SL55 AMG

At some point hey become cheap enough that people will drive them until something expensive breaks then park them in the hedgerow.

 

parts will be cheap but all the same parts will be broken.

 

unfortunately i had a bit of experience with an '04 sl55.
the abc (active body control) suspension, as others have noted in this post, is a MAJOR problem, especially on the pre '07 models.
in '07 mb redesigned the abc (called it abc II) and this may have addressed the headaches so many of us experienced.
the hydraulic suspension system has "check valves" which are designed to prevent the vehicle from dropping when the engine is turned off.
the valves are a metal on metal design and if metal particles get into the closed system (as they will eventually, due to the valve design) the valves fail to seat properly and the car will drop down, sometimes an inch or two overnight.
mb initially advised the dealers to perform a "rodeo test" on effected vehicles.
the "rodeo" cycles the system to flush & bleed the system after opening the hydraulics - makes the car lift up & down on each corner & pumps the fluid around the system.
check out this video:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chJvOGkmv_I&feature=related[/ame]

while the rodeo "test" might pump out air bubbles in the hydraulic system, it never helped my vehicle.
an inline particle filter on the hydraulic system was another attempt at preventing metal particles from contaminating the fluid.

my sl55 was eventually replaced by mb under the michigan lemon law.
i now have an '09 sl63.
the sl63 is stored in the winter and after 4 months there is no loss of vehicle height.
i think mb finally learned their abc's!
by the way, the sl63 is a quantum leap better than the sl55.
and i predict they will depreciate less (wishful thinking, i know!)

read the following posts from various mb forums to learn about the abc issue (the last post is mine).
BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r230-sl-class/1517488-abc-suspension-issues-non-issues.html
http://www.mbworld.org/forums/sl55-amg-sl63-amg-sl65-amg-r230/232160-abc-suspension.html
http://owners.mercedes-benz-usa.com/forum/topics/2003-sl-500-problems?page=1&commentId=2944723%3AComment%3A22275&x=1#2944723Comment22275
http://www.mbworld.org/forums/sl55-amg-sl63-amg-sl65-amg-r230/231362-sl55-abc-suspension-problem.html

 

Hi pearsonhaus. I agree with you. Those videos are pretty informative. I really like to watch it. I hope that I can also have that great car.

 

can't you pull out the active shocks/struts and replace them with some type of good aftermarket, fixed system? I've always loved the SL55 and also considered one for a DD. Just never got around to really looking into it.

 

My Father-in-law just picked up a 2003 SL55. He read up on all of the issues, especially with the suspension so he knows what he's getting into. Hopefully he doesn't experience any catastrophic repair bills.

 

dave: congratulations to your father-in-law.
please give us feedback.
i hope he has no issues with the vehicle.
my sl63 is now 2 years old.
i just brought it out of winter storage (for the second time).
there was virtually no loss of vehicle height over the winter.
i think mb has finally perfected the abc suspension suspension on their later vehicles!

 

I'm reading through this thread now and didn't realize that the amg 55 and 63 cars had air suspension? I thought that was only on the non amg cars?

 

I'm fairly certain, as with my 2009 SL65, that all AMG cars had Active Body Control (ABC) which was hydraulic and NOT air suspension.

 

correct: ABC is hydraulic, not pneumatic
follow-up on my old sl63: the transmission began to show hiccups after around 5-6K miles.
when moving from a dead stop, a noticeable jerk would occur consistently.
the dealer said this was normal for the vehicle.
in the MB forums, i found this to be a common problem with this vehicle.
2 years later, MB had a fix, but if the warranty had elapsed, they would not pay for the updated clutch.
fortunately i had a MB extended warranty which covered the cost.