some twat lowered my car!

[Arnie Gunner]

Hello,

Any help would be much appreciated,

I have just bought a 99 w202 220 cdi and am really pleased with it, the only thing is it the previous owner decided that he knew more about suspension that Mercedes ! obviously he was mistaken and it drives like crap, It has 17" AMG wheels with 225/45/17 Tyres fitted.
I suspect it has been lowered by as much as 40mm and the front wheels scrub the arches, which is no good and I would like to put it back to standard springs, keeping the wheels. Main stealers are talking approx £300 for the springs and German and Swedish do not list them for the 99 w202 220 CDI, does any body have any ideas on what I could do?, or where I may get a set for less than this? or shall I just stop wining about the cost and do it?

Many Thanks

Arnie

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I would go for the dealer supplied option. Merc know from your chassis no what settings the car built to re ride height and spring ratio, so £300 well spent in my opinion.

 

[television]

You want to keep your wheels MB cars are quite sensitive to the right off set
very nuch so if you have ASR,ESP etc. Re the springs, they do come up sometimes on Ebay in Germany and the UK.

Malcolm

 

[turnipsock]

hmmm...this sounds very familiar


http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=3970

I think top gear had a 'pile of crap' this week, it was supposed to represent all French cars.

 

[clive williams]

Language Arnie!

Have you tried Euro Car Parts? I've found them particularly helpful in sourcing OEM parts including the difficult suspension items. If the car has been half decently lowered then the dampers will be different to standard and need replacing and the whole geometry will need resetting. It might be cheaper to cut and carve the wheel arches to suit the current settings!!!!

Clive

500E
E320CDIT210

 

[television]

It might be cheaper to cut and carve the wheel arches to suit the current settings!!!!

Clive

500E
E320CDIT210

You do not cut these days you roll them

Malcolm

 

[Arnie Gunner]

Thanks Clive and Malcome,

I have swallowed it, ordered the oem springs today I did think about getting the arches rolled out but I cant help thinking the ride is to hard and where the front is so low the steering is too fast and its just not stable, I can live with a gap in the wheel arch but I can't live with rubbish handling!. I am going to fit these springs at the weekend, has any one done these before?, Is there anything to look out for, I have a spring compressor.

Many Thanks
Arnie

 

[tom7035]

This isn't meant to be a slanging match - Arnie is simply asking for help with this. It's what the forum is for after all.
Arnie, take note and digest the thread posted above by turnipsock.

 

[Arnie Gunner]

Thanks Tom, I have taken that on board, interesting!......

 

[SLinKyjoe]

well said Tom.

members come on for help. light hearted banter is acceptable but its a fine line between light hearted and offensive.

 

[kth286]

Arnie

On the older cars such as W124 you need a special spring compressor, so be careful if your design is the long spring, as your conventional tool will keep slipping. It is very dangerous.

Regards

 

[Arnie Gunner]

Thanks David,

I know what you mean!, im a little wary of doing it without the right tool, I think you do need the special tool with the shaft up the middle, Do you think im better off getting merc to do it?, do you know of any independants in the ashford kent area?

Arnie

 

[turnipsock]

I think we have been here before...

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=13866

 

[Arnie Gunner]

Just to update, I got my Local Merc Dealer to do it. It has really sorted it and it drives properly now, loads smoother but not any more body roll, it does sit alot higher though.

Of course I got totaly ripped off they wanted £96 per hour + this that and the other! quoting it would take 3.1 hours, obviously it does not take 3.1 hours to change 4 springs with the right tool!.
but I did have a bit of a discount as the Merc dealer I used is in a shambles of a premesis ( more of a back street affair!) I mearly commented on this and got myself 10% off, They did a top job though.

Arnie

 

[turnipsock]

When I replaced my front springs, I was amazed at the difference in the handling. I might have a go at doing the rears to even up things and start from a level palying field (no pun intended).

A fellow worker that has a load of Mercs told me that if I went along to the dealers at night, they have a night shift on and you can ask them to borrow the spring compressor. It's a bit irregular but could happen I suppose.

The dealer has been pretty good to me over the last couple of years. I had to take some parts back that I decided I didn't really need and they gave me a full refund...even though I had the parts for over a month. I might even get an invite to the xmas night out at this rate.