cl55er

Hey guys, i recently purchased 03 CL55 and well aware of the ABC problem. Although it seems like its inevitable, based on my research there are handful of people that have experienced this problem and there seem to be those lucky enough to run 100k miles+ bone stock and are still running strong then there are those of you who are in the dark. I thought it would be cool if everyone (Experienced ABC problem and those problem free alike) posted their experience with w215 and get a clearer picture:

1) Did you experience ABC problem?
2) What year is your w215 and how many miles?
3) Where are you located and the type of roads and weather condition?
4) If you experienced ABC problem, what was the damage and cost to repair? Did you have any mods that might have contributed to the problem (example: lowered suspension, aftermarket wheels, etc.?)

Please note that this thread is not to argue if this ABC will fail or not but to see bigger picture and try to get a statistic of how many of these vehicles have failed ABC and how many of those lucky ones are running strong. Thanks!

cl55er

Let me start first:

1) Haven't had ABC problem yet
2) 2003 CL55, 70,000 miles.
3) I'm the 3rd owner. First registered to owner in Florida(30k miles), second owner registered in NYC (70k miles). I'm the 3rd owner that just bought the car a week ago. Road conditions here are probably the worst in the nation with all the cracks and potholes and we see some hot summer days(temps up to 100+) and pretty freezing winter days(10-20F) with sometimes snow storms as high as 2-3 foot of snow.

Cartronics

I have an 05 CL65.
88,000 currently - daily driver
Spent first 4 years of life in California, now in Atlanta
ABC went at about 80,000 miles. Started with errors on startup that cleared quickly. Then on an unusual cold snap day of 15 degrees (very unusual for ATL), it went. Two weeks total elapsed time from starting problems to total failure.
As a Mercedes supplier, we get MB parts at jobber cost, so total with labor was $3800

02cl55amg

when i was 3. sorry, could not resist

3 cl 215's

02 cl55-abc line ruptured at about 70kmiles. covered under ext warr(sold)
05 cl65-32kmiles. no probs as of yet, but have ext warr till 2015(current)
04 cl500-83kmiles. no probs yet, just bought 2 weeks ago w/ no warr(daily driver)

i did notice on my old 02 and current 04, the car suspension does raise up/down while its in park running. all three are lowered via links but the 65 is not acting up like the 02 or 04

CL500

1) Yes.
2) 2000 CL 500 - 75 000 miles (4th owner).
3) Norway - Bad roads / Winter lasts for about 6-7 months of the year.
4) Replaced all struts. Cost: 50 000,- NOK or about 9,100 USD
(Dealership first wanted 86 700,- NOK or about 15,790 USD )
Car was not lowered at the time of repair. Only aftermarket wheels - 18" both summer and winter.
ABC-pump is up next.

cl55er

200+ views and 3 replies? Come on guys, give us your input!

BlownV8

Pump twice and just about all the lines. Most of the repairs occured around 70,000 miles.

Kahn95678

I have had the car for 9 days. It has been sitting with a ruptured line for 7. Now that I fully understand WHAT actually happened. I am ordering the parts Tomorrow (2 accumulators and 1 high pressure hose) about $475 [refer to my thread about ruptured ABC line for part numbers] I will either fix it myself or pay for 6 hours labor $540 (Includes SDS, bleeding, and Rodeo) total repair will cost me $1015 plus a AAA membership.

I firmly believe if you change your accumulators every 3 - 5 years you will have no problems. But that's' just my opinion

NRL

Here's Mine.

1) Repaired once at super authorized dealer early on in its life. Possibly valve block or lines. No current ABC problems. Car is perfect.
2) 2005 CL65 67,000 miles
3) 2nd Owner at 65,000 miles. 1st Owner Babied at FJ. Sunny SoCal, OC.

TRAKCAR

2005 with 52K miles, line blew last week repaired under certified warranty.

Mercedes22

1,Yes
2,2003 85,000, 3rd owner
3,London + ( Surrey ) SE England. Roads, good and bad.
4, Pump + O/S rear strut £2000 = £ 3,250 under warranty. No mods before, have had it remapped since and secondary cats removed.

scottramy

Bought my 2003 CL55 last week with 51,000 miles... 3 days ago on my first long trip it started with the "ABC system, take to shop" warning message. It has repeated on each of the last 3 mornings but only the first start of the day and the error message clears on any subsequent starts. I expect to drive the 50 miles to the nearest MB shop this week. I've continued driving it since I've seen no sign of trouble (other than the warning), no leaking and no drooping. A friend says it could be a battery since he had experienced various warnings that cleared up after replacing the battery. I'm nervous!
I'm in NE Texas with average roads. I'll post the $$$ when I can.
Thanks to Kahn for his post on the accumulators...

radride

Yes. Bought the car with 70000miles and when it came off the train the car wouldnt rise up. Replaced the ABC pump and now everything is great. The car is a 2005 CL65. Cost of repairs was $3000 which included the transmission plug that was leaking.

R.K.

CL55AMGRON

Yes 2005 cl55 amg 65,000 miles right rear strut leak. replaced strut. $1600 No problem yet 4mos and counting.

StarPower

2004 CL55 with just over 70,000 mi. I bought it in May 2009 with less than 35,000 mi, so for the first part of it's life it wasn't driven much, but since then it's been driven on some fairly rough roads.

If it sits for more than a week, the left front corner will drop noticeably (not enough for the wheel to hit the inside of the wheel well after three weeks). The strut's not leaking, so I figure a valve is leaking by. From everything I've heard this is normal, and I don't plan on having it fixed unless it gets worse.

Lukezwoelf

CL600 2005 with 30K miles.
I am just having the third ABC hose repair in the last 9000 miles. I am basically averaging 2500 miles per repair, and the same hose was affected last time so it lasted literally only 2000 miles.
Is my dealership using a bad batch of hoses or are they incompetent? I know the ABC is a problem but this is just ridiculous.

saintz

Your accumulator is probably shot. Believe there are two. They act like pressurized expansion tanks on a well pump. Or in other words, like a buffer so they absorb impacts instead of the line flexing and breaking. They are a maintenance item but most people don't seem to know about them or that they should replace them every few years.

I was under the car today and realized that the ABC system is not that complex, it just is misunderstood (I still don't fully understand it). I think small things like a shot accumulator, which costs $400 and should be replaced periodically but people don't know it, were engineered for a reason and when neglected cause big problems. The other problem is that the valve blocks are metal sealed and are designed to leak. People don't get this. Any small leak and they change them. They are supposed to leak a small amount. Finally, the struts leak, and that is bad. I think that's really the only real flaw. I take it that with working accumulators, the hoses are generally safe.

saintz

If the fluid never gets low in the reservoir, it is the valve block leaking, not the strut. Mercedes design is for the valve block to hold for a few days. If it drops after a week, that is considered normal. Totally agree, only fix it if you have a real problem (drops when driving or the fluid goes low, meaning strut leak).

benz_addict

Never had any ABC problems on the CL55. I'm scared to say this.
Even though dealer wanted to scam me out of 10 grand of doing pointless replacing the ABC pump and struts. This was 60,000 miles ago.

Maybe the Brabus module on the stiffest setting has something to do with it? Or perhaps always leaving it on ABC sport mode? Maybe the shocks are not moving and not dampening the bumps thus prolonging the life of the struts/pump? Just thinking out loud..

Television

ABC problem,,please do not remind me,,, First back in 2005 and 14k miles 2 struts failed, cost £2300. 4 months later all fluid was lost through the front valve block when the alli washer failed on the return to tank valve.

Next every now and then the ABC message would come up, but the car stayed level, my STAR said front level sensor at fault,replaced the hall effect sensor but fault still there, in the end I removed the ABC ECU and re soldered the pins to the plug sockets and the fault finally went. These things cost some £1000.

Last year all fluid came out again from the valve block and this was the alli washer on the pressure feed, so replaced that with a copper one.

Please note that ABC struts are OK if they just mist up with oil, but if they drip fluid then they are unsafe and will not pass a MOT test. One of mine has been misting for some 5 years and no change in all that time.

I have always got home as I keep a bottle of fluid in the car at all times, you just never know when

dkk159

Hi there,

My 2004 cl 55 AMG is causing me some trouble and I think if I flush and change the filter that will solve the problem? Can you tell me how it is done and what I actually have to do to flush my system?
My system says ABC - active body control - drive safely. Maybe I just have to add more oil to the abc system?
I would REALLY appreciate your help!

JHouse

3rd owner of 2004 CL55, only put about 5,000 miles on it so far, total of 73,000+

No problems yet. Have been advised by one garage that it has an extremely slow leak at one fitting. No evidence of it according to dealer, so that might have been a scam.

When it idles for a long time (really long time, much longer than traffic light) it will re-level and scare me. Several folks say their car does the same. But mechanic says losing no perceptible fluid, so I've ruled that out.

CL600CK60

I just had the ABC pump and hoses replaced at 72,800 miles (2003 CL600 CK60 with Carlsson mods). Did not have any serious problems but I did get the "red warning" for a brief period of time, took the car for a checkup, discovered a "sweaty" hose and decided to replace hoses and ABC pump. Total cost: $3800 (this cost also included new engine mounts (it was a good opportunity to replace them at the same time as the hoses) and brake pad (front) installation. Except for the engine mounts, I supplied all parts (sourced them from different parts supplier at a significant discount).

The issue with ABC is not the system itself but the notion that it requires "no maintenance" according to the manual. Hydraulic system that operates at such high pressure (3000psi) DOES require maintenance and part replacement every 3-5 years (that's the typical lifetime of the hydraulic pump), depending on driving style, miles driven, weather conditions (humidity, cold and heat will slowly grind away at the hoses) and possibly luck.

Roads here in St.Petersburg/Tampa, FL are excellent (minor bumps). Previous owners drove this car Midwest and Northeast but they averaged less than 10,000 miles per year. I have heard from several MB enthusiasts that cars left parked in the garage for an extended period of time fare worse than cars that are driven regularly. After I had ABC pump and hoses replaced, car ride has improved significantly (it was great to begin with).

benz_addict

Just did another ABC fluid/fliter change. Is it just me or does the ride quality improve after?
When ABC fails does it just blow that high pressure line or pump?
I've seen some CL fires happen like that where the ABC fluid comes in contact with the hot exhaust manifold then BOOM. Scary.

BlownV8

That was my experience. Hose goes pop and the red light of death comes on the dashboard. If you don't stop the car quickly and have it towed, the pump grenades and sends tiny metal bits as far as the point of failure. The little metal bits then, over time, start to wreak havoc on the control blocks and struts.