03_E500

Well here is the story. I have an 03 E500 with airmatic suspension. I was changing my rear tires and noticed that my shock is leaking.

Called the dealer and was quoted $549.60 per side.. I am not sure I want to spend that much on shocks.. Im cheap? Maybe... But I cant justify spending $1000+ on 2 shocks. (part # 211 326 01 00)

I found them a little bit cheaper but I was wondering if anyone knew where I can get a rebuild kit for the hydropneumatic rear shocks, or maybe someone knows a shop in Sacramento that rebuilds them. Any help will be appreciated

MercFiveHundred

Both failed at the same time? Does a message come up on the instrument cluster? I had a leak in my rear lines and a message in the cluster came up that there was a leak.

03_E500

Well I am not sure about the passenger side, but the driver side is blown. I would like to change/rebuid both of them..

Keep in mind there is the air spring and this is the separate shock that is blown (covered in oil).. The computer does not say anything.. The air does not leak out..

konigstiger

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w211...ml#post3545694

03_E500

So does anyone know if there is a rebuilt kit for these? Any place out there that rebuilds them?

Clinton Horn

There is a company in Florida that uses new Goodyear bladders and they machine new parts. I remember them being under $400 with a lifetime guarantee. They were a topic of discussion as recently as a week ago. Do a search?

novae500

any chance of changing over to regular mcpherson struts/springs inside of replacing the airmatic? I'd rather go that right if it wasn't pricey, instead of a ticking time bomb again.

I just hope mine doesn't blow when its out of warranty.

Diesel Benz

Why not buy those refurbished struts/shocks that have lifetime warranty. Of course it would not mean they would not fail again but you don't get steel springs either that cannot fail.

03_E500

Show me where?

03_E500

I prefer to leave the equipment as is. OEM spec.

konigstiger

Front strut was discussed:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...available.html

03_E500

Yeah, I saw those.. I found more refurbished front ones..


I attached the a pic.. This is taken from the DIY you sent me. The circled shock is what I am looking to repleace or get rebuilt.

I sent an email to ARNOTT AIR SUSPENSION:

I was wondering if you can rebuild the rear shocks from a W211 (2003 Mercedes E500). I saw that you carry them for an S class, but not the E class.

Their response:
No, we cannot rebuild these at this time. However, you if get the parts from teh dealer I will buy your cores for $25 each and I will send labels for them. We need to get cores for R & D.

thank you, Lisa

Lisa Arnott
ph: 800.251.8993 ext 105
ph: 321.868.3016 ext 105
www.arnottinc.com
www.arnottairsuspension.com

Diesel Benz

I don't understand why someone wants to rebuild shocks. The Airmatic shocks are nothing air suspension specific except that they have electrically controlled damping (but that could exist on any car with steel springs too). The front struts are different because everything is integrated into a single part. The rear air spring on the other hand may be relatively easy to refurbish with new rubber bellows but even the OEM spare part is not that expensive (the rear one).

03_E500

$550 a piece? I don't know about you but I find that to be a little excessive for a shock absorber..

If it was the air spring then thats a different story.. But this is a shock absorber..

Diesel Benz

It isn't "just a shock absorber" (you don't say that either), it is an electrically controlled shock absorber in the case of Airmatic but as you say, it still is a shock absorber and the price does not seem to be right. Even with the current Euro to Dollar exchange rate, parts usually are less expensive "in Dollars" than "in Euros", I mean when bought from the US versus Europe.

Scraz51

I thought all the parts for your cars were manufactured in the US and not imported?

vettdvr

Sign me up for this problem also. I knew they could not do the rear springs in a rebuild. But I had to replace the airspring in the rear not just the shocks. Now I am waiting for the fronts to fail.

Yes the price is too high if you consider the reliability. If they lasted 200000 mile I probably would not complain. But at 80,000 miles for a $3000 repair on top of SBC, ball joints and other major failures so early. The car still drives like a new one with all new MB parts and service but the $/reliability mile !#@#$#!

03_E500

anyone know where I can source them cheaper then parts.com?

They are roughly $315 a piece..

vettdvr

No I don't.

I have never ordered successfully from them.
Doesn't mean they won't have what you need.

03_E500

Please elaborate

vettdvr

Check your email.

03_E500

Got it.. Yes thats not very cool..


Here is the part # 211 326 01 00

novae500

03 e500, so what happened and what did you end up doing?

i noticed today my rear ps spring control arm bolt/nut area was covered with dirt/grease. While the rear ds area was clean as day. Guess i will be taking it to the dealer, since mine is covered under warranty.

03_E500

I have not done anything yet.. I do not have too much time to work on it, so I left it alone for now. I have how the rear jumps a bit when you hit a nice bump, but Im willing to live with that for now...

Empty Pockets

My story is quite interesting! I called my local dealership to purchase a airmatic relay switch and the dealer told me to bring it in because it wasn't the relay. He was right, it wasn't the relay in my case. So he wanted me to bring it in because he said he was sure that it was the rear bags needed replacing which is quite expensive!!! I'm a do-it-yourselfer, so I did an investigation of my own and what I came with was he was WRONG!!! But, I will be fair to say he did a diagnosis over the phone which made me skeptical about taking it to him!!! Good thing I didn't listen to him, because after removing the air compressor one of my hoses had an hole in it from chafing against the inner fender skirt a $7.00 part. Apparently this is a common problem, because the new part has been improved with a foam coating on it and how I initially found the problem was that the front would pump up and I could heard a hissing (after shutting off the engine) HOPEFULLY, this is your problem? Its not that hard to do. Watch the video on Utube: compressor replacement to decide if this is something you'd want to tackle yourself or not. Wish you luck!!!