eibach or h&r springs??? better fit?

[paulo]

hello, new here. ive been reading alot of forums here and everywhere. i need your guys advice on lowering my car. i have a 99 c230 kompressor. im torn on buying h&r or eibachs. i bought bilstein shocks and #1 F and #3 R spring pads. im really not sure whats the best fit. is there a big difference on h&R springs than eibachs?

what ive planned on lowering my car is with a nice stance (a finger gap?) so ppl can still ride at least 4.

ive seen this setup : accurate? what do you guys think? will it sit that low? im trying to copy that stance.

H&R Lowering Springs 1.4' F 1.3' R (vice versa with eibach)
#1 Front Shim Pads 5mm
#3 Rear Shim Pads 13mm



thank you in advance...

[vixen_w202]

H&R hands down.

It sounds like you are just doing springs, but if you have the extra cash I strongly, strongly recommend you get a matched spring/shock kit. I went with H&R's Sport Cup Kit (About 700-800 depending on where you order online) which offers the most aggressive drop and in my opinion the best compromise-free ride. I'm not sure if you have upgraded your shocks already, but when I pulled out my stock ones....after almost 17 years of abuse and lack of maintenance from prior owners, my shocks were leaking oil and completely blown on all 4. And if you do just do a spring without upgrading shocks? It's only a matter of time before you blow the stock ones and your ride quality will just be crap. Trust me, while I was the wiser on my 202 I went the ghetto route on a 2003 Nissan Altima 2.5L and did unknown chinese lowering springs on stock everything else and it was just horrid!

Read my forum post below to see part numbers of everything I had to purchase from the dealer to get my kit to work and to get the right stance. To help you out, here is an itemized list of everything I had to purchase for the kit on my car to work front to back, and all around.

http://www.club202.com/forums/showth...-by-mbsickness

Also, here's the most recent pics I took of my car after I installed the kit with the new drop/stance. I'll tell you with this kit my car rides like it's on rails and shockingly enough? It doesn't scrape or rub, even on questionably steep driveways.

http://s360.beta.photobucket.com/use...oquet%20Canyon

Also, no matter WHAT you do.....don't expect this to be a simple or fast job/install. It took me and two other extremely seasoned gearheads almost 12 hours to go from bone stock to full suspension installed and it was grueling, backbreaking work. We had to almost completely dismantle my whole suspension and braking system all around because the front springs were so extremely long, and yeah....just took a long a time. Glad it's done now though, the payoff is great.

P.S. you're from Woodland Hills? I'm in Lancaster, less than about 50 minutes away from you. I'm still a novice gearhead, but I've done this install once before and I know what to expect if you do it.

Let me know. Hope I helped.

[MikeD]

H&Rs are supposed to feel stiffer and Eibach more smooth. That being said, I'm happy with my Eibach springs. Riding with four people, you might get some rubbing from the wheels depending on your wheels, tires, and offsets.

If the data you provided for the H&R vs Eibach drops is right, your pad setup seems to favor H&R. I have #2 up front and #1 in the rear on Eibach and I DEFINITELY cannot fit my finger between the fender and tops of my tires because I have 18s that fit flush with the fenders.

[paulo]

hey vixen, thanks for replying. i bought bilstein sports shocks from eshocks and #1 F and #3 R spring pads from ecklers mb already. im just debating which springs to get. but noticed most of w202 owners used h&r cuz eibach sags? as shown on the pic above, thats what im trying to do.. hehe.

i saw your car pic. love the stance. that how i want mine. i just want to make sure the stance will be almost perfect. i dont want to keep on changing pads or springs. (expensive) lol.

yes. woodland hills area.

[paulo]

hi mikeD, wheels that i have are 18's 225/40/18. i wanted it low but not too low like the pic above. thanks for replying.

[MikeD]

I have 225/40/18 stretched out on 18x8.5 in the front spaced out to ET29 and the wheels will rub under acceleration on sharp turns. I did not roll my fenders so maybe that would help. Check out my member's gallery thread if possible. It'll give you an idea of how it looks.

[paulo]

@miked. i finally replaced my springs and shocks with h&r and bilstein and also just rolled my front fenders yesterday. it looks good but still rubs the front when i hit a dip and sharp turns. is that normal? do i need to change my pads to #2 on the front. what do you think?

[MikeD]

I have #2 in the front and it still rubs, but my wheels are more spaced out and my fenders aren't rolled so I can't tell you for sure. Your car might be fine on #2.

[paulo]

is there a big difference #1 5mm to #2 9mm? or should i get #3 instead? and i remembered when they installed my shocks, they cut into half the cushion inside. ??

[kowalski]

does a higher rate ET on rims give less of tire/wheelarch rubbing?
my rims are Brabus ET35 front and rear.

what others did when they lowered their cars is they bought thickest pads front #5 and thickest pads rear #4 to get a nice stance.

don't know if I should get thickest pads or stick with stock euro pads which are #2 front and rear on my c43.
I don't want to buy different thick pads and use my car as a lab rat to get the best stance

[wichipong]

i have h&r no pads