SZMB

I've been seeing a lot of airmatic failures on this forum. Maybe my observation and experience can help someone out there.

On my 2004 E500 the right front airmatic strut failed at 66k mi and the left one failed recently at 91k mi. Just before 66k mi, I'd noticed that there was quite a bit of oil leak at the bottom of the right front strut, and very small amount of oil on the left strut. When I did the tire rotation at 90k mi, the oil leak on the left strut got worse, but I didn't want to replace it that time because of the high cost. Sure enough, it blew up at 91k mi.

If you see some very small oil leak at these struts, you probably can drive for a while (~10k mi?) before they blow up. Well, if the bottom of these struts are coated with a film of oil, you should replace them ASAP. I've read that if oil is leaking out of the pump, which is built inside the airmatic strut, the pump can over heat during normal operation and will eventually fail.

spinn

My fronts never failed or showed any signs of oil leak. My rear air spring did have a leak only in a certain position, but the shocks never showed any signs of leakage. I ended up swapping the entire system out for coilovers to save the headaches down the road.

WEBSRFR

I wish the Airmatic shocks had a guaranteed life. 75K miles, 100K miles, whatever...

And it is handled as a regular maintenance item. Right now after 50K miles or so one day you are going to come to a car that can't be driven. God forbid if you are not in a good area or have gone camping and far away from cell phone range you are screwed. As much as I like it when it is working, it is very bad design.

They should have built an "emergency" limp mode that lets you drive about 50 miles or so...

SZMB

Has anyone reported any front strut failure on the E550? It seem that all failures are on the E500 or E55. Maybe MB has improved the design since 2007.

Barry45RPM

My Left Front failed & was replaced under MBUSA ELW a few months ago at around 55,000 mi.

07 E550 - Drove home Sunday night & kept hearing a farting noise when at red lights...came out in the morning & car was dropped down on that wheel. Started the car got the farting noise & no lift. No warning ever appeared on DIC.

vettdvr

Mine failed and there is no llimp home mode. Fortuantely one failure was parked at my home over night. The other was at local gas statiion 1 mile from the house. Glad they didn't faill 1000 miles from home as I normally travel.

Jack Williams

is there a quick fix for an air suspension failure on front right front ?? low on cash and and no warranty left..2008 E550 base only has 42K miles?/ is thereanything I can do ??

Jack

desired_speeds

http://arnottindustries.com

ernie.d

my e500 was standing for a while, i found this morning that the rear suspension has completely dropped to the ground, when i start the car up it rises to normal position, after a few hours it drops to the ground again, what could possibly be the problem.

spinn

Likely your air springs are failing. A replacement spring could cost about $600/each; Arnott has a set for about that much for a pair.

spinn

unless you can pick up a used strut for cheap, no. suck it up and get a replacement from Arnott or switch to coilovers all around.

ernie.d

i will look at the air springs but what i also noticed when i started the car up after a minute or so of idling i noticed smoke, i possibly think it was oil on the exhaust, what is the possibility of struts leaking and getting oil on the exhaust

spinn

it's possible your shock is leaking as well. you should be able to jack up your rear and remove a wheel to look at the shock casing to see if there's any oil on it. however, the shock leaking would not cause the rear to drop without the air spring somehow leaking. If the air spring was still good, it should keep the rear from dropping at any point.

notten

Correct me if I am wrong, but these cars do lower themselves if left parked for an extended period of time (more than a few weeks). I thought this was to protect the shocks/springs and that it stops happening after you drive around for a while. Isn't this a feature, not a problem? Someone tell me different here.

vettdvr

My E500 only lowers itself when a strut fails or air spring is leaking. Otherwise it stands firm.

spinn

Does it drop equally all around? I don't think there's any reason to protect the shocks/springs if it's just sitting. It sounds like you might have a slow leak if it's left to sit that long.

notten

If left disconnected from the main battery, the car lowers itself on all 4 springs equally. I noticed it first time last year, after I went for a hiatus and left it garaged. I noticed it again when I garaged it for a few months recently. This is several weeks/months with the main battery disconnected. It stayed raised for a few weeks before lowering itself the second time I had it off. I checked on it that time and the first few weeks it was definitely at normal ride height, but one day it was all the way low. It didn't seem to be a gradual decrease. As soon as I turned it on it did a gradual fill of the shocks and stays strong since then even when sitting. I don't think I can disconnect the battery again for that long to test it again, but I'll see if it's worth it.

NorseWagon

That has happened in my car occasionally and it does pizz off the wife..