Sold my car - Experience Of ABC

[maha]

Today I sold my my S500, what a beautiful car it was, it had every feature under the sun and was lovley but drive but god dam the ABC mechanism on the car is the absoultley £$£"" thing ever.

It just had a mind of its own about when it would decide to brake. I would go to work everything would be fine, leave the car for an 8hr shift and boom when I come back ABC light is on when I start the car. After fixing everything I strarted getting worried about when would this dam ABC light pop up next.

I would worry about going over pot holes, bumps etc just in case the rubbish soft ABC brakes.

Never again willl I buy a car with ABC or hydrualic suspension ever again. The car was so reliable bar that crap system.

I would not reccomend anybody ever buying a car with it in their life.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

ABC brakes?

 

[renault12ts]

Breaks.

 

[maha]

Sorry yes i mean breaks, my english is as %$$% as the system

 

[JasM]

So what's the replacement?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Sorry yes i mean breaks, my english is as %$$% as the system

Right, sorry, I kept thinking he must think his S-Class has SBC brakes...

 

[Virgovirgo71]

Why didn't you convert it to coilovers? I've the problem with my SL R230 Brabus! Which incidentally is being converted back to the "SL" suspension they used on a 350! No more visit workshop!

 

[cb1965]

Why didn't you convert it to coilovers? I've the problem with my SL R230 Brabus! Which incidentally is being converted back to the "SL" suspension they used on a 350! No more visit workshop!

Will the 350 suspension not be too 'soft' at the front for the weight of the V8?

PS the ABC is frustrating but fine as long as you have a bottomless pit of money to keep it working LOL!

 

[GAV105N]

Why didn't you convert it to coilovers? I've the problem with my SL R230 Brabus! Which incidentally is being converted back to the "SL" suspension they used on a 350! No more visit workshop!

Are you fitting the roll bars as well ? Be interesting to see how this works out
Good luck with the conversion

 

[Virgovirgo71]

Are you fitting the roll bars as well ? Be interesting to see how this works out Good luck with the conversion

I've checked everything out. I'm fitting front and rear anti roll bars deleting the tandem pump the ABC reservoir in fact all ABC components. It should weigh around the same as a 350 but in fact there will be a difference of 40kg. I'm on good advice by using Bilstein front shocks and upraised MB springs.

 

[maha]

Why didn't you convert it to coilovers? I've the problem with my SL R230 Brabus! Which incidentally is being converted back to the "SL" suspension they used on a 350! No more visit workshop!

Yeah maybe I should have done that, did not think at the time, but I assumed being mercedes their engineers would have had some brain power to be able to design something that works.

 

[maha]

So what's the replacement?

Anything that has no ABCrap or S&*te matic

 

[Virgovirgo71]

I've checked everything out. I'm fitting front and rear anti roll bars deleting the tandem pump the ABC reservoir in fact all ABC components. It should weigh around the same as a 350 but in fact there will be a difference of 40kg. I'm on good advice by using Bilstein front shocks and uprated MB springs. The ABC will be deleted from the ECU and datacard.

 

[martyp87]

Sorry to hear you had so many problems with it, as many do, the system however is brilliant when it does work.

I've been lucky with mine thus far, fluid change and just one shock so only about £2k spent on it. I know my luck will run out sometime though!

 

[John]

I've had Airmatic for nearly 5 years now and I love it.

Only the pump gone so far touch wood (from a tree).

Changes the whole drive of a car and turns it into a limo when I used to drive around London periodically.

 

[maha]

It was such a feel to drive you are right, but the amount of times it went wrong, I remember replacing the front valve then i think 3 days later the light went on again and had to replace a strut. I used to drive waiting for the light come on so could not relax and enjoy the car.

I remember somebody saying its not "paper thin" the system I mean. I am not sure I would agree with that now.

 

[martyp87]

I know how you feel, the constant worry of it going wrong when you drive it. Totally no fun and I'd be the same.

 

[Alex]

It was such a feel to drive you are right, but the amount of times it went wrong, I remember replacing the front valve then i think 3 days later the light went on again and had to replace a strut. I used to drive waiting for the light come on so could not relax and enjoy the car.

I remember somebody saying its not "paper thin" the system I mean. I am not sure I would agree with that now.

When it comes to ABC, you either have to have a good warranty in place, have deep pockets and not care for the cost or become handy with a spanner. I've tried all 3 options and found the latter to be the best one for me. It cured my fear and frustration of driving and expecting something to go wrong, it saved a hell lot of money and time as flat rate mechanic's approach is usually to replace everything until it starts working again.

 

[John]

I'm presuming then that ABC is probably less reliable system because it is more complicated than Airmatic or is it just down to luck?

 

[Alex]

I'm presuming then that ABC is probably less reliable system because it is more complicated than Airmatic or is it just down to luck?

Not as complicated, just often neglected and passed from one owner to the next unfixed, often resulting in astronomic repairs carried by mechanics who don't know what they are doing and just replace everything at owner's expense. Hydraulics is used widely in industrial applications and with regular maintenance is pretty reliable.