Jonie Leo

im looking to buy an e500 and live in the New York area. I previously had one before and well aware of the air bag issues. Would like to estimate how much I would have to set aside for a new air ride system. I would like to pick one up and have a guy ready to replace the whole system once I have an issue. I would like to use this as a daily driver and rather just fix the issue once. I saw one on the road the other day and could not get over how good the car looked. If I could solve this issue for a reasonable price and had a go to guy I would certainly pick up another one. Do you mind pointing me in the right direction?

wjcandee

Sure. Call Michael Singh at Cove Tire in Glen Cove. 516-676-2202. Despite the name of the business, he does all the mechanical work on my car -- new axle, replace struts, suspension as above, brakes, replacing bushings on front suspension (a great deal b/c I didn't have to buy the parts, just the bushings for like $15 a piece online), air conditioning, etc. He has a 2004 E500 4Matic, so is well-familiar with the car. Tell him you saw it on here and use my name, and explain what you want. Your choice of what parts to use, unless he thinks a particular vendor is total crap. He'll use parts from the dealer, or parts you pick. My axle was $1300 at the dealer; I found one online for under $100 that we agreed was good quality, and in it went, over two years ago, at a reasonable labor charge. He later put the same one on his own car. Even if it wears out in a few more years, it doesn't make sense to spend $1300 on an axle for a 13 year old car. But if someone wants that, he's got a great relationship with the dealer and can get parts in an hour; he fixes the vans for the parts department. :-)

I would have him give your proposed car a good mechanical once-over; he'll tell you what it needs, and he won't sell you anything you don't need. For a year and 15,000 miles, people were telling me I need rear brakes, because they are "almost worn down"; Michael says no need to replace until the light comes on. Got me a whole year of extra usage without the expense.

These cars do occasionally do things that are surprising, but if you have a good mechanic, they aren't a huge deal. I completely love how these cars look, and I still love ours and don't want to part with it, so Michael makes that possible.

wjcandee

Just FYI, I dropped by Cove Tire today to make an appointment (I was in the area) to have some routine stuff done, and Michael mentioned that he was looking to sell his 2004 E500 4matic airmatic. It's a creampuff with about 60K miles on it, and he obviously keeps it in excellent condition. It just pains him to drive it to the City as often as he does, with the horrible roads. I myself drive mine 5 days a week back and forth (which is why mine is at almost 160K), and I just fix and replace whatever needs it, which hasn't been that much, all things considered. With Michael doing it, it's affordable.

Jasonwang6594

I just replaced my e500 rear air springs with arnott ones too, but after replacing them the new springs won't inflate. I called Arnott but they said I had to go to a repair shop and get them to adjust the height with the DAS/STAR diagnostic tool.

Is there any way to fix this without going to the dealer?

wjcandee

Most indy shops that regularly work on Mercedes have clandestinely a version of DAS or they have one of the few commercially available scanners that include most of the DAS functions. They are available for as little as $800. Just call some good local shops and ask.

scotty68

are you sure you installed them correctly? shouldn't it inflate even without Das? maybe the 4matic is different but from what i've read people have done it without using software.