SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: first r230 benz with air bagged suspension
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 55
Likes: 1
2005 sl600
first r230 benz with air bagged suspension
From what I have been told nobody has a bagged r230 body style benz... they dont make kits and my abc system to a crap a few months ago. My friend that owns a custom shop here in houston took on the task of making me a custom kit. I talked to a few people on the forum and they said it can't be done well here it is folks. Rides better then stock imo. Ride height is more adjustable to be slammed or raised up to clear most anything. The stock system would not get me high enough to clear steep inclines. I busted 2 carbon lips already in parking garages. I am doing a black series conversion and I didnt want to invest that type of money and cant clear inclines with ease. Body work cost too much . The r&d took about a month to get the best setup. All the pumps and tank were put in the trunk and spare tire removed. So I still retain the use of my trunk. I will load good pics of trunk soon once I return from a business trip.
I know most purists will not like this over the abc system but I refused to pay 9k to fix that system on a 2005 car. I am into modding cars and I wont be selling this car anytime soon.
Also no rubbing of any kind. Body roll is no worse then it already was for this heavy car. Best thing is no more expensive repairs. Air ride is easy to maintain and cheap to diagnose or repair. Shop gave 5 year warranty on this anyway. Any questions just ask
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz43xQ6DQWI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I know most purists will not like this over the abc system but I refused to pay 9k to fix that system on a 2005 car. I am into modding cars and I wont be selling this car anytime soon.
Also no rubbing of any kind. Body roll is no worse then it already was for this heavy car. Best thing is no more expensive repairs. Air ride is easy to maintain and cheap to diagnose or repair. Shop gave 5 year warranty on this anyway. Any questions just ask
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz43xQ6DQWI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Last edited by Stasis3131; Feb 20, 2014 at 01:04 AM.
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Joined: Feb 2004
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From: Southern, CA.
V12-Biturbo
Love it!!
From what I have been told nobody has a bagged r230 body style benz... they dont make kits and my abc system to a crap a few months ago. My friend that owns a custom shop here in houston took on the task of making me a custom kit. I talked to a few people on the forum and they said it can't be done well here it is folks. Rides better then stock imo. Ride height is more adjustable to be slammed or raised up to clear most anything. The stock system would not get me high enough to clear steep inclines. I busted 2 carbon lips already in parking garages. I am doing a black series conversion and I didnt want to invest that type of money and cant clear inclines with ease. Body work cost too much . The r&d took about a month to get the best setup. All the pumps and tank were put in the trunk and spare tire removed. So I still retain the use of my trunk. I will load good pics of trunk soon once I return from a business trip.
I know most purists will not like this over the abc system but I refused to pay 9k to fix that system on a 2005 car. I am into modding cars and I wont be selling this car anytime soon.
Also no rubbing of any kind. Body roll is no worse then it already was for this heavy car. Best thing is no more expensive repairs. Air ride is easy to maintain and cheap to diagnose or repair. Shop gave 5 year warranty on this anyway. Any questions just ask
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz43...e_gdata_player
I know most purists will not like this over the abc system but I refused to pay 9k to fix that system on a 2005 car. I am into modding cars and I wont be selling this car anytime soon.
Also no rubbing of any kind. Body roll is no worse then it already was for this heavy car. Best thing is no more expensive repairs. Air ride is easy to maintain and cheap to diagnose or repair. Shop gave 5 year warranty on this anyway. Any questions just ask
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz43...e_gdata_player
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 55
Likes: 1
2005 sl600
Figured I would answer the question here instead of a pm for those who inboxed me.
The car is not airbags only. It has the stock struts on there. The r230 has some of the strongest struts you can put on a car.so I wanted to keep them. The struts were taken apart and modified with custom machined brackets and sleeves to be able to slide the air bags on. Most air bags go on top of the strut. But on our benz it goes on the bottom. So we had to get creative to make it work. We had the brackets made at a machine shop in houston that specializes in making parts for airplanes. We wanted to get the best quality that we could. So essentially the car is the same except you get more travel up and down then the abc. And you can control just the front or rear of car. Just got rid of all the computers and simplified the cars suspension.
And to answer if it can be bought as a kit yes it can and we are working on it. Gonna test my car for a few more months and put some serious miles on the system before I become a vendor. I want to make sure this system is gonna stay working . Mainly the fabbed parts. All the air ride products are proven and from reputable companies.
I also will put up alot of pics of the trunk and more videos of car rolling down interstates and roads of houston.
The car is not airbags only. It has the stock struts on there. The r230 has some of the strongest struts you can put on a car.so I wanted to keep them. The struts were taken apart and modified with custom machined brackets and sleeves to be able to slide the air bags on. Most air bags go on top of the strut. But on our benz it goes on the bottom. So we had to get creative to make it work. We had the brackets made at a machine shop in houston that specializes in making parts for airplanes. We wanted to get the best quality that we could. So essentially the car is the same except you get more travel up and down then the abc. And you can control just the front or rear of car. Just got rid of all the computers and simplified the cars suspension.
And to answer if it can be bought as a kit yes it can and we are working on it. Gonna test my car for a few more months and put some serious miles on the system before I become a vendor. I want to make sure this system is gonna stay working . Mainly the fabbed parts. All the air ride products are proven and from reputable companies.
I also will put up alot of pics of the trunk and more videos of car rolling down interstates and roads of houston.
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 55
Likes: 1
2005 sl600
But essentially what has been done is tge stock strut was modified and fitted with a airbag on the bottom. Same location where the stock abc system was on the strut. Compressors and the air management was put into trunk where the spare tire was. System uses air instead of fluid so its similiar to what we have already. Just less complicated And you can independently lower/raise the front and rear. Or do them together.
I will make a detailed video on the functionality of the system and components used to make it work
Stay tuned
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 883
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From: Finland
SL600 / SL450 (107) / E350 / BMW M5 E60 / BMW 745i (E23) / BMW X6M / Toyota Hilux 4 WD/ Honda CBX 10
He gave the link of the video at the end of his post, here it is again,
air bagged slr230 500 600 sl55 benx - YouTube
air bagged slr230 500 600 sl55 benx - YouTube
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 372
Likes: 1
From: CT
CTS-V
Very nice. And very interested. I haven't had a problem yet, but I expect to soon. This is a very attractive solution. Did you reuse the hydraulic lines for the pneumatic lines? or run all new lines?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 55
Likes: 1
2005 sl600
We ran all new lines . Didn't want to use the old lines since they.carried fluid instead of air. Pretty much removed all abc components and put them up for sale on ebay to recoup some money. One of my valve blocks went out along with sweating lines. But other then that everything else was working. I am gonna load up more pics and videos tomorrow so everyone will have a better idea of this setup
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 55
Likes: 1
2005 sl600
We didn't weigh it before and after but I don't believe we lost any weight. We took all the old stuff out and added 2 small air compressors and a air tank in the trunk. So it all cancels each other out
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 372
Likes: 1
From: CT
CTS-V
Sounds reasonable. I just figured there was a lot of "heavy" fluid and then the addition of the pump(s) etc...A better solution with no extra weight = good. Hopefully the cost is not other worldly...
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 7
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SL55 AMG
great to see this! Im planning to do this to my car as well! Did you install sway bars on your car?
What did you use to get rid of the dash lights?
And what power steering pump did you replace your stock one with after removing all the ABC parts?
Sorry for the multiple questions!
What did you use to get rid of the dash lights?
And what power steering pump did you replace your stock one with after removing all the ABC parts?
Sorry for the multiple questions!
Member
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 166
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From: Sunny So Cal
Sl65, SL600 RENNtech, Verde Ithaca LP640, 3 highly modified Panteras, Maserati Biturbo, 300D turtle
Nice! I was wondering when someone was going to do that. The usual lowering kit is nice, but then the car only goes up only so far with the ABC to clear things. I have air ride on my black Pantera GT5S because the front spoiler is so low and big, and I like to slam it close to the ground when riding, and can then raise it up about 10" or so as needed. Jagata I see you have an LP640, which I need next, Ithaca green. Cars & coffee?
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06 SL65AMG, 13 Tesla Model S 60kwh, 02 Jaguar S-Type 3.0, 12 S550 4 Matic, 07 E320 Bluetec, 06 LX470
I'm curious about that coil over conversion for the R230's on ebay 2500 for the kit if u trade the struts/pump/valve block in. Someone should go test it out for us lol
