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2003 Mercedes CL500 Coilover Conversion Canada

10K views 26 replies 9 participants last post by  Nmorton83 
#1 ·
Good afternoon BenzWorld,

A few months ago my car blew an ABC hose and has been sitting in my driveway while I began saving for my ABC conversion kit. I now have the money and have the freedom to choose between the Yellow Speed Racing kit from the East and the Strutmasters kit from the US.

Pros of the Yellow Speed Unit:

- Cheaper when shipped to Canada (I am located in Ontario)
- Adjustable Heights
- Local dealer located in Montreal

Pros of the Strutmasters

- North American
- Uses Cold Rolled Springs so not much sag over the years
- Lifetime Warranty

Cons of the Yellow Speed Unit:

- Possible Chinese product and could be of questionable quality
- Previous member Aarkah states that the shocks have to be set close to their limit due to the weight of these cars
- Warranty is probably only offered by the dealer and not the parent company

Cons of the Strutmasters

- Noticeably more expensive due to the US-Canadian Exchange rates (sitting at 2100CAD shipped including taxes and duties)
- No adjustability whatsoever and photos show the rear of the car sitting too high

In addition to that, the Yellow Speed kit has a choice between a "Flat topped Mount" and an "Oblique Mount". Does anyone know what that is referring to and what it means.

For all my Canadian friends I am planning on ordering them from Xtreme Vision Imports in Montreal. Anybody have any experience with the company?

Over the next few weeks I hope to fill this thread with a wealth of information and if you guys would like to speak to me or give me any advice feel free to do so. It will be my first foray into suspension modifications on these cars and I could use all the help I can get.

Would love to get this stickied as I plan on videotaping the whole process as well. Not many people are able to make the effort to undergo such a conversion and I'd like to make it easy for all my readers and viewers

Updates so far


I have ordered the Slated topped Yellow Speed Coilovers today and Getting ready to begin my conversion video. There aren't many videos showing it's conversion well so I wish to make it easier for you all. It cost 1000USD and the lead time is one week. I am expecting the coilovers in the mail today via DHL. A note to fellow Canadian Buyers, Yellow speed ONLY uses DHL for shipping and sometimes they charge VERY high brokerage fees. Yellow speed listed the value of the shipment at 200USD so I only paid 68CAD in import taxes, duties AND brokerage so I actually saved quite a bit. Kudos to Yellow speed for thinking of us Canadian buyers.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy from ANY Local suppliers here in Canada. They are all incredibly greedy and give me a quote which was WAY higher than it should have been and when I mentioned that his costs are too high he "Challenged me to try and get a better price." Needless to say they didn't get ANY of my business. Please deal with Donald Patterson at Patterson Performance, those guys are honest, patient and very easy to deal with. Avoid all other sellers completely.

More coming soon. I haven't embedded images before so I'll probably try uploading them to a network drive in very high res so you guys can really see how the whole process turns out.

In the meantime. Please feel free to reach out to me. I love to talk to members of the community and if you wish to speak to me, send me a pm and I will shoot you my number or skype ID so we can share
 
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#2 ·
Great write up! I know if the ABC goes on my CL600 I will convert it to a coilover suspension no questions asked. Even a mint condition CL and I consider mine a 9/10 is depreciated so much it becomes worth much more to me then another buyer or dealer. When you say adjustable are you saying you can manually adjust them?
 
#4 ·
That is correct. I have full control over Ride height and the spring rates can literally be adjusted with the twist of a knob. AND to top it all off. It's cheaper than the US equivalent which has less features and have been known to sag over time.

Thank you @Marsden. I hope to populate this page within the coming weeks.
 
#5 ·
I'd really like to know the difference between the "Slanted Top" and "Flat Top" as well :)
 
#6 ·
Hello BoxxMann,

The Flat top was designed for the W220 AirMatic Chassis and is incompatible with the slanted tops on the C215. If you look at a picture of the CL class engine bay you will see the front shocks towers are at an angle. This is what the "Slanted Top" version takes into account.

If you are buying, buy the slanted tops. I began my conversion and hit a snag. Pictures are being taken as we go forward with it. Sadly. I cannot do the video as the weather in Canada has begun to go below Zero and my Camera guy decided to not be of any help :(. I can, however, say that the strutmasters coilover videos are accurate in their depictions and there are just a few missing parts they fail to mention which I will outline with lots of pictures.
 
#10 ·
Nice job. If my ABC system gives me problems I will diagnose it before making a decision.... no questions asked. There are so many issues with the system that can be addressed by sweat equity and some parts that are not expensive. My biggest concern is not so much having to keep the fluid and filter clean and the system exercised but the failure of a hose while on the road.

Have been exploring purchasing some old lines on Ebay and having a hydraulic shop build new ones using the old as a template. I think, but am not sure yet, that the metal fittings on the ends of the lines are reused when making new ones. Will have to research this more.

Best of luck with the coil over. Saw a few that have been converted on YouTube and apparently they are functional and no complaints.
 
#11 ·
On my 230 I always carried 2 litres of fluid, it paid off when one of the stupid alli washers failed on the valve block, at least I got the car the 20 miles home by topping up 10 times.
 
#16 ·
I feel your frustration my friend. The weather really made it difficult for the whole process to be documented well. I will at least organize my experiences with as much information as I can. I am not abandoning you guys just yet.

Bear with me if you can. I am but a humble DIYer
 
#20 · (Edited)
Cheers for detailing your experience with this! Your time and effort to compile this is appreciated! I hate to say, however, that it's 80F down here in Florida :)

Let me ask you this: Did you have any issues installing the Strutmasters warning light disabling box? Does it work like they say it does and keep the ABC code from coming on and lighting up the instrument panel with that red warning?
 
#21 ·
Hello BoxxMann,

I did not use the strutmasters light fix module. I just pulled the two ABC related fuses from the control units in the engine bay. I will take a few pictures to show you exactly which ones I removed. There is a fuse chart that comes with the car but it is somewhat ambiguous. I think that would be very beneficial as now all I get is "Defective ABC unit warning" which I can scroll through by using the "R" button on the dash
 
#23 ·
I'm interested in how this is going/has gone for you. Any news to report? How did you cap off the existing lines when you pulled the struts?

BTW: I have the fuse diagrams and it's #9L and #46R that need to be pulled (IIRC).
 
#24 ·
Good afternoon BenzWorld,

A few months ago my car blew an ABC hose and has been sitting in my driveway while I began saving for my ABC conversion kit. I now have the money and have the freedom to choose between the Yellow Speed Racing kit from the East and the Strutmasters kit from the US.

Pros of the Yellow Speed Unit:

  • Cheaper when shipped to Canada (I am located in Ontario)
  • Adjustable Heights
  • Local dealer located in Montreal

Pros of the Strutmasters

  • North American
  • Uses Cold Rolled Springs so not much sag over the years
  • Lifetime Warranty

Cons of the Yellow Speed Unit:

  • Possible Chinese product and could be of questionable quality
  • Previous member Aarkah states that the shocks have to be set close to their limit due to the weight of these cars
  • Warranty is probably only offered by the dealer and not the parent company

Cons of the Strutmasters

  • Noticeably more expensive due to the US-Canadian Exchange rates (sitting at 2100CAD shipped including taxes and duties)
  • No adjustability whatsoever and photos show the rear of the car sitting too high

In addition to that, the Yellow Speed kit has a choice between a "Flat topped Mount" and an "Oblique Mount". Does anyone know what that is referring to and what it means.

For all my Canadian friends I am planning on ordering them from Xtreme Vision Imports in Montreal. Anybody have any experience with the company?

Over the next few weeks I hope to fill this thread with a wealth of information and if you guys would like to speak to me or give me any advice feel free to do so. It will be my first foray into suspension modifications on these cars and I could use all the help I can get.

Would love to get this stickied as I plan on videotaping the whole process as well. Not many people are able to make the effort to undergo such a conversion and I'd like to make it easy for all my readers and viewers

Updates so far

I have ordered the Slated topped Yellow Speed Coilovers today and Getting ready to begin my conversion video. There aren't many videos showing it's conversion well so I wish to make it easier for you all. It cost 1000USD and the lead time is one week. I am expecting the coilovers in the mail today via DHL. A note to fellow Canadian Buyers, Yellow speed ONLY uses DHL for shipping and sometimes they charge VERY high brokerage fees. Yellow speed listed the value of the shipment at 200USD so I only paid 68CAD in import taxes, duties AND brokerage so I actually saved quite a bit. Kudos to Yellow speed for thinking of us Canadian buyers.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy from ANY Local suppliers here in Canada. They are all incredibly greedy and give me a quote which was WAY higher than it should have been and when I mentioned that his costs are too high he "Challenged me to try and get a better price." Needless to say they didn't get ANY of my business. Please deal with Donald Patterson at Patterson Performance, those guys are honest, patient and very easy to deal with. Avoid all other sellers completely.

More coming soon. I haven't embedded images before so I'll probably try uploading them to a network drive in very high res so you guys can really see how the whole process turns out.

In the meantime. Please feel free to reach out to me. I love to talk to members of the community and if you wish to speak to me, send me a pm and I will shoot you my number or skype ID so we can share
I’m gonna be going with the ceika coil over kit, you can choose ride height ride rating, I’m going with sport ride and sport low, and then top plates on the front and back and dual springs as well all for just over $1200
 
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