erc5

Hello-
I hope someone can help me. I have purchased my dad's 2003 SL55 AMG (my dad recently passed away unexpectantly and this car holds alot of special memories for us). I am a female with tons of passion for cars but limited mechanical knowledge. I have owned this car for approximately 1 month now and therefore am not very familiar with it. I have not driven it much yet (mostly waxing it & being VERY overprotective of it).
Here is the problem:
The car has started to drop down low in the front and "tip" toward the passenger door.
The car warnings include: "stop- car too low, electric consumers offline and ESP not functioning".
I took the car in for service and the starter battery needed to be replaced (they stated that the tipping problem was associated with the battery).
I know that electric consumers offline means that the battery is low. The car would start, but I was unable to use the keypad to unlock car, ect.
As a side note, the "back" battery had been replaced approximately 6 months earlier.
The car was serviced 1 week ago, now the car is tipping again (it generlly takes about a week to drop).
Any ideas? I am VERY worried about it.....NOTHING can happen to this car!!!

vraa

Don't worry about it, it's because you haven't been driving it.
Drive it more often and that way the battery which powers all the 'extra' stuff will stay charged.
It's a common issue.

sprins

The SL's (especially the earlier ones) have an incredible amount of current leak from the battery when the ignition is off. I don't know if newer versions are better, but I have a 2002 (2003 MY) SL55 and I have the same problem.

There is one easy solution to this problem: Drive the car a lot. This way the battery will continue to stay charged and you won't have any of these problems. Besides it is lots of fun, even apart from your memories with it.

Another solution, if you don't want to drive the car, is to keep the batteries charged with a charger. Clip it on every 10 days and you should be fine. However, keeping a car standing still could cause other problems... So you're better of driving it.

erc5

Thanks for responding!
The car has been plugged in and charging since I got it. Since both batteries are now new, my concern is simply with the "tipping" or leaning toward the passenger side.
Any ideas why this is happening???

Bigdot

is it still tipping even with the new bat?

Mark

elbowyeish

if it's still tipping with the batteries fully charged, perhaps it's a problem with the SBC? maybe one of the air suspensions in the front is losing air or something. if it happens in the period of one week, that might be how long it takes for the suspension to leak out? not sure, just a guess. maybe your dealer should consider that possibility. but one thing for sure, you should drive it more. you have a true beast in your collection.

erc5

Hello again-
Yes, the car is still "tipping" despite the new battery- it is VERY dramatic! Today, the car is REALLY leaning over and I am afraid to drive it not knowing what the problem is. When I start the car is reads "car too low". I have hit the "suspension" button to rise the car which seems to temporarily "fix" the problem until the cfr sits again for about a week and it will again fall. The service department thought that it was a result of needing a new battery & even though I admittedly know very little about cars....this made no sense to me....but then again with this car and it's multiple computers-who knows! Anyway, it obviously is not the battery since that was replaced last week.
If anyone knows anything-please help.
I'm new to Illinois and am not sure I completely trust this dealer....it took them 4 visits to repair a window issue with my 2000 SLK!
The SL is WAY too special to me to have people working on it that are not sure what they are doing! Thanks to anyone that can provide some or any info!

Audioguy

erc,

So very sorry for your loss....

Regarding the issue you're having. This is caused by a leak in the cars suspension.

As you most likely already know, the SL has an "air" suspension. There are bladders in-line with the suspension that determine ride height, and stiffness based on user settings, and speed.
What you're experiencing is essentially an air leak. Over time as your car sits from lack of use, the suspension remains idle and does not restabilize as it would if you were driving it on a regular basis. This ultimately will cause that side or corner of the car to lower itself until it hits the bump stops (lowest point of travel of the suspension)
As a result of this, you get the "car too low" type message, which can also be accompanied by ABC, and ESP errors.
Your next step is to visit a capable dealer, and tell them exactly what you've told us. It is a rather common issue with the earlier cars, and its correctable.

Best of luck.

-Audio

sprins

ABC and Airmatic are two completely different things. The SL55 has ABC which is electro hydraulic, not air suspension. If starting the car and raising the suspension 'cures' the 'problem' there is no problem I believe. In time (and a week may be a bit early) all cars with ABC will tip over to one side or the other.

Try driving it regularly.

erc5

Hey guys-
Thanks for all of your input! Still a bit confused...the car does have ABC but I thought it also worked on "air" suspension as someone had mentioned-am I wrong? Has anyone else had this problem? The car has been "plugged in" and it starts leaning/tipping within a week- this does not seem "normal" to me...or can it be with this car? It looks VERY strange and alarming! The tilting is dramatic!. I was just in the garage with the car and it is now saying "electric comsumers offline" again. When the car was in service last week they replaced the starter battery, stating that that should fix all of the car's problems. The other battery was replaced 4-6 months earlier. Obviously, it does not appear to be the battery...but why the error message indicating the battery and the continued tipping? Does this now indicate anything more to anyone? The car was in service for 2 days to come to that diagnosis- I'm concerned about taking the car back to them ...have difficulty leaving it ...

elbowyeish

No. the car should not be tipping or leaning to a side. something is definitely wrong with the air suspension. also since it's only happening to one corner of the car further points to that fact. it shouldn't be the battery since only one wheel suspension is doing it. take it to the dealer and tell them to look at the suspension. don't let them take you for granted because you are a "woman". some dealers will do that bcuz they are so busy fixing other problems. also keep in mind that if you take the car in for the same reason 4 times and they can not fix it, you may qualify for the lemon law. i know your car has sentimental value so perhaps you don't want to get a replacement car, but the dealer should at least fix that problem. your problem can cause serious problems/accidents if that suspension "deflates" while you're driving it. MB should take this more seriously and fix it once and for all. sorry you're going through this.

erc5

Do you think I should have the car flatbedded to the dealer? Does anyone feel that I could do damge to the car by driving it?

That brings up another point.....my car will be out of warrenty next March. Considering I will never sell this car, does anyone have any advise on exended warrentee? Why does MB not offer one?

erc5

Also, why would the car still say "electric consumers offline" if both batteries have been recently replaced and the car remains "plugged in"?

joec1101

You don't need to have it flatbedded to the dealer if it pumps up to normal height when it's started/running. This problem happened on mine as well. Dealer fixed the ABC leak and now all is well. Having said that, even with no ABC leaks, if the car sits for several weeks without being started it will still drop down. This is normal for the SL.

The electric consumer offline message happened on mine as well after the car sat for a couple weeks. I took it out for a drive and it was fine after a few miles of driving/charging.

I would *definitely* get it to the dealer and get anything and everything repaired that needs to be repaired before that warranty expires. These cars can be pretty expensive to fix once out of warranty.

erc5

Hi joec1101-
Thanks, you have made me feel MUCH BETTER!
When you had the ABC leak, would your car tilt to one side? With normal non-use, does the car simply drop down evenly in the front-this being "normal" for the SLs?
Also, regarding the electric consumers offline...shouldn't that not occur (battery be drained) if the car is not driven but plugged in!? Otherwise I'm concerned because this car will not be driven in the winter!
Is it hurting the car to sit tipped?
Thanks so much for all of your help...obviously I'm worried and passionate about this car!

france2112

erc5,
Hi. Really sorry about your loss and the car troubles. There is a Tech. section on the forum that has an authorized Mercedes Benz Mechanic as the moderator. I have a 2005 SL600 that had some minor issues and the mechanic really helped. I believe you have an airmatic suspension leak. There is no way after one week the car should tip. Go to the tech forum and confirm this if you want but please get the car to a dealer and get it fixed!! Let the service manager know how important this car is to you and the whole situation. Remember they are human too. Make sure you talk to the manager! Mercedes does ofter an extended warranty. It is usually a bit pricey but defenitely worth it if you are going to keep the car. Here is a link to another aftermarket car warranty service:

http://www.click4warranty.com/Default.asp

Read the website and give them a call. It is probably cheaper and it appears the warranty is pretty complete. I've never used them but I remember someone told me they had a good experience using this company. Good luck. I'll keep checking the forum to see how things are working out.

france2112

erc5

Hello france2112-
Thanks for the advise. I was not aware of the tech link-thanks....I'll keep you posted if I find anything out. Thanks for caring.

joec1101

Yes, mine dropped only on one side (left front). I've never let mine sit for several weeks, so I'm not sure if the car would drop evenly all the way around or not. All I can say is that I've been told by others that it is normal for it to drop after sitting a while.

Not sure why yours would still have the electric consumer offline message when it's on a charger. I would definitely ask the dealer about this. It sounds logical to me that it shouldn't get that message when charging like that, but I could be wrong. These cars are so over-engineered and have so many unique features and controls that it's impossible to guess what's going on with it - the dealer should plug it into the computer and get a proper diagnosis. BTW, the computer system in these cars is very advanced - it basically records everything the car does - it can tell how many times it's been started, how it's been driven, etc.

If it sits a while in the garage in the winter and tips to one side, I wouldn't worry about it hurting anything. It's just going to sit on the rubber suspension stops. All you really need to do is start it up every couple weeks or so and pump up the ABC and let it back down so it's back at normal height. You don't *have* to take it out and drive it, although other things can happen when a vehicle sits parked for a while (tires get flat spots, sediment in the fuel tank, etc.)

Good luck and drive this car more! It's a blast to drive!

erc5

Thanks joec1101!

Hey, does anyone known how to check if a changer is working properly??
(The green light is on, but....)
Thnaks!

240Volts

whatever the cause you should get the car checked out at your dealer. Best take a photo of the problem as the car will probably not show a fault when the diagnosis equipment is connected at the dealership.

If it helps your piece of mind I have had this problem before, the first time the dealer rectified it by changing a valve or something, then it happened again with big red don't drive messages on the instrument panel. Again they changed a suspsension component. And now this weekend it has failed again, left hand side is down and nearly touching the tire. I just raised the car and lowered it a couple of times on the ride height adjuster and it seems ok to drive. As we speak I am arranging a dealer visit. My car is 3 years old with 23,000 miles on the clock. I have had almost 40 warranty claims with Mercedes, so much in fact that they have offered me a $15,000 rebate off my next car.

Anyway, don't worry too much. As they guys have said this is a common problem but in my view unconnected to battery state. I have had battery failures and suspension drops, but never the two at the same time. It's much like a slow puncture not very serious but a pain nonetheless.

chris

deutscheramg

ouch
hope everything works out. at least your dad gave you the car!

erc5

Actually, I did pay for the SL (bought the car from my mom).....I always told my dad that I would buy it from him one day because I loved it so much, besides he never kept a car more than a couple of years (my dad and I spend alot of time looking at it at the autoshows, we picked it up at the dealer together and we got together on weekends to wash/ wax it (him with the SL and me with my 2000 Corvette). I had to buy it...I always told him I would!

erc5

Hello 240volts-
Wow, it seems as if we have similar stories...that worries me. My car is also a 2003 , but it only has 8,000miles. Sounds like you have had alot of problems. Please keep me posted on what they find wrong with yours...my appointment is in 2 weeks (I work a difficult schedule with many overnight ER shifts...don't want to take the car in on no sleep!). I'll keep you posted, as well. Best of luck with yours!!!!

vraa

We've told you the solution; drive the car regularly.
If you do that I promise you all your issues with the car tipping and what not will go away.

My dad and I have been in Canada for almost a week and we're flying back tomorrow. Combine that abscense with my dads love with the X5 and my new found love of running, the SL hasn't been driven in about a week and a half, maybe even two weeks. I reckon the chassis is on the ground now

XXXMbenz

Hey,
I hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I have an SL55 and found the car this morning with the message ABC - Don't drive. Car too low.
I read all your comments and was wondering how to turn off the warning once you charge the battery. I drove the car like 20 miles and the warning never shut off. I left it with a mechanic but dont know how much it should cost to fix and I dont want to be taken advantage of. Is it simply a code of buttons you push to reset it? Please if anyone can help me....Ooh and yes it tipped, left front.