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Well, I did it. After blowing my first ABC line , heat shielding wore away touching the exhaust and melted the line. I got the Yellow Speed Coilover kit. I order from a shop in El Paso, Took almost 6 weeks for them to arrive. Good thing I have other cars! I might try and order them from Euro Dealers if I were to do it again. I wanted to do the swap the right way and retro fit sway bars front and rear.
Stage 1 = Front sway and coil over swap. Replace ABC control arms with Air-Matic
Stage 2 = Dropped rear subframe and replace everything and add sway bar
I just completed Stage 1. You have to remove the line for the pulsation damper and valve body and the sway bar goes there. I removed everything all the Valve Blocks and Accumulators. I pulled the CAN bus connection from the Driver side fuse block and you get a white warning only and can clear it. Going to try and code it out now.
The drive.
The car rides like any other car would with coil-overs. It is no where close to ABC but its in no way bad. I am stilling working on the damping settings ( 21 F 17 R) There are 30 adjustments on the struts. When cornering and loading up the suspension its tight and predictable. I feel like the rear is a 1/2 inch high but the car should settle so I will give it time. I want the car to drive like its in sport mode all the time. That is what I am aiming for. Here some pictures off the install and coilers
also I Didn't re-route any lines to the ABC pump. It just going to run the ABC pump side dry. I feel like as long as power steering side stays with fluid it will be fine, when it lets go i will replace with a standard power-steering pump!
also I Didn't re-route any lines to the ABC pump. It just going to run the ABC pump side dry. I feel like as long as power steering side stays with fluid it will be fine, when it lets go i will replace with a standard power-steering pump!
The pump will grenade eventually running one side dry. Someone else had some collateral damage too.
I am putting the return line accumulator and front accumulator from the S55 onto my S65. I still have two cars with ABC so the extra parts won't go to waste!
it just really noisy right now, probably will seize up soon. Will be installing rear sway bar this weekend or early next week. Also going to replace all 4 arms in the rear suspension on each side. she is parked!
Awesome! If you get a chance and don't mind I'd love to see the top of the old front struts you took out.. I think the dealer bumping my pressure to 40lbs is what made my ride feel so rough.. it's still not couch like as a regular S but I'm guessing with the 19" wheels the hard side walls and it being an AMG it's probably normal.
Well it's all done! Ps pump and front a rear sways, rear sub frame bushings. With sway at you can soften the coil overs damping substantially and the car really handle good. There is a touch of initial body roll, or you describe it as loading up the suspension. The car really handles well. I am really happy with the swap. The coilovers really expose any worn parts in your rear end. I am probably going to replace the thrust and lower control arm in the rear. I have some noises in the rear still I am hoping replacing those will eliminate them! Now this is not anywhere near as good as ABC. I am not looking at cieka coilovers, they make a strut with upper rubber bushing. I feel this will be really the solution. I am working on getting a set now.
If anyone has done the swap with out sways and noticed the bouncing when the struts are set to soft that is totally removed I am now exploring the settings but 23 clicks front and 19 rear is pretty good.
Looks good how's the ride? Just normal driving and over rough road.. is it softer than the ABC? Mine rides bumpy on hard road where it's not big enough for the suspension to really move which I guess is mostly the tires but I'm curious if the struts are more forgiving.
No the ride is harsh. I am tapping out on the yellow speed struts after 6 month and going to try cieka coilovers or the b16 bilstein kit from London based company. Only problem is there is no literature on the bilstein kit so will probably go ceika. Going to up the spring rate to from 14 kg front 10kg rear to 18F 14R with the rally valve set up from cieka. The sway bar retrofit really make an abc delete viable
No haven’t got the ceika coilovers yet. S55 is off the road. I would not recommend the yellow speed coilover the ride quality is pretty ****ty.
The sway bars are an absolute must, IMO.
I've contacted Ceika and they recommended 14kg front 10kg rear spring rates with standard valving and dual helper springs for the S600. I told them I want sporty and capable handling without sacrificing ride comfort, and this is what they told me.
Also, for the sway bars, do you think running only a front sway bar will be adequate (especially for the v12), or is the rear sway bar a must? I can do the whole conversion and front sway bar by myself, but I think I'm going to pass on the rear sway bar just because of the extra work.
I’m really close of of ordering a set I just want to hear someone opinion that already had them
have you already ordered a set ?
Im looking to get the sport spring rate with front and rear adjustable camber top mounts and dual springs as well
i need someone’s opinion / advice on this
also when you put the s500 normal steering pump, is it just a bolt on plug and play ? Did u need any kind of brackets or hoses.
Also we’re u able to clear the abc error message on the dash ?
I haven’t order a set from ceika. I’m not happy with yellow speed. The power steering conversion is plug and play you need the mounting bracket. Most used pumps are sold with the bracket. You need a power steering line from pump to steering rack.
On the driver side under the hood there is a fuse box. You can unplug the can bus for the abc and the error becomes white and can be cleared by hitting R
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