E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

Airmatic noises

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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 12:11 AM
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ATLANTA E500's Avatar
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From: ATLANTA,GA.
2003 E500 SPORT
Question Airmatic noises

While holding a conference call in the garage today (only quiet room in the house somedays) I kept hearing a strange noise every 15 seconds or so.............sounded like a buzz and hiss.

After the call , I investigated and lo and behold it was coming from inside the engine compartment...........the car had not been used all day.

Is this an endemic noise from the E500 Airmatic pumps or is this another weirdness of only my car...........

Some days I swear ghosts control the electronics............

Derek.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 03:31 AM
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From: mercer island, seattle
probably the SBC brakes, it should be fine!
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 09:02 AM
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From: ATLANTA,GA.
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Thanks for the info on the brakes. I presume this is again a normal on going sound that will be made. What is so special about the Benz v. BMW or Lexus that are quiet...........?

Interesting car so far. I have seen no problems with either brakes or Airmatic........from my military days I become suspect to any new noises and their cause .

Derek.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 09:10 AM
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im not real familiar with the car but i thought ive read elsewhere that the airmatic releases small amounts of air when the car has been parked for a while as a way of self-leveling without using too much power. in any case id check with your service dept. to be sure or have it looked at if need be.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 10:19 AM
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Originally posted by WannaBeAMG
im not real familiar with the car but i thought ive read elsewhere that the airmatic releases small amounts of air when the car has been parked for a while as a way of self-leveling without using too much power. in any case id check with your service dept. to be sure or have it looked at if need be.
i was under the impression of this also.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 11:23 AM
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That's true. When I left my E55 for 2 weeks, it sat quite low and looked nice. Of course, after the engine started, it raised up again. I notice the same with the E320.



Originally posted by WannaBeAMG
im not real familiar with the car but i thought ive read elsewhere that the airmatic releases small amounts of air when the car has been parked for a while as a way of self-leveling without using too much power. in any case id check with your service dept. to be sure or have it looked at if need be.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 11:33 AM
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If you unlock your car or open one of the doors, SBC will wake up and prep itself for use. Probably the noise you heard. I had the same thing happen with my SMG M3, as soon as you unlock or open the door, SMG would wake up and prime its hydraulics.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 12:25 PM
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I previously confirmed with my dealer that it is the SBC waking up when you open the door. I had a broken clamp on one of the lines and it made quite a racket. They replaced and now it just hums and groans.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 01:02 PM
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2016 E400 4-Matic Coupe, 2002 Chev 2500 HD Crew, 1983 Porsche 911SC,
strange noises...

Mine, too. (Airmatic suspension). Glad to hear I'm not the only one hearing these noises. Mine originates from somewhere in the engine compartment. Never looked under hood to determine where, except that it seems to be coming from the passenger side area. They seemed to occur evenly spaced in time intervals, less than a minute apart. I didn't bother to see how long it went on, just stuck around for about 5 or so "outgassings". Long enough to note that they were evenly spaced apart.

Also, I noted another interesting finding. After departing and closing the door and waiting about 5 minutes, I heard a noise and observed the front of the car sinking about 1/2 inch or so. As if it was going to sleep and relaxing! I opened the door and the front raised back up again! Weird.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 01:59 PM
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Did they determine the cause of the broken clamp?

I hope it's not common.

Originally posted by johnroden
I previously confirmed with my dealer that it is the SBC waking up when you open the door. I had a broken clamp on one of the lines and it made quite a racket. They replaced and now it just hums and groans.
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Old Dec 4, 2003 | 02:04 PM
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No, they just said it was defective and installed a new one. That was about 9 months ago and the new one is working fine.
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