Re: Rear SLS advice (archive)

I wrote up an article about the SLS in our cars for the M-Register (it is no longer being printed) several years ago. The newsletters are still available from Stan Simms, 800 Chancy Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27104-1253.

I'm probably the only one who still has the system. I have Konis with stock springs and Dinan sway bars, front and rear . Admittedly, to keep the system operating, I had to replace the shocks and the accumulators but the pump unit and control have been reliable. I replaced the pump relay and one seal in the pump unit. In the process of fixing the system (dealers know virtually nothing about how it works) I figured out how to get manual control over the SLS. I have two switches and two LED's (mounted in the dash) which allow me to manually raise and lower the rear to do maintenance work on the exhaust, drive shaft, half shafts or differential. Actually, the rear can be raised just high enough, on a stock height car, to get Rhino ramps in front of the rear wheels. With four ramps, I can drive the car up and get all kinds of access underneath. This is especially useful for tightening the control arm bolts after a bushing replacement (with 750il's, of course).

I have only driven one other E28 M5 that had a modified suspension and only for a brief time. It had a Dinan Stage 4. It was very firm and is set up to be a track car. I can't give a real comparison since I don't know what it is like on the street. For sure his car handled a lot better than mine on the track. Several other M5 owners have driven my car and they agree it handles much better than stock but unfortunately, no quantification of how much.

If you want more info about the SLS, let me know.

Regards,

Danial

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