When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The front and rear firmness settings were increased prior from setting out from the office. This worsened the bouncing-cartwheeling to the point the rear fenders were rubbing in to the tires on every dip of the road. The adverse increase in dampening actually locked out the shock from dampening, causing the car to bounce on the springs and frequently rub the fenders and tires. The decision was made to go in the opposite direction...soften up the dampening...so the dampening went from 30 front-27 rear (from softest to hardest) to 20 front-20 rear. This returned shock dampening and less spring bouncing, and an enjoyable balanced ride at speeds and cornering! Though I've not tested Yellow Speed Racing Sport coil-overs without a W220 front sway bar, it's strongly suggested to add this as a means to assure firmer cornering abilities while using modest dampening settings. In summation and IMO, Yellow Speed likely did some homework tuning/designing this coil-over strut package with the W215 chassis.
Last edited by principledchiro; 05-17-2017 at 11:06 PM.
The suspension settled a bit and I'm beginning to understand its dynamics. With one index finger fender to tire clearance of the front wheels and two for the rear: An opposite direction of adjusting the dampening is taken: the front is now set at 17 from softest due to 25 causing a bit too much road feedback and causing the rear to excessively bounce. The rears were left at 20 from softest. This combination is yielding improved and decent drive-ability but somewhat still inadequate handling and road manner dynamics on roads that have dips. At the present height, moderate dips in the road sometimes bottom out the car. At the moment, until the rear fender to tire height is lowered 1" for looks and decreasing spring rebound and/or increasing spring pre-load to increase spring compression, my opinion is to go with higher rate springs to address the rear bounciness. There's a spring company that visited this thread that offers higher rate springs. This coming week the mechanic is lowering the rear 1" and decreasing the front's -2.3 degree camber...reporting back results.
Last edited by principledchiro; 05-26-2017 at 07:20 AM.
With the front lowered to 25.75 inches from ground to bottom of fender, wheel alignment revealed -2 degrees front camber. Prior to 4-wheel alignment, stock MB camber bolts were placed in the front W220 lower control arms, and in the stock rear lower control arms. Turning the camber bolts, the technician was able to bring front camber to -1.5 degrees. Raising the front 1" to 26.5 inches brought camber to spec. and still gave a lowered appearance. The rear height was left at 27.5 inches, an inch higher than my liking. Dampening: from softest setting; 20 front, 15 rear. Road manners and handling: flat roads with corners felt smooth and handled with ease. At high speeds (75+ mph) moderate road dips (troughs) caused the suspension to bounce excessively. The Rennen's fitted with 295's and spacers rubbed with the outer lip of the fenders. This loss of suspension control at 75+ mph got hairier with corners with moderate road dips...the bouncing caused the rear to almost slide out and the front to under steer. The ride home from office: dampening was set at 25 front, 20 rear. This firmed the ride a bit but an absence of moderate dips in the road didn't allow for testing road manners at 75+ mph. The car handled corners better when it was lower and front camber was -2 degrees. The next ride height adjustment to lower the rear will necessitate another alignment, here I'll instruct the technician to allow for a small amount more negative camber, perhaps -1.5 degree. Tomorrow the front 255/35 19" Yokohamas are being replaced by Hankook Ventus to match the rear Hankook Ventus 295/30 19". Impression: despite continuing to adjust the Yellow Speed Sport coil-overs, the weight of the 2003-06 CL55 AMG may be too much of a match for the YSP 20k/14k struts/springs, this despite losing approx. 100 lbs. from deleting some exhaust and all ABC suspension components (next week the car will be weighed; 4250 lbs to 4150 lbs?). Higher rate springs? If this; will they overcome the strut dampening. As an attempt to lessen bounce, the next trial involves lowering the rear 1" to 26.5". If this proves to help, the rear fenders will have to be rolled as a means to clear the tires under full compression. From install, the YSP have approx. 400 miles on them. Today the Strut Master ABC delete module goes in to turn off all ABC warning messages.
Last edited by principledchiro; 05-26-2017 at 07:14 AM.
Friday; on went a pair of front Hankook Ventus 255/35/19. This resolved the chopped ride of the former failed ABC destroying the front Yokohamas's. Best damper settings so far are: front 23, rear 19. For now, this seems to yield best compromise between firm yet comfort ride quality. This week; the rear will be lowered .5". This brings the ground a distance of to 27" to lip of rear fender. The front remains at 26.5" from ground to lip of front fender. This 2006 CL55 AMG possesses a Eurocharged Tuning Stage II (headers, 77mm fsp, etc., which yields 610 chp @ 675 lb/ft. torque, a DTK TCM tune. Near future mods are 82mm throttle body and 550 injectors; to yield a Eurocharged Stage III certified claim of 650+ chp @ 675+ lb./ft. torque, and a Quaife LSD.
Last edited by principledchiro; 05-27-2017 at 09:57 PM.
If anyone swapping in coil-overs and removed the ABC components then experienced clunking-rattling sounds from the passenger rear area: this's caused by the rear ABC accumulator mounting bracket. It's in the trunk, located just above and right of the spare tire well, under the trunk floor cover. Lift and remove the trunk cover. The bracket is completely flat and black, so it can be mistaken as trunk floor. it has three bolts welded to it that go through the floor of the trunk. If you removed the accumulator that it once held, then there aren't nuts on the opposite side (facing the road) to hold it down. It will bounce off the trunk floor making a rattling and clunking noise that you'll swear is suspension related. Just lift and remove the bracket off the trunk floor.
I own a 2003 CL55. I just installed my yellowspeed coilovers. Before installation, I shortened the rear struts as short as I could....screwing the lower half into the upper strut. At its shortest setting...it was still just as long as the factory ABC rear strut. Is this correct? Did I receive lower halves that were not threaded all the way? They only screwed so far until they reached a stop/no more threads. So after installation, my rear is too high. I can only lower it by removing all of the preload and dropping the collar down a further 2 inches or so. Then.....it drives like crap. Rear bangs with every bump and bounces like crazy. Someone with yellowspeed experience please help. I've owned a previous CL500 and installed strutmaster. I did not like the rear height. And zero adjustability. Now...on my CL55 I'm dealing with the same issue. The rear sits up 2 inches from the 20" rear tires.
Ok. Yes, the coil-overs are as long as the ABC struts. The car is on a lift or jacked up to allow the rear wheels to drop all the way down to allow the strut install. The spring pre-load collar was unscrewed; releasing the factory set pre-load. At this point we'll have to measure then send you the distance in mm from the top of our rear struts to the bottom collar so that you can re-gain an accurate depiction of pre-load, or...you'll have to return the struts to allow them to re-set pre-load. Before installing the rear struts place the dampening adjuster knob in place on the top of each strut. Not doing so will not allow the dampening adjuster to be placed on after installation due to the rear glass sloping very close to the top of the strut, not allowing the pin of the dampening rod to be inserted. This Monday my 06 CL55 is going in the shop for new rear sub frame bushings. Measurements and pics for the top of the spring to bottom pre-load collar will be taken for your reference.
I just realized my mistake. After disassembling the rear strut.....the threading stops but it is a larger diameter and continues to thread mast that. I met resistance and so I stop twisting. Lol.....thank you for your input. I love these forums!!!
Last edited by llcoolbenz; 07-27-2017 at 02:39 PM.
Reason: mistaken information
I just realized my mistake. After disassembling the rear strut.....the threading stops but it is a larger diameter and continues to thread mast that. I met resistance and so I stop twisting. Lol.....thank you for your input. I love these forums!!!
Awesome! Please report your impressions of YSS coil-overs. My install hasn't worked out to satisfaction due to the rear subframe bushings were too worn out and broken, allowing the rear of the body to bounce off the chassis. They were replaced yesterday...picking car up...will report findings.
Preload or no preload? With no preload and about 1in of space, it bounces wildly and bottoms out stroke of shock. Which will damage them. Enough preload to seat the spring and it's a nice ride. Extra preload and it stiffens or firms the ride. What's the popular setting here? I received 20F 16R springs. I have my 03 CL55 dropped pretty low. About 1/2" front tire to fender and 1" rear. I'm not overly concerned at this point about rubbing because I just ordered the widebody kit which will involve cutting the rear fender. Also, what is the effect of under damping or over damping? At softest setting (0F 0R) it floats nicely. But makes weird fluid sound on bumps. Lol. Harder setting (32F 30R) it bangs hard on bumps and makes noticeable noise in rear. So now I'm playing with mid settings. Currently 20F 15R. I'm on Mercedes AMG 20" rims. Once I install the widebody kit and new wider rims with hubcentric spacer....then I'll do alignment. So much to do...lol!
Can anyone tell me what caps they used to cap off the ABC system on the four corners? I think I am going to do this conversion, tired of replacing blown lines! Part numbers and where you got them would be awesome!
Regards
Can anyone tell me what caps they used to cap off the ABC system on the four corners? I think I am going to do this conversion, tired of replacing blown lines! Part numbers and where you got them would be awesome!
Regards
I chose to remove all the abc lines in my car. My previous CL500 I capped the lines off with I believe 3/8 brass caps from Home Depot. But with my CL55 I took out everything ABC related and sold most of it on eBay. By removing ALL ABC components, you shave off maybe 100-125 lbs (including swapping the heavy tandem abc pump for a much lighter S500 power steering pump).
Can anyone tell me what caps they used to cap off the ABC system on the four corners? I think I am going to do this conversion, tired of replacing blown lines! Part numbers and where you got them would be awesome!
Regards
@400rwhp,
Home Depot part.
“The hydraulic lines needed to be capped (3/8" brass female threaded pipe flare caps) and zip tied to parts of the chassis.”
I chose to remove all the abc lines in my car. My previous CL500 I capped the lines off with I believe 3/8 brass caps from Home Depot. But with my CL55 I took out everything ABC related and sold most of it on eBay. By removing ALL ABC components, you shave off maybe 100-125 lbs (including swapping the heavy tandem abc pump for a much lighter S500 power steering pump).
That's perfect, thank you. The power steering pump you used, what year S500 is it from? And did it swap in directly, as in no modifications needed, just plug and play?
OP, do you have a caliper that you could measure the OD of the springs with? Also the coil thickness? We can get nearly any spring you need in rates up to 32kg. The part number seems to indicate a 74mm ID, but that would be a strange size.
We can supply you with 2.0" 2.25" 2.5" 2.625" 3" 3.5" And 50mm, 60mm 62mm, 65mm 70mm Plus many larger sizes too.
Sean,
Do you offer 20kg springs for the Yellowspeed coilovers on the rear of a CL?
Rick
Sorry for not responding. Please review my write-up on the road conditions. Our cars are extremely heavy cars and my preference for a stiff suspension may not be your cup of tea. However, if you do utilize a less stiff set of springs it will be costly to try to move to a stiffer set. Consider also that springs may sag (mine haven't) and that I am on the top range of clicks to stiffness right now (Fronts at 30, Rears at 26 now). The only reason I do not go higher on the rears is that the road feedback becomes noticeable at 28 clicks from soft.
Look up as much information as you can regarding the spring rates and its impact to the ride quality and make your decision. I initially discussed with Yellow Speed in detail about the spring rates but that was after the installation.
Picked up my 06 CL55 AMG with YSRS-coil overs (springs: front 20k rear 14k), W220 (2003 S500) front sway bar, front lower control arms, power steering pump and reservoir. The mechanic set both front and rear on soft settings. The ride was too bouncy, so the settings were set f: 28 R: 25. This helped but still not quite enough (ride home from office tonight will be: front-30, rear-27. Without an alignment, road attitude was quirky, so went to Midas for alignment. They were able to set toe (castor came back with correct toe setting), but camber was -2 degrees and not adjustable. Mechanic ordered camber bolt kit for Mavis to install-align tomorrow. This should bring decent road manners. One thing that's nice...No ABC warnings then failure. Will report back tomorrow.
Just an fyi, I completed my Yellow Spring Racing coilover conversion about two weeks ago now. I ordered the 20kg spring rate for the rear coilovers but, I'm discovering that they are a little too stiff for what I'm looking for. I'll be replacing them with 14kg springs in a few days but thought I would see if someone on the forum would be interested in a set of 20kg springs. BTW, these are on a W220 03 s600 TTV12. Please PM me if anyone is interested.
Friday; on went a pair of front Hankook Ventus 255/35/19. This resolved the chopped ride of the former failed ABC destroying the front Yokohamas's. Best damper settings so far are: front 23, rear 19. For now, this seems to yield best compromise between firm yet comfort ride quality. This week; the rear will be lowered .5". This brings the ground a distance of to 27" to lip of rear fender. The front remains at 26.5" from ground to lip of front fender. This 2006 CL55 AMG possesses a Eurocharged Tuning Stage II (headers, 77mm fsp, etc., which yields 610 chp @ 675 lb/ft. torque, a DTK TCM tune. Near future mods are 82mm throttle body and 550 injectors; to yield a Eurocharged Stage III certified claim of 650+ chp @ 675+ lb./ft. torque, and a Quaife LSD.
I have an 03 s600 with Yellow Speed Racing coilovers also. My spring rate is now 20kg in the front and 14kg in the back...tried 20kg originally in the back but was too stiff. Just wondering if your damper settings are still 23 in the front and 19 in the back, as I can't seem to get a good balance between normal surface street driving and higher freeway speeds...either a little to stiff or too bouncy still. I realize our cars are not the same in weight or weight ratio but, it seems you have experimented as I have with damper settings. Strange, the settings don't seem to be consistent or predictable...at least my impression. Your current thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated. BTW, I'm on 275/40/18 on rear tires and 255/45/18 in front at about 26" to bottom of wheel arch in front and 27" in back.
After a few adjustments, the car has settled down nicely and my confidence in the Yellow Speed suspension continues to grow. Unfortunately, I do not drive my car that much so the mileage updates will be slow. However, I will say one thing... I am no longer worried about the ABC.
Pointers for anyone attempting this...
1. If you set your car height too high - you will encounter bounciness.
2. If you set your car height too low - you will scrape.
3. Do not pre-load the springs.
The items above are subject to your wheel set-up. I am on 20" wheel setup.
4. My comfort height (just staying clear of rubbing in the wheel arches while tackling the jacked up roads in PA) is 27 inches in the rear and 26.75 inches in the front. You may need to go back for adjustments as the springs settle in your first 500 miles.
5. Do get a full alignment after a break-in period and before you judge or make any hasty decisions or changes. Negative camber will be your enemy on the fronts. Get this fixed.
6. My damper settings are now 32Fronts/27 Rears (from full soft).
7. For my wheel set-up do not set the rear dampers above 27 from full soft. If you do so the ride will become unpleasantly harsh.
8. If you are not a fan of a stiff ride I would say set your car to 28 Front / 25 Rear.
Sale Time: Anyone want a set of used Shocks from my CL55 AMG? Please PM me... we can work out the details on price there - they will be cheap with full disclosure...
Our cars are heavy and the fronts should be set higher than the rears.
BTW.. I also picked up a 2006 W211 E55 (18 inch standard wheels) a month ago and I also drove around with my neighbors 2005 W211 E55 (20 inch wheels). All the cars had a less than desirable drive due to the road conditions. Airmatic doesn't impress me either! The roads in my area are just plain crap!
Out of curiosity, what were thethe spring rates for your front and back set up? Also, when you say "no preload," do you just mean hand tighten just until the spring is not loose or add aleast a spanner wrench's worth of preload. Lastly, is the preload that you recommend, different than the way they come from the factory?
The front and rear firmness settings were increased prior from setting out from the office. This worsened the bouncing-cartwheeling to the point the rear fenders were rubbing in to the tires on every dip of the road. The adverse increase in dampening actually locked out the shock from dampening, causing the car to bounce on the springs and frequently rub the fenders and tires. The decision was made to go in the opposite direction...soften up the dampening...so the dampening went from 30 front-27 rear (from softest to hardest) to 20 front-20 rear. This returned shock dampening and less spring bouncing, and an enjoyable balanced ride at speeds and cornering! Though I've not tested Yellow Speed Racing Sport coil-overs without a W220 front sway bar, it's strongly suggested to add this as a means to assure firmer cornering abilities while using modest dampening settings. In summation and IMO, Yellow Speed likely did some homework tuning/designing this coil-over strut package with the W215 chassis.
im using 20” rims with low profile tires, so when I switch my strutmasters setup to the yellowspeed or Ceika kit, I’m thinking the same thing...add front sway bars MAINLY to be able to have a good ride quality with minimal body roll
so here’s my question
it seems we’ve discovered the w215 requires slanted top mounts
does this mean the W220 swaybar/w220 control arm setup will require the flat top mounts?? If anyone has any info please update because I really need new coilovers
edit- to clarify , I’m replacing my strutmasters setup on my 2002 cl500 chassis, but want to do front sway bars and W220’s control arms without manipulating my coilovers to reach the different mounting spot for the W220’s control arms since they are different
I own a 2003 CL55. I just installed my yellowspeed coilovers. Before installation, I shortened the rear struts as short as I could....screwing the lower half into the upper strut. At its shortest setting...it was still just as long as the factory ABC rear strut. Is this correct? Did I receive lower halves that were not threaded all the way? They only screwed so far until they reached a stop/no more threads. So after installation, my rear is too high. I can only lower it by removing all of the preload and dropping the collar down a further 2 inches or so. Then.....it drives like crap. Rear bangs with every bump and bounces like crazy. Someone with yellowspeed experience please help. I've owned a previous CL500 and installed strutmaster. I did not like the rear height. And zero adjustability. Now...on my CL55 I'm dealing with the same issue. The rear sits up 2 inches from the 20" rear tires.
i had the opposite problem, the front was too high on my strutmasters set up, and the rear was reasonable but would scrape on large bumps with my 20” rims, weird
05-17-2017, 11:02 PM
