I think the best way to put it, is that lots of w215 owners are largely disappointed that a world-class car can be largely unreliable.

A Hyundai with hydraulics? Sure, I expect to replace everything within ten years and plenty of maintenance, even throw in some unreliability and I’m not going to be shocked. But being these cars were often $100k+ msrp it’s quite odd they were known to be so unreliable. It’d be different if this wasn’t a production car, but it is

edit- unfortunately, all w215’s owners often spend thousands on systems besides the Abc, it’s not a matter of being cheap... These cars are largely reliable outside of AbC, but still plagued with metal corrosion, failing vacuum lines/pumps, expensive tires, leaky transmission wiring harness, expensive batteries, double the amount of spark plugs of a normal engine, fiberglass body repairs, speedometer cluster issues, leather maintenance, and lots of other quirks TO BE EXPECTED ON A $100k Msrp car. All extremely common issues/costs on the w215. Our opinion is just that the unreliability and maintenance costs of ABC from the early 2000’s is illogical even for a $100k car

I love how you have elected yourself as Lord of the Flies with all the “we” and “our” stuff.

You have no idea hence what you speak. The CL was the most reliable car I ever owned and I probably spent no more than $3K in any year over 10 in maintenance.

However, as the Lord, please do dispense your Kool Aid to your disciples.

You are not related to Jim Jones are you?

i was hoping you’d answer my question about what abc service you had during your ten year term with your cl55. Did you have any accumulators changed , any struts Changed , any hoses changed , any valve bodies changed , and how many fluid and filter changes during that time ?

I have four ABC cars currently and all retain their abc systems so I am genuinely interested in your abc experiences

Tusabes, i would love to let you know what was done but i honestly cannot. My mechanic was given carte blanche to maintain my CL in “as new” condition over the 10 years that i owned it. So i know that he periodically replaced hoses and fluids as he saw fit, but what he specifically did, I cannot say. I know that over the entire 10 years of ownership I went in for regular maintenance and annually the bill was never more than around $3000. But if you want specific recommendations on ABC maintenance, please call him. I am sure he will be helpful.

I also know that i never had an ABC failure or any other catastrophic event (the worst being that one of my headlight switches once failed and i had to drive around with 1 headlight for a few days while they got a new part). I was also periodically wearing out the transmission mount because I liked to go fast from every stop light.

Truthfully the biggest cost of ownership was tires (about $2000 every 10K) and gas (less than 9 miles to the gallon). But that was just me being me.

Also, while the ABC system is a great handling system, it can certainly be tweaked and made even better. With so many ABC cars you might want to try it.

Over my 10 years of ownership i worked with my mechanic and we tweaked the suspension based initially on some Brabus specs and then we went from there. By the time we were done i had an outrageous handling car that could keep up with my Ferrari. The biggest thing for me was that it had that “go kart” tight feeling instead of the factory set up which is very “soft”. But the key was this was achieved without sacraficing ride or comfort. Also at the end of the day it only involved low cost lowering links, wheels, tires and alignment mods (though plenty of trial and error). Absolutely no body or frame mods.

I would be happy to share the final specs if you are interested.

I don’t think I used the words “we” or “our” anywhere in that post?

Anyways, Its clear that I understand these cars better than you, while again, you claim I do not understand when I have actual experience with everything I’ve stated. I’ve driven both abc w215’s, and a w215 with coilovers. You simply have not. Case closed. You are the one speaking from ignorance and arrogance here.

You came into this conversation claiming these guys should just own Toyota’s, and comparing their cars to Third world country taxi cabs, simply if they don’t want to deal with Abc issues? but later you argue “these are incredibly complex cars”. It’s very clear you don’t know much about these machines besides sales brochures, magazine articles and second- hand opinions from your Indy mechanic who has amusingly already made a small fortune from you, and seems well on his way to cash out on a full Abc rehaul here soon. I’d be sure to tell you to keep the w215 with Abc if I was him too

me? I’ve upgraded w215’s to AMG engines, transmissions, brakes, lorinser body panels, upgraded the Bose sound system, replaced The suspension, electronics, engine components and so forth all myself. I can tell you the exact size nuts and bolts for everything on this car....

you? You consistently get milked by your mechanic while reading Car and Driver magazine in the waiting room... get on your smartphone to speak to matters youve not engineered nor experienced, and denounce those who’ve made the more logical decision to ditch the Abc system

also im starting to realize, you are speaking of your Airmatic S class in regards to a non ABC w215 - having bad handling? What an asinine assumption to think you understand a coilover converted w215 because you’ve driven an Airmatic W220 🤷*♂️

Lastly I don’t know how much more clear I can make this. You are certainly in the minority as someone who has been able to avoid major ABC issues. Take some time to actually read through these forums, and learn some things about these cars and you’ll probably realize you are speaking from a stance of pure luck, ignorance and arrogance . Good luck with your Abc and I genuinely hope it does not fail on you at speeds of 70mph+ because that is a risk you are proudly undertaking. Plenty of people have done this but it looks especially asinine coming from someone who denounced removing the Abc system.

im sure Ron’s mechanic genuinely has better expertise on these matters but from what I’ve gathered -

-you’ll want to replace the stock 10micron Abc pump filter with the new 3 micron filter

-very regular fluid changes with a real
mercedes mechanic who can run the “rodeo” test afterwards and also properly bleed the system

-ANY signs of seapage or leaks from any hoses or struts means it’s time for replacement

-the system uses rubber hoses to account for the fluctuations in hydraulic pressure involved in these systems unfortunately. So i would change these hoses every 7-8 years for the sole fact that one hose bursting can subsequently cause an Abc pump failure.

-consider changing aged pumps/valves/accumulators even before they get a chance to fail

-cleanliness when servicing the abc system is important as well, just like working on transmissions. They are very sensitive to dirt/etc

these systems are alike to Hvac systems in that when the main pump goes bad, it often sends particulate and shards throughout the rest of the system, effectively grenading the system. Any Abc warning lights should be thoroughly investigated in My opinion, even if they seem to resolve themselves. You’ll find weaping hoses, struts, pumps and reservoirs far before you will see any errors in my experience

edit- this should have been covered under the recall, but on the w215 in particular there was a factory installed hose that ran over the transmission bellhousing and would leak/burst and cause the car to catch on fire. It’s worth double checking your service records to make sure this recall has been done .

yes very interested in the final specs . Please post them as they can help a lot of us

thanks those are good tips . I know I should be more proactive and have my mechanic to do inspections for weeping (I have had three hose bursts in my cl500 with 145000 miles ) . I always make sure to keep the fluid filled and drive just a few miles to my mechanic as it’s bad to let it run dry .

I’m aware of the recall and only one of my cars is affected . None of the hoses that burst were the recalled hose .

my cl600 had 2 or 3 hose bursts during the prior owners care , none yet during my ownership .

Starfollower, you offered good insights into maintenance and you are the first one that I have heard of that went the new and improved aftermarket hose route. Makes total sense. Are there any sources or tips that you can offer?

My suspicion is that the coilover route chosen by some is because the CL at its present price point has fallen into the hands of some backyard mechanics who find the car too complex to properly maintain (not criticizing because I used to be one myself). You might be able to offer them some inspiration.

Tusabes, it is going to take me a little while to gather all of the information and source references. But i will certainly get it done. It was a fun, low cost project and really personalized the handling of the car for me.

i disagree with nothing you’ve said here. What comes around goes around, and when you come into a thread talking trash on w215’s with coilovers because you happen to have a W220’s with Airmatic (😂😂&#128514 youre likely to get trash shoveled back in your direction. Otherwise there wouldn’t be plenty of world class cars fitted with coilovers even the today

if you buy this car FOR the abc system, that makes some sense to spend the money on it, though sorta illogical. I bought this car for being the car it was, I probably would’ve still bought it without any hydraulic suspension setup.

thats a good point, a lot of you all bought your cl55/cl600 models, even used, for $20/30k and upwards. So spending $5k on ABC every few years isn’t too outlandish, I guess, especially if that was your main cause for buying the car.
My car was an 2002 Cl500 for $13.5k when I bought it. And I personally didn’t buy this car for the ABC alone, I bought it because it was the best car I could buy with $13.5k at the time.

ABC was something I learned about when I bought the car. It was cool to adjust ride height, but I’d already been used to sports cars with stiff suspensions with not much body roll. And as everyone knows, the ABC system still acted quirky over large potholes. So to me it was like “oh hey that’s cool” not “HOLY WOW”. I was largely impressed by the car overall

my cl500 came with the AMG bodykit, nice rims and was well-taken care of with low miles. The car was very impressive and certainly the nicest thing I’d ever bought myself at the age of 19

Tusabes, I just posted the specs under a separate thread “CL Handling Project”. Hopefully some of the information will be useful.

very detailed and useful , thanks !