AMG 600 SL Recent Purchase.

[brian bray]

I recently bought a 2000 SL 600 AMG all black (black repaint over original black) with black AMG wheels.

Suspension Questions:
1) The front goes up and down with the dash switch as intended but "settles" to the down position when the car sits overnight; pumps up quickly when car starts. Air bags replacement?
2) The rear is in the down position all the time (feels like it's riding on the bump stops) and the dash light saying "sport mode" is lit always. Air bags replacement? Anything else to look for?

Thanks in advance for your input. Brian Bray brianbray35@comcast.net

 

[LostKiwi]

First off I don't think there was ever any such thing as an SL600 AMG. Yours is an SL600 or perhaps an SL60 (which is an AMG). The SL600.is a V12, the SL60 is a V8 (but as far as I'm aware was produced earlier than 2000 as it's M119 based).
Secondly the SL of that era was not air based. It was either coil springs and dampers or ADS which was the precursor to ABC. At that age it's likely ADS2. ADS is oleo hydraulic based on the Citroen hydro-pneumatic system. It has gas spheres for springing and hydraulic rams for height adjustment. These have sensors which feedback height information to an ECU which controls oil flow into valve blocks. The oil is pressurised by a pump which is part of the power steering pump. There is very little knowledge about these as they are a fairly rare system. You will almost certainly require Star in order to diagnose it correctly.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Or... it’s an SL600 R230 that someone’s AMG’d up...?

 

[John Laidlaw]

Or... it’s an SL600 R230 that someone’s AMG’d up...?

Imagine that.....

 

[LostKiwi]

Or... it’s an SL600 R230 that someone’s AMG’d up...?

Yeah bizarrely the 600 was never an AMG in 230 form even though it was the performance equal of the SL55.

 

[alexanderfoti]

Yeah bizarrely the 600 was never an AMG in 230 form even though it was the performance equal of the SL55.

It was available as a 65 though!

 

[V6Matty]

It was available as a 65 though!

Not that you’ve been looking though Alex

 

[alexanderfoti]

Not that you’ve been looking though Alex

Never

 

[peterws1957]

Never

I missed out on 2 really nice ones recently. Both ludicrously priced and the sellers must have been well aware. I made good offers and was rejected, on the basis that there was little "wriggle" room. Found out later that both had been sold for thousands less than I had offered. Dealers can be stupidly hard to deal with on occasion.

 

[alexanderfoti]

I missed out on 2 really nice ones recently. Both ludicrously priced and the sellers must have been well aware. I made good offers and was rejected, on the basis that there was little "wriggle" room. Found out later that both had been sold for thousands less than I had offered. Dealers can be stupidly hard to deal with on occasion.

In the same vain. I was trying to do a deal with somebody on Autotrader. Everytime I asked a question I got an exasperated SIGH down the phone like a stubborn child. Then a long explanation about how he's "not going to sell it anymore uegh"...... Some people are odd.

I agree. I hate trying to buy from a dealer that makes it sound like they are doing you a favour by letting you buy the car from them.