W126 Hydropneumatic Suspension Pre '86
 

Hello,

Could someone shed some light on how to identify (by looking at the engine bay) if the car has 4 corner or 2 corner hydraulic suspension?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, from '86 forward I can clearly see the hydraulic fluid reservoir tucked up in the corner next to the ABS unit. My problem has been looking at '85 Euro/US 500SEL's that the owner claims to have the hydro pneumatic suspension but I don't see any tank in the pictures. What am I missing?

Also does anyone have a picture of the three position switch for the 4 corner suspension?

Any history / details / help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Matthew

Do you have a picture you could post of the engine compartment?

My first MB was an '84 500sel Euro and it had the 4 corner hydro-p suspension. I never did get around to replacing the nitrogen spheres and the car drove really rough (almost as tho, I had too much air in the tires).

I don't know the difference in how each engine bay looks but I do remember that my reservior was up near the front drivers side just behind the headlight. Also you could see each nitrogen sphere in each wheelwell.

The whole system is very expensive to maintain. The hydrostruts cost an arm and a leg to replace. I had just 1 replaced and it cost me $800 :eek:

Frank,

I think I finally saw a picture today of what the tank should look like. It's not as "pretty" if you will as the post '86 tanks.

I ended up buying the car in question, I was surprised to see a 500SEL Euro without any hydro pneumatic suspension, but maybe that is a blessing in disguise.

Will post pictures when I get it home.

Thanks!