My Bilstein B16 PSS10 Upgrade

[Stanford Ho]

Having a Mercedes definitely means business and comfort is what they do best. But what If I want to have some fun? I realise coming from an C class, my new E Class definitely have a lot to work on in the handling department. During the Covid, I had a lot of time and began the search for the ultimate suspension system. It was a dilemma between performance, comfort and of course the price. I didn't want to spend too much, neither do I want to compromise any comfort and that's how I threw taiwanese suspension outside of the picture.

I went looking at this 2 powerhouses of suspension system namely KW Suspension and our familiar Bilstein. I shortlisted a few which is the KW V1 and the Bilstein B12 Pro kit. The prices are in the comfortable 2k~ range. However, there was little to no information being talked about on YouTube or Forums over the world. Being on my own, it was a very very tough decision to weigh the pros on it. Asking myself many What ifs... 

Will the car be too low? Will the car be too high? Will the car be too soft/hard? Will the car behave How I want it to be? Eventually I gave up, as the KW V3 was definitely out of what I want to spent especially with many users sharing the experience of the KWs to be quite shortlived. With the assumption of having a fully adjustable suspension system to be very expensive I did not ask about the cost of the Bilstein's offering of their B16 PSS10 suspension system...

Few days passed... My nerves got back and I decided to just check how much would it actually cost. To my surprise it wasn't that far of a difference from the B12 and definitely much cheaper than what a KW V3 would cost me. I went ahead and pull the trigger and in less than a week I got a call from the workshop to head down for installation! 

Here comes installation day, looking at the beautifully and robustly built suspension. Its definitely a lot of notches up from the stock suspension. Be it the diameter, the weight and the construction it all speaks quality. The B16 PSS10 comes with 10 individual settings that twitches both the compression and rebound. It is suppose to feel vastly different 1 setting from the another and the higher the number goes the sportier it gets. I decide to start with the factory preset height and the softest setting. 

Down came the hoist the car was at about 1.5 fingers in the front and 1 finger in the back after a week of settling the springs. It was sheer driving pleasure, amazing in the corners and of course in the straights. I was able to feel the road better, handle sharper to my input but still giving me all those comfort that I can still call it a Mercedes. I decided to go up a few notch to setting 4 and the car immediately feels differently altogether. It gave up some the comfort, I was able to feel much more feedback from the road and its start drawing away from being the comfortable E Class I thought. I felt this setting was probably better If I would like to go on the track. 

All in all, I think the B16 PSS10 is a excellent contender with a amazing price to match. Certainly it does cost more than taiwanese suspension. But I certainly think that the robustness, comfort and compliance from German Engineering will be able to shine its way through my daily drives and ownership of the car. 

You can reach out to Carcreed Pte Ltd, they're the one who made this suspension upgrade possible. Thanks for reading.

 

[fesa704]

Hi

thanks for the review.

im in the market for the suspension too.

My GLC coupe have reach dat stage ,contact Bilstein ,dey juzz mention B4 & B6.

I’m looking for typical mercedes comfort ,less on handling & sportiness ,what do u reckon?

thanks

[Stanford Ho]

On 11/17/2020 at 10:15 AM, fesa704 said:

Hi

thanks for the review.

im in the market for the suspension too.

My GLC coupe have reach dat stage ,contact Bilstein ,dey juzz mention B4 & B6.

I’m looking for typical mercedes comfort ,less on handling & sportiness ,what do u reckon?

thanks

Bilstein B4 is a factory replacement shocks. If you would want better handling yet retaining the comfort of a Mercedes you won't be disappointed by the B6. It's a little price to pay to experience something different. Cheers

[JLF]

Interesting read and I had considered the same between the two brands. Both are equally good but I went with the KW V3 on my W204 and is very pleased with its ride comfort, height, handling, and adjustability. I am sure Bilstein is equally brilliant.