So here I am, with my Klönn, the 15s are on the 300D so I know what I'm starting with...



I can't believe so many 'purists' are against lowering these cars. What a monster truck stance...these wheels aren't even a real appearance upgrade with the stock springs, the Bundts looked better...

So I'm sitting there, and I'm thinking that this 300D is probably going to get flipped. If nothing else to continue being able to go down the path of modification, plus I've seen cleaner cars go for almost the same price I paid for this one. If I'm going to go nuts, I'm not going to go nuts and have to paint a car, too. The car doesn't look all that bad at all, as far as curb appeal, but once you're on it (and you're a detailer who was trained at a body shop to be anal retentive about such things) it needs a paint job. And I'm not entirely sure a turbo'd 240D wouldn't be perfectly adequate as a DD until I can afford to start chasing speed for real.

So I'm thinking while I have this 'parts car', so to speak, right here, and I'm going to be pulling both sets of springs for lowering anyway...why not upgrade the 240D to the 300D's springs, they'd be stiffer for sure. Pull the 300D's springs, cut two coils, remove the 240D springs, replace with the 300D cut springs, and see what we get as far as just a swap goes. I know I've read about someone swapping in 240D springs into his 300D, to lower it slightly without stiffening the ride. I figure the 300D will be cushier with the cut 240D springs than with it's own stock springs cut, and since I'm reselling it I may as well keep the ride as nice as I can get away with.

Does anyone want to chime in on how many coils to cut with the 240D springs in the 300? Maybe I should just start with one and see how it goes. It needs the most help in the front, it looks like it's drag-launching standing still, and the most weight gain between the two models is certainly in the front.

Or, does anyone have any pics of a 300D with the 240D springs, so I have an idea of what to cut?

A stock height 240 spring with a 1 nub pad will drop the car substantially. Charmalu has stock 240 springs with a 1 nub pad on his manual trans conversion 300D. His front end was sitting pretty high with the weight chopped off from not having an auto tranny.

http://www.superturbodiesel.com/std/requ...t-568.html

I did finally find that...I think I'm going to remove one coil on the 240D, it's much better but I'd want it lower than that.

Anyone know what the front and rear spring rates are for both models?

Haha, I just realized, those wheels are so Hot Wheels. I might have to cough up for a tire swap and some adapters for the 190 wheels and keep these. Good fit with no adapters necessary and I don't think MB even made a 15x7 anyway.

I still think a set of these babies would transform a 123 quite nicely:

I can only imagine 240 springs being to soft.

The 240 suspension is perfect with my OM617 in it. I doubt the difference would have more of an effect than adding a 150lb passenger in the seat.

Well, the 240D is now wearing the 300D's front springs with two coils cut. The stiffer spring and the three nub pads kept the car from lowering too much but I'll see what it looks like in the morning. Definite improvement in stance.

The 300D has to wait until morning for the other spring to go in, but the first one dropped the ridiculous 'Baja' front end down to a nice level, lower than the 240D but the 'stand my fat ass on the bumper' test showed that it was softer than the 240. Tomorrow I'll see the results for real, but if you're going for low and cushy and you have a 300D, I recommend the 240D front spring with a coil lopped off. Should provide a stock ride, just 2-3 inches closer to the ground.

The process started out shitty - don't even try a sawzall, an hour went by before I got a third of the way through a coil. Picked up a Ryobi grinder and went through nice and easy, and the low ambient temps kept the spring from heating up all that much.

Tomorrow and possibly Friday I'll be swapping out the rear springs and shocks, my 240D's back shocks are already shot and stiffening the spring isn't going to help much.

How about these.

(12-10-2009 03:19 AM)kamel Wrote:  I still think a set of these babies would transform a 123 quite nicely:

(12-17-2009 02:39 AM)CID Vicious Wrote:  Well, the 240D is now wearing the 300D's front springs with two coils cut. The stiffer spring and the three nub pads kept the car from lowering too much but I'll see what it looks like in the morning. Definite improvement in stance.

The 300D has to wait until morning for the other spring to go in, but the first one dropped the ridiculous 'Baja' front end down to a nice level, lower than the 240D but the 'stand my fat ass on the bumper' test showed that it was softer than the 240. Tomorrow I'll see the results for real, but if you're going for low and cushy and you have a 300D, I recommend the 240D front spring with a coil lopped off. Should provide a stock ride, just 2-3 inches closer to the ground.

The process started out shitty - don't even try a sawzall, an hour went by before I got a third of the way through a coil. Picked up a Ryobi grinder and went through nice and easy, and the low ambient temps kept the spring from heating up all that much.

Tomorrow and possibly Friday I'll be swapping out the rear springs and shocks, my 240D's back shocks are already shot and stiffening the spring isn't going to help much.

You are supposed to quench in oil always when cutting spring steel, regardless of how hot the spring gets.It definitely looks nicer, let us know how the ride is.

I did quench the springs in oil, but since they started out about 45 degrees (or less, I did a good portion of the work after dark), they couldn't reach as high of a temperature as they would if they'd started out warmer. Only once did one of the springs get hot enough to pass the touch test.

If I were to do this during the summer out here, the springs would be around 90+ degrees (if not 100+) just sitting in the car. Starting out 50 degrees colder allows for more room for error. The grinder just whizzes right through, just rock it back and forth and let the machine do the work.

If someone had a shop fridge this might not be a bad idea in the hotter months, remove a pair of springs and leave 'em in the freezer for an hour or so.

Here's a pic of the 300D with the 240D springs minus one coil:



Personally, I dig that stance. I'd be awful tempted to be a total poser and just cruise that car like it sits, since a lot of muscle cars with their ass in the air are posers, too.

However, since it's my flip car (so far, maybe...) I'm going to swap out the backs for 240D springs and probably leave the coils where they're at. My 240D doesn't sit all that high in the back, though I do have some stuff in the trunk. A coil off wouldn't hurt, and I don't think I'll have to worry about it getting lower than the front.

The car can be brought to it's bumpstops if I stand on the bumper, but I'm 240lbs in winter gear. The ride should be real cush, and if you treat it like a lowered car you'll be just fine. If you're not corner carving and just want the low look with a cushy ride, this could be the ticket. I ended up dropping the battery for this car, ruining it, and haven't had the time to test drive it yet. I'll report on the ride, brake dive, etc when I can.

Okay, got a preliminary run done...had the air cleaner out for repainting, and the 11 dollar CAI went over to the 240D.

All things considered, not bad. If you're into low, slow, and soft, I don't know, I still might keep that coil on. But I did have a friend sit on the bumper and it's bump stops, not coil bind. I'll get in there and trim them down (reminds me of my SE-R days) and see if I can get it to not hit the bumps. Keep in mind the shocks are so old I can't tell if they used to be Bilsteins or what, a set of HDs might keep things in line better.

However, I will say that the overwhelming impression I had of the 300D stock was that it wasn't exactly a car to faux-rally with anyway (unlike the 240D which just seems to want to play in comparison). If you keep in mind that the car has been lowered fairly dramatically, no real problems here. Not what I'd necessarily want for myself, but not everyone says to themselves 'let me make a canyon runner out of a diesel powered Panzer' either. For those that might be curious, that, so far, is my verdict.

However I'm now certain that the rear fuel line is a sieve and the car had no friggin' power when I drove it, which got the bulk of my attention. I didn't feel any hits on the stops until I drove up onto my rough dirt driveway, though. People who live in civilized areas of the world (or who just want to look cool in a lowered Benz with a soft ride) should do fine.

Next I think I'm going to put the stock 240D coils in the back. It's already an inch and a half lower (no real difference in tire diameters) and my 240 is a fully manual car save the sunroof, so the extra weight on the rear axle (at least half the extra weight from the auto tranny and the window motors) should take care of it, and it will be a good match for the front. The 300D is sprung way stiffer than the 240D, not just to compensate for the heavier motor either. The backs especially. Should be interesting once it's all swapped out. I'll do an nice write up on the 240D on a separate thread once it's done and I've gotten to thrash on it.