Merc w211 e class estate air suspension
Discussion
Hi peeps,
I've got a bit of an issue with the air spring suspension on my 2007 e class estate. On a few occassions over the last week or so I've come out to find the car with the passenger side rear suspension sitting very low. Once the car is started it lifts back up. This is where things get a little tricky. Sometimes it drops back down sometimes it stays where it should.
When it drops you can hear the hissing of air. But when ive put the car on ramps it doesnt seem to want to play ball and drop back down.
The air spring units are pretty expensive and I dont want to go down the route of throwing parts at the car. Ive pulled the airlines around trying to see if any of them are worn and pehaps split but havent had any joy. There is a level sensor on the car in the middle but that visually looks ok (nothing snapped/ broken etc and if this was broken I'd expect the car to drop evenly.
Is there anyone who could shed some light on this for me. I'd be really grateful for any suggestions.
Thanks
Mark
I've got a bit of an issue with the air spring suspension on my 2007 e class estate. On a few occassions over the last week or so I've come out to find the car with the passenger side rear suspension sitting very low. Once the car is started it lifts back up. This is where things get a little tricky. Sometimes it drops back down sometimes it stays where it should.
When it drops you can hear the hissing of air. But when ive put the car on ramps it doesnt seem to want to play ball and drop back down.
The air spring units are pretty expensive and I dont want to go down the route of throwing parts at the car. Ive pulled the airlines around trying to see if any of them are worn and pehaps split but havent had any joy. There is a level sensor on the car in the middle but that visually looks ok (nothing snapped/ broken etc and if this was broken I'd expect the car to drop evenly.
Is there anyone who could shed some light on this for me. I'd be really grateful for any suggestions.
Thanks
Mark
An MB Indy will have Star as well as a main dealer. Yes, they will be able to interrogate the system, but it is not infallible - our S211 had levelling issues under warranty, and in the end many bits were replaced on a trial basis until they discovered one of the suspension units was not seated correctly.
Arnott do a coil spring conversion kit, but given the advantages of self-levelling rear suspension on a load-lugger, I would not go down that route. Arnott also do replacement pumps and units, probably cheaper than MB and with a good reputation, but there are many far cheaper things, such as leaks, level sensors etc. to eliminate before you go down that route.
Actually, for a pair it's not that bad: https://www.arnotteurope.com/p-4234-arnott-rear-ai...
Arnott do a coil spring conversion kit, but given the advantages of self-levelling rear suspension on a load-lugger, I would not go down that route. Arnott also do replacement pumps and units, probably cheaper than MB and with a good reputation, but there are many far cheaper things, such as leaks, level sensors etc. to eliminate before you go down that route.
Actually, for a pair it's not that bad: https://www.arnotteurope.com/p-4234-arnott-rear-ai...
Edited by Stegel on Wednesday 27th April 13:38
The airmatic system isn't actually overly complicated, I did some trouble shooting on my w211 saloon before ultimately going with the arnott steel spring conversion.
The system consists of a pump located in the nearside front wheel well, just behind the wheel arch covers. There is also a distribution and a large reservoir behind the boot carpet in the offside rear quarter panel. Front suspension is macpherson style units - an integrated damper and airbag. Both front units have height/levelling sensors. The rear has independent airbags with seperate reservoirs located inboard (and thus a swine to get at) with seperate damping and one rear height/level sensor.
Main leak points will be the airbag bladders on all 4 corners, the rear reservoirs and associated pipework or less commonly the hardline connections.
Trouble shooting (without using STAR):
Does the car drop on the front or rear, either or both sides?
Check all areas with a spray bottle of soapy water, look for bubbles, they may not initially be obvious
Car needs to be on the ground, problems will often not show on a ramp. I have a pit which allowed me better access.
Cycle the suspension height, sometimes micro leaks on the air bladders will show on maximum height and self seal at standard height.
Arnott do good value replacements if keeping the airmatic, their rear airbags remove the need for the seperate reservoirs which require dropping the rear subframe to fit. However factor in the possibility of doing a full refresh; New pump, front units, rear airbags and new rear dampers and it's a hefty bill, probably a couple of grand before fitting.
You can buy suspension from a steel spring car and fit that but you'll have to have the airmatic warning lights removed through STAR and swap out the rear lower arms to accept normal springs.
I went with the Arnott steel spring kit which has a plug in bypass for the warning lights and an adaptor to fit rear springs into the airmatic rear lower arms.
I fitted all myself (disclaimer etc) over a couple of days. My car has the SBC system as well so that means removing both the main and auxiliary battery to disable that. Then the airmatic system needs discharged. Once on jackstands, the front and rear airlines were removed and the airbags deflated by pushing a pin into the valve to fully discharge the airbags and reservoirs. I also removed the pump, hardlines but left the rear inboard reservoirs in situ. I also changed all the front suspension arms, drop links and lower balljoints. Everything else on the rear was in good order.
Uk suppliers were wanting around £1600, I bought from Rockauto although they completely cocked up my order twice which added delays but still worked out significantly cheaper.
I do miss the self levelling, the adaptive feel of the airmatic and the ride quality, however I don't come out to see the car sitting low after a day or two. If I had a S211 wagon or did loads of towing, I'd have kept the airmatic - upto you!!
The system consists of a pump located in the nearside front wheel well, just behind the wheel arch covers. There is also a distribution and a large reservoir behind the boot carpet in the offside rear quarter panel. Front suspension is macpherson style units - an integrated damper and airbag. Both front units have height/levelling sensors. The rear has independent airbags with seperate reservoirs located inboard (and thus a swine to get at) with seperate damping and one rear height/level sensor.
Main leak points will be the airbag bladders on all 4 corners, the rear reservoirs and associated pipework or less commonly the hardline connections.
Trouble shooting (without using STAR):
Does the car drop on the front or rear, either or both sides?
Check all areas with a spray bottle of soapy water, look for bubbles, they may not initially be obvious
Car needs to be on the ground, problems will often not show on a ramp. I have a pit which allowed me better access.
Cycle the suspension height, sometimes micro leaks on the air bladders will show on maximum height and self seal at standard height.
Arnott do good value replacements if keeping the airmatic, their rear airbags remove the need for the seperate reservoirs which require dropping the rear subframe to fit. However factor in the possibility of doing a full refresh; New pump, front units, rear airbags and new rear dampers and it's a hefty bill, probably a couple of grand before fitting.
You can buy suspension from a steel spring car and fit that but you'll have to have the airmatic warning lights removed through STAR and swap out the rear lower arms to accept normal springs.
I went with the Arnott steel spring kit which has a plug in bypass for the warning lights and an adaptor to fit rear springs into the airmatic rear lower arms.
I fitted all myself (disclaimer etc) over a couple of days. My car has the SBC system as well so that means removing both the main and auxiliary battery to disable that. Then the airmatic system needs discharged. Once on jackstands, the front and rear airlines were removed and the airbags deflated by pushing a pin into the valve to fully discharge the airbags and reservoirs. I also removed the pump, hardlines but left the rear inboard reservoirs in situ. I also changed all the front suspension arms, drop links and lower balljoints. Everything else on the rear was in good order.
Uk suppliers were wanting around £1600, I bought from Rockauto although they completely cocked up my order twice which added delays but still worked out significantly cheaper.
I do miss the self levelling, the adaptive feel of the airmatic and the ride quality, however I don't come out to see the car sitting low after a day or two. If I had a S211 wagon or did loads of towing, I'd have kept the airmatic - upto you!!
I had airmatic issues on my 2004 E320cdi. Same as yours, eventually it went down and stayed down. Having replaced airbags on E39 5 series estates and Range Rovers, I thought it would be a simple job, unfortunately it wasn't. The whole rear subframe had to come out to replace the suspect corner. For me it was worth it, because with airmatic it had a fabulous ride.
My local general mechanic had a star machine and could recalibrate everything once all the bits were replaced. There's even a test routine on the Star machine that makes the car dance a bit like a donk!
My local general mechanic had a star machine and could recalibrate everything once all the bits were replaced. There's even a test routine on the Star machine that makes the car dance a bit like a donk!
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