justinbuilt

Im in line to pick up an 2004 E55 AMG, all black, all the add ons, ect ect ect... Car is mint condition with 47k miles on it, 1 owner, close friend of mine. They are selling it to me in about 4 weeks.

Im a car guy, building a subaru sti, have a turbo forester, had a 500whp evolution X, had a 400whp sti before that, and a wrx before that.. and lot sof hondas.

So the wife will be driving the the E55 mostly, and were both fans of the VIP look with these big body cars. Ive already done a bunch of research and googling, and **** are parts expensive.

Ill be able to do an upgraded and reliable after cooler fairly easily and inexpensively.

Looks like we will be doing our own exhaust as the only exhaust options im seeing are 3 grand for mufflers, thats not happening....

But the real question, being factory air ride. Part of the reason Im posting this in the general introduction and not in the E55 amg specific sub forum, is because the AMG owners on here seem to favor strictly performance, and frown on the topic I'm about to touch on. For me, I already have a Race car, and its not going to be this AMG.

- Can you Purge/control/over ride the factory air ride and treat it similar to aftermarket bag setup?

I found the lowering rods, and washer trick, but im looking to Park Hard with the factory air ride. I've searched and cant find any definite answer or solution. There for sure has to be a way to purge the factory air ride, right?

justinbuilt

may of just answered my own question

http://www.renntechmercedes.com/www/node/229

3BNick

Just so you know, the car will not lay out completely with the V3. It will go low but I'm not sure it will go any lower than the 2" all the way around that the version 2 ELM will go. I have the V2 and its pretty nice and gets you to a pretty good stance. Just not going to lay out on it.

There is another member here that converted his ride to a full aftermarket air ride kit and can slam pretty hard. Can't remember his name though.

Voodoo Trucker

Unfortunately the valve is in the bags so controlling them outside the factory controls is not being done today. The ELM's don't park it hard like you're asking either. I used an Airlift kit for the same year Dodge Chargers with their V2 controller. Some fab work is needed but nothing major. I did cut apart and use the upper and lower parts of the rear bags to build into my rear mounts, but my bags had failed already so I didn't mind ruining them. I have a posted pic in the photo section. I'm running large tires and 20's otherwise it would lay out completely on the 18's.

Sir-Boost-a-Lot

iTrader: (1)

You should get a different Mercedes if you're after the "big body VIP look" since these things aren't very big, or VIP looking at all. In fact they're pretty blah on the appearance, but have a fantastic powertrain.

cij911

Agreed....And an 04' e55 while cheap to buy can become an expensive car to own if anything goes bad (e.g. fuel tank, fuel sending unit, SBC, air ride suspension, etc.)...

justinbuilt

as far as anything going wrong, that's life, If i was worried about up keep cost, id buy a honda civic.

As for laying out, its preferred, but ill go as low as the factory bag setup will let me go. Id much rather spend 1300 on the controller unit then 4 grand (or more) on aftermarket bags. Plus, ill keep the factory characteristics, which in this case, are fantastic.

My other choice was a newer GTR, But finding this at such a great deal, and knowing the previous owner, its a done deal.

3BNick

I'm sure the renntech V3 is nice, but a comapny called programa made their V2 elm and you can find one new with the remote for around 800. Or if you are patient, you can find them used. I bought my V2 for $400 and it works perfectly.

justinbuilt

awesome, ill totally look into that.