How To Fix Harsh Ride

ROBGOSTY

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
142
Reaction score
2
Location
Manchester UK
Your Mercedes
2008 219 CLS 320
Car is 04 W211 E320 CDI Avantgarde, data sheet says it was fitted with 18" AMG 3 wheels & lowered suspension from factory, just had 4 Avon ZZ3 tyres fitted and finding ride really rough, had a chat with another Merc owner who says he had same problem with Avons, said it was stiff sidewalls ?
Anyone any ideas ? possibly need a softer tyre :confused:
 

Carabosse

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Messages
666
Reaction score
2
Your Mercedes
C300 AMG Sport Line Premium Plus Coupe (C205)
I've seen Vredesteins recommended on another forum.
 

grober

Senior Member
Joined
May 15, 2002
Messages
2,947
Reaction score
27
Location
Scotland
Your Mercedes
W204 C200cdi estate
Think your main problem is the 18" wheels to be honest. LOOKING STYLISH HAS ITS PRICE. Check you are using the correct pressures for that size of tyre- the same car will use different pressures on different tyre sizes- often listed inside the fuel filler flap.
For your car I have 2.2 BAR all round for 245/40 ZR 18 VA front and 265/35 ZR 18 HA XL rear with 2.5/2.9 front/rear increase for extra load -- you may wish to check this figure elsewhere. Figures are from Continental tyre charts

Some times tyre fitting shops put in extra pressure to get the tyres to bed in/seal on the rim. Make sure they are completely cool when you set the pressure on these hot days 1bar is 14.5037738 psi---- Thus 2.2bar = 32 psi
 
Last edited:

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
Reaction score
367
Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
I think that all cars use the same pressure in the tyres irrespective of the size as the pressure is related to the weight of the car.

In all of my Mercedes I have never used the max setting as the ride is far too hard, on all of them I use 32psi all round
 

Triv

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
1,166
Reaction score
0
Location
Bristol
Your Mercedes
A brace of s210 1998 e300 turborustbuckets. Toyota HiLux Surf kzn185 3.0L
I increase the pressure when the car is full, which at this time of year is most of the time.
If I forget to decrease the pressure when I unload the car, the ride is bouncy as heck. The first time it happened I thought the SLS had broken!
That's on standard 16" wheels too.
 
OP
ROBGOSTY

ROBGOSTY

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
142
Reaction score
2
Location
Manchester UK
Your Mercedes
2008 219 CLS 320
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
Think your main problem is the 18" wheels to be honest. LOOKING STYLISH HAS ITS PRICE. Check you are using the correct pressures for that size of tyre- the same car will use different pressures on different tyre sizes- often listed inside the fuel filler flap.
For your car I have 2.2 BAR all round for 245/40 ZR 18 VA front and 265/35 ZR 18 HA XL rear with 2.5/2.9 front/rear increase for extra load -- you may wish to check this figure elsewhere. Figures are from Continental tyre charts
Some times tyre fitting shops put in extra pressure to get the tyres to bed in/seal on the rim. Make sure they are completely cool when you set the pressure on these hot days 1bar is 14.5037738 psi---- Thus 2.2bar = 32 psi
Appreciate the 18" rims will not help my cause but I am pretty sure ride was a lot better prior to fitting the Avons, they do have "extra load 97Y" on tyres could this be the problem ?
 

Carabosse

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Messages
666
Reaction score
2
Your Mercedes
C300 AMG Sport Line Premium Plus Coupe (C205)
Stick to the manufacturers recommendation. I always use the minimum though which on my car is 33psi all round (18" rims).

Despite sport suspension, I find the ride just right: comfortable without being sloppy.
 

ianstaley

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2008
Messages
553
Reaction score
0
Your Mercedes
ML 270CDi 2001.
One of my cars has been lowered and had konis fitted and only 17" rims but the tyres are 40 profile, every time I go out in it below 50 Mph I need new kidneys when I get home, the thinner the profile the harder the walls are to keep the tyre on the rim.
 

Carabosse

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Messages
666
Reaction score
2
Your Mercedes
C300 AMG Sport Line Premium Plus Coupe (C205)
One of my cars has been lowered and had konis fitted and only 17" rims but the tyres are 40 profile, every time I go out in it below 50 Mph I need new kidneys when I get home, the thinner the profile the harder the walls are to keep the tyre on the rim.

I would not consider 40 particularly low profile and the rims are modestly sized. I had 30 profile rears on my previous car with 19" rims.

The lowering and, possibly, the pressures may be the culprits here.
 

Triv

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
1,166
Reaction score
0
Location
Bristol
Your Mercedes
A brace of s210 1998 e300 turborustbuckets. Toyota HiLux Surf kzn185 3.0L
Buy an Elegance
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
Reaction score
367
Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
For me I went off Avon tryes ,mainly through the noise generated from the big V pattern that was used
 
OP
ROBGOSTY

ROBGOSTY

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
142
Reaction score
2
Location
Manchester UK
Your Mercedes
2008 219 CLS 320
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #15
For me I went off Avon tryes ,mainly through the noise generated from the big V pattern that was used
Go on then Malcolm, what would you suggest (bearing in mind I don't want to be spending £250-00 a corner) just looking for a nice quiet comfortable ride, it is a Merc after all, it came out of the factory with 18"s on so should be able to achieve reasonable ride quality (hopefully) otherwise may be feeling a 7 series coming on ;)
 
Last edited:

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
Reaction score
367
Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
Go on then Malcolm, what would you suggest (bearing in mind I don't want to be spending £250-00 a corner) just looking for a nice quiet comfortable ride, it is a Merc after all, it came out of the factory with 18"s on so should be able to achieve reasonable ride quality (hopefully) otherwise may be feeling a 7 series coming on ;)

There is no cheap way out of this,,, my CL came from the factory with 20" AMGs as most of the CL's do, I took them off and I have gone down to 18"

I use a cheap 18" £70 per corner tire on my 140 not wonderful in the rain but quiet

Have you tried with lower pressures yet to see
 
OP
ROBGOSTY

ROBGOSTY

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
142
Reaction score
2
Location
Manchester UK
Your Mercedes
2008 219 CLS 320
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #17
Running them at 30psi at moment, can`t really go any lower, what brand are your quiet £70 a corner tyres, I don't drive like a maniac (anymore) so they could be a viable option, don't want to throw loads of money at tyres to find out there is no improvement in ride
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
Reaction score
367
Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
They are Rottala F105 and have the max speed rating, from Ebay last year
 

Pathfinder

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Messages
814
Reaction score
18
Age
63
Location
Gourock
Your Mercedes
CLC 220 CDi Sport Diesel Year 2008
18" AMG alloys with Nexan N6000 all round. Beat the premium brands 10 fold as far as I'm concerned. Approx £100 a corner. 32 psi front, 30 psi rear.

Will buy again when the time comes.
 
Last edited:

Image2000uk

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Location
Thetford Norfolk
Your Mercedes
W204 C220 Sport AMG Line
vredstein sessantas are whisper quite and ride is good wear rate is good too had 25k out of a set on the back of a 320 compact bmw
 
Top Bottom