Best h&r/strut combo?

[Whitemamba23]

Planning on lowering my E500 with H&R lowering springs and trying to figure out what the best strut option is for a lowered .036.
I was thinking of going with the Bilstein B8, as I’ve done on my .052 and .066, but their site doesn’t show any options that are compatible with a 500E/E500.
Any advice and experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[szvook]

Yeah, Bilstein does not list shocks specific to the 036 (although the B9 shocks might have been made for the 036, for the Japanese market) but the B8 sport shocks work well. Been running them up front on my 500E for 8 years now with great results on the street and on the track in the past. They are firmer than what the 036 is used to, but if the wheels on the 036 are not too big, the ride is not too harsh. I’m on 17 inch wheels, with a 245/45 front tire and the ride is perfect for me. I’m also running Brabus lowering springs specific to the 036 with the rear springs that support SLS, with 1 bump spring pads all around and the car has just the kind of ride height I wanted, the SLS was also adjusted. The H&R springs seem to lower the car more so than Brabus, so maybe playing with spring pads height could be needed, or not, based on what one thinks is too low with H&R springs.

 

[Whitemamba23]

Yeah, Bilstein does not list shocks specific to the 036 (although the B9 shocks might have been made for the 036, for the Japanese market) but the B8 sport shocks work well. Been running them up front on my 500E for 8 years now with great results on the street and on the track in the past. They are firmer than what the 036 is used to, but if the wheels on the 036 are not too big, the ride is not too harsh. I’m on 17 inch wheels, with a 245/45 front tire and the ride is perfect for me. I’m also running Brabus lowering springs specific to the 036 with the rear springs that support SLS, with 1 bump spring pads all around and the car has just the kind of ride height I wanted, the SLS was also adjusted. The H&R springs seem to lower the car more so than Brabus, so maybe playing with spring pads height could be needed, or not, based on what one thinks is too low with H&R springs.
View attachment 114722View attachment 114723

Thank you. Your height looks perfect, and wheel fitment is spot on.
The plan is to go with 2 bump all around on 18inch amg bbs 2 piece from the r129.
what’s the trick to adjust the SLS?

 

[kwontumspeed]

If you don't have spacers up front for those 2pc wheels they will not sit like @szvook in his pic. Lowering will also accentuate the visual of the inboard wheel from the lip. I have 15mm on mine and they are perfect and don't think I would go wider since you're lowering it.

 

[Whitemamba23]

@kwontumspeed Thanks for the advice. Not sure if I'm going to lower it anymore. Stick with 15mm on stock suspension too?

 

[szvook]

Thank you. Your height looks perfect, and wheel fitment is spot on.
The plan is to go with 2 bump all around on 18inch amg bbs 2 piece from the r129.
what’s the trick to adjust the SLS?

The front wheels are 17x8.5 and offset is 27 and rear wheels are 17x9.5 offset is 28. Front tires are 245/45 and rear are 275/40. This is not a flush fenders fitment, which is what I didn’t want, but with this fitment I have no rubbing (inside the fenders or on the shocks) on the streets or at the track in the past. The fenders are filled out just right, imho.

As far as the SLS adjustment, while the car is running/idling, you need adjust the SLS valve and bleed the leveling valve as well, otherwise the rear will not go lower than you want. My shop ended up having one guy and some added wheels with tires sit in the trunk while adjusting, but I also drove around for a few days to let the car settle. It took a few adjustments and almost a week of driving to dial in the height I wanted. The current height in the rear could be lowered still (there’s a few more turns left on the turnbuckle), but that would be too low for me, plus you don’t want to have the turnbuckle nut sitting on the last threads of the turnbuckle.

Since you’re going to use H&R springs, you might not need to adjust the SLS as low I did, since the H&R springs lower the rear of the car quite a bit. See these posts for more info SLS adjustment and Lowering with H&R springs

Kwontumspeed brings up a good point about the camber. Once you lower the car, your camber will increase the lower you go, especially with wider tires in the rear. So the right offset will make a difference on whether you might get any rubbing or not. After my car was lowered, the camber in the front is [negative] 1.20 degrees and [negative] 2.25 degrees in the rear. An alignment would also be in order.

 

[Whitemamba23]

Are the stock shocks not a good option for lowering?

 

[szvook]

The rebound travel would be affected for sure, especially with the H&R springs. The stock shocks would end up being compressed more so and when your car would face a deep squat, the shock travel could bottom out. The front shocks would be affected more so. You really want shocks made for lowered heights, but that’s why they need to be firmer.

You could run Koni’s up front, if you want some adjustment options, although a few peeps here mentioned that current Koni’s are not as good as the older ones. I never ran Koni’s, so I can’t attest to their durability. Bilstein B8 sport shocks are made quite well and are quite durable. I would also recommend checking the condition of the bushings before lowering the car, that could also play into the ride quality. I had all of my bushings replaced just before I lowered my car.