wheels are 16" so have reasonable (50 & 55) profile tyres, but the ride is nothing short of harsh.

The car was supplied originally on Bridgestome Turanza ER30 tyres, and Bridgestone are noted for stiff sidewalls. Even running on the minimum possible pressures, it felt like the car was on iron rings, not rubber tyres.

I changed the rears a while ago to Michelin Primacy HP and that was noticeably better. What really surprised me was that it's only recently that the fronts wore out and I put HP's on too and that made a very significant difference.

It's still not very "Mercedes-like" though. I think the fact that mine is an estate and the crashes over ridges and potholes etc seem to reverberate through the car perhaps makes it seem worse than it is.


I sometimes travel in a colleagues BMW525d Sport (the previous version) and I'm always astonished at how smooth (and quiet) the ride is.

 

[Magnum]

Thanks for that Rory.

 

[whitenemesis]

Thanks for your quick reply, so just canging the springs will make a lot of difference will it?.
Would it make the car higher as well?
Thanks again.

You would also need to change the shocks as it is these that control the compression and rebound rates.

The ride height is set by spring height and the shims fitted. The Avantgarde with Sports Pack is significantly lower than the std car, if you raise it you will need to address the suspension geometry as well.

It does beg the quiestion, why did you go for the Sport Pack version?

 

[Bryann]

Hi everyone from a newbie,
Just left the 5 series BMW and swaped to the C270cdi saloon.I cant fault the car except for the spine shattering ride compared to the BMW.
My question is, can I soften it up somehow. I intend to tow my caravan with it and feel the suspencion may be a bit hard for this, plus the wife is not happy with the ride.If I were still 25 no problem but alas I am not , my son will think the car is wasted on me.
Thanks

I think your car may be over sprung. I have a C270 Avantegarde Sports suspension, car drove OK until rear springs broke (common fault), had new springs fitted from that day on found myself avoiding bumps and dips in road, car jumped and skipped over manhole covers and generally mis handled car was quite frankly awful to drive especially at low speed. I had steering geomtry check, new shocks and was back and forth to the dealership with the car for nearly a year. Had I not experienced how the car handled before the spring change I would have not known any different and certainly not bought the car, but I did know how it handled and despite repeatedly being told there was no fault I would not let it go.
I found the answer, there are I think 6 springs for the C Class, 2 sets for my car, these are colour coded also MB go off the chassis number, I apparently had the stiffer set fitted so opted for the sofer set (still sports springs) plus MB recommended they put slightly thicker cups-13mm as apposed to 9mm. had the new set fitted what a difference, really smooth, no skipping or jumping and this is with sports shocks as well, now a joy to drive.
New springs with labour £280, will dig out the part number of springs and post plus they are colour coded, my first set had 3 blue rings on them, this set have 1 blue ring

MB go off chassis number this gives them the info as to what springs are on the car plus as I say the springs are colour coded, there is also a calculation they can use, totting up what is on the car, sun roof, climate control and so on but this didn't work not in my case

I would definitley look into it as I know the car should drive smooth and not like a go-kart, I have driven a sports C Class and that did have a much frimer ride than the Avantgarde Sport

Bryan

 

[Magnum]

Thanks for both the latest replies,I bought the car as it was low milage, 11,500 miles and that is guarenteed, I thought it may be the car was still in running in mode, Dont get me wrong I have bought the car with my eyes open, I was out in her yesterday and loved every second of it. Perhaps I am getting used to the harsh ride, I will look into the info Bryan posted and once again thanks for all the replies.