E500 Air suspension failure - expensive?
#1
E500 Air suspension failure - expensive?
Hi, a friend of mine has a E500 2002 plate. The car has air suspension and one rear wheel has dropped down just inside the wheel arch and a warning light has lit on the dash. He's taken it to an official MB dealer who has quoted £1400 (2000USD) just to repair one corner. Obviously this sounds silly money and he's worried that even if he gets it repaired that another corner may go shortly. Does this price sound right and is there a common weak point in the system?
Would it be possible to scrap the air suspension and modify the car to have standard suspension (eg like a lower model eg E220?)
thanks
Would it be possible to scrap the air suspension and modify the car to have standard suspension (eg like a lower model eg E220?)
thanks
#2
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Porsche 991S, Cayenne S, 1972 BMW 3.0CS E9 Coupe
fwiw, a lot of people go this route rather than the dealer: http://www.arnottindustries.com/
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#4
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2004 E500 CLK320
Do a search for this problem in this forum and you'll find a few postings. It costs about $1200 to $1500 for a replacement at the MB dealer in the US, depending on where you live. I just had one front corner replaced for about $1200, after a $300 good-will discount. You can buy a remaufactured one for $500 in Ebay and bring it to any indy shop for replacement. It does not seem like a difficult job. The shock, spring and air bag are all in one piece, that's why it's so expensive, I think. The front and rear shocks are different, and the rear shocks are much cheaper. You probably can convert the air suspension system to the conventional type, but my guess is that the cost of conversion will exceed the cost of replacement.
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2003 E500 Benz & 2015 BMW M235ix
Do a search for this problem in this forum and you'll find a few postings. It costs about $1200 to $1500 for a replacement at the MB dealer in the US, depending on where you live. I just had one front corner replaced for about $1200, after a $300 good-will discount. You can buy a remaufactured one for $500 in Ebay and bring it to any indy shop for replacement. It does not seem like a difficult job. The shock, spring and air bag are all in one piece, that's why it's so expensive, I think. The front and rear shocks are different, and the rear shocks are much cheaper. You probably can convert the air suspension system to the conventional type, but my guess is that the cost of conversion will exceed the cost of replacement.
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2003 E500 Benz & 2015 BMW M235ix
Check out this link to the BenzWorld.org forum...........Arnott will provide a 10% discount on orders from members of the BenzWorld.org forum which I also belong to: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w211...ml#post3769684
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#8
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03 E500 and Corvette
Hi, a friend of mine has a E500 2002 plate. The car has air suspension and one rear wheel has dropped down just inside the wheel arch and a warning light has lit on the dash. He's taken it to an official MB dealer who has quoted £1400 (2000USD) just to repair one corner. Obviously this sounds silly money and he's worried that even if he gets it repaired that another corner may go shortly. Does this price sound right and is there a common weak point in the system?
Would it be possible to scrap the air suspension and modify the car to have standard suspension (eg like a lower model eg E220?)
thanks
Would it be possible to scrap the air suspension and modify the car to have standard suspension (eg like a lower model eg E220?)
thanks
#10
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06 SL65 AMG, 04 E5004Matic,02 911Turbo (Fluidmotorunion tuned),06 Cayenne S
someone should manufacture plain jane tube shock replacements that can be easily installed and override the airshocks.
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#17
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Hello! Have you solved this problem yet? I have an 03' E500 and the front right airshock went out. I was wondering do i have to replace the whole air shock or will it be something else?
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2006 e55 AMG
#19
I have a 05 e500 4matic my warning light came on pointing to the air ride suspension the front is lifted way up and the rear was low like it was on sport 2 but the driver side rear has Ben going low and car won't Rais is this the bag that has a leak or what
#21
Senior Member
Okay, seriously. Take it to a good Indy and use the arnott stuff if it isn't just a blown or crimped line or compressor. Partsgeek.com is one place to get the stuff at a fair price. Call them on the phone after looking online . They will confirm that the parts are right for your car on the phone, and often offer discounts if you are ready to buy right then...
#23
Senior Member
Are you in the New York area? If so I have a good Indy I would use for this, who is honest and is used to pulling the whole undercarriage to get the rear bag out when it is required. Look at the Arnott video of how to replace the rear bag on the E350. The MB part is two pieces, joined by a hose that runs through the undercarriage so you have to remove the whole undercarriage to get the part out. The Arnott is one piece, so you take the whole car apart to get the old MB part out, then you put it back together, and just before you put the wheel on, you install the Arnott. Holy crap. The next time (which hopefully there won't be), all you do is pull off the wheel and replace the Arnott with another Arnott. I myself wish that I knew about Arnott 5 years ago when I had to replace the rear bag. Did it at the dealer with the MB part. I have since become smarter.
The front strut from Arnott is just a well-remanufactured Bilstein OE one, so for the price it's a no-brainer. The rear one, as mentioned above, is Arnott's own sensible design, which is what Bilstein should have designed in the first place.
The front strut from Arnott is just a well-remanufactured Bilstein OE one, so for the price it's a no-brainer. The rear one, as mentioned above, is Arnott's own sensible design, which is what Bilstein should have designed in the first place.
#24
replaced airbages for 634$ plus a couple of hours of my time
Hi,
My rear airbags were going low overnight , this started a couple of months ago but recently the car would drop after a half hour from shutting off. I looked online and found the arnotts from parts geek. 634$ for both sides. To replace them
- take the wheels off
- remove the fender lining
- remove the the screws holding the shocks(for more space to remove the airbag.)one will be in the trunk.
- remove the nut and screw holding the airbag.
- disconnect the air hose connected to the airbag, it will deflate.
- remove the airbag and install the new one.
I didn't remove the old reservoir needed for the OE airbags. Just left it in place.
The rides perfect, no errors on the dash and it raises normally and the sports settings works like before.
ps. Disconnect the battery before starting ( the one in the trunk) and resync the windows and moonroof.
It only took like 2 hours.
My rear airbags were going low overnight , this started a couple of months ago but recently the car would drop after a half hour from shutting off. I looked online and found the arnotts from parts geek. 634$ for both sides. To replace them
- take the wheels off
- remove the fender lining
- remove the the screws holding the shocks(for more space to remove the airbag.)one will be in the trunk.
- remove the nut and screw holding the airbag.
- disconnect the air hose connected to the airbag, it will deflate.
- remove the airbag and install the new one.
I didn't remove the old reservoir needed for the OE airbags. Just left it in place.
The rides perfect, no errors on the dash and it raises normally and the sports settings works like before.
ps. Disconnect the battery before starting ( the one in the trunk) and resync the windows and moonroof.
It only took like 2 hours.
#25
Senior Member
Fascinating. I don't know if you saw the Arnott video, but they have you take the whole car apart to get that old reservoir out, reassemble just about everything, then just pop their product in before putting the tire back on. It never occurred to me that it would be okay to leave in the old reservoir. That's real Shade Tree Mechanic thinking, in a good way!
The problem with Airmatic was that the rear bags are relatively-inexpensive but it takes a zillion dollars of labor to remove and replace them. The front struts are easy to change, but the parts are expensive as crap. You have just addressed the major issue with the rear bags, provided, of course, that you use the excellent Arnott solution.
The problem with Airmatic was that the rear bags are relatively-inexpensive but it takes a zillion dollars of labor to remove and replace them. The front struts are easy to change, but the parts are expensive as crap. You have just addressed the major issue with the rear bags, provided, of course, that you use the excellent Arnott solution.