Lowered Suspension ...

I took the AMG out today and I am not happy with the Eibach suspension. The front has dropped too much and aligning the front wheel is a problem because of the very low suspension.

With 3 people on the car the front spoiler is always rubbing on dips and the suspension is a bit harsh. Functionality with the lowered springs is causing a lot more issues than I anticipated and I find it unacceptable to keep that setup. So I will go back to the stock springs.

What I could do is adjust the pads for the original springs. Drop the front to a the lowest pad and raise the rear to the highest pad.

In the original setup the front had more space than the rear. So using the lowest pad will lower the front about 1/2 '' . Then raising the rear 1/2 " will push the front down a bit and will even out the spacing.

Oh well, I would rather be able to enjoy the car than have issues with alignment, ground clearance, harsh suspension etc. just to have a better appearance.

The other thing I do not like about it is the tint in the back is too dark. At night time I have a hard time seeing what is behind - it is too dark! I do not like dark rear windows because I need to be able to spot CHP's and local cops. I cannot drive fast and change lanes quickly and scan my mirrors quickly if I am straining to see who is behind - slows me down visually!

My C36 needs to have her issues resolved before she can be my daily driver. In the mean time I will drive the T100 and give her some needed attention. My T100 needs a bed liner, a bed cover, etc. I will have to talk to my nephew and get the C36 done before Christmas so that she can be my daily driver.

Allignment Issues with Eibach Springs

Right now, my front cannot be aligned because the Eibach springs dropped the front pretty low. The springs settled after a week of driving and the front tires are now like just above the fenders.

The alignment cannot be done by the local service stations. Sears backed out and they didn't think they can do it correctly. Firestone tried but they said that the front spoiler is so low and that their equipment does not fit to align the wheels.

My nephew already replaced the eccentric bolts alignment kit. He installed 2 of these special "notched" bolts so that there will be more adjustment available when aligning the front wheels. It's a standard Mercedes part.

Its too bad that this lowered spring mod is causing a big problem with the front alignment.

What are my options:

1. Raise the front about 1/2". This may be all that is needed to be able to align the front wheels well - every little bit counts in a big way.

How? Change the Spring Pads to size 5. That will bring it up almost 1/2". By adding the thickest pad (#5 from a #3). It was mentioned in the forums that the front has #3 and the rear #2. I confirmed that the rear is a #2 pad but I will leave that alone for now.

Changing the front spring pads to a number 5 will raise it about 1/2" and match the rear. I will drive it for a week then have it aligned at this Daly City alignment shop that can align problematic lowered cars.

I'll schedule the pad swap with my nephew and order the pads at the stealership. Hopefully he could get it done before Thanksgiving.

If the front wheel still cannot be aligned properly then I will have to put back the original springs. Dang!

If I do that, I will have to drop the front because it was way too high with the stock springs.

The front should use #1 from number #3, that is only 1/2" adjustment. The rear will have to be lifted to catch up with the front so the rear should have #4. That's the only logical adjustment and alternative if I put the stock springs back.

That sucks!

I am very disappointed with the Eibach lowering kit for the C36. If the setup will not align properly then I will definitely have the stock spring put back. I do not see any reason why I would use it if it will create tire and alignment problems.

And I don't know why Eibach makes and sells a product that will cause alignment and tire wear problems - greed?

There should have been a warning that installation of those spring on the Mercedes C36 will cause alignment and tire wear problems.

It does not make sense for me to install those springs if I cannot get the front wheels aligned. That's a dumb thing to do and it's a dumb product to buy.

Eibach Springs & Bilstein Sport Shock

The stealership told me that I needed to replace my shocks and a whole lot of other stuff.

I replaced the shocks with Bilstein Pro Shock from www.autopartswarehouse.com/. My nephew installed it for me as well as the Eibach Pro Kit Springs that I got from www.gripmotorsports.com/.

Autopartswarehouse shipped the parts very quickly. The following day, the shocks and other replacement parts that I ordered arrive in my front door! Unbelievable! How did they do that? Next day delivery without the cost!

My Eibach springs arrived one week later from gripmotorsports. I'm lucky there is a real mechanic in my family - my nephew! He did a great job of repairing what needed to be repaired and lowered my C36.

AeroTurbine Muffler for the C36

Production cars have very boring quiet exhaust systems. I reminisce the old days driving my little red MGB convertible and I could hear the exhaust note as I motor away along Hwy 1 - that's music to my ears!

High performance cars have distinctive exhaust sounds and listening to it is such pleasure. That is why I decided to enhance the sound of my C36.

I retained the original resonator so that it does not sound too loud. I just added an AeroTurbine muffler and a dual exhaust tips. The exhaust tips makes it look like a typical Euro car exhaust - except for the distinctive exhaust tone that sounds very low and very mellow.

The exhaust tone is a very low and very bassy rumble when accelerating slowly. When I accelerate quickly the low rumble changes quickly to a higher pitch note until rumble until it becomes quiet. It's kinda fun driving her around at low speed with a low bassy rumbling exhaust. When accelerating quickly, the exhaust tone is at a low-med. pitch as she picks up speed, the sound pitch become higher and blends with the ambient noise. At 80 mph she sound like a stock car, she's quiet. From 0 to 65 mph I can hear her rumble.

The performance increase of the AeroTurbine AR2525 on the C36 is not as as noticeable as the performance increase of the T100 with the AR3030XL. On the C36 the power is more refined and stable, it comes on stronger than the stock AMG muffler.

AMG already cranked up as much horsepower out of the 3.6 engine that the AeroTurbine doesen't seem to produce any more power. I'll find out more later how it runs at high speed when the alignment is corrected.

I can't wait to get all her issues resolved and she will become my daily driver.

Mercedes C36 AMG

1996 Mercedes C36 AMG

I was looking for a sports sedan and thinking of getting a C230 Kompressor Sport. But after test driving a C36 AMG I could not resist driving a 272 hp high performance Benz. How can I resist the performance of a 272 hp little Mercedes Sedan? I couldn't so I ended up buying one!

In 1996 AMG started modifying a limited number of C280 sedans and named it C36 AMG. The inline 2.8 liter 6 cylinder engined was completely re-engineered and transformed into a 3.6 liter high performance engine. AMG did not stop there, the suspension, tires, wheels, shocks, etc. was modified too. The body side moldings was also enhanced to look distictively AMG and not just a C280.

The C36 is a historical car with Mercedes and AMG. The C36 was the first production car that was hot rodded by AMG for Mercedes.

The C36 AMG is a remarkable sedan. It is a very quick sedan that handles like a sports car on the turns. The top speed is rated at 155 mph and 0 to 60 mph at 6.4 sec.

The C36 AMG is bored when when I drive it at 80 mph. This car craves high speed driving - the spedometer needle will reach 120 in a hurry and ready for more past 130. Don't even bother going that fast if the road is not empty - you need lots of road past 130 - everything else looks like they are standing still.

With the new springs and shocks, high speed onramps are easily taken at around 90+ mph, I think it will do 100, it handles the corners very well.

Go back 10 years ago in 1996 - The price of the C36 back then was around $50k! Isn't that amazing! Ten years ago, loaded people were spending over 55 grand on these hot rod Mercedes.

I upgraded my C36 by replacing the shock, mufflers and the springs.
Follow the other post on the modification that I did on my C36.