CONVERT YOUR ABC SUSPENSION SYSTEM TO COILOVERS

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crownhouse

New Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2009
Messages
27
Location
Oxford UK
Car
W215 W140 and W115
CONVERT YOUR MERCEDES ABC SUSPENSION SYSTEM TO COILOVERS SO THAT IT RIDES FLAWLESSLY AND DOES NOT BOUNCE

For the Mercedes W215 and the W220
Coilovers: Yellow Speed Dynamic Pro Purchased from: TEGIWA UK
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Brief Introduction
First and foremost as a sincere and honest disclaimer, this is a personal representation and I have no affiliation or sponsorship with any of the providers mentioned within. . . Please Enjoy !

A fully working tuned ABC suspension system is one of the best suspension setups you can have. From new, this system works flawlessly for a period of about 10 to 12 years.
Unfortunately with age, pipes corrode, contamination gets in, pumps fail, accumulators pop, valve blocks leak, suspensions start to weep and the repair costs become astronomical.
Owners of these vehicles soon realise that owning these ABC equipped cost an arm and a leg.

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Coilovers
YELLOW SPEED RACING DYNAMIC PRO
SPORT COILOVERS MERCEDES BENZ CL-CLASS W215 99-06 (SLANTED TOP MOUNT) £863.00
The Dynamic Pro Sport coilovers feature a 33-way adjustable dampening setting so you can fine tune your ride to suit the road conditions. This allows the suspension to not only be tailored to your car but also to your driving preference.
Yellow Speed Pros: Good Price / Good Quality / Good Dealer Support (in UK) / combined 33 way setting for dampening & rebound / Adjustability / Superior Shock oil
Yellow Speed Cons: Relatively New in the Market / Poor Manufacturer Support / One way combined dampening adjustment

CEIKA TYPE 1M COILOVERS FOR MERCEDES-BENZ CL-CLASS C215/W215 AMG (99-06) £810.79 GBP
Compared to the 2M kits the 1M allows for ease of adjustability with a single 30-clicks adjustment knob providing matching adjustment of both compression and rebound together.
Ceika Type 1 Pros: Very Good Price / Good Quality / Good Dealer Support (in US) / combined 30 way setting for dampening & rebound / Adjustability
Ceika Type 1 Cons: Relatively New in the Market / Unkown after market Support / One way combined dampening adjustment

CEIKA TYPE 2M COILOVERS FOR MERCEDES-BENZ CL-CLASS C215/W215 (99-06) £1,473.46 GBP
Compared to the 1M kits the 2M allows for further adjustability, fine tuning and cooler temperature thanks to its external reservoirs and separated compression and rebound adjustment with 15 clicks (each setting) x 2.
Ceika Type 2 Pros: Fair Price / Good Quality / Good Dealer Support (in US) / Separate 15 way setting for dampening & rebound / Adjustability
Ceika Type 2 Cons: Relatively New in the Market / Unknown after market Support /

SCALE MERCEDES-BENZ CL-CLASS 99-06 (W215) INNOVATIVE SERIES: $1,245
The SCALE Mercedes Cl Amg 01-06 Coilover is designed to achieve a perfect balance of street comfort and increased performance. This suspension system allows you to easily adjust your ride height while increasing handling performance. Their patented technology scaled system is designed for an easier installation and to ensure equal height on each corner.
Scale Pros: Excelllent Quality / Good Dealer Support (in US) / combined 30 way setting for dampening & rebound / Adjustability / Visual measurement scale built into dampers
Scale Cons: Price / Relatively New in the Market / Unknown after market Support

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STRUTMASTER 2000-2006 Mercedes Benz CL500 4 Wheel Hydraulic Suspension Conversion Kit (MB14F): $949.00
Strutmasters 2000-2006 Mercedes Benz CL-500 4 Wheel Hydraulic Suspension To Coil Spring Conversion Kit is the perfect solution to your suspension problems. Designed to be very affordable, you can convert your suspension to use standard shocks/struts and coil springs for less than the price of replacing one ABC strut.
Strutmaster Pros: Excellent Quality / Good Dealer Support (in US) / Error cancelling module / Excellent ride straight out of the box (best for saloon cars)
Strutmaster Cons: Price / No adjustability / Excessive ride height

AIRTEKK 99-06 MERCEDES CL W215 AIRTEKK AIRSTRUTS: $1,400.00
99-06 MERCEDES CL W215 AIRTEKK AIRSTRUTS with 33 way dampers shock and 3 ply rubber. Front airstruts with slim bellows and Rears with sleeves. comes with 2 spanner wrenches, 4 dampers keys with 4 1/4 air fittings.
Airteck Pros: Comfort of Air ride / Good Quality / Good Dealer Support (in US) / combined 33 way setting for dampening & rebound
Airteck Cons: Price / Air compressor, air tank, pipes and other accessories required

PB COILOVERS MERCEDES BENZ CL-CLASS W215 COILOVER SUSPENSION KIT: £699
The kit is available with black or white springs and features four performance suspension dampers, SAE-9254 cold-wound steel springs, and a choice of rubber joint mounts, or pillowball mounts (where applicable). All coilover kits are supplied with a 1 year guarantee.
PB Coilovers Pros: Excellent Price / Fair Quality / combined 30 way setting for dampening & rebound / Adjustability
PB Coilovers Cons: Relatively New in the Market / Unknown Dealer Support

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Springs
SWIFT Springs
offer a noticeable increase in traction, smoother weight transfer, better ride quality, lower tire temperatures, and a more predictable feel. Swift have taken that "what if" and turned it into reality. All Swift Springs are manufactured using( H5S.TW.) which is far superior to silicone chrome steel and allows them to wind their springs with less coils, resulting in reduced un-sprung weight and increased stroke.

EIBACH Springs are all manufactured in series production, often repeated, with a strong manufacturing experience. Thus, Eibach constantly achieves the most linear spring rate while maintaining the lowest tolerances and the highest quality in the industry. Based on decades of experience, Eibach has optimized their products to realize the lowest weight and smallest solid height, therefore increasing the maximum travel, block stability, linearity of the load/deflection graph, sag stability and dynamic durability.

D FAULKNER Springs are one of the largest suppliers of suspension springs in the UK and throughout the world. They cater for all branches of motorsport from Motorcycling to Touring Cars, Formula One and Indy Cars. Springs are made from the highest quality Chrome Vanadium, Silicon Chrome and Silicon Magnesium ground bar. A comprehensive range of sizes is stocked at their works, which is essential to enable quick deliveries to be made. Any spring can be manufactured, for example Progressive Springs and Coils of varying diameters.

Coilover To Airbag Conversion are available now as universal kits that will convert any coil over to an air-strut. Slim bellows offer maximum clearance for tight spaces and upper control arm space and are also a better alternative to sleeve type air spring. Kits come as a kit of 4, with seals and quick connect fittings. Some coilovers will need slight modification to the top hat bushing dowel.
A compressor, air tank, pipes, switches will still have to be purchased and installed to work and operate this system.

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Items required for the Coilover conversion
Set of coilovers.

Whichever set of coilovers you choose to install, they must have the following spring rates.
W215 CL500 & AMG55: Front 14Kg (800lbs) & Rear 10Kg (600lbs)
W215 CL600 & AMG65: Front 16Kg (900lbs) & Rear 10Kg (600lbs)


Front & Rear anti-roll bars with fittings
It is absolutely important to fit anti-roll bars to cater for the spring rates mentioned above. Softer springs without the support of anti-roll bars will definitely make for a wobbly rolling ride.
Without the anti-roll bars, stiffer springs (20Kg front & 14Kg rear) have been adopted to enhance rigidity and compensate for roll. Excessively stiff spring rates is what have caused the unpleasant bounciness associated with these conversions.

Front & Rear Anti-roll bar link arms
The rear sway bar links must be of the metal type and not plastic. This ensures precise transfer of forces from the roll bar to the suspension support arms.

Front Lower control Arms
These need to be changed to the non ABC type because the side attachment is required to accommodate the front anti-roll bar drop links.

Rear Front Sub Frame bushings & Rear Wheel Hub Knuckle
With the original ABC system, the struts have a wide range of stiffness from soft to firm, controlled electronically by computers assisted by valve blocks, and mechanically by accumulators. This allows for a range that fine tunes itself according to road surface, load pressures and speed. The ABC system can therefore be described as DYNAMIC. The coilover setup on the other hand has fixed settings depending on user requirement and settings. In essence, you either choose or set it to soft or hard. The Coilover setup can therefore be described as STATIC. With a coilover setup the average suspension setting is stiffer than ABC. The rear sub-frame the front positioned pair of bushing will take a hammering due to the stiffer ride. These should therefore be changed and reinforced as described in the web link below.
Do It Yourself | Liquid Urethane Motor Mount Inserts | Suspension.com

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Rear Sub Frame Bush Removal Tool
It is highly recommended to obtain this tool to enable easy removal and fitting of the rear sub-frame bushing.

Rear Wheel Knuckle Bush Removal Tool
It is highly recommended to obtain this tool to enable easy removal and fitting of the rear wheel knuckle bushing.

EasyFlo™ Liquid Plastics for casting production parts and more. EasyFlo (60 Shore hardness) consist of two parts (A and B) that cure to tough polyurethane plastics. Since Parts A and B low viscosity liquids, they mix easy, provide excellent penetration, and make bubble-free castings.
Link below is a DIY solution showing the application of liquid polyutherane for improving sub frame bushings
https://www.suspension.com/blog/do-it-yourself-liquid-urethane-motor-mount-replacement-inserts/

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Items to complement the conversion
Mercedes Rear Camber Kit Adjustable Arm

This kit rod ends are stainless steel to prevent rust with Energy Suspension graphite filled poly bushings and stainless steel inserts. The tie rod sleeves are hexagonal T6061 aluminium drawn tubing for strength, durability, and precise fitting.
These are great for correcting negative camber. The kit straighten the wheels by dialling out negative camber.

Mercedes Adjustable Front Camber Kit A-Arm
This kit is made of steel with Energy Suspension poly graphite filled bushings for bar ends and aluminium alloy inserts. The heim joints are solid steel with stainless steel ball joints and solid one piece steel sleeves.

Syncro Design Works Mercedes Thrust Arms
THis is a specialised product and solution for your performance cars that were meant to be driven.
These include, sealed-spherical bearing enhanced front control arms.

Ultraracing Front Strut Bar / Front Tower Bar, Front Member Brace / Front Lower Bar, Rear Lower Bar / Rear Member Brace.

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THE CONVERSION PROCESS
Several internet posts detail the process for the removal of the ABC struts and fitting of Coilovers. The links below should be read before starting the process. In this posts, I will only highlight the important factors that have been left out or need to be reiterated.

**My CL500 W215 Project Complete**

CL500 W215 Rear end rebuild & renovation

[SOLVED] - W215 cl500 abc hydraulic system repair

Coilover conversion SWAY / Torsion Bars DY - MBWorld.org Forums

Yellow speed conversion - MBWorld.org Forums

bestbenz.com

bestbenz.com

2000-2006 Mercedes Benz CL500 4 Wheel Hydraulic Suspension Conversion Kit (MB14F) - Strutmasters

This conversion process is best done using a two post car lift
With the two posts, all four suspensions are dropped free when raised. This allows for the slight dropping of the rear sub-frame to fit the rear anti roll bar and also for the easy access and removal of struts.
Six (6) hours to remove all unrequired ABC struts, pipes, vlaves, etc
Six (6) hours to fit all four coilovers and re-route pump pipework.​
Before lifting the car, undo all the suspension mounts at the top leaving one nut on each strut free enough to be undone by hand.
A must have tool for undoing and tightening the suspension top mount bolts in the rear, is a 13mm swan neck spanner.
Drain all the ABC system of oil and start the strip process.
Both ABC oil reservoirs (for the system and the power steering) should be drained and removed. These will be refitted back to their original locations because the ABC pump and reservoirs will still be used and do not have to be changed. Remove the ABC struts and the Valve blocks and all the rear pipe work.

If your ABC Pump is working, you do not need to install a Non-ABC Power Steering pump
In the Front, there is a pipe that goes from the ABC Pump from the pulsation damper, over and above the gear box and down to the Pressure Regulator Accumulator behind the driver side front wheel well. This should be disconnected at the pressure regulator (behind the front wheel well) and all support holding clips (difficult due to limited space). This is the main feed out from the pump and will be used to return oil back to the main ABC oil reservoir to facilitate oil recycling.
With the original rear ABC struts removed, using a high level gearbox stand, support the rear sub-frame from beneath the differential. Disconnect the exhaust from the rubber mountings fore and aft of the rear muffler allowing it to hang free. Undo the rear sub-frame bush mounting bolts and slowly lower the supporting stand. Once you have lowered the sub-frame by about 10 inches this will allow for: a) removal of the rear pipes, b) fitting of the rear anti roll bar & c) removal and fitting of the rear sub-frame bushing.
If you have not recently changed your sub-frame bushings, it will be advisable to also change the rear back bushings as well.
Rear Subframe Bushings - MBWorld.org Forums

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Coilovers must have the following spring rates
W215 CL500 & AMG55: Front 14Kg (800lbs) & Rear 10Kg (600lbs)
W215 CL600 & AMG65: Front 16Kg (900lbs) & Rear 10Kg (600lbs)
and both Front & Rear anti-roll bars must be fitted.


Remember to place the rear damper adjusters into their required slots before fitting the rear coilovers. Once the suspension is fitted and secured the amount of available space between the rear screen and the top of the rear struts is extremely tight and the adjusters can neither be inserted nor removed.
Before fitting, it is advisable to slide a tiny O-ring on the shaft that will push down into the suspension shaft. This prevents the shaft from making a rattling noise when vibrating in the slot.
Once you are satisfied with your rear damping settings, the adjuster knob heads can be pulled off their shafts. The shafts will still remain in position and the heads can be re-applied. This allows you to replace the rear suspension head covers.
The rear wheel strut chambers have a plastic splash guard which needs to be removed and trimmed at the top to make the opening wider after which I can then be refitted. This prevents the coilover top mount from pinching it when bolting up and guarantees that you have a tight and flush matting fit to the body. With the splash guard off and before refitting, I would recommend a good spray coating of anti-rust to the well.
Rear ride height must be set between 1.5cm (15mm) & 2.0cm (20mm) higher than the front ride height. Measurement taken from the ground through the centre of the wheel and up to the fender lip. This ensures that the centre of gravity is pushed forward. This affects suspension dynamics and helps to cancel out rear end bounce.
Unlike the ABC System which is dynamic, maintaining ride height irrespective of load, Coilovers are static. When load is applied such as acceleration, deceleration, cornering, passengers or dead weight in the boot (trunk), the springs will compress and the ride height will lower accordingly. It is also important to remember that a good height is essential for comfort and lowered height aids stability at high speeds. The ABC system does this by dropping the ride height automatically at speeds over 60 mph. When determining the ride height with coilovers, consider these factors and try to achieve a balance that will suit your drive style.

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Why I used Yellow Speed Racing Coilovers
  • Majority of ABC conversions used yellow speed coilovers
  • Use of a patented high quality suspension oil that maintains continuous efficiency
  • 33 way settings for combined dampening & rebound
  • Good price
  • Good quality
  • Availability of replacement parts
  • Product Dealer support in the UK
Problems Encountered
On purchase of my Yellow Speed coilovers, the spring rates supplied were 20Kg Front & 14Kg Rear. I found them to be too stiff & harsh and no settings or adjustments could eliminate rear end bounce.
18Kg rear springs for the rear were offered me hoping that it would eliminate or reduce bounce. These did not correct the problem but made it worse.
I decided to fit 14Kg spring rates in the front a 10 Kg spring rates in the rear adopting other tricks I had picked up from the old configurations i.e. Sub-frame Bushings and Ride height settings.
With this configuration, I was achieved excellent ride quality without any bounce.
 
I have completed additional work on my coilovers and these are the results:
  • Ordered and fitted 8Kg (500lbs) linear springs for the rear struts.
  • Test drove and can confidently say this is the best spring rate for the rear.
The original supplied specifications of 20Kg for the front and 14kg for the rear were impractical, and this is what caused the dangerous bounce that everybody complained about.

As described in the [SOLVED] thread, I changed the springs to 14kg on the front and 10kg on the rear and this immediately eliminated the bounce. Over a few months of use, I realised that this was still just a bit too harsh (at least for our British roads).

Currently, I am now riding on 14kg in the front and 8kg in the rear.

There is absolutely no bounce and the rear is even more compliant, way more comfortable and superbly planted at high speeds.

Due to the trials of all my experiments and the associated cost (parts and labour), I ordered and fitted Faulkner springs on the rear struts.

My preference and recommendations are:
For the Rear: Draco Spring C10.3 Coilover Springs, 3″ ID, 10″ Free Length, Rate 500lbs
For the Front: Draco Spring C10.3 Coilover Springs, 3″ ID, 10″ Free Length, Rate 750lbs
Draco Coilover Springs have the fewest coils and greatest coil gap on the market. The maximum amount of coil has been removed to keep weight down and achieve maximum travel with a linear rate. Designed and manufactured for the racer who demands quality and consistency. All springs are preset to prevent sag.
 
I have a 03 S600 and have not been happy with my YSR conversion since I bought them. I have tried everything to reduce the dangerous bounce at speeds over 70mph and have had zero success! I even tried 20kg on the rear and that did not work. Based on your recent post, it seems like you solved the issue. Can I use the 14kg spring I have for the back on the front struts and just order a set of 8kg springs for the back? Are they all the same length and interchangeable?
 
I have completed additional work on my coilovers and these are the results:
  • Ordered and fitted 8Kg (500lbs) linear springs for the rear struts.
  • Test drove and can confidently say this is the best spring rate for the rear.
The original supplied specifications of 20Kg for the front and 14kg for the rear were impractical, and this is what caused the dangerous bounce that everybody complained about.

As described in the [SOLVED] thread, I changed the springs to 14kg on the front and 10kg on the rear and this immediately eliminated the bounce. Over a few months of use, I realised that this was still just a bit too harsh (at least for our British roads).


Currently, I am now riding on 14kg in the front and 8kg in the rear.

There is absolutely no bounce and the rear is even more compliant, way more comfortable and superbly planted at high speeds.

Due to the trials of all my experiments and the associated cost (parts and labour), I ordered and fitted Faulkner springs on the rear struts.

My preference and recommendations are:
For the Rear:
Draco Spring C10.3 Coilover Springs, 3″ ID, 10″ Free Length, Rate 500lbs
For the Front: Draco Spring C10.3 Coilover Springs, 3″ ID, 10″ Free Length, Rate 750lbs
Draco Coilover Springs have the fewest coils and greatest coil gap on the market. The maximum amount of coil has been removed to keep weight down and achieve maximum travel with a linear rate. Designed and manufactured for the racer who demands quality and consistency. All springs are preset to prevent sag.
Hi Sir,
fantastic job. I have a question. Your recommendation for rear is: Draco Spring C10.3 Coilover Springs, 3″ ID, 10″ Free Length, Rate 500lbs, but original rear Yellow Speed Racing Spring is length 8 1/4 in and I.D. 2 1/2 in.
Does this Draco Spring really fit especially in relation to difference in ID: 2.5” YSR vs. 3” Draco.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Piotr
 

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