1995 SL500 adaptive damping problems

[Sp!ke]

I was speaking to someone the other day with a weird issue on his 1995 SL500.

The back end of the car would rise to its maximum height and wouldnt come down.

He'd replaced the pump and the rear actuator and the problem remained. Apparently it had just come from back from a well known specialist in Alperton who'd had it for two weeks without beeing able to fix the issue.

I was just wondering how much electronics were involved in ADS on such an early car and what could be causing this as from what I've read on the internet about ADS this doesnt seem to be one of the normal problems.

Isnt the rear ride height just a mechanical self levelling system on these?

 

[grober]

As far as I know some SL500 were fitted with adaptive damping in addition to self leveling. How exactly this worked I am uncertain but I think it shared common components with the standard MB self levelling system based on a rod/lever/valve control attached to the antiroll bars. It had 4 settings of "stiffness" varied continuously and controlled by an electronics board . The board may have gone faulty or require resetting. It wont be cheap probably . As you say there's nothing much to go wrong with the simpler self levelling system

this might be of help also?? http://www.v12uberalles.com/Adaptive_Damping_System.htm

 

[BTB 500]

That's not a problem I've heard of with ADS.

I think a 1995 car would have ADS I, which was different in some ways to the later ADS II.

Mine is ADS II, and I know there's a mechanical link on the front suspension that affects the front ride height. Not sure about the back though.

Stats007 knew a place in Weybridge that specialised in ADS repairs ... will see if I can find the details.

 

[Roger Jones]

The Weybridge place is SS Motors (16c Hamm Moor Lane; 01932 821555). It was in the light of favourable reports (on this forum) about their work on ADS that I recommended them to the vendor of the car that I subsequently bought. I then visited them to fix what turned out to be an unrelated matter and was very satisfied with their approach and the bill. Joe Salamone is the governor and he knows a thing or two about hydraulic systems, not least because it's his Grosser that's on display at MB World. His diagnosis of the unrelated problem (lopsided car, because a previous owner had changed one rear spring and not the other) was instant and spot-on, and he did comment that R129s are often a bit "saggy".

 

[BTB 500]

That's the place.

Great ADS thread here:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/electronics/51810-asr-ads-1996-sl600.html

including pages of diagrams.

Looks like there is a rear ride height sensor, so it could be a simple problem i.e. actuating arm come off.

I tweaked the front ride height of mine by adjusting the linkage to the sensor arm.

 

[Sp!ke]

Apparently he replaced the actuator on the rear to no avail.

The only way to lower the rear is to drain the ZHM fluid from the SLS, which cant be a good thing.

To me ride height alone sounds like a mechanical problem (seeing as its an early ADS system) but without knowing exactly what controls what its difficult to get my head round things. Wondering if there is an electronic controller somewhere that infuences the leveling system but I cantfind much on ADS1 systems.

 

[BTB 500]

Don't take it as gospel from me that it's ADS I rather than II.

I think the changeover was linked to the '96 facelift, but I could be wrong.

 

[Roger Jones]

I did a mountain of Web research on ADS before and after buying my car. Out of it all came a solid gleaming crystal of advice: take an ADS problem to one of the few outfits that really understand how it works. SS Motors seems to be one of the few. Many (most, all?) of the grief-stricken ADS stories out there come from those who've not found such expertise or have tried to tackle the problems themselves.

 

[EDZ649]

Don't take it as gospel from me that it's ADS I rather than II.

I think the changeover was linked to the '96 facelift, but I could be wrong.

My pre-facelift 1994 SL600 has ADS II

 

[d w124]

My pre-facelift 1994 SL600 has ADS II

Your one is special