W140 bouncy self leveling rear suspension fixed with 3 oz. of fluid
 

I bought my 1997 S500 a couple of weeks ago and have been sorting through its faults. It has the self leveling rear suspension and it was "bouncy." We couldn't find anything leaking in the rear but I still had nightmares over what it would cost to fix. We then checked the power steering fluid level and it was low, barely touching the dip stick. Adding about 3 ounces of fluid brought it up the the mark and the bounce went out of the suspension! Hurray!

what does the pwr steering fluid have to do with the SLS? Does the pwr steering fluid also feed the SLS on this model?

I own a similar car and the powersteering pump as well as the sls pump is combined in one pump. Yet the powersteering has its own resovior and the sls its own. Power steering uses atf and sls hydraulic fluid. Just my 2c

If the suspension has a separate reservoir, I haven't a clue where to find it and the owners manual doesn't say a thing about power steering or SLS, just tells me to take it to the dealer for service. Pretty poor on Mercedes part. Could you point me in the right direction? Also, I bought new filters for both the SLS and the steering. I've changed the steering filter on my W126 before so I should be able to handle it but can you help point me to where I'll find the one for the SLS? Thanks!

I am not shure, but the reservoir should be under the square panel behind the drivers side headlamp. There are some later models that use one pump and common fluid for steering and suspension (my 01Ewagon)

If adding 3oz oil to power steering did anything it did it to your power steering. if it was ever bouncy replace the accumulators ASAP or there will huge problems later. To verify that you even have SLS look under cover behind driver headlight. If nothing is there then you are lucky, just replace the shocks.

As it turned out, the 3oz. added to the power steering cure was all in my head. The car does have SLS and the accumulators were the problem. I installed new ones along with new front shocks and that really did cure the bounce.

I still still have a slight "clunk" in the rear when going over bad pavement but it's minor and hopefully changing the upper shock mounts will cure that. I'm just waiting for it to warm up a bit before I tackle them.