w215 55 AMG ABC Delete

[petergaryoakley]

Hi Guys, I'm currently replacing my ABC Suspension with the YellowSpeed Coilover kit due to a couple of leaking struts & low pressure from the tandem pump

I am wanting to suppress the warning messages about ABC issues afterwards.

I do have a Star system, with developer mode & thought it would be easy enough to code out the ABC in the instrument cluster but there is only the 2 suspension options - ABC or Airmatic , after changing it to Airmatic, however I then receive Airmatic warning messages on the dash.

I guess its a bit more complicated that I thought, has anyone successfully coded the ABC system out, any pointers would be great.

Many thanks

 

[SL63 Mark]

Hi Guys, I'm currently replacing my ABC Suspension with the YellowSpeed Coilover kit due to a couple of leaking struts & low pressure from the tandem pump

I am wanting to suppress the warning messages about ABC issues afterwards.

I do have a Star system, with developer mode & thought it would be easy enough to code out the ABC in the instrument cluster but there is only the 2 suspension options - ABC or Airmatic , after changing it to Airmatic, however I then receive Airmatic warning messages on the dash.

I guess its a bit more complicated that I thought, has anyone successfully coded the ABC system out, any pointers would be great.

Many thanks

This sounds like an interesting project for those of us with older ABC cars, let us know how you get on.

 

[television]

I would have a play in the 350 settings, as the ABC was an option you should be able to delete all ABC files and options.

 

[petergaryoakley]

Many thanks for the advise, I'll have a play at the weekend.

I could just use the strutmasters or arnott module to suppress the messages, but I'd rather do it more cleanly.

I know that the red ABC warning can be removed by pulling any ABC related fuses but that would still leave me with the white/blue ABC visit workshop message on every start up.

If I can find a way of doing it cleanly, I'll certainly share how it was done.

 

[V6Matty]

would it maybe be worth chatting to Comand Online and see if they have done a similar bit of coding, It worth a phone call even if they just give you an idea of where else to look.

 

[Philedge]

Many thanks for the advise, I'll have a play at the weekend.

I could just use the strutmasters or arnott module to suppress the messages, but I'd rather do it more cleanly.

I know that the red ABC warning can be removed by pulling any ABC related fuses but that would still leave me with the white/blue ABC visit workshop message on every start up.

If I can find a way of doing it cleanly, I'll certainly share how it was done.

I'm guessing that if Arnott and strutmasters went to the trouble of developing a module to supress the warnings, that its not possible to do it in STAR??

 

[television]

You can still do this by hooking the car up on STAR and enter the car as a 350. I have done this for other things.

 

[petergaryoakley]

Wow, many thanks for all the tips & ideas and so quickly.

I'll have a good play around with Star over the weekend & possibly make a phone call.

Cheers

 

[petergaryoakley]

Hi Guys, just to let you know that the coil over conversion has been completed.

It took 9 hours in total by my friendly garage.

The only issue they had was that the rear strut height can't be adjusted once on the vehicle as the bottom strut mount has to be disconnected & turned to adjust the height as necessary so it took them 4 goes to get a suitable clearance, the front height can be altered easily after fitting.

Car is now back in daily use with no issues, sorry I can't comment on the high speed stability yet as I'm normally just commuting & stuck in traffic (max 60mph) but the suspension is as smooth as ever with no noticeable body roll when cornering.

Next task is playing with Star over the weekend to remove the red abc warning.

Hopefully I can update later with some good news on that one.

Thanks to Malcolm for the pointers on that one.

Gary

 

[bembo449]

awesome stuff gary , hope a few follow your lead and convert theirs now but a few will want a higher speed run / feedback before taking the plunge i reckon

 

[Craiglxviii]

Sounds a good result for you; I just want my ABC to be in tip-top condition, I have coilovers on the A3 and don't want to see them on my luxury cruiser.

 

[SL63 Mark]

Interesting to hear about the handling, Gary. Thanks for the update.

 

[petergaryoakley]

Hi Guys, hope your asking me to break the speed limit

 

[television]

ABC virtually stops body roll and pitching when braking, they are its main advantages.

 

[petergaryoakley]

Its a great system, when its working. I can't argue about that, I loved it. but with the w215 getting so old now & the amount of issues it causes, it's an expensive fix to put the suspension right, you can easily spend more than the cars worth.

I just want to keep it on the road as long as possible, as it looks so good & as far as I know there's hardly any on the Isle of Man (never seen another CL on the Manx roads or a w220 of the same vintage).

Its now been used as my daily driver & I'm happy with that, I know it'll work without any issues when I go to it in the morning.

Its basically now bullet proof (well apart from a spare crankshaft sensor, just to be safe)

Gary

 

[petergaryoakley]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick update on how its going.

I managed to take to car out yesterday for a good run.

As it was nice & quiet, even with high windows, I took the car up to 100mph with no stability issues & there was only a little bit of body roll while cornering.

I haven't had much of a chance to play with Star about removing the warning messages but I chickened out telling the instrument cluster it was from an SL and not a CL as the menu options are so different & I didn't want to kill it.

The American forums suggest pulling all the fuses relating to the ABC system, I tried that & it did clear the Red ABC warning but I immediately also got ESP/BAS & ABS system warnings.

So I put the fuses back in.

If you completely remove the ABC module, or just disconnect the middle connector (I think that's the Canbus) you do receive a blue/white message "display defective ABC visit workshop" on every start up but that can be cleared by hitting the "R" button on the instrument panel & all other systems appear unaffected.

Think I need to spend more time playing about with Star to finally get it sorted.

I'll update when I get more time to play with it.

Gary

 

[merccl500]

how does this work when it comes to insurance?

 

[television]

As long as you tell them, and it is a Mercedes mod so to speak.

 

[ajlsl600]

Hi Guys, just to let you know that the coil over conversion has been completed.

It took 9 hours in total by my friendly garage.

The only issue they had was that the rear strut height can't be adjusted once on the vehicle as the bottom strut mount has to be disconnected & turned to adjust the height as necessary so it took them 4 goes to get a suitable clearance, the front height can be altered easily after fitting.

Car is now back in daily use with no issues, sorry I can't comment on the high speed stability yet as I'm normally just commuting & stuck in traffic (max 60mph) but the suspension is as smooth as ever with no noticeable body roll when corner

Next task is playing with Star over the weekend to remove the red abc warning.

Hopefully I can update later with some good news on that one.

Thanks to Malcolm for the pointers on that one.


very interesting subject , can you advise from where and at what cost did you obtain all the parts required for that job . cheers

 

[Aarkaah]

@petergaryoakley,

Kudos on pulling the trigger and paving the way for feedback on this conversion. I am on the US forums and have been searching for a conversion kit that both improves the ride and allows me to lower my CL. I started communicating with yellow speed this week and also ceika, but Yellowspeed is the only supplier that advertised a conversion that also lowered the height of the vehicle.

In the US some owners have converted with the Strutmasters option but the finished product has met with mixed reviews.(aka handling concerns under aggressive driving condition and fear of not having sway bars) Additionally, imho the final ride height has been horrific as per pictures posted by convertees. (Same or higher)

We know that the W220 had some other coilover kits and that the w215 chassis is similar. However, an adjustable w215 coilover solution has never been sourced, installed and documented online so we will all be watching your feedback! (No pressure).

Please post as much as you can regarding the quality of the product, your ongoing driving impressions, final settings and final pictures of the car to show the achievable ride height. I have been researching options for a while and intended on trying yellowspeed in the next months. Trust me, I have searched for nearly 3 months for something of this nature and I expect there are many, many, many others interested in your write up.

Again, thank you for striking out ahead of the pack. We hope you continue to provide us with feedback on your experience.

Regards,

Double-A