Air Pressure Cells

[Styria]

S-Class has made brief reference to a collapsed right hand front pressure cell on his AMG 6.9 that he purchased from Autohausz Arizona. As far as I am aware, there should be absolutely no problem to have a warranty claim honoured - it is a well respected company.

When it comes to buying from the States however, or any other country for that matter, the immediate expense entails the cost of postage, plus the inevitable delay in procuring a replacement unit. If one relies on their car for every day transport, that can become a problem. I also seem to recall that WGB, when purchasing his pressure cells from Adsit (I think I'm correct), the cost of postage seemed inordinately high. For these reasons, I prefer to purchase locally. Sure, you pay a higher price, but the after sales service assumes greater importance.

There is the other matter of choosing the manufacturer - Meyle, Febi-Bilstein and Lemfoerder. I had been converted into believing that Febis were the way to go as they are SUPPOSED to be original equipment. Well, I am no longer all that sure about this belief. I cannot remember the exact details, but I did engage in the exercise of weighing and comparing with MERCEDES marked units - the Lemfoerders were the closest, if not quite the same, as the originals. I recently drove a car that had new Febis on the front, but I am not too sure how good they are. Can't work out if it is a pressure cell issue, or if that particular car has steering box/steering couple issues that contribute to a somewhat uncertain road behaviour under certain conditions. Regards Styria

 

[Michel]

Which brand do you use Godfather?

I mean which one is available locally at the right price?

 

[Styria]

Hi Michel, I would now purchase Lemfoerder units with a certain degree of confidence.

I just recently fitted three new units to the front of 'Gleaming Beauty'. I think they are okay although, having said that, my car has suspension behaviour unlike any other 6.9 I have ever driven. A much firmer feel on the road, yet not uncomfortable. It almost feels like a well set-up 6.3 with air suspension. A bit brick like in feel, but absorbs bumps quite nicely, but certainly not the magic carpet ride as it is sometimes referred to with 6.9's. There certainly are no floating or waterbed sensations. Regards, Styria

 

[s class]

I think some of the difference in ride will be down to what type of strut you have, and their condition. You may have the now NLA harder sports stuts. Both my 6.9's have (had until this most recent failure) full sets of new Febi-Bilstein cells. They differed significantly in ride though. Blue car is ust heaven on earth with its new struts, even though there are some suspension bush issues. The red car, despite its better state of its bushes, and much better quality tyres, is vague in comparison. I am unfortunately coming to the view that new struts are ultimately beneficial.

 

[Styria]

Hi S-Class, as you may recall, I have pulled apart and rebuilt a number of struts none of which, I must add, I have yet used on any of my cars. In over twelve years of ownership, the only unit I replaced was the left rear unit that was a 'leaker' from day one of purchase. I replaced that about twelve months ago with another slightly leaking unit ! Smart boy, that Styria

In my view, there really isn't that much that goes wrong with struts - perhaps new units might convince me otherwise, but in the meantime I'll stick to what I've already got. Regards, Styria

 

[s class]

I suspect you may be right that the struts esentially last forever - I'm just trying to make myself feel better about the expense on trusty rusty. The fronts were definately needed, as the originals had been butchered, new rears was probably extravagant.

 

[WGB]

When I did my cells I was initially unimpressed by the apparent lack of damping but as I have driven the car more this seems to be much less of an issue and the car feels much better as concerns damping.

My assumption, without any proof, is that there was probably some air in the line which has gradually expelled itself.

Here is a link to a posting that I did on the W116 site about different brands of accumulators http://forum.w116.org/mechanicals/different-brands-of-accumulators/ and that the the one original M-B one that Adsit sent me seemed to be a Febi.

Yes Adsit charged me $300 for postage on a package with $100 worth of stamps on it - I guessed I was paying the price for the one original one they sent me but it would have been nice to have been asked.

Bill

 

[s class]

Well I have lodged a request for return authorisation with AutohausAZ in connection with the failed sphere. Apparently I will get a response to my request within 24 hours. We shall see what transpires.

 

[Michel]

How many cells are there?

And do they work independantly from one another?

Can someone explain to me the system?

 

[Styria]

Hi Michel, there are five pressure cells. Two at the rear controllong damping of wheel movement, and three at the front. Two to control front damping, and a master unit that has a pressure switch attached to it, and it is located under the left hand front guard. I will be commenting further in due course, in particular details to the master unit which DOES NOT control the quality of damping. Need to do some reading up, but in the meantime I invite and encourage other members to feel free to add their thoughts and knowledge. Regards Styria

 

[Michel]

Would anyone have the part numbers for the five cells?

 

[Des]

Would anyone have the part numbers for the five cells?

A1263200715 for the three front spheres
A1263200515 for the two rear spheres

 

[Michel]

A1263200715 for the three front spheres
A1263200515 for the two rear spheres

these are 126 numbers.
I am almost sure I read previously that they do not work well...

 

[Des]

these are 126 numbers.
I am almost sure I read previously that they do not work well...

Yes they are, they are the superceded part numbers to the original 6.9 units, from my understanding, someone please correct me if I am wrong but initially the 116 and 126 did have different part numbers with different pressures in the spheres, however somewhere along the line they standardized them and only have the one type available from MB.

 

[Michel]

sorry for doubting you Des.

The Godfather has just rapped me across the knuckles and told me it was right

My apologies

 

[Des]

mate that's fine, none of us are infallible, I went looking for the info and found this:

http://www.m-100.cc/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2711

 

[Michel]

Thanks again Des,

I have an update.

I have been told by Europarts (ASV) in Sydney that the rear part number has been superseeded by A1263201315

 

[s class]

In short, SLS spheres have a 123... number and are not suitable for 6.9 or hydro 560SEL. The 6.9 and hydro 560SEL use the same spheres. As we know the 6.9 takes 3 of the red dot items, and two of the green dot items. I have seen it mentioned that the hydro 560SEL uses the red dot item only for the master sphere, with the remaining 4 being green dot items, though I am not certain this is true. Can anyone confirm?

 

[Styria]

Hi S-Class, I can't confirm this, but would not be surprised if that was to be the case. I have had just about no experience with ANY of the 126 model range, but I believe that full hydraulics on the 560's was an extremely rare option that was hardly ever exercised by purchasers.

So therefore, if most of them had springs front and rear, plus fairly conventional shock absorbers, it stands to reason that 126 pressure cells would not have run at quite the same pressures as 6.9's Those are my theories, but I stand to be corrected. Regards Styria

 

[s class]

I would think that steel sprung SLS 126's would use the normal SLS speres at the back.

The full hydro 126's may get away with green dot spheres in the front as opposed to the red dot items used by the 6.9, on account of their alloy engines being lighter than the massive 6.9 plant.