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Suspension Malfunction Light? ( PS Lowered on H&R Springs)
Just installed new H&R springs. Used the dealership
Today I got this warning message.
maybe suspension travel error? I looked at the owners manual and cannot even find a reference to this particular warning indicator.
Car drives fine in all modes and all suspension modes still work properly...
Any insight?
I can't comment on the error message but a lower suspension will generally require an alignment spec different from the standard factory setting. When I had a '06 Z06 Corvette I had the option of 5 different settings that ranged from race to sport to street. Each setting would make a significant difference between handling in regards to initial turn-in, cornering grip and tire wear. You would set up the car for optimum handling in corners or how it rode in a straight line cruise. Not to mention tire wear. You pretty much have to compromise something it just depends on your priorities. When you lower the car your alignment geometry will change and therefore alignment settings should be adjusted for the change in ride height. Generally, you can adjust it for straight line cruising and minimum tire wear or for more aggressive turn-in which demands a little more from your tire's performance and therefore wear as well. Sorry, I have no ideal on particular settings you should use for the Merc C63 but a good Merc alignment mechanic should know. Consider your preference on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being minimal tire wear and casual street cruising to 5 being race mode and early tire wear. 2-3 Is more than enough for me since I only do spirited street driving at most.
I suspect a realignment Is called for since the ride height and suspension travel/spring rate are now different from factory settings, especially, since this would effect the complex traction control system.
Last edited by Spectre-13; Jul 4, 2019 at 02:02 AM.
Yes I did get an alignment at the MB dealer who installed everything.
I had a camber adjustable upper control arm installed.
The dealership also said the installed a camber adjustable lower bushing. The got the camber within spec.
The caster is slightly out of spec but unnoticeable. I may still buy caster bolts just to get it perfect.
The rear camber changed by only 2 degrees positive . I feel like I have less wheel spin from a dog now so I’m going to keep it there .
Yes I did get an alignment at the MB dealer who installed everything.
I had a camber adjustable upper control arm installed.
The dealership also said the installed a camber adjustable lower bushing. The got the camber within spec.
The caster is slightly out of spec but unnoticeable. I may still buy caster bolts just to get it perfect.
The rear camber changed by only 2 degrees positive . I feel like I have less wheel spin from a dog now so I’m going to keep it there .
Is it possible they forgot to reconnect on of the dampers during installation?
the front end sits really low on the H&R Springs. It sits lower than the rear visually looks like about 1/2 difference maybe .
im wondering if the car doesn’t like the uneven ride height
The new new control arm from F1 came with adjustable height sensor links. The arms are about 5mm thicker than the original and the sensor links are supposed to compensate for it.
I am wondering if they need to be tuned a bit (I still don’t know mechanically how those work. I’m a little bit of a noob to this car)
I’m just guessing that the car doesn’t like the new ride height or it could be something is not connected properly.
or maybe it’s the new tighter suspension travel that the car doesn’t like...
All of the real time vehicle data in the center infotainment screen looks normal as I drive.
i am going to set up an appointment with the dealer to take a look and see what they find.
the front end sits really low on the H&R Springs. It sits lower than the rear visually looks like about 1/2 difference maybe .
im wondering if the car doesn’t like the uneven ride height
The new new control arm from F1 came with adjustable height sensor links. The arms are about 5mm thicker than the original and the sensor links are supposed to compensate for it.
I am wondering if they need to be tuned a bit (I still don’t know mechanically how those work. I’m a little bit of a noob to this car)
I’m just guessing that the car doesn’t like the new ride height or it could be something is not connected properly.
or maybe it’s the new tighter suspension travel that the car doesn’t like...
All of the real time vehicle data in the center infotainment screen looks normal as I drive.
i am going to set up an appointment with the dealer to take a look and see what they find.
These cars are are so temperamental lol
What dealer is this that is so mod friendly haha? Mine flagged me faster than I could sneeze.
Update... So I got the dealer to take a look at the car.
The issue they identified is that the height sensor is detecting "suspension travel beyond its limits" when I am cornering hard, so the suspension is activating max resistance to prevent "bottoming out". Then it thinks there is a suspension malfunction - thus the error message. The issue is occurring primarily on the front because it is lowered more aggressively in front with the H&R springs.
I am surprised no one else has had this issue or reported it on the forums.
What's needed are slightly shorter than stock height sensor links to calibrate the new suspension travel to the vehicle's computer so that it will not think the suspension is bottoming out when cornering.
I have adjustable sensor links that came with my control arms and those are not quite long enough.
I need to measure the factory links which are too long and find some sensor links that are between those two sizes.
If any others have insight on where I might find some that is the size needed, let me know.
F1 Fab makes adjustable height sensor links in varying sizes. Looks like I need an 8 cm with the H&R drop.
The OEMs look like 9.5 cm
We are going to try that to see if we can trick the system not to go into perpetual sport+ mode under suspension load which is causing a bumpy ride at times.
if that doesn’t work... time to go back to stock or look at adjustable springs or coil overs
PS
So far my assessment is that H&R lowering springs alone aren’t an optimal solution for this car if you are looking to minimize wheel gap. To me, the front end sits too low; and add the lack of compatibility with the adaptive suspension , now you have to do too many modifications just to get the car to behave the way you intended.
And the drop is much lower than its advertised .80 inches.
It’s at least a 1.5 inch drop and the springs aren’t even settled.
I haven’t lowered my car yet because I ammmore concerned about handling than reducing the gap. I haven’t read any informative posts regarding if lowering improves handling?
appreciate your post kaboom
Originally Posted by KAHBOOM
New update
F1 Fab makes adjustable height sensor links in varying sizes. Looks like I need an 8 cm with the H&R drop.
The OEMs look like 9.5 cm
We are going to try that to see if we can trick the system not to go into perpetual sport+ mode under suspension load which is causing a bumpy ride at times.
if that doesn’t work... time to go back to stock or look at adjustable springs or coil overs
PS
So far my assessment is that H&R lowering springs alone aren’t an optimal solution for this car if you are looking to minimize wheel gap. To me, the front end sits too low; and add the lack of compatibility with the adaptive suspension , now you have to do too many modifications just to get the car to behave the way you intended.
And the drop is much lower than its advertised .80 inches.
It’s at least a 1.5 inch drop and the springs aren’t even settled.
I haven’t lowered my car yet because I ammmore concerned about handling than reducing the gap. I haven’t read any informative posts regarding if lowering improves handling?
appreciate your post kaboom
Happy to share my experience to help fellow forum members.
With regard to handling, it’s hard to make a call on that because the adaptive suspension is still doing all the work when you corner hard(until I
get new height sensor links to see if we can recalibrated the adaptive suspensions ECU) As is, it seems that the car rotates slightly better but not so much better that I would compromise the ride quality with these springs.
I’ve had additional seat tiMe today on some bumpy roads.... The folks whose posts I’ve read that have said that the ride is better - I think they must work for H/&R - seriously it’s immediately noticeable how much more bumpy the ride becomes on anything other than relatively smooth roads.
What is more interesting is that on bumpy roads the car actually rides better with the suspension in sport mode... go figure
Update: Tire Rack is checking in with H&R to see if there is a solution to this issue. (I am not sure what solution could be offered but we will give it a try and see)
Meanwhile I am going to take some matters into my own hands.
The front is significantly lower than the rear. This is the primary cause of the suspension travel errors. I am going to attempt to level that car out some.
I will use some hydraulic hose to slide over the top and bottom part of the coil to attempt to raise the front between 3/4 of an inch to an inch. This will also allow for more strut travel.
I have also received some adjustable ride height sensors from F1 Fabrications (he made them for me for FREE!).
I will install those so that we can re calibrate the AMG ride control not to provide malfunction warnings and to make it relax on the damping resistance some.
I plan to do get this done either Friday or Monday and will keep you posted.
New update for those who are following the thread:
I did not go with a custom modification of the original springs from H/R.
Instead I reached out to H&R to talk through the issue. Through our discussions they have agreed to replace the front springs with a pair of taller custom springs to level out the right height.
As it has also been diagnosed by my installer (MB dealership) that the front suspension travel is what is primarily causing the suspension malfunction light to trigger, and the subsequent bouncy ride from the maximum damping resistance of the AMG ride control trying to prevent what it perceives as bottoming out, the taller front springs along with adjustable ride height sensor links and a new suspension tune for the electronic dampers should resolve the issue.
In view of the foregoing, I am grateful that H& R is essentially covering the cost of reinstallation of the new custom front springs that they are making for me in Germany.
I will post results and new pics after the springs arrive and the install is complete.
Replacement springs will arrive for me in 2 weeks.
I ordered some 8 cm adjustable height sensor links from F1 fabrications.
The AMG tech at dealer was able to use the new links to re-calibrate the AMG ride control so that it does not max out the dampers when hard cornering or when going over bumps.
Now the most certainly rides better than it did. It feels pretty much just like stock now just less floaty.
So for anyone lowering their car beyond the AMG ride controls threshold of normal suspension travel, I would definitely recommend going this route for ride quality.
The front end is still lower than the rear. When the taller springs come in, that will correct that issue and will also ensure a bit more normal suspension travel.
Some folks might prefer the obvious rake. If so, get the adjustable links and get the suspension re-tuned. I hadn't even realize the ride control could be re-tuned ... but then again it is all controlled by software.
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