moooooooon8

I did see the video, it actually delayed me a couple of weeks thinking about how much work it will be, until I figured out that was all for removing the reservoir. I had a quote from a local decent shop for 1219$ to do both including the parts. Im so glad I saved some $$

wjcandee

I exchanged emails with Arnott regarding your approach. They said it's absolutely fine to leave the old reservoirs in place, saving poop loads of labor. They are revising their installation instructions and video. Seriously.

I would not however pull the hose without depressurizing the system first.

moooooooon8

That's a good idea, I never thought about contacting them regarding the video. 👍

And, if you are talking about electronically depressurizing the airbags, then I don't know where to start. But I depressurized it by disconnecting the hose coming from the reservoir.

Tommy1956

I had a left front strut air leak. I was not interested in MB dealer cost of $2000. I have a 4matic (AWD). Strut came out easy enough because I could collapse it. Replacement strut was 2.5 inches longer and could not collapse it. I called the rebuild shop (RMT) and they explained that you could get it in without collapsing it. Sure enough it's in and running like new. By the way I had to remove mine first and overnight it to Rebuild Master Tech in Florida ($420 with overnight delivery both ways) because there are no cores left anymore. Arnott wanted 3 weeks at their facility (no thanks.) RMT received it noon Wednesday and had it back in the box noon Thursday. They could not have been more helpful. They will get the right side when it goes. Also MB is only selling rebuilts and they are all located in Germany (WTF!)

wjcandee

I don't know what's so great about this. The Arnott assembly is available from partsgeek.com for $397, shipped directly to you. I don't see the benefit of getting your old part back, when there is a perfectly good Arnott-rebuilt one sitting on the shelf all ready to be installed. You paid more to wait longer, just to get your own part back.

Tommy1956

You think it's available from partsgeek until you order it. Arnott has exactly none on the shelf and doesn't expect any to be available for months. This is a 4matic E500. If you want Arnott to rebuild your strut it will take 3 weeks plus shipping (according to Arnott sales dept.) RMT rebuilt my strut in one day. $380 including ground shipping or $420 with overnight shipping both ways. You really shouldn't respond to posts if you haven't checked them out thoroughly.

wjcandee

I dont, and indeed looked it up on Partsgeek, but I missed the 4matic distinction. Under the circumstances, you did great! Thanks for explaining. I may need this exact service in a few months for my (!!) 4-matic.

THE Rooster

Arnott two weeks ago had no fronts to sell. Was told they were on back order. I bought the spring/shock conversion kit from them $1575.00 delivered. Fronts were a piece of cake, rears OMG... But ride is great, stance is perfect & no worries of being stranded in BFE...

wjcandee

A number of folks do have the Arnott front for the 4matic. Pelican, for example, and a slim few amazon retailers. But they are $600+, doubtless bc of the shortage. Also the new original mb parts are available, but for $1400-ish each.

Tommy1956

Better check Pelican stock. I could only find Bilstein and they were out of stock and the MB part at Pelican were in Germany. According to my Dealer (Motorwerks in Barrington, IL) they are rebuilts by MB (and are in Germany) for $1400 not new. My car became undriveable so I was looking for the fastest reasonable part. So far so good with RMT.

Trekker

wjcandee - you mentioned you had a good indy in the NY area for this type of work. Can you please mention the name/address? I have a 2004 E500 wagon that has this exact problem (rear air leaking out of the suspension when I leave it parked for more than a few days). I would like to be able to bring it to an indy who can replace it with the Arnotts without paying an arm and a leg.

wjcandee

Sure. Michael Singh at Cove Tire in Sea Cliff.
516-676-2202. Michael is gone for the day, but Jennifer is there and you can talk pretty intelligently with her. I actually have another airmatic problem that I need him to diagnose, so I will be dropping mine off probably tomorrow morning. Michael actually owns a 2004 E500, with low mileage, lucky guy. But it means that in addition to all his other great qualities, he has real hands-on experience with our particular car.

wjcandee

One thing I should also mention is that the NEW Arnott instructions DO NOT require you to pull the whole undercarriage off to get to the reservoir.

Quick history: One of our members mentioned that he had installed the Arnotts himself, and had not removed the old reservoir, which the Arnott does not use. Instead, he had just zip-tied the reservoir hose out of the way and left the reservoir in there, because it was not hurting anything. This obviated the need to remove the undercarriage; putting in the Arnotts would just require removing the wheel and not much more.

Because I was anticipating having Michael do this repair, I emailed Arnott and asked them whether there was anything wrong with how our member did it. They sent back an email in which they said that their technical people had looked into it, and that there was no issue with doing it that way. In fact, they said that they would be revising their written and video instructions to make that the recommended way to install their product, and they have (at least the written ones that they post on their web site).

So that's how mine were installed, and I have had no problems. I wouldn't expect to have any, because the reservoir is superfluous.

A couple of folks here have posted to say that they go through the whole process of removing the reservoir anyway, because it's so easy to remove the undercarriage when you are such experts as they are. However, what they don't say is that they also earn the book labor charge for doing so. So while it is no big deal to them to do, it's a big deal in the price.

Noles12B

I have an 04 e500 and my front driver side air bag has a fast leak. My rear driver side has a slow leak. Would it be easier to replace all 4 with regular shocks? If so where would i find them for a decent price. I also live in hawaii so its hard to find parts out here for this model

wjcandee

Replacing the front strut is easy.

Is it a 4matic or not? If it's the base model, partsgeek.com has the Arnott-remanufactured Mercedes-made OE front strut (which is excellent and anybody with a brain uses) for about $400 with free shipping. The 4-matic ones are in shorter supply, but can be found.

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200..._assembly.html

Replacing the rear bag with an OE bag is a PITA and requires lots of labor because you also have to remove the associated reservoir, that you have to remove the undercarriage to fish out. However, the Arnott rear bag solution (which I have and love) doesn't use a reservoir, so it is extremely-easy for a mechanic to replace. Shouldn't take more than an hour. However, you should replace both sides to use the Arnott rear bags, because they are a slightly-different design. The front strut you can replace one at a time, because the Arnott is just a remanufactured Mercedes strut.

Before you start pulling parts, make sure you have checked all the connections, as well as the hoses, for leaks. A slow leak or fast leak in the unit itself is possible, but it's also possible that there is a leak in a hose, or at a connection block or that a wire is broken or frayed to the unit or to a sensor, and there is nothing wrong with the strut or bag itself. I replaced my bags with Arnotts because the dealer told me that there was a leak in the right rear air spring. There wasn't, as it turned out. But the new bags ride soooooo much better than the old system; I guess the old bags were worn out.

Utah79

I have a 2003 E500 and the passenger side air strut went out. I took it to the MB dealership (because I'm from out of state) and couldn't make it to my regular mechanic. I got Arnott struts and took them to the dealership for installation but when i got they're my car was sitting right in the front like the struts were fine. The mechanic mentioned that they installed some kind of rubber gaskets just so they could move it around without scraping the car. Is there any truth to this? I'm not trying to get played by MB because they will end up giving me a brand new E500 if that's the case..

vettdvr

never heard of it, get part numbers and research part numbers.

Trekker

wjcandee, thanks for the above, I got busy but finally really want to get this work done. Do you know if your indy above will use parts that I provide if I buy it online or is it not worth it? should I just let them buy the Arnott part that I want?
Thanks in advance.

kajtek1

Latest observation, I hadsmall leak in wagon suspension, that I track to deteriorated air tubing right above the T at rear axle. Since it was about 5" from the end, I was able to pull the slack and reinsert the original tubing short.
But that is indication that the tubings on those cars go and now I wonder how many owners paid for bags replacement, when couple dollars worth of tubing was the problem.

pitson1

i saw a 2005 e500 for sale 170kmiles 4500 needs air struts springs etc is this a good buy

F1Fan

Let's see.

Air Springs/Struts - I assume you would go with Arnotts. Fronts will run about 700-900. Rear air springs 600-800? Then the rear strut most likely needs to be replaced. About 400 each, so 800. So total just for parts = $2400 roughly.

Then the other items you should be worried about, especially 2005 models with SBC.

SBC Brake controller using is $1000 for the part.

Don't forget all of the ball joints, control arms, outer tie rods, and sway bar links. Let's say another 600-800 for these parts.

Then other things that might fail with that kind of mileage. The bearing on the AC clutch assembly. Catalytic converter (expensive!!), water pump, tensioner.

You sure you want to buy this car? Because I think you would easily spend another $4500 just to fix items.

Trooper2196

I bought Arnott rear Air Springs and Compressor had MB fit them no problems with suspension since.

Simon simon

is it same as e63 amg?

Islandgirl_ig

I replaced my right front strut myself. As long as you have the correct tools, it can be done in a couple hours. Pretty simple. I will say this, if your upper control arm/ball joints look like they need to be replaced any time soon, my suggestion is to do it while you are replacing the strut. Makes it way easier. And normally if you are going to replace one strut, you may as well do the other one.

Good luck, IG

Islandgirl_ig

I would check your air ride compressor first. If the rear is sagging, may not be putting out enough pressure to raise the rear. They make rebuild kits for them online for less than $20. Just a suggestion.