Thinking about buying a R230

[McDonald]

ABC is a fantastic system which gives a plush ride with phenomenal grip and an almost complete absence of body roll and pitch.

So glad to read this. People bang on about ABC as though it was motoring Leprosy. It gives a tremendous ride. This car is German. If you maintain it, it's wonderful. If you can't afford to maintain it, buy something less ambitious.

 

[Thomas Gardiner]

ABC is a fantastic system which gives a plush ride with phenomenal grip and an almost complete absence of body roll and pitch.
It's fundamentally a development of the Citroen oleo-pneumatic first seen on the Citroen DS. That system is fully hydraulic whereas the Mercedes development of it is computer controlled with sensors on each strut that detect rate of motion and sensors on each corner that detect ride height. These sensors then control two valve blocks that control the pressure at each strut and the rate of fluid transfer to control damping. The system is pressure fed with oil from an hydraulic pump incorporated in the power steering pump but desperate from it (hydraulically speaking). The pressure in the system is around 200 bar.
Because there are very fine tolerances in the hydraulic components it is very reliant on proper maintenance and this can be the problem. Hydraulic oil and the filter should be changed every 2 years. This can mean that low mileage cars miss out on filter abd fluid changes 'because it's not been driven'.
Oil is very specific and must meet the correct MB standard. This can also be an issue.
Neglect is the single worst thing you can do with ABC.
Anyone buying an ABC equipped car should immediately change ABC oil and filter so they know it's been done and when it was done.
Costs to repair ABC used to be eye watering but lately prices have come down and several companies have introduced refurbished parts which has made a huge difference to repair costs.
One thing I would recommend to anyone buying an ABC car is to purchase a code reader that can read and reset error codes on ABC - something like an iCarsoft MB V2 or similar and keep it in the car.
What can fail?
Sensors can snap operating arms (but are cheap).
Pumps can fail (£500+ for parts).
Struts can fail (£500+ each)
Valve blocks can fail (£50+ for rebuild kits).
Accumulators can fail (£100 or so each - there are 4).
Fluid runs to about £10 per litre or more and there's a little over a litre in the system. It's also the same fluid used for power steering.
My own 230 has covered 109k miles and has had 3 x struts - one of them twice. It will likely need a left rear soon as it's misting (but has been for years).

Now the big question... Would I have another ABC equipped car?
Yes, but not if it was my only car as when it fails it can stop the car moving at all (if suspension drops the wheels go up into arches - never park an ABC car on full lock, always leave wheels straight ahead).

I've owned vehicles with air suspension with no problems at all. The struts you have had to replace seems reasonable for mileage.

 

[Thomas Gardiner]

So glad to read this. People bang on about ABC as though it was motoring Leprosy. It gives a tremendous ride. This car is German. If you maintain it, it's wonderful. If you can't afford to maintain it, buy something less ambitious.

Me and my wife have drove German cars, the same marque, for the past 20 years! Unfortunately my preferred make don't do a GT car, I wish they did!

 

[Wighty]

So glad to read this. People bang on about ABC as though it was motoring Leprosy. It gives a tremendous ride. This car is German. If you maintain it, it's wonderful. If you can't afford to maintain it, buy something less ambitious.

I think you have hit the nail on the head about how good it is .
But the nature of advice on a forum to someone who is considering MB for the first time , especially on older ABC equipped cars MUST have the potential big repair costs of ABC as the number one .
Obviously once informed they can then decide how they proceed depending on budget and car needs .

 

[LostKiwi]

If you're handy with spannering there shouldn't be too many concerns over ABC as a lot of the cost is often labour. Take that aspect away and whilst it's more complex the costs shouldn't be a huge amount more than air suspension.
Both have expensive (relatively) struts and pumps, both have height sensors, both have ECU control, both have valve blocks. The only extra components in ABC are the 4 accumulators but they don't often give trouble.

ABC has gained a bad rep but it's not entirely deserved.

 

[Conor]

Hi Thomas,

Welcome to the forum and cool to hear you are thinking about the R230.. I picked one up last year and love it!

There is some really good advice on this thread already and the forum as a whole has a lot of ground covered on the 230.

I guess the most important advice is that regardless of the up front expense it's a car that can come with frequent, expensive repair bills so will need to have a dedicated warchest for it imho.

But oh my.... great car.

 

[Conor]

If you're handy with spannering there shouldn't be too many concerns over ABC as a lot of the cost is often labour. Take that aspect away and whilst it's more complex the costs shouldn't be a huge amount more than air suspension.
Both have expensive (relatively) struts and pumps, both have height sensors, both have ECU control, both have valve blocks. The only extra components in ABC are the 4 accumulators but they don't often give trouble.

ABC has gained a bad rep but it's not entirely deserved.

I agree on this.. I also believe some items can be refurb'ed too like the valve blocks and the ball joints on struts.. Open to correction.

 

[flowrider]

Worse case scenario with an ABC failure is that you replace it with coilovers. Total cost will be under £1200 excluding labour and no more suspension worries.

 

[Conor]

Worse case scenario with an ABC failure is that you replace it with coilovers. Total cost will be under £1200 excluding labour and no more suspension worries.

That's true. One thing to keep in mind is the rear subframe needs dropping I think, to install an anti roll bar. Not sure that adds much labour.

 

[Thomas Gardiner]

Really appreciate all the replies. Think I'll have have to become more friendly with a neighbour who always has various different cars up on ramps! But seriously, food for thought, the search continues.

 

[McDonald]

Worse case scenario with an ABC failure is that you replace it with coilovers. Total cost will be under £1200 excluding labour and no more suspension worries.

But it could never match the ride. If you've got £1200 for the conversion, you can probably afford to fix the ABC and drive the car as it should be.

 

[LostKiwi]

If you haven't already I'd be tempted to contact this one:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201908101006467?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2004&maximum-mileage=60000&price-to=10000&postcode=nn110xp&model=SL CLASS&page=3&price-from=5000&make=MERCEDES-BENZ&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&modal=description

Ask for some pictures and go from there.
Budget a full set of tyres if they're 7 years old.

One other thing - be prepared to travel for the right car. Make a weekend of it if it's a distance away (subject to Covid-19 of course).

 

[Thomas Gardiner]

If you haven't already I'd be tempted to contact this one:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201908101006467?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2004&maximum-mileage=60000&price-to=10000&postcode=nn110xp&model=SL CLASS&page=3&price-from=5000&make=MERCEDES-BENZ&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&modal=description

Ask for some pictures and go from there.
Budget a full set of tyres if they're 7 years old.

One other thing - be prepared to travel for the right car. Make a weekend of it if it's a distance away (subject to Covid-19 of course).

Intriguing! Definitely up for a travel to anywhere, the wife is hoping for the cotswolds! Unfortunately just looking at the news about Covid, due to being on ongoing chemotherapy it looks as though I could be looking at quite a stint in shielding. Be a shame to have such a machine parked in garage. Fingers crossed the boffins get their fingers out and get a vaccine sorted.

 

[00slk]

Having to have deep pockets only depends on if you're unlucky, I have run 3 r230's at a combined mileage of 62,000mls over a 6 year period and a cost of approximately £2800 off the top of my head for ABC repairs, in which £900 of that was a bit of a rip off as I had a similar job done on my 55 at the total cost of £288
Even if you go for the most expensive, you can still end up with a pup
Just thought I'd throw a little spanner in the works

 

[LostKiwi]

Intriguing! Definitely up for a travel to anywhere, the wife is hoping for the cotswolds! Unfortunately just looking at the news about Covid, due to being on ongoing chemotherapy it looks as though I could be looking at quite a stint in shielding. Be a shame to have such a machine parked in garage. Fingers crossed the boffins get their fingers out and get a vaccine sorted.

Normally (pre Covid-19) if a car was some distance away a forum member would sometimes volunteer to take a first look to determine if it was worth the buyers time to make the journey. May still be possible if you ask (too far from me I'm afraid). What area are you based?

 

[Thomas Gardiner]

Normally (pre Covid-19) if a car was some distance away a forum member would sometimes volunteer to take a first look to determine if it was worth the buyers time to make the journey. May still be possible if you ask (too far from me I'm afraid). What area are you based?

Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. Sounds very generous of people and could be a possibility in future. Once covid restrictions are relaxed.

 

[flowrider]

But it could never match the ride. If you've got £1200 for the conversion, you can probably afford to fix the ABC and drive the car as it should be.

Problem is £1200 will fix a couple of struts or a ABC pump but then you still have further repairs likely still to come, 2 more struts, a few valve blocks etc whereas £1200 on a coilover conversion is the end of the matter. You are right though that the ride wont be as good but everything has a trade off.

The other mod I would consider is replacing the archaic COMAND system with an aftermarket android unit, cost about £450.

 

[LostKiwi]

The other mod I would consider is replacing the archaic COMAND system with an aftermarket android unit, cost about £450.

And for that it's much easier with the 2004 onwards Comand with the bigger screen. The early one is a proper ball ache with everything connected by D2B fibre optic.

 

[flowrider]

And for that it's much easier with the 2004 onwards Comand with the bigger screen. The early one is a proper ball ache with everything connected by D2B fibre optic.

The Seicane unit comes with a cable that according to Tavarish (Youtuber) connects into the existing cabling making it a plug and play install.

 

[LostKiwi]

The Seicane unit comes with a cable that according to Tavarish (Youtuber) connects into the existing cabling making it a plug and play install.

Maybe on a non-bose car. With Bose the amplifier is in the boot and it's D2B to the amplifier. If you want to replace it you need to scrap the Bose amplifier, run speaker wires to the boot to plug into the existing speaker wires (or run your own direct into the doors).
Right PITA.