Airmatic Strut failure - any experiences out there ?
10-05-2009, 04:52 PM
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'10 Tesla Roadster, '06 AMG CLS 55; '00 SVT F-150
Airmatic Strut failure - any experiences out there ?
Hey guys,
Long time reader, but not much time to post... So thanks for all the tips I learned over the years. Was wondered if any of you guys have had to deal with a strut failure ?
Took the CLS to vegas last weekend and as always, drove fast and smooth through the desert with out any problems.
On saturday nite, parked it at Paris to attend a dinner and when I got back around midnite, started it up and got message on the center screen in red - "STOP, car level too low".
I got out and sure enough the passenger front wheel was well into the wheel well like an extreme low rider (I can update with pix if anyone wants to see). Unfortunately, I had to leave the car there and got it towed to the local dealership after the weekend and was told that the strut had failed.
Unfortunately, the strut cost $1300 with another $400 in labor
So in a 3 yr old CLS, with about 18K miles, not abused, my concern is how common is a strut failure ? Do I need to start thinking about replacing the other side and maybe even the rears ?
The vegas dealer said "no" and that these struts are designed to last the life of the car and that he's not seen many failures even in his area, but admits that he's seen others as well without any clear reason, except maybe a manufacturing defect.
In an S class forum, I've read that the strut problem is more commonly seen in North America, but not Europe. Could climate / altitude be an issue ?
Any experiences ? Any thoughts ?
Thanks,
- Ed
Long time reader, but not much time to post... So thanks for all the tips I learned over the years. Was wondered if any of you guys have had to deal with a strut failure ?
Took the CLS to vegas last weekend and as always, drove fast and smooth through the desert with out any problems.
On saturday nite, parked it at Paris to attend a dinner and when I got back around midnite, started it up and got message on the center screen in red - "STOP, car level too low".
I got out and sure enough the passenger front wheel was well into the wheel well like an extreme low rider (I can update with pix if anyone wants to see). Unfortunately, I had to leave the car there and got it towed to the local dealership after the weekend and was told that the strut had failed.
Unfortunately, the strut cost $1300 with another $400 in labor
So in a 3 yr old CLS, with about 18K miles, not abused, my concern is how common is a strut failure ? Do I need to start thinking about replacing the other side and maybe even the rears ?
The vegas dealer said "no" and that these struts are designed to last the life of the car and that he's not seen many failures even in his area, but admits that he's seen others as well without any clear reason, except maybe a manufacturing defect.
In an S class forum, I've read that the strut problem is more commonly seen in North America, but not Europe. Could climate / altitude be an issue ?
Any experiences ? Any thoughts ?
Thanks,
- Ed
