DoctorD

I have corresponded with John Vranic of Adjustable Ride and will use my car to develop a ride-height sensor linkage for the ML63. Should be sorted by the end of this month. I don't want to adjust it much, but 1" or so lower would be nice since I feel a little 'perched up' compared to my previous X5 4.8is.

brt3

Keep us posted; this may be the only case where men of the species would actually prefer something an inch shorter...

BoBcanada

I bet kleemann, brabus or carlsson will rlease their lowering module soon too.

DoctorD

Well I'm never good at waiting for anything, so as I was busy taking photographs to send to John Vranic I decided to lower my ML63 anyway using a combination of washers and bracket bending.

I had read the instructions posted on other threads (none of them relating to the ML) and found that the 'front' adjustment was pretty similar to S-class and E-class models, namely placing a few washers under the ride height sensor bracket. In the case of the ML63 I used two 6mm washers (i.e. hole size) which were roughly 2mm thick (i.e. increasing the sensor drop by 4mm). There is a sensor either side inside each wheel arch (as per other airmatic MB models).

The rear was different to other MB models that I have read about. The S-class seems to have 'one' sensor mounted on a beam near the drivers side. The E-class is similar (mounted near the sway bar). The ML however has 'two' sensors mounted near the each rear axle. These are hinged on a bracket, that as standard seems to be 6-7 mm off the beam. All I did was to move it down and reduce this gap to 3-4mm (it bends quite easily).

Now the gap between wheelarch and tyre is around 8cm (3.5") which is probably between 1" and 2" lower than it was. I can feel the difference just climbing in and out of the car, but more importantly the CofG now feels around seat height, whereas before it felt a good bit higher. It's noticeably more stable and no longer feels 'perched up' as it did before.

I know, I know... you want photos! Well it's dark outside now, so it will have to wait until next weekend.

The car isn't 'slammed', to use the colloquial term, but it does now look more purposeful and like an AMG model should look. I can still raise the suspension which seems not much different to how high it was before. The ride quality is the same and all handling changes are positive. When I had it adjusted even lower I found that the dampers would bottom out at high-speed, so I raised it a little and all seems fine.

I will keep you posted on any other observations.

MSDLTD

https://mbworld.org/forums/ml55-amg-ml63-amg-w163-w164/174761-just-drove-ml63-mini-review.html


I used the Renn tech module...I highly recommend it..see above thread.


Instead of feeling like a low truck it feels like a high car now...

BoBcanada

Can you post a pic of you car lowered and in normal mode? Would love to see it.

DoctorD

Of course, I forgot that you had already fitted the Renntech module. It really is a worthwhile improvement to the 63, because otherwise it just feels too 'perched up' as it comes from the factory. Just lowering 1" makes all the difference to stability and composure.

The final straw (before I lowered it) was when a garage attendent mistook my ML63 for an ML320..

I may have some time tomorrow, so will try and take a few photos that can be compared to my original pics of a few weeks ago. The pics I took last night were too dull to really show the difference, although I can post a few for you to see.

Here are a few pictures before I take some proper ones tomorrow.

Before:




After:

DoctorD

Here are a few better pictures..

v8plus4

Very nice, doc. Looks to be closer to the ride height of the 4.8, right?

DoctorD

That's how it feels to me. As standard it just seems too high.

META

Oooh, that does look good – about perfect, I don't think you'd want to go any lower.

John V.

Your ML turned out nice Doctor D. With the kit it just would of been a lot easier and more accurate then bending brackets. The links are really easy to change and are fully adjustable.
Its a toss up what its worth. Your time playing around or just buying the links and making the job really easy.

AMG_55

i asked you for pics of your gt3 in another thread but i dont think you saw it....

can you please post a couple of pics, im interested to see how much camber it has, i was offered gt3 alignment specs and would like to know if its streetable or whether it will chew up the tires. also how much negative camber do you think i can put before it affects the braking performance. thank you