George993

(Note – a long post, not intended to argue or recommend or claim anything. It is simply my experience and my conclusions for your entertainment, please do your own research and make your own decisions)

I did have an experience which made me to get rid of ABC. I was driving my well maintained 2003 SL500. Suddenly I hear a loud BANG behind me, the left side of the car drops down and red “ABC, car too low, stop driving” alarms pop up. I bring the car to a stop – a trail of couple of hundred feet of spilled hydraulic fluid behind me, car is sitting in a puddle with left rear tire totally soaked around the perimeter, right rear tire wet. I walked around and almost fell stepping on some wet spot – more slippery than ice!

Now imagine inexperienced driver on a dry and clear summer winding road, hearing a loud gun-shot like right behind, having the left side of the car drop down, while turning right and the leaking fluid giving effect of the back of the car hitting an ice patch. Plus a few other cars driven in a spirited way hitting that fluid spill right after - we can only imagine how the cars pile up off-highway and what damages/injuries/lawsuits etc. come out of it.

So I concluded that an old ABC is dangerous and one way to make it safe would be to replace ALL hydraulic hoses (even frequent inspections offer no guarantees). But it would still not make it reliable (to make it reliable other components – pump, valve blocks, accumulators, struts, sensors etc should also be replaced periodically).

Instead I decided to remove ABC and install traditional suspension just as Mercedes has done in SL350 (the least powerful) and Black Series (the most powerful V12) versions of the R230. If Mercedes thinks it’s good and safe for SL350 and Black Series it should also be good and safe for SL500/SL550 which is in between those two. Plus at least one R230 V8 has been converted to traditional suspension by a Mercedes dealer (in Canada, using European market parts, as documented elsewhere).

I wanted adjustable suspension, which ruled out the original Mercedes shocks and Strutmasters, leaving VVK, CEIKA, KW, RMT and maybe a few others. I’ve selected CEIKA as it seemed to offer a best value, and no core charges/return of the old system as some others require. The procedure would be similar for any other coilover brand and involved the following:

1) Parts purchase

2) Removal of ABC and installing/adjusting coilover struts and sway bars

3) Addressing hydraulic power steering pump

4) Addressing ABC alarms

5) Alignement

Since the post may look like instructions, I thought it may also be good to state disclaimers.

DISCLAIMER: Suspension modifications are dangerous, can affect car handling, can result in a property damage, injuries or death if not properly performed. Anything described in this and related posts is for entertainment purposes only, without warranties of any kind. Any described parts and procedures may or may not work and may or may not be suitable for any purposes, do your own research. Any work should be done by a professional licensed mechanic and for track use only and not for public road use. Modifications may be illegal in some jurisdictions, consult appropriate authorities and insurance companies to have everything inspected and approved to be correct and safe for any intended use. Plus in California cars can cause cancer and birth defects – see www.p65warnings.ca.gov!

George993

I have used the following parts:

1) CEIKA 1M coilovers with dual springs front and back, pillowtops and camber plates, cost $1216.00 (including 5% discount with coupon CEIKAR230SL ). Selling the used ABC struts to Arnott for a 4*$300 = $1200 , Arnott sents pre-paid shipping labels. Net struts cost $16.00 (prices, discounts and Arnott core purchases are not guaranteed for the future of course). I could also sell other ABC parts for additional several hundred dollars.

2) Sway bars – there are several options out there, some people even advocate not installing them as proper coilover tuning lowers a need for sway bars and some very well handling performance cars did not have them in the past (like Jaguar E-type and Fiat X 1/9). Some race/drift drivers don’t even use them today. I did not want to introduce a potential risk and I did not want to spend too much so I bought used SL350 Mercedes bars in Europe (new from EU dealer would be around $1000, similar price to RMT or other aftermarkets which also claim to be more tuned for V8 engines and/or adjustable). SL350 is a bit lighter than SL500/550, so the SL350 sway bar thickness may be a consideration if the V8 car is to be driven loaded close to the weight limits.

3) Power steering pump. I’ve actually bought a R220 (S500) pump as they are cheap and apparently fit. But then I noticed that removal of the original tandem pump is complex and a lot of work. As I like to keep things simple I applied a loopback and kept the tandem (description later in the thread). I studied many ways to do it and found a very simple way which needs just one cut and 4ft of ½” internal diameter hose and one hose clamp. The hose needs to handle Mercedes hydraulic fluid at LOW pressure and be very flexible (I first used automotive grade coolant hose from a local parts store and discovered that the fluid LEAKS THROUGH HOSE SIDE WALLS). Now I’m using Derale 15701 Transmission/Engine Oil Hose ($22 on Amazon for 5 ft) and its working fine so far. I did not use the hydraulic fluid high pressure hoses as they have metal reinforcement making them not flexible and hard to cut or attach with regular clamps

4) Plugs for the disconnected strut connectors which are left in the car, to make the whole process fully reversible if needed. Just a piece of rubber like from a glove with a strap can temporarily do, I’ve also ordered some professional plugs and will let you know what fits as I could not find that info anywhere (a first set I bought did not fit)

5) Optionally ABC lights fix module, but I have decided to re-program the car into non-ABC instead, which only takes few minutes

George993

1) I removed the front shocks as per Arnott video and installed the replacements (direct bolt-in)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4t-...ature=youtu.be



2) I removed the rear as I described below and installed the replacement (direct bolt-in) :

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...tructions.html

I have not received/installed the sway bars yet, so will report on that later.

In my first installation the car turned out to be riding very low and being very bouncy. Luckily I can adjust the height and springs in front with just raising the car like for a wheel change, and rear with a wheel removed. Shocks adjust with just turning the top knob with 2 fingers.

After the adjustments, the height is close to the factory and the bounciness, spring feel and car body roll (without sway bars yet - may be dangerous as described in other places) is comparable to average cars of that size - a test drive by a casual non-technical driver makes the driver report that the car is just like any other car she has been driving. Further adjustments may be needed, I will report as appropriate.

George993

Shock absorber (bouncing) adjustment is done by turning the knob on the top of the strut, which restricts the internal oil circulation in the shock. Counter-clockwise limit (S-Soft) is almost no restriction/no shock absorbers – the car is very bouncy. Turning it clockwise (H- hard) by about 32 clicks to the limit makes it the hardest, shock being almost like solid and you feel all the pavement imperfections. 20 clicks is what I found a good compromise

Here is the front adjustment knob:


And rear adjustment knob accessible by pulling the trunk carpet:

George993

Height – I loosened the bottom nut with a provided wrench and turned the top 2 locked nuts to screw in (lower) or screw out (raise) the center threaded part into/out of the bottom strut part. It’s done on the car, without a need to unscrew any shock mounting. Also the height change is non-linear as it can pre-load/off-load the spring rate, so both may need to be adjusted for a desired outcome. Of course the nuts need to be tighten after adjustments.

George993

Spring rate (stiffer/softer springs) I’ve done by unlocking the top 2 nuts with the wrenches provided and moving the pair up/down. I have chosen 2 rated springs – the soft/thin at the bottom and hard/thick on the top – in theory this gives a softer ride in normal condition and provides harder roll or dive or squat resistance and stiffer springs for hard driving or hitting big pot holes.I check all the nuts and bolts for tightness periodically, especially after first drives right after the installation. I allow the suspension to settle by driving before further adjustments.

George993

As I find removal of the original tandem pump and installing power steering pump time consuming, I have done a loopback of the ABC pump by cutting the pipe under the radiator, bending the driver side out a bit to slide on and clamp the hose described above, with the hose going into the reservoir. I double check that the pipe to be cut is coming out of the pump and not some other place like AC

. I used eye protection as some fluid spills out. Photo above shows the cut and the new hose (red arrow)

I used Derale 15701 Transmission/Engine Oil Hose ($22 on Amazon for 5 ft) for loopback, one new hose clamp and reused the reservoir clamp.

I did not have to siphon out the fluid from the reservoir as the pump stops it from draining down, I routed the rubber hose from the top down, cut to a perfect length (under 4 ft) after routing. Tie wraps so the hose dos not move and does not come in contact with moving parts.

Here is the cut and new hose looking from the bottom. I neatly died it up above the other hoses for a clean look and not rubbing on anything.



Here is the new hose going back into the reservoir. Note the old fluid return hose (pointed with the finger) which I just pushed under to the side for a clean look. Both tided together for stability.

George993

At this point, with $16 for struts, $22 for the hose and about $1 for the clamp, plus my own labor (before the sway bars) the car has fully reliable and maintenance free, adjustable suspension and drives well for my liking. There were red "ABC, Stop Driving" alarms which looked ugly but had no other effects. So I've re-programmed the car with the STAR system to have no ABC so the alarms are now gone.

Amir_AMG

Looks good. I plan on doing a full conversion once I get any ABC issues as I’m running the system without any at the moment. Keep us posted with any new updates and enjoy the SL

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

great Job !

Tommyboy928

i had problem back in 2009 with leaking in both front ones, 1 q or 1 liter oil was gone, Added 100 ml leakstopper from QMI , and the missing oil til level. shocks and system was tight in maybe 3 days , and was holding its oil for next 8 years, before started sweat again, New owner added new bottle, and its sealed up again. Not changed anything, stock pump from 2004 and all the rest. Plus we done many other SL including my 2007 prevantive maintance QMI hydraulic treatment to slightly expand the seals and keep the rubber fresh . Problem with cars that is 15 to 18 years old ,is that the rubber dryes out, QMI leakstopper and hydraulic treatment ,stop this from happening / swell the rubber so its like fresh again. Fantastic cheap and easy fix . I used this stuff for over 20 years. Same goes for engine seals , and valve seals. the 2004 went oil use down 4 times on sl55 , on my 2007 SL55 AMG ,i have not filled any oil in 14 months , and has 8000 km sinse last oil change.. Cant beat that guys. on top of that i use Royal purple race oil 10 40

Tommyboy928

if had this ,with no possible lift, i would not get in any garage in town where i live.

Amir_AMG

put some wood ramps just like everyone else who doesn’t have lifts made for lowered cars...

knowbenz

What coding did you change to get the lights out? I wasn't able to code one out but I was thinking the software in the STAR might be too new

George993

I have a circa 2010 version with an option that allows to re-program control units (I'm hearing that the latest versions can't have that option). I went through the following menus, with the engine running to make sure there is sufficient battery voltage all the time (otherwise programming can get messed up if the battery voltage drops too low in the process):

- Control units
- Information and communication
- ICM instrument cluster with maintenance
- Control units adaptions, variant coding
- Select model year
- Special equipment
- ABC
- Present/Not Present box set to Not Present
- I pressed the "Write" F5 button in the bottom center of the screen. This part is important. If there is no such button (I have it, but it's not present in some other versions of STAR), the process is more involved and people report to press F3 button, turn off the car with the doors closed, wait a couple of minutes and start the car again.

In my case all lights flashed on the instrument cluster for a moment, and all ABC alarms disappeared immediately after pressing F5 and the ABC was gone. There was no need to reset anything, turn the ignition on/off etc

George993

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

you version can not upgrade to latest FW
If you want latest firmware, being able to SCN code online if needed only latest versions work with the correct installation of course
PM me if you want a real system

knowbenz

I figured it had to be an older system. I have a unit with 2010 software for emergencies I'll have to pull out next time the car comes by

R jarmoszko

what did you do with the other side of the line you cut and did you remove the fuse for abc and unplug the tandem pump??

George993

I did nothing to the other side of the line (some fluid will drip from it), ideally it should be plugged up with something so the dirt does not get into it in case someone wants to convert back to ABC. But I like it without ABC so much that I will not go back.

I did NOT remove any fuses and did NOT unplug the tandem pump - it would be a disaster as you would not have the power steering. The loopback in the ABC part of the pump is needed for the tandem pump to work. The ABC half just loops (lubricates) itself with the ABC fluid without generating any pressure, and it allows the power steering half to function normally.

As noted, I did program the car to think it is a version which does not have ABC (version available outside of USA in some countries) , this prevented the ABC system from doing anything and from reporting errors about ABC problems.

You could remove and disconnect a lot of ABC components and sell them for quite a bit of money, but I did not bother. I wanted the simplest solution with minimal amount of work and minimal cost (the struts conversion has been less than $100 so far).

R jarmoszko

ahh gotcha that light on may not pass inspection...and the stealership won’t do it here so my next question would be do you know of an inexpensive reader that will handle the code changes as indies here don’t have em!!

George993

There are countless options and tons of discussions about code readers and Mercedes programming and you are welcome to study it and make your own decisions, but in my opinion if you are serious DIY the only answer is what the dealers are using - used or cloned Mercedes DAS/STAR system. It will cost a few hundred dollars. Out of that there are hundreds of software versions and several hardware versions. Unfortunately most of them will NOT do the programming you need, some of them will not work at all, and most people who sell them have no clue about what they are selling and will not help.

Again you are welcome to do your own experiments, but in my opinion it should be a software from November 2012 (11-2012 version) or something close to it, with a coding/programming/developer and OFF LINE modes. You need the coding/programming/developer mode to do any serious car configuration and not just reading/clearing errors etc. And you need the Off Line mode so you don't have to connect to the Mercedes central computers to get a permission to do whatever you are doing.

If you like to complicate your life you can get a newer STAR version (newer than 2015 - applied Patch 830 could maybe help until 2017), and that would require that you have to connect to Mercedes to do the programming, which in practice means paying about $50 to someone on line who has dealership access to generate you a magic number every time you do something. Also beware of the 2013-2015 versions as some of them work but some don't offer off-line programming or coding at all.

Next you need to decide on hardware - I like the old/original simple and reliable cable based hw with an old Dell laptop. But you are welcome to try the newer, Blue Tooth etc enabled versions as well. I looked at various clones from China and some of them are even better designs/better builds than the original Mercedes! Some have very poor soldering and parts, and stop working after you shake them a few times. If you want someone who can set you up with a good working system I can PM you a contact to a person in Miami who has a clue and can do it.

Good luck!

mohsin52

Hi George,


great write up, thanks for taking the time out to make an extremely informative thread. I have a W220 s55amg and just had my first self leveling ABC hose burst on me while doing 20mph on a smooth road. I have since replaced the hose but fear that another ABC hose will go soon or maybe even the valve body, or accumulators, etc. In lieu of spending absurd amount of cash to maintain the ABC, I might be converting to coil over soon! After about a year and a half of having the conversion, what’re your honest thoughts on the coils?

Additionally, your rerouting of the return hose is quite innovative and I would do what you did if I ever need the conversion (I feel like the time will come very soon). Since the new rerouted hose does all of the returning to the reservoir, what of the old return hose? Would it not leak or did you cap it off with something?

any additional help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

George993

Hi @mohsin52

Thanks for the note. I'm definitely happy with the conversion and I think it's the only way to deal with ABC once it deteriorates to the point of bursting hoses and being unsafe.

There are a lot of ABC hoses left around the car which I did not remove. I have capped most of them, but some still leaked a bit of oil for a few days after the conversion.

The only problem is that CEIKA coils which I bought are a bit too soft for the weight of the car. The coils are dual thickness/two parts - the soft on the top and thicker, harder at the bottom. But the "soft" part is so soft that's practically fully compressed 100% of the time and the thick ones are also quite soft (much thinner than OEM) and need to be compensated by making shock absorbers very firm. So the only way to set up the car is for a hard/sport suspension which is ok with me, but the next time I would rather go with a brand which offers coil overs which are both adjustable (like CEIKA which has excellent adjustability) but thicker than CEIKA.

Good luck with the conversion!

George993

The hose which is next to reservoir did not actually leak at all as it was high up - only the ones open at the bottom of the car leaked a bit as whatever oil was left on the hose inner walls went down