Hi

What is the green car symbol above the time?

This is a silly question but I cannot find in the owners manual or on this and other site what it signifies.

 

Does your car have ABC suspension?

 

Yes it has ABC and in fact its a SL63AMG but I thought that it would be common to all R231 cars

 

It probably has something to do with the ABC. (Try pushing some buttons and see what happens.) No, us lowly SL owners are stuck with the Bilstein Damptronic suspension (which allows Sport and Comfort modes, though not on the scale of ABC). All R230s that came to the US had ABC (I think), but I think most R231s came with Damptronic shocks/struts. Honestly, based on my experience with ABC in the R230, I was very happy my SL400 came with a more traditional suspension.

 

Looking at your dash again, your navigation system thinks you are "off road". The little thing that looks like a diamond in the middle of the car may actually be an up arrow, telling you to raise the car as you hit the dunes or go cross-country.

Or maybe it's a reminder that you have a right-hand drive car.

 

I suggest you look at the digital owners manual within the cars computer system in the "ABC" section. It's under the "globe" sign in the display screen. If you click on the globe you can determine whether the digital manual is installed. If it's not you can buy the DVD from a dealer if it's not included in your manual package. I'm in the process of learning how my SL63 can be raised and lowered but have not gotten far enough yet to understand how it works
Cheer,
Bob

 

ABC is pretty amazing when working properly. The SL is not a light car and ABC more than compensates for it. I had ABC on my 2004 SL500 and loved it until it developed problems. Then it could be a pain. I was able to address most of the problems I had with it by rebuilding and replacing valve blocks and compensators, but when it developed a persistent leak (and other problems with the car), it was time to trade it in on an R231.

Features of the ABC system besides keeping the car level are not nose diving when hitting the brakes hard, anti-sway during curves and turns, improved stability, the ability to raise the car when more ground clearance was needed (e.g., stuck on a curb), AND automatic lowering the car at highway speeds to improve handling and aerodynamic efficiency.

From what I have heard, the generation installed on the R231 if far more reliable than the system on the R230.

 

ABC on the R231's are indeed super reliable and a delight for anyone that has the option.

All AMG models (63, 65) have ABC by default and the same with all SL550's in Canada (not sure about the SL450's there) but in the US this was a $4,090 option and thus rarely selected.

BTW. the symbol on the instrument cluster indicates that the car is driving in the raised setting. I suggest to press the button on the center console (damper symbol on the SL63) to select the normal ride height.

 

Hi All

Well Wolfman is right and I forgot to post its only there sometimes and I should have realised the so obvious

As to off road well yes it was in the garage and the raised suspension is used a lot with so many sleeping policeman as we call speed bumps in UK

JettaRed well both my ABC rear suspension units failed a week after I bought it or on the rather tame test run at 20500miles. Why tame at the Main dealership I was not allowed to drive it fast but so insisted on a new MOT and it passed but a week later another dealership said......... all water under the bridge now

This year the pulsation damper failed at 36000 miles so sorry Woolfman I cannot agree on reliability of the ABC dampers in fact the whole car. I owned a Jaguar XJ Sovereign a heavier car that I had the lowered spring sports pack fitted to at 20.000 miles just to improve the handling and all was still fine after 80,000miles of hard use only needing minor servicing front wheel bearing a change of the air sensor and the twice the prop center bearing/support plus just before I sold it some Darlington resisters on the AC air inlets.

However the handling on the SL has been far far better since ninja tweaked the suspension settings

Do I like ABC.......... well yes and NO I think the ability to raise the suspension is great but often find the ride unreal in my head with no seat of the pants feedback whereas with springs and dampers with body lean the limits of handling are always so obvious. Over the decades amongst a few other really well handling cars I had a Caterham/Lotus 7 for 35 years that cornered at near 2G and so easily recoverable especially on track or sprint days but that's a featherweight with 330BHP/tonne not this 1.8 ton car that should have always bee 4wheel drive but is helped by much wider wheel base and tyre width. I think you could make the car handle much better with coil, dampers, ARB's and fully adjustable suspension. I was surprised you cannot change the front and rear camber setting or caster angle but there are add-ons you can buy.

Dispute all that I do like the roof and at 74 the comfort, the AC when its working and the 330 litres of boot/trunk space for month long trips to the EU with the roof down and that SOUND in fact a tad more would be great my 1700cc daily drive Caterham hit 120db on err the track at 9000rpm

 

I wish you Brits would learn to speak English! I could only understand about half of what you said. (j/k)

Sorry you are having any problems with the ABC, but rest assured, your problems are far less than those many of us had with the R230. Another thing to note is that the SL is a Grand Touring car, not a "sports" car, per se. My 2004 Audi TT 225 quattro can easily outhandle my SL, either of them. However, a long trip of more than a day or two would soon become brutal. The TT is certainly for the twisties, but not long-distance travel of several thousand miles. Still, the SL (especially with ABC) will confidently handle those long sweeping curves of the mountainous interstate highways.

 

Hi JettaRed thank you for all your postings

Speaking English well colour is not spelt co;or in fact all you colonialists just don't like using a "U" flavour is not flavor and humour is not humor.... labour/labor...... neighbour/neighbor, You also use a Z when it should be an S analyse/analyze and confuse C and S as in licence/license Best I stop here as the list I think is HUGE

SIGH I guess I would fail every USA primary school Spelling Bee

OK firstly the car said off road as it was in my garage yards from the road

Well there are no "long sweeping curves of the mountainous interstate highways" in the UK nor really in the EU they or rather Napoleon etc like straight roads. In the UK most main and crossroads have so many bends being from centuries ago as the field corners then were based on the turning circle of a oxen and plough as then only the rich then had horses ..........I guess that should be plow

I never expect a car that would handle like my beloved 7n that did long trips it went to Switzerland in 1991 but I did expect it to handle better than my old 2 ton Jaguar which was 1990 the one with rectangular head lamps after fitting a later set of Jaguar springs and damper it could loose hot hatchbacks though English country lanes read that a bend ever 300foot
as to faults read Diary of a Lemon since then the gearbox computer failed and the car cut out under a Swiss mountain but I made it to a tiny escape lay-by and it restarted was fine up to 2000rpm but finally gave up in a Petrol station in Italy and locked the transmission in park 7 days to get it sorted taking out the first week of our holiday and failed again on a brake sensor a week later and finally again 100 miles from the channel; tunnel and we limped home. Despite 3 dealerships looking at in the EU it finally I changed the big battery and the small one and its never reoccurred
The condenser coil failed within warranty 2.5 years later it failed again and seems to have pin holes in it but MB will not make a contribution off as it was changed 7day before we went on holiday by a STAR Partner and 6 months out of warranty when its stored for 5 months every winter
Currently the UK offside headlamps failed will not go from LHD to RHD and now it claims the indicators LED;s have failed and they are working so I guess the connectors corroded and I left it until the cars off the road at the end of November. Hopefully its not the whole £2000 headlamp as the other one was changed under warranty as it was permanently puddled with condensation

I agree its a high speed continent crossing car but its not it as keeps failing! That Jaguar the family tin top.(not a convertible ) and other family cars being an older BMW 530 did about 8 x 3000mile trips each with zero problems even the new Ford XR3 cabriolet did 2 trips as did my Rover Vitesse long ago and that had cheaply modified suspension to improve the handling

This summer as in 2024 after the new condenser coil failed in May the pulsation damper failed in Spain and after changing it after driving say 700miles home oddly the handling improved a bit; that to me is illogical. Back in 2020 after MB dealership changed the rear ABC struts very occasionally the car use to get confused and instead of trying to keep the car level it raised the wrong side; nobody ever explained why or how it was fixed. My only thought on this was maybe it was air in the oil?

As I said I like the car I had a MB 300E decades ago that was really reliable but rather ponderous in its handling my wife hit a diesel oil patch next to a UK taxi rank in the rain, spun it as 20mph broadsided a lamppost and made it banana shape and ended its life at 15,000 miles.

I do like the way the roof sorry Hood (odd I thought they were 1930 gangsters) in to the Boot err sorry Trunk (trunk sigh the handling is not as bad as a rampaging elephant) it really is a bit of excellent silent engineering more like origami

So currently I will keep it until next Spring and fix the headlamp or hopefully just its connector etc over the winter

 

Totally... color is spelled colour.... colour me surprised : ) I am Canadian so we too here use colour instead of color : )
I respect both ways of spelling it to be honest.
We can go on.... centre and center. Check and Cheque. : )

 

The pulsation dampener is a common failure, but it's relatively cheap. That's the only normal failure, which isn't too bad IMO and a great improvement over the R230 problems. The dampener problem seems to be more time-based than mileage-based, for whatever reason.

I hadn't heard of anyone with an AMG getting the @BenzNinja suspension treatment. Is it just "Agility" mode, or what all was changed?

 

Wow! You really understood all that Bilbo7 said? I did recognize every third or fourth word. I guess my brain is too old to learn a new language.

I did get the BenzNinja transmission treatment which made a huge difference in the responsiveness of my SL400. I have the Bilstein DampTronic suspension, not the ABC, so I can't speak to the BenzNinja suspension mod. The transmission mod includes enabling Agility/Sport+, tweaking the throttle, and remembering the last setting so that you start in either S or E modes (even if you turn the car off in M or A modes).

 

My wife often reminds me that "it's not always about U!" when I am acting like it is.

Good thing it didn't default in one of those insanely long Swiss tunnels, or did it?

 

Actually it did in a one way 2 lane twisty downhill tunnel whilst in the outer lane with so tiny lay-bye or rescue bays. It was after the St Gotthard tunnel the car was fine then we went though that but played up afterwards. We went thought about 4 smaller ones afterwards that day going from Mulhouse France via Basel, Lucernem St Gotthard tunnel and Milan to halfway between Florence and Rome

When it DID cut out I hit the hazard lamps and slotted between juggernaut sized lorries and hit the brakes..........that's the easy bit ............pulling away again after restarting between endless 60-70mph lorries that are so tall you look at the wheel nuts when wondering if its going to cut out is an act of faith when trying to do a instant 0-60 but below 2000rmp where you know it will defiantly cut out again. EEK
Modestly I say I am known as being laid back and so is my wife, bless her, about my driving so no SCREAMING "AHHHHHHHHHHHH"

As to U and your wife perhaps you should serenade her with "Its all about me wonderful me........"

 

Sounds like a trip I made in the other direction from Italy to Germany thru Switzerland. On that trip, we went from Karlsruhe through Tyrol and the Brenner Pass to Firenze and then to Naples. On the return, I took the western route. But that was over 40 years ago. I hear things have changed, though.

 

Despite the problems you had, ABC is incredibly reliable. Pulsation dampers are dirt cheap to repair. I do remember you having a host of unusual issues paired with a less than stellar dealer to help you. We electronically lowered our R231 SL's with ABC and also widened the stance with spacers, all with zero issues.

 

Hi Wolfman

Well I was going to ignore your comment but it does make a point I think is not true many on this site and others have problems with the ABC and the ones I have suffered being both rear shocks and the pulsation damper others virtually the whole system.
Personally I find lots on the car unreliable and it was more than one UK main dealership that failed to sort out its faults to the point of denying they existed!
So getting well off the thread I started I bought this car with 20,500 miles on the clock and its now done just under 37,000 miles most of the 16,200 sunny days only miles are trips from the UK to southern Europe driving 600+ miles a day and for me normal for all my cars,I am sorry but I have to disagree with you this is by far the most unreliable car I have ever owned and some just maybe related to lack of daily use by the previous owners before and since I owned it but its also one of the most over serviced cars I have owned being serviced yearly since new ans since I owned it making about 3500 miles between services. Having said I do believe that all cars that are left to site for months have lots of rubber failures in the suspension. When I bought it from a main dealership I did expect more reliability than it proved to have......

On the test drive all seemed fine except poor radio reception but I thought it was just that local area..... BUT read on since then not all in date order

1. 20,500 miles the delivery was delayed as the lumber pump had a problem which was odd as it worked on the test drive

2. The driver’s seat adjustment motor failed between then and delivery

3. The local garage found the UK offside rear damper leaking and had been for a while. I have never ever changed a damper at less than 60,000 miles unless its for a handling improvement and am pushing 75 and have driven over a million miles over the last 55 years averaging
20,000 to near 30,000 miles a year and with one 9 month period in that Jaguar doing 45000 miles. Despite all that I had about 5 roadside breakdowns that involved a recovery until I owned this car.... a broken wire to the petrol pump .... a broken brake line going into a roundabout at 70mph err that was fun ...... a failed slave cylinder on a clutch........ took the hole material off a new clutch in my Caterham 7 on a drag strip droppingthe clutch at near 5000rpm that was normal on sprint track days but on drag strips they glue the start tarmac GRIN To date this cars had 3 roadside truck recoveries and been collected by one back to and from the selling dealership 4 or is that 5 times

4. They ordered the wrong ABC strut from Germany so I never had the car for 3 weeks and this was not the selling dealership but my local one

5. On collection it was worse it went back and finally a STAR dealership looked at it and the offside rear damper was rock solid and it went back this time to the selling dealership

6. The radio was still OTT poor and they changed the amplifier on this site it seems a common problem

7. I had never ending intermittent juddering that I call Kangarooing it was looked at by 2 garages and AMG remotely who adjusted setting.

8. Inlet air seals were changed to try and cure it I have no idea why as it came back the same

9. Kept complaining about a constantly changing brake bite point in effect told they all do that Sir this year I had the pads changed all round and the problems gone ……I haveno idea why but wished I had insisted that under warranty as I thought it could be sticking caliper pistons despite only 50% worn. I also wish I had changed them myself HOW MUCH for pads and labour even at a STAR dealer !!! they’re not ceramic ones rather wish they were as when its pushed its quick to experience brake fade and I would have fitted something harder from Mintex etc

10. Handling was still bad and after 2 dealerships checked everything and its had 3 rodeo rides over time. Then a good tyre shop finds the Camber angle is out and it when back to the selling dealer ship who fitted a bolt that can adjuster that angle was fitted by the selling dealership. Why the lower arm is was not bent some say just poor manufacture? Also they only fitted it to one side, if they had asked I would have said I will pay to have the other side matching

11. Finally they replaced the whole clutch assembly and it’s still did kangerooing off and on. BUT since Ninja disabled the engine cut off at idle and reset the gearbox and clutch ? to what’s termed here Nuremburg settings it’s never happened again. My belief is it a more to do with idle cut off happening at the point you put the peddle down but I may be wrong.

12. The UK nearside headlamps was constantly covered in water inside. MB own recommendation is to put in Silica Gel bags that to me is rubbish as being a retired AC engineer I know the only way to get the absorbed moisture out of that silica Gel bag is to heat it so its illogical. Anyway the dealership ordered a new headlamp and that took 3 months to arrive!

13.In all during the first year I owned the car they had the car back for 5 months in all and aalso I dont use it from Start of November until March/April

14. I could not get the latest map update from MB even complained to AMG in the end I uploaded the latest one from eBay and despite some sites dire warning of a ruined control system head units its fine

15. After having it for a year and kept moaning the AC is not cold enough 2 dealerships look at it and they finally fond the AC condenser coils was leaking and they changed it under warranty.

16. Summer 2022 in Italy and say 28,500miles on the clock the car keeps reporting ABS and ESP and Engine fault that disappear on restart finally the cars locked in gear at a petrol station outside Naples it takes 7 days to get a part despite being in stock in Germany as it needs programming, Why well I guess as its the same part for all R231 cars?

17. A week later same problems ABS and ESP and Engine fault but this time it’s a faulty front break sensor

18. A week later it happens again ABS and ESP and Engine fault I limp back to UK and change both batteries its been fine since but the cars 2015 and its not the original batteries. So was that the only problem 2 dealerships failed to think OH its a declining old battery giving low voltage at times or just bad luck?

19. Spring 2023 after being in the garage all winter 2.5 years later the condenser coil fitted under warranty is leaking. Changed for £1000 and AMG will not make a contribution as a Star dealership replace it, They did it because a Main dealer could not do so before our holiday. Now despite the local dealership agreeing it has no stone damage it where its leaking AMG will not make a contribution. That claim now is slowly working its way to a UK motor industry Ombudsman Claim for faulty manufacture so I cannot write more about it at this time!

20. Summer 2023 the pulsation damper fails now I read the diaphragm in its made from neoprene rather as ones are in heating expansion vessels ans should be reliable as its working range of neoprene is is -40° F to +275° F being -40° C to +135° C. So you would think that's OK but when I and all others design heating systems over 100° C we put a buffer tank between it so the Hot water expands into that rather than the expansion vessel which then never has a water temperature over say 50° C. However, in any system those diaphragm still need changing after say 15to 20 years. So with that pulsation ball on top of the engine it will always be at say 85° C just as is the engine. No idea what the temperature is normal in the ABC but I would think 85° C. So why do they fail so soon and so often?

21, Currently the front UK offside head lamp will not dip from the LHS to the RHS and it says indicators not working but its fine. I will sort that over the Winter and reading here the indicators are likely to be a corroded connector to the lamp and I hope that's all the headlamps problems

22. There is more ........ so it remains the Lemon looks great faultless paint body interior and immaculate engine bay but just like a so shiny lemon so bitter when it bites your wallet.

Reading up on this so so helpful site many many people have had all of these faults and its being regarded as normal for any car to be so unreliable and that's not true, Still it seems I just got the lot! MUTTER whereas, the 300E that I owned a few decades ago only ever needed standard servicing and I see that a dropping of build quality. Shame really it should have been their most reliable car being top of the range especially given Mercedes own claims on build quality reliability and that being the main reason people in the UK buy them.

Still every time its broken I think that must be the lot and it suits us for EU trips with its biggest of the convertible 2 seater boot/trunk but it is err......so far the only car that's ever broken down on these yearly trips for over 30 years other than my 7n that had a broken clutch cable but I had a spare in the boot/trunk and 30minutes later the car I had fixed at the road side

 

Looks like you did get a lemon. I've not heard of that many problems with an R231.

You know, my daughter has an aura about her that causes electronic things to malfunction. She once had an Audi A4 that decided to change the default language from English to some Slavic language. Medical equipment malfunctions when she goes to the doctor. Her PCs are constantly having problems. And I had a brother who could not wear a battery powered watch. Soooo, is the car a lemon or is it you? I think regardless, I would have gotten rid of the car after about 5 or 6 items.

(By the way, my daughter doesn't go near my SL!

 

Well I am not as your daughter. As I wrote I had very little problems with all my cars, well there was another a BMW decades ago that I knew had problems when I bought it but all were soon fixed and I had a great car for a low price,

What surprises me here is that you all just except that the car has problems rather than moaning that Mercedes should do better! The one that really annoys me is the 2 failed condenser coils that have no stone damage etc and they are so flimsy and light weight but both seems to have been porous at the same point or had whats known as sand holes in the metal pipes

So this is my lemon below most from the day it was delivered to London from the dealership in northern England so it was a tad dusty from being on a open trailer