400E questions

[Ronny300]

Hello,
I have recently bought a 400E in Sweden and I have some questions and wonder if you have the opportunity to help?
According to Swedish registration, my car is a 1993, but it is imported from Germany and probably delivered late 1992.
First, I'm wondering if mine is a real facelift or just replaced parts.
Then I wonder how I can find out which brakes I have?

As I understand it, the front brake discs are 295x22 mm up to 1993 and 294x25 mm from 1993 onwards.
The rear brake discs are 278x24 mm. But what do I have? Can you read out of the codes what I have and how do you do it?
Will 294x25 fit my car without having to change the caliper?
I would like to buy sports brake discs similar to these from Autodoc (I have only found front brake discs so far)

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/zimmermann/1739993?search=ZIMMERMANN Brake Disc (400.1430.52)

I hope someone can help me
Regards Ronny

 

[Ronny300]

Yes, it's very low, I've got spare parts home so I'm going to raise it a bit.
The previous owner installed H&R springs with at least rubber in the front and no rubber in the rear. The wheels are quite large, front 8.5x18 ET 44 with spacer 3 mm, and rear 9.5x18 ET 46. I will try to find type AMG AERO 8x18 and rear 9x18, I think it will fit.

 

[Gatorblue92]

Can't help with the brakes but you can raise the ride height a little by using taller spring pads. My car is also lowered with H&R springs but I have the tallest #3 spring pads and it's not as low as your car. I'm also running 17" wheels which are better suited I think for the car than 18's.
Front - 17 x 7.5", ET35 with 215/45ZR-17
Rear - 17 x 8.5", ET30 with 225/45ZR-17

 

[gsxr]

Hi Ronny,

Only North America and Japan have "model years", and for those markets, the 400E brakes did change with 1993 model year. Your car was delivered in Germany, and was Nov-1992 production, which was early/mid 1993 USA model year. However, the EPC (which you need to obtain and learn how to use, click here) shows a VIN break instead of a model year break for the brakes on Euro models, at B938568 / B938569. Your VIN WDB1240341B902320 falls on the early side and should use rotor p/n A1244212412 which is 294x25. Apparently the Euro-spec 400E never got the thinner/smaller front brakes, only USA/Japan 400E had them.

Your car is definitely NOT an original "facelift" car, production did not begin on facelift models until early/mid 1993. Someone replaced parts. The car is very low and could be sitting on the suspension stops, you'll need to do some research on what springs to swap in now that the Sportline springs are NLA. Thicker spring pads will make a small difference, if it has thin pads now, but for a significant change it will need different springs. Measured from wheel center to fender lip, something closer to 14.0" is a good ballpark... I'm guessing your car is low 13" or high 12" right now, which may look cool but likely doesn't ride well. Also would be a good idea to check what H&R spring part numbers are installed, in case someone put in 6-cyl springs.

Those wheels are huge, and possibly from an S-class. They likely have M14 bolt holes, if so they should use hybrid lug bolts with M12 thread and R14 ball seat. The 18x8 / 18x9 wheels used on the W210 will also be a tight fitment due to lower offset. AMG wheel install documents for the 124 chassis are at this link, scroll to the bottom, find the most similar width/offset to get an idea what had to be done to a stock vehicle (I'm guessing yours already had the fender lips rolled). W210 wheels will use normal lug bolts.

BTW, your car has some rare options... Sportline steering wheel and Sportline front seats! And, it has ASR and heated seats. Nice option package. Datacard here:

Mercedes VIN Decoder | Decode Your Mercedes-Benz VIN

Datacard for 1992 Mercedes-Benz 400 E (124.034) - WDB1240341B902320

www.lastvin.com

 

[Ronny300]

Hello
Thank you for the detailed answers, you have incredible knowledge.
I fitted new spring rubbers so now it's better but it has a bit of bad suspension so I'm thinking about fitting new springs.
How do I know which ones fit my car? Now the H&R 29569 are mounted.
Then there is something wrong with the heating, it cannot be turned off.
And the rear headrests don't stay up and if they do, they fold down if I adjust the driver's seat.
The link you shared about EPC is not working.

 

[Kridre]

I had the same issue that you're having. My 400E was slammed almost as low as yours, to bring it back up besides replacing the spring rubber I suggest you to replace the shocks all around. For the front also do the rubber mounts and the bump stops. I also have H&R 29569, and you can clearly see the improvement with the new shocks. Spring rubber with 2 notches at the front and 3 at the rear.

Before:



After: (I don't have better pricure)



If you really want to bring it back up a lot, you need to buy OEM springs. I don't know exact P/N.

 

[gsxr]

I fitted new spring rubbers so now it's better but it has a bit of bad suspension so I'm thinking about fitting new springs.
How do I know which ones fit my car? Now the H&R 29569 are mounted.

H&R 29569 are designed for 6-cyl W124/C124 and IMO, these lower the 400E too much. If you want it raised up closer to factory 400E Sportline height, you would need factory Sportline springs, and the front Sportline springs (124-321-42-04) for 400E are NLA. The factory stock front springs (124-321-39-04) are still available though, I would get those and cut ~1/4 coil to lower slightly (adjust to your preference). Your choice of factory stock rear springs (124-324-12-04) or Sportline rear springs (124-324-28-04) are still available.

Click here for photos of our 1994 E420 with stock springs all around, ride height is 14.25" from wheel center to fender lip front & rear, with a full tank of fuel. Those are #39 front springs w/ blue stripe, cut 1/4 coil, with 1-pt rubber pad... rear springs are #12 w/ red stripe and 1pt rubber pad. Note the top of the tire is *not* tucked up inside the fender.

Then there is something wrong with the heating, it cannot be turned off.

The monovalve (or duovalve, if you have manual climate control) defaults to full heat if no power is applied by the climate control panel. You'll need to figure out if the issue is the control panel, valve, or maybe a fuse?

And the rear headrests don't stay up and if they do, they fold down if I adjust the driver's seat.

Rear seat headrests should stay up when pulled fully upright, unless the switch to lower them is stuck on/energized, which will energize the vacuum valve below the driver side rear seat. Adjusting the driver seat should NOT make the rear headrests drop. You'll have to figure out if it's an electrical or vacuum issue, but it sounds like someone modified something and caused problems...

The link you shared about EPC is not working.

Try the link again, it should work now.

 

[French02chris]

Can't help with the brakes but you can raise the ride height a little by using taller spring pads. My car is also lowered with H&R springs but I have the tallest #3 spring pads and it's not as low as your car. I'm also running 17" wheels which are better suited I think for the car than 18's.
Front - 17 x 7.5", ET35 with 215/45ZR-17
Rear - 17 x 8.5", ET30 with 225/45ZR-17

Hi..i know it's a old post..but do you know/remember what size is #3 spring? (in mm)
and what spring do you have in front??
My car is on H&R springs, but it's too low, so if i can't find the right rear springs, i might put taller pads to help a little!!

 

[Ronny300]

Hello. I bought all the pads

I bought all the pads so I could try them out. Number 3 is 18mm, there are 5mm steps between them.
I don't really remember what I put in the front or rear, there is probably no right or wrong either as it often differs between different cars. However, I think the HR springs are a bit too soft at the front, you would think it's for a 300 or 320 with a 6-cylinder engine. But according to HR it should be correct with H&R 29569-2.
Best of luck