jnfgambler247
New Member
Hello
I am new to this forum and recently bought a SL500 2004. It is my first Mercedes (dare I say on here I have 2 Jaguars; XKR and XJR and just sold a 645) so I am a bit of a V8 car nut. Having seen around 40 500's at auction over this year I finally found one that I felt was suitable, of course being a 500 it had to have the ABC hydraulic suspension and all it’s alleged foibles.
Anyway, to get to the point I do have quite a few questions that I hope you friendly folks will be able to offer good advice.
Firstly ABC… I have traced the maintenance of this car and found that a new ABC pump was fitted about 18 months ago at my local independent MB specialist.
I have taken the wheels off to inspect the area and found that the o/s/f suspension strut gator has a hole in it! I have att. An image.
Now, my first introduction to local independent MB specialist was a concerning as they were happy to suggest I needed a new strut now, they whipped on the phone to Milton Keynes to price up a strut and tried to get me booked for a new strut £1300 all in, all inside 5 minutes.
Now, me being a tight so and so I thought that there must be a cheaper way to solve this issue, maybe not permanently, but certainly I can put off the bill for a good while by sealing/repairing this gator. Apparently they are not available as a single spare part item.
At this point I am thinking of wrapping neatly cut Duck tape around the creases in the gator. Does anyone on here have any experience like this or have any other solutions?
(The suspension is currently working properly and no error messages have appeared)
On another issue I have the hideous 17 inch wheels on the car at the moment, however I have bought a set of Avoir 18 inch wheels and I am debating what tyres to put on them. My usual tyre dealers are not being able to locate a matching set of 4 of any brand for upto 6 weeks (Goodyear being the best price). I decided to go onto ebay and found some savings and some stock at local tyre fitters. BTW as a rule I insist on have no older 6 month old “new” tyres, however considering cost and availability I have found some DOT 2012 Dunlops (for rear) and DOT 2015 Pirelli (for front) for under £100 per tyre, fitted. I have included the links below. The 2012 Avon tyres on my XJR are cracking – I guess we will never know if that is due to use or age??
Does anyone have any experience with these tyres on the R230 and the age issue?
285 35 18 W Dunlop Sp Sport Maxx GT x2 Tyres - Free Delivery or Fitting | eBay
235 40 18 Y Pirelli Pzero Nero GT x2 Tyres - Free Delivery or Fitting | eBay
Sorry if the post is a bit long winded and rambling, so Thank you for reading my post.
Jim
I am new to this forum and recently bought a SL500 2004. It is my first Mercedes (dare I say on here I have 2 Jaguars; XKR and XJR and just sold a 645) so I am a bit of a V8 car nut. Having seen around 40 500's at auction over this year I finally found one that I felt was suitable, of course being a 500 it had to have the ABC hydraulic suspension and all it’s alleged foibles.
Anyway, to get to the point I do have quite a few questions that I hope you friendly folks will be able to offer good advice.
Firstly ABC… I have traced the maintenance of this car and found that a new ABC pump was fitted about 18 months ago at my local independent MB specialist.
I have taken the wheels off to inspect the area and found that the o/s/f suspension strut gator has a hole in it! I have att. An image.
Now, my first introduction to local independent MB specialist was a concerning as they were happy to suggest I needed a new strut now, they whipped on the phone to Milton Keynes to price up a strut and tried to get me booked for a new strut £1300 all in, all inside 5 minutes.
Now, me being a tight so and so I thought that there must be a cheaper way to solve this issue, maybe not permanently, but certainly I can put off the bill for a good while by sealing/repairing this gator. Apparently they are not available as a single spare part item.
At this point I am thinking of wrapping neatly cut Duck tape around the creases in the gator. Does anyone on here have any experience like this or have any other solutions?
(The suspension is currently working properly and no error messages have appeared)
On another issue I have the hideous 17 inch wheels on the car at the moment, however I have bought a set of Avoir 18 inch wheels and I am debating what tyres to put on them. My usual tyre dealers are not being able to locate a matching set of 4 of any brand for upto 6 weeks (Goodyear being the best price). I decided to go onto ebay and found some savings and some stock at local tyre fitters. BTW as a rule I insist on have no older 6 month old “new” tyres, however considering cost and availability I have found some DOT 2012 Dunlops (for rear) and DOT 2015 Pirelli (for front) for under £100 per tyre, fitted. I have included the links below. The 2012 Avon tyres on my XJR are cracking – I guess we will never know if that is due to use or age??
Does anyone have any experience with these tyres on the R230 and the age issue?
285 35 18 W Dunlop Sp Sport Maxx GT x2 Tyres - Free Delivery or Fitting | eBay
235 40 18 Y Pirelli Pzero Nero GT x2 Tyres - Free Delivery or Fitting | eBay
Sorry if the post is a bit long winded and rambling, so Thank you for reading my post.
Jim