I was looking at Bilsteins and called them. I found out something interesting. They sell different shocks for the SLK and the Crossfire. He recomended either the sport shock for the SLK or the Crossfire shocks. The sport is the same as their regular SLK shock except it is for lowered vehicles. The Crossfire shock is much stiffer, about 50% stiffer on the front and 80% stiffer on the rear. Given that I have Voghtland lowering spring and lowering springs tend to be stiffer than stock n/a springs, which would give me the better ride? I am not looking for all out performance. I am looking for a nice ride that my female passenger won't complain about. I am thinking the softer shock would give a smoother ride but does a stiffer spring need a stiffer shock to give a good ride?

 

Have you considered Koni Sport shocks? They are adjustable and NeedsWings has them on sale.

 

Even on sale they are more than I want to spend and are about $250 more than Bilstein. I have used Bilstein in the past on other cars and loved them. Bilstein self adjusts. They get firmer when worked harder. I am more interested in learning how a softer shock works with a firmer spring or if I need the firmer shock. I may just get the SLK Sport shocks since my lowering springs are for a SLK. the SLK is really close in weight to the Crossfire but we have more unsprung weight, especially in the rear. I wonder if the unsprung weight is why the Bilstein shock is 80% stiffer?

 

I would say so. Even the Sport SLKs only came with 17's... Big difference in dampening forces needed to keep a 19" 36-pound wheel in check.

This thread is a great read on the subject:

Recommend shocks for my C32 - HR Lowered - MBWorld.org Forums

Konis have the adjustable fun-factor, but the Bilsteins seem to offer a better bang-per-buck and one guy even swapped his Konis FOR Bilstein...

I've considered the B shocks as well, and thought about getting the SLK version since I'm running so low. But I hadn't thought about the lack of dampening for the 19" wheels until just now...

Hmmmm

 

Thanks for the info. I saved some weight when I went to the five spoke 18 inch wheels. I did notice a better ride with the 18's and 265 40 on the rear.

 

I'm eying a really nice set of wheels now, and I'll stick with the 19's simply because I have the six-month-old tires that are warranted for 50K. The wheels I will be getting are just a shade lighter than OEM, but not by much... maybe 5 pounds. They're still porkers, at 28# each.

I don't track my car though so it won't be a huge handicap. Most of my "aggressive" driving is done on twisty roads like the Dragon, mixed with some 145mph runs on Mexican interstates at 3 in the morning

**EDIT** I've heard the OEM Limited 19" wheels weigh 36 pounds, while some have stated 33 pounds. I've never gotten a straight answer of the weight of JUST the wheel. I know the SRT 19" is lighter, since it's forged aluminum, not cast wheel.