W140 question.

What does it take to get this tank lower to the ground. I know that eibach has coils and there are some struts available but who makes a complete coilover kit for the car or are all the slammed guys in europe and japan on cut eibachs or air ride?

i did a little looking before and didn't find anything. i know the guy in russia found something.

on a related note and since i've been curious for a while; are the 140s full frame or unibody?

From my searching I've only found vogtland springs eibach springs and I think kyb struts. I assume pancakes would know because he was thinking of getting one.

springs from vogtland, eibach, h&r and etc... with koni or bilstine shocks combined with MB #1 padding, as the stock MB uses #3 or 4 padding stock.

How low will that get the car though? Also what is available as far as camber adjustability.

with the right combination tires wil tuck.  Camber arms are available for the W210 & w202, might have to check if those will fit w140.

really hard to get w140 low
but surprisingly you can look low without being too low.
with h&r springs and bilstein shocks you probably looking at 50-60mm drop...
an it will barely tuck tyres.
you will be better of with custom made springs and shortened shocks or heat compressed shocks.

I see. So basically it would be like building my camry all over again with completely custom suspension. I guess I'll stick with the gs plan but I really do like seeing the 140 done up. Either way I had planned to do air ride in my next car so the 140 is kinda still an option. Just gotta find out more on the reliability aspect.

[quote=CamryVIP;224094]I see. So basically it would be like building my camry all over again with completely custom suspension. I guess I'll stick with the gs plan but I really do like seeing the 140 done up. Either way I had planned to do air ride in my next car so the 140 is kinda still an option. Just gotta find out more on the reliability aspect.[/quote]

That car is just as easy to juice as mine is. Very little fabrication and 95% bolt-in.

[QUOTE=BLKonBLK98;223960]i did a little looking before and didn't find anything. i know the guy in russia found something.

on a related note and since i've been curious for a while; are the 140s full frame or unibody?[/QUOTE]

unibody. The S has been unibody I think going back to the 60's. I wanted to build a s class hot rod but had to go back way too many generations to be at the right pricepoint.


The best way to go (aside from the BEST way which is air) is bilstein shocks and H&R springs. The bilstiens are quality I have them in my S. Well in the trunk but they'll get installed one day. The guys on benzworld pretty much unanimously agree bilstein is the way to go. You could squeeze another half inch, maybe more from shortening the mounts but that can be sketchy. 

The W140 can be extremely problematic. Finding one that won't give you problems is like finding a stripper girlfriend who isn't all fucked up in the head. They are out there but can you afford the search?

You could also take a domestic V8 with a carb, drill a hole in the firewall, run linkage, hook it all up to some autometer gauges and call it a day. None of the features were going to work anyway.

Dead S: $1,000
Build chevy motor from craiglist guy whos wife is making him sell it: $1,000
Custom motor mounts, gauges, installation, fabrication, custom driveshaft: $2,000 (if you are mechanically inclined or have friends that are)
---------------------
$4,000

Then add suspension and wheels of your choice. With the right gearing and tuning you can get ~300hp AND ~22mpg on unleaded.

Or you can spend that much over 2 years just trying to fix the car.

Another thing is if you find a dead S600 from the 140 gen (which is NOT difficult, just call around) you can get the car for ~$1,000-$2,500 and sell the engine alone on ebay or a mercedes benz site for ~$2,000 and have the car for free! Alot of the benz guys are putting the M120 (the S600 motor) in older mercs. With a new throttle body and ignition system they are very powerful and reliable. 

Staying on track the 140 is a beast and installing suspension components that have been cut and rewelded is probably not the best idea. Cutting the springs will make it bob like a boat down the road. STAY AWAY from the KYB shocks. KYB makes good products, just not for this application. If it was a audi A4 or a C320 or a GTI it'd be fine but heavier cars wear them out way too fast. I drove like a grandma with intrax springs in my 1 gen GS and they were blown in 16 months.

Wheels and tires are going to play into it too. I would not run larger then 20's. 19's are probably your best bet cause without air you won't be able to make 18's look right. Hope any of that helps.

Grundel out

Thanks for the info. I wanted to get an s600 but I figured I'd have worry about electrical issues. Ah well I'll just stick to my good ole reliable toyo/lex. The genesis is lookin right though...

99 percent of the S600 problems are with the electronic ignition system. How well do you know your way around a engine cause I could explain over the phone what you need to do to get it to always run.

However, going to toyota's and lexus's to a mercedes can be a difficult one for some people. It takes some getting used to. My mercedes isn't even really a mercedes anymore but when it was there were things about it that had to grow on me before I liked it.

well i have a camry. and right now going to any lexus or merc is an upgrade for me.lol  I have enough day to day issues with my camry to avoid getting into that with another car.  I think I'll stay away from the S600 untill I can financially afford to have a few cars sitting around while I figure out whats wrong with all of them.  I think I'll go with the more reliable alternative as in one that runs and will run everyday with minimal maintenance performed on it.

Go airrunner and be done with it...

[img]http://www.conceptmotorsport.com/autogallery/store/041F015903EF1F43202210A308EF/779/DSC00791.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.conceptmotorsport.com/autogallery/store/041F015903EF1F43202210A308EF/779/DSC00788.jpg[/img]


Coincidentally these were the same exact wheels that were on my now-sold Aristo TT