This is my first Benz and I am new to the community. I have always lowered my cars a little and this one is no exception.

I see that Eibach, H&R and Tein make springs for the car, but which is the best. In past experiences the Eibachs have been a rougher ride than the H&R's. Post up your experiences and pictures.

Are their any obstacles to overcome mechanically, such as self leveling shocks or anything?

 

IMO go with H&R's. They seem to have figured out the progressive rate thing better than Eibach or Tein. Plus they also offer beefier ant-roll bars to replace your stockers to make that thing handle like it's on rails. You'll have to read your owners manual to see if you have the SLS or not. If not i would recommend new shocks when youdo the springs just because the shocks aren't new anymore. (It's an 05 right?) other than that I'll stand firm on my belief that don't get talked into coilovers. The overall ride sucks and every time you adjust them up or down(regardless of what other people say) your car is out of proper alignment again. They have their place and if you plan on autocrossing or club racing your car then coilover's are the ticket, but for every day streetability stay away from them.

 

What is SLS?

I am running 225/40/18's all around and assume that won't be a problem. Do I need to find out what shims the car has with the stock springs? I won't need to lower it anymore than what H&R's do

 

SLS= Self Leveling Suspension. The H&R's will do the trick. You can check the shims from the factory and maybe replace them with the same size ones.

 

TEIN Basic is the most affordable set of coilovers. Great alternative to springs & shocks.

 

K1,

Do they advertise how much stiffer this is than stock? The car will not be raced and street driven only.

 

It will be stiffer than stock suspension. However, it will be closest to stock stiffness among coilovers.

 

Evil- The CO's will give you more versatility if that's what you want, but if you intend on dropping down a little and just leaving it, save some $$ and go for springs. The ride won't be as harsh as CO's and once you have it aligned, your alignment will remain true.

 

If you just change the springs, you will need to change shocks sooner. If you add up the costs for both, it's well worth to spend a little extra and get TEIN Basic. Plus, you will be able to adjust ride height!

 

Tom- You're really lobbying quite diligently for those TEIN Basic's.Are you running a special on them or do you have a surplus you're trying to clear out?What does a set of those run?