208 Pre Euro SPring Install

[brianw430]

Finally had to get the pictures I promised when it was at the shop. These are the pre-spring (euro)/pad install with new Michelin PS2's. The pads are 1 rear, 2 front. The tires alone made a nice improvement and handling and ride. I am also having the Evosport UD pulleys installed and of course an alignment. I have three coats of Zaino's on, but it rained this morning and it is a little crusted over and very cloudy here, so better ones later. I will be sure to get photos after the install and my impresssions as well. On a side note, this morning a gentleman was bringing in his 99 CLK320 cab in for an oil change, and he is literally three building up from where I was standing to take these pictures and his car stalls, goes into limp mode. My mechanic gets it wheeled into the bay where he hoists it to remove the tranny pan, after taking the codes, and finds a very sizeable amount of metal particulates. The tranny looks as though it has been run through a metal grinder! There is metal "sludge" everywhere, all along the bottom of the pan and throughout the valve body, literally everywhere. It has 49,000 miles and the tranny fluid looked like mud. After the guy left my mechanic removed the engine oil cap and found a large amount of oil "sludge" under the cap and around where you fill, so it was obvious this guy has never changed anything on this car, fliuds especially. It will probably end up on eBay or something of the like. This is the kind of stuff that makes me nervous buying a used car. And to talk to the owner, he thinks he has taken great care of this car. The subjective nature of auto maintenance!

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[Chappy]

Get ready to wave bye-bye to the 4 X 4 look :p

[rev]

Hey Brian,

Looks good, kind of like mine! If you don't mind me asking, what did you end up paying for the car(and for the PS2s)? Also, is yours an '02?

Thanks and best wishes!

[brianw430]

The car is an 01 and I ended up paying $28,600 and $716 for PS2's from Tire Rack. The PS2's are an incredible tire, very quiet with great handling characteristics. I am getting the car back today, so we shall see what the outcome is!

[rev]

Great car! Good deal! Congrats and best wishes!

[brianw430]

Here are the photos as promised. My initial impression was that it did not lower the car much at all. But since doing a little driving, ~100 miles or less it seems to have dropped a little more than when I picked it up after the install. So it may drop even a little more, but Chappy can shed light on that. I do feel the ride is more firm, still civilized, but more firm than stock...as expected. The cornering is improved in a linear correlation to the ride; better handling, but not like my 430 with the Carlsson setup. For my taste, the AMG Euro springs are better than the Carlsson in ride quality/comfort and is an acceptable trade-off/compromise for what you get in handling versus ride comfort. The Michelin PS2's are a great addition to ride quality and have very good turn-in IMO. I had #2 spring pads in the fron and #1's in the rear. I also had the Evosport UD pulleys installed, and they of course deliver as expected. I do tend to believe I feel it more on the 430 than the 55, but maybe it is just me.

I love this car and think I will keep it!

[brianw430]

A few more. It is getting dark, so they are not very good quality.

[dennism13]

Looks great. Not slammed, which I prefer. How many fingers gap do you have now? I'm not sure if you mentioned it but are those 18's?

[brianw430]

The front gap is about 1.5 fingers and the rears are a little more. I cannot fit two fingers in either gap, but the front is tighter than the rear. Did I really say this? This might go downhill...but there you have it!

Those are 17's. I couldn't justify the additional tire price from the 17's v 18's for what I want. I realize you gain more rubber on the ground, but is it only for looks? As I do not drive aggressively for the additional rubber/grip, I'm not sure I would want to stiffen my ride any more than it is with 18" rims. Gimme your thoughts.

[dennism13]

I have to say that the 17's look fine. I put on 18's (was 16's) and I do notice a stiffer ride. Not horrible, but noticeable. As to performance and handling I have noticed a marked improvement. I think it's more because of the tire itself (Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3), and some contribution of the size (got a staggered setup 225/40/18 front & 255/35/18 rear). The stock Continentals were just terrible from the get go.

If you're thinking of going 18's find a friend with a similar setup as yours w/ 18's and take it for a spin, advice from the Tirerack people.

[Chappy]

Looks great! My front's settled a tad more after several miles.
Enjoy!

[Canadian430]

Your car looks great! I love the height. Where did you get your springs? Are you using stock shocks. When you say "Euro springs" are they Mercedes factory euro spec springs?

[brianw430]

Thank you, but Chappy started the whole thing!

If you scroll down the CLK55 forum and see Chappy's thread on "euro-spec springs", there you will find the link or phone number to Gert Cornewal who sells the springs. Yes, they come directly from MB in Europe and are OEM parts. You can utilize your existing shocks without having to replace them...if you choose. Gert has great communication at all times and I received the springs in about 2 days after he emailed me. Very good service. I changed my pads to "2" front and "1" rear as did Chappy. I really just followed what Chappy did as I really liked the way his "sat", so I'm essentially just copying what he has already done. And I really like it.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by brianw430

Thank you, but Chappy started the whole thing!

If you scroll down the CLK55 forum and see Chappy's thread on "euro-spec springs", there you will find the link or phone number to Gert Cornewal who sells the springs. Yes, they come directly from MB in Europe and are OEM parts. You can utilize your existing shocks without having to replace them...if you choose. Gert has great communication at all times and I received the springs in about 2 days after he emailed me. Very good service. I changed my pads to "2" front and "1" rear as did Chappy. I really just followed what Chappy did as I really liked the way his "sat", so I'm essentially just copying what he has already done. And I really like it.

There were others before me that did W210 E55s and W202 C43s. That's where the inspiration came from. I double checked and my 55 came with 4 bump pads all around, so I had a decent drop when I changed to 1 bump rear and 2 bump front.

We should have a CLK get together some day

[Co 55 AMG]

Looks great! Keep us posted on how you feel about it down the road.
Rock On!!!!