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IF my ABC ever fails (hopefully it won't) I will certainly be doing the coil over. Matter of fact, I stopped over there a couple of weeks ago just in case and they told me the entire job would cost about $1600 which includes taxes and labor. They stated that it would take them about 4 hours for the conversion. They really do have a very nice facility. It would cost about $1600 just to replace the front ABC shocks.
I had to add knuckles to the front springs in order to stiffen them and raise it up .5" Now it sits more level and doesn't rub on every dip anymore. It seems others have also experienced front and rear differences with ride height as well with the conversion.
I just bought this car and have the same rear end height issue the strutmaster conversion was already done luckily....my mechanic advised to cut one coil off from the rear to level it out so thats what we'll be doing this weekend. 20" wheels btw
Since you seem to have gone a long way modifying your car, I think one thing is keeping it from quite pulling together. The brakes look tiny! Is it terribly expensive to get bigger brakes for these cars? I think the AMG ones are silly expensive new, but I don't know secondhand.
Converted my 2005 SL500 from ABC to Strutmasters. I've done a lot of work to the Airmatic in my S430, but the ABC is a different animal. Here are some shots of the car and one of the kit I installed. It rode really well, but the ride height was higher than I liked. I sold it about 300 miles after the conversion, but I did notice that the ride height had settled down significantly already. Don't think you need the sway bars unless you are going to track it.
Regarding the ABC light.... I pulled a fuse which stops the red light. The cluster will still show a white ABC warning but it can be removed with the reset button after startup. I owned a S55 that also had the conversion but that one came with the module that tricks the system into thinking the ABC is functioning.
I'm not happy with the conversion. It's doing rodeo ride at 75mph. Strutmaster wasn't helpful and cornering is bad. Currently thinking about converting back to ABC.
With Strutmaster, you are no longer riding a S class.
Crap I was afraid of that drdoe. I'm still waiting to hear the pricing on the ABC repair. He used to work at Mercedes but I don't think he's that familiar with the ABC system. You can definitely spend more than the car is worth on the ABC.
If money is your main concern then go with Strutmasters. If you want your S to ride like a S class then fix your ABC.
I can tell you that the handling on my S600 Strutmasters is worst than the handling on my S430 Airmatic.
Well let me see what the cost is to repair. I have an S55 with only 65,000 miles that I've had for two years. The last set of Bridgestones in the back only lasted 10,000 miles and think it relates to the ABC.
I think I got about 9 months out of the Bridgestone rear set from Costco. I went with another 2 Bridgestone tires in the rear to match the front. Will have to look into the Hankook tires. Are you happy with them?
By the way, ABC system should either work or fail. It shouldn't cause excessive tire wears. Go easy on the gas if you want to save the tires.
I ad a s55 that had the conversion. It drove very stiff and oitfelt unstable at high speeds. So I'm starting to feel that each kit has its own feel on your car. Certainly not the ABC ride......but Iove it on my CL500
Only had the Hankooks a couple of months. They came with really thick tread. So I'm hoping. They only cost $260 each installed (didn't do alignment again).
12-27-2015, 10:19 PM
20" wheels btw
