earz04

I have a 2004 e500 4matic with 76000 miles on it. The car is displaying a "visit workshop" error message in the dash. The car will not raise at all. I have tried all 3 settings (sport 1 sport 2 and comfort) and none of them worked. I have also tried to raise the car and it will not raise. Any help would be great! Let me know if anyone has any ideas! Thanks!

jagata

Sounds like a air leak, check all air bladders and lines.

earz04

Im fairly uneducated when it comes to cars so please forgive me but are there any posts related on how to check these two things? Are there any other things that could be possibly causing the issues? Thanks

jagata

First, can you hear the air compressor when you press the lift button, if yes then move on to the rest of the system.

Second, with the lift button pressed and all corners gone up, turn off the car and listen for air escapeing under each corner.

Third, pop the hood and listen for leaks in the lines. White tubes that lead to the tops of the struts and follow them down.

That should help start trouble shooting.

earz04

John,
Thank you for the advice. At this point the car will not raise at all but I can hear the pump making the normal sound just without the car raising. Its equally low on all four corners of the car. With that being said does that change anything?
Thanks

jagata

My hunch is that somewhere the line is leaking, with the compressor going but no lift then the corners are not getting air. Has the car have any resent service where someone could of disconnect or broke the lines? I will have to go home and look at my car to maybe assist you better, unfortunely I'm at work with the other car.

Freshly

If the problem is a leak then you should be able to see the car lift a little bit then go back down again, unless the tubes are missing entirely. It sounds more like an computer/ electrical malfunction. The airmatic system itself is controlled by the computer, which tells it how far to go up and down. The height doesnt change between suspension modes anyways, only when going over 70 will it lower itself i believe. At least this is true for my e500 without 4matic. Another possibility is that the computer turned off the airmatic system all together thinking it could get damaged; similar to what limp home mode does with other functions. Let me know what happens when you get it checked out.

On a lighter note though, thats the height I would like my car to sit when I get it lowered .

earz04

The car has not had any recent service done it just popped up out of no where for the most part. I have it scheduled to go in tomorrow morning. I have no problem eating the diag fee to find out what it is. If its a simple fix I may attempt it on my own. Let me know if you find anything else! Thanks again!

earz04

Freshly,
whatever I find out I'll most certainly relay your way. thanks

Freshly

Ya, hopefully it just needs to be reset or something, no big cost. Has your car been recently toed? This same thing actually happened to my friend with an 04 e320 4matic under different circumstances. His car was parked on the street in LA and was toed because he was illegally parked. The guy who toe'd the car was an idiot and couldn't figure out that it was 4 wheel drive. I guess theres a special way to toe a car w/ 4wd which the guy didnt do. My friend said when he picked his car up from the toe yard it was sitting exactly the same as your car is, all air deflated. I think the car might have been resting on the tires themselves tho. The toeing company claimed that the car was like that when they toed it so my friend had to cover the whole bill to get it fixed.

spinn

hope you have a good shop to bring it to for diag...dunno if you want to flatbed it around to different shops to get their take on it.

earz04

Hopefully little to no cost is involved, that would be ideal...then I realize im dealing with mercedes and last I heard Mercedes are expensive to maintain? Who would have thought?

p.s Just saw your comment about your car sitting that low when you get it lowered..haha my buddy said it looks a lot better that way

BenzoBoi

Time to swap out to some coil-overs?

Barry45RPM

...just nit-picking... I dunno why I'm starting up... it just made me smile

mwiadro

Just curious about your 'airmatic delete' and conversion to coil-over comment...

How did you accomplish your mod and did you use a 'kit' or was it a custom conversion to regular shocks/springs? I know there are air suspension delete kits for Range Rovers (such as Arnott Industries makes). Any info would be greatly appreciated - i've looked for my 05' E500 4Matic Wagon, but haven't found any options.

Thanks -

instag8tr

I was installing links yesterday. I got the front on and set to where I want it. When I did the rear I got the link on and the car was a little higher than stock. I turned the car off waited a few minutes turned it back on as turned off the raise function. It didn't move. Then I heard it starting to adjust and a couple of creek noises now it is slammed in the rear. I tried all modes and nothing . I tried hitting the raise button and it does nothing not even comes on the dash saying it is raising ( comfort and both sport modes come across the dash) . I cannot hear the pump. So my question is where is the pump, fuse, and relay . I tried doing searches but I could not find this info. Thanks

earz04

Took the car in this morning and was told both my rear shocks are "leaking bad." Does this require replacement of the shocks? Or is the leak repaired? Do they commonly go out at the same time like this if that is the case or should I seek a second opinion? Thanks

KEY08

Sounds like you need to replace them both. Did you get the "are you sitting down" quote?

earz04

Haha no they didn't but I assume it will be expensive he was checking my pump next so I'm just waiting to hear back.

jagata

Kinda what I suspected, too bad it was'nt the fronts that is leaking because there is a aftermarket strut (Arnott) that is cheaper and more stout than the oem. I don't think there is a aftermarket rears though.

earz04

Not really impressed with this arnott and not making a rear shock! Does anyone know of a after market rear shock for this car? Or in this case..two?

vettdvr

The rear shocks on mine are electric, the rear springs on my airmatic are air springs which you will pay a heavy MB tax to have replaced. I am interested in what "air shocks" you have and How "coil overs" could be used to replace the "air springs" and have the computer not force the car into limp mode.

KEY08

Yeah, last time my rear shock went out my pump died also. I think I paid $400 for a new pump.

earz04

I replaced both rear air shocks but the car still will not raise but the pump is functioning properly. The dealer said the computer needs to be reset in order for it to work properly. Does this sound familiar to anyone or am I getting the run around?
Thanks

jagata

IDK, try unplugging the negative terminal on your battery for like 20-30 minutes maybe that will reset it. BTW by doing that all your memory will be lost on the car like seats positions, radio stations etc.