Benz people! Need W124 help, E36 Coilovers?

[Iam138]

Howdy all, looking to get low with a W124 (93 300E) I'm not 100% opposed to cutting springs, but it would be nice to have some adjustability. I've done as much research as I can dig up over the last few days and it seems that a lot of people talk about running E36 coilovers in these cars. Although I have seen it discussed a few times now, I'm just wondering if anyone has some first hand experience before I drop money on some coilovers blindly. I'm 99.9% sure I know what to do up front, but no one covers the rear. Looks like maybe the shock works, but not the spring? I have no idea...

Here is the main thing that pops up:

http://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w124/319071-w124-coilovers.html

It has some great info, but turns into a shit show thanks to the super conservative elitist benz guys popping in with the "don't lower your car, its not how MB designed it to be" argument.

This guy appears to be running them up front on his wagon, but that's about the only person in the states I can find actually using them. I still can't figure out if he's still running the seperate spring or not though...

http://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-vehicles/394475-1991-mercedes-benz-300te-w124-station-wagon-modified-many-extras.html

Anyway, help, advice, opnions, whatever would be great. Thanks.

[Iam138]

Ended up biting the bullet and going for it, most everything works. We're getting through a few hiccups and then I'll post a few pics showing the process and how it sits.

[HWY HNTR]

hey I just saw this, sorry I didn't say anything, but ya I don't have any 1st hand experience either, but I'm anticipating the build and what you come up with. It would give us 124 people more choices if it ends up in your favor. Don't forget to keep us updated. Or you could pm me with the link to wherever you end up posting this. Thanks.

[Krolik]

Please keep us informed man. I'm about to do the same but I have to figure out what to do with the rubber strut mount before I jump in on anything.

[Iam138]

Here's what we got out of it so far:



The couple of pics I have from the install:





My insight on the front so far:

Amazing to me that the strut bolts right in. The only thing we ran into was that the upper hole for the knuckle is a tight fit, still works, just a bit of a speedbump. It's setup with the cut benz spring and the coilover threaded way up with no helper. Works fine and rides pretty well, but you can hear the coilover bind when turning at low speeds. You can see that there is a bit more stress on the rubber mount, but I feel that with the stock springs still in there it is fine. The plan moving forward is to either try the coilover setup with the helper spring only, or to try and make a strut bearing work in the vehicle. I'd like to see if we can modify an E36 strut mount up front. As long as you are ok with drilling new holes (I am) I don't yet see why it wouldnt work. That part is to be continued...

The rear:

In the pic, it shows the complete E36 setup, which would be great, but the shock is too long. it bottoms out with the raceland spring, even with the adjusters all the way up. We ended up cutting the benz spring and putting it in with the raceland adjuster so that we could dial it in a bit. It works, but it's not low enough for us. Next step is to either find a shorter shock (W202 sport package rears look to be our best bet) or to modify the upper mount (maybe incorperating an E36 upper mount) so that we get the travel back.

So, the easiest answer is, yes it works. But, it's not perfect, probably better than cut springs and stock shocks at least. The rear is the biggest hang up for us, the W124 has way too little room between the shock mounts, which really hampers the amount that you can lower out back. As soon as we get it dialed in more, I will make sure to post it up here.

[projektzwo]

Great thread, right on time for me, because next week i gotta purchase all 4 shocks about my w124 coupe.
I'm really confused and can't get a decision about what exactly to do, because i have 2 options:

1. sport shocks, designed for w124 chasis, but the maximum drop is 70mm (front + rear)
2. e36 coilovers (95mm drop), but i gotta cut the rear shocks, because it's not possible to cut the original w124 rear shocks, or just to purchase 2 rear shocks (from the first option) with maximum drop of 70mm which will be enough i think.

I was thinking about the rears from bmw e36, will they fit to w124, but now i know, thanks to "Iam138", so i think there will be no problem about shortening the e36 rear shocks.

After all i thing to get the e36 coilovers, and if i'm not satisfied with the rears, ill simply get the w124 shorter ones.

@Iam138 - is this with max out the front coilovers? i see that the wheels are big, but i think it can go lower.

Also @speeds_ runs with front e36 coilovers, but without the srings, he runs the original mounted springs, and his w124 is really low on 17's -> http://stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19255

[Iam138]

I'm pretty sure it has at least another 1.5 to 2" more room to go lower up front before any problems. We are actually taking out the coilover spring today, so we'll see what kind of changes that makes.

I'm not sure about shortening the rear E36 shock, the problem I see, is that the body of the shock itself is the biggest hang up. If you could take 2-3 inches (at least) of the shock body, you would be good to go. I'm currenly looking for a bolt in (or close to it) shock for the rear with something like a 12" compessed length, as opposed to the 16" or so that we have now.

The shortest thing I've found so far with the same mounting is a W202 sport package rear shock, which is 14.5" compressed.

[Krolik]

95 Ford Ranger front shocks work on the ass ends of our cars and are SHORT. No cutting, no bullshit. Just bolt them in.

Edit: I had to search high and low for stubby shocks because I converted my dads wagon from the SLS to a normal system. Right now he's on air. lol

[HWY HNTR]

so am I correct in understanding that you can't use the e36 coilover as a complete unit? You have to take off the spring and just use it as a shock? If so doesn't that defeat the purpose of using it as an adjustable coil-over or am I just being retarded? Because if you're just using it as a shock, there was a link posted here where you can buy adjustable shocks for our cars that are also make for low versions of our cars. So why not just go that route with some cut H&R springs for a w124 wagon? (higher spring rating right?) I just haven't gone that route cause my car has been off the road since December =(

[projektzwo]

so am I correct in understanding that you can't use the e36 coilover as a complete unit? You have to take off the spring and just use it as a shock? If so doesn't that defeat the purpose of using it as an adjustable coil-over or am I just being retarded? Because if you're just using it as a shock, there was a link posted here where you can buy adjustable shocks for our cars that are also make for low versions of our cars. So why not just go that route with some cut H&R springs for a w124 wagon? (higher spring rating right?) I just haven't gone that route cause my car has been off the road since December =(

no, actually you can use the wholo front coilover from e36, without removing the springs from the shock.
you can even keep your oem srpings when you put the coilovers, there isn't actually any problem.

but i'm wondering if i purchase rear coilovers for e36, because they're adjustable too, will i have any troubles when i put them on my car? plug & play? i'm talking about something like this -> http://www.ebay.de/itm/JOM-GEWINDEFA...#ht_3153wt_992 or this -> http://www.ebay.de/itm/BMW-3-E36-JOM...#ht_2400wt_992

[Spencer]

Think I might try the e36 set up on one of my W201s..

[ZUBZ]

Hi Guys, did you manage to get anywhere with coilovers for Merc. I have W114/115 and looking to slam her as well. Could I be looking for Gold...

[projektzwo]

Hi Guys, did you manage to get anywhere with coilovers for Merc. I have W114/115 and looking to slam her as well. Could I be looking for Gold...

really can't understand you, you're looking for w114/w115 shocks/coilovers, or you're asking will those e36 coils work on your platform?

[airkooled]

w114/115 will not work with e36 coils. its a completely different setup altogether.

[Iam138]

no, actually you can use the wholo front coilover from e36, without removing the springs from the shock.
you can even keep your oem srpings when you put the coilovers, there isn't actually any problem.

but i'm wondering if i purchase rear coilovers for e36, because they're adjustable too, will i have any troubles when i put them on my car? plug & play? i'm talking about something like this -> http://www.ebay.de/itm/JOM-GEWINDEFA...#ht_3153wt_992 or this -> http://www.ebay.de/itm/BMW-3-E36-JOM...#ht_2400wt_992

Correct, you can run the entire assembly. I just don't like how it binds a bit up front, we're currently trying to find a solution to take a bit of the pressure off the upper strut mount.

The rear is a bolt on deal, but for us, the raceland shock wouldnt allow us to go low enough. We just got a pair of Saab 900 rear shocks like speeds_ runs out back and they look like they will do the trick, something like 11" compressed out back.