E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

HELP Airmatic - passenger rear height is lower then driver side

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Old 01-08-2016, 06:21 PM
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HELP Airmatic - passenger rear height is lower then driver side

Hi guys! This is my first time posting here - long time consumer of the great information you all post.

Here is my question. I have a 2004 e500 4matic with 132k mi - the passenger rear airmatic is lower than the driver side. To be exact, the wheel well is even with the top of the wheel tread in terms of height. The drivers side is about double that height. My question is - why is this happening? There isn't any sign of a bad bag (at least that I can tell).

It should also be noted I may have a parasitic drain on the battery because the batteries are brand spankin new! For a week after putting in the new main and auxiliary batteries everything was fine but I eventually got the message stating the comfort features are temp unavailable (same message I was getting before with the old batteries). The battery was old so I figured that must have been why - not holding a charge well). As it turns out, the new battery didn't fix the problem with the drain.

You're probably asking yourself what the heck do these two things have to do with one another?! When I replaced the battery I noticed the rear suspension was about level on both sides (passenger rear was where it should be). Now, I have this problem with the battery and it seems the suspension is lower on the passenger rear side.

Does anyone know if there is a correlation here? If so, why?

Sorry this is a little all over the place but I'm short on time but I need your help!

Thank you!!
Old 01-09-2016, 08:39 AM
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If you have the original audio system, and no aftermarket stuff wired directly to the battery, I wouldn't worry too much about it being a parasitic drain.

Did you CHARGE your batteries? Or did you accept whoever-you-bought-it-from's assertion that it was "fully charged"? I wouldn't charge the aux anywhere except totally-out-of-the-car, but since it takes like two minutes to free it, that's no big deal. If you have a good charger that runs like 2/5/10 amps or such, then set it on the lowest setting and fully charge the aux. MB says not to charge the main in the trunk, and that's probably the safest advice. I would put the charger on the main battery and charge it until it is full. You will probably be surprised to find that it isn't. This will prolong battery life.

As to the way the car sits, yours is a common problem. One thing that may solve it is to recalibrate the car's level with the STAR computer. There is a calibration program in it (I have access to one) that takes about one minute and really helped with mine. It isn't perfect, but for "free" it was pretty good. You have 3 sensors. Two in the front for left/right and one in the back for front/rear. So if right rear is low, so, probably, is the right front to some extent. Calibrate the thing on a level surface and that will help. A good indy with Star or the dealer should be able to do this for you. Any time any work is done on the suspension or undercarriage, it throws off the calibration and it needs to be redone with STAR.

And before you try to self-diagnose and buy parts in the future, take advantage of the free help that's out there. Advance Auto Parts, for example, will test your batteries for free with the Midtronics tester (the only one MB recommends for AGM batteries). They are very nice about it, and if your battery is shot, they have an excellent Group 49/H8 Platinum AGM battery at a good price and will install it for free at most locations. They will also test your alternator for free.

You need to find a good Indy who knows Mercedes, and preferably one, like mine, that lets me order the parts. A great place for aftermarket parts is Partsgeek.com, which almost always has the lowest prices and has great service. The best place for real MB parts is a dealer in Nebraska, Husker Mercedes, that will send almost anything for $11.50 and has the lowest prices on official parts by a mile. Huskerparts.com has the online catalog, but it's a little slow, so I usually go to 17vin.com and input my VIN to get a start on the part number, and use parts.com for the same purpose. Then I go to Huskerparts.com with the part number and confirm it. If you order on the phone, you don't get the discount price, but you can always email Vic, their parts guy, with your VIN number and a question and he is very nice about getting back to you, and doesn't mind if you then order it online. Just don't take up too much of his time, and he will always help. I have ordered a couple thousand dollars of parts from him in the past six months for both of our cars, and the service has been flawless. Vic told me that such-and-such part number was the right one when other sources seemed to say it wouldn't work, but it did and saved me hundreds of dollars, so I trust him completely. Husker's prices are so fair that they make the official Mercedes parts a reasonable alternative to the aftermarket stuff -- in some cases cheaper. Also, it sometimes isn't obvious that there is an MB-OEM-remanufactured alternative available, and Vic will tell you if you ask. You can check yourself because it's usually the new-part number with 60 or 88 added as a suffix. So...211xxxxxxx becomes 211xxxxxxx88, for example. Leave the "A" prefix off when searching a part number on their web site. So...211xxxxxxx instead of A211xxxxxxx.

Last edited by wjcandee; 01-09-2016 at 01:02 PM.
Old 01-09-2016, 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by wjcandee
If you have the original audio system, and no aftermarket stuff wired directly to the battery, I wouldn't worry too much about it being a parasitic drain.

Did you CHARGE your batteries? Or did you accept whoever-you-bought-it-from's assertion that it was "fully charged"? I wouldn't charge the aux anywhere except totally-out-of-the-car, but since it takes like two minutes to free it, that's no big deal. If you have a good charger that runs like 2/5/10 amps or such, then set it on the lowest setting and fully charge the aux. MB says not to charge the main in the trunk, and that's probably the safest advice. I would put the charger on the main battery and charge it until it is full. You will probably be surprised to find that it isn't. This will prolong battery life.

As to the way the car sits, yours is a common problem. One thing that may solve it is to recalibrate the car's level with the STAR computer. There is a calibration program in it (I have access to one) that takes about one minute and really helped with mine. It isn't perfect, but for "free" it was pretty good. You have 3 sensors. Two in the front for left/right and one in the back for front/rear. So if right rear is low, so, probably, is the right front to some extent. Calibrate the thing on a level surface and that will help. A good indy with Star or the dealer should be able to do this for you. Any time any work is done on the suspension or undercarriage, it throws off the calibration and it needs to be redone with STAR.

And before you try to self-diagnose and buy parts in the future, take advantage of the free help that's out there. Advance Auto Parts, for example, will test your batteries for free with the Midtronics tester (the only one MB recommends for AGM batteries). They are very nice about it, and if your battery is shot, they have an excellent Group 49/H8 Platinum AGM battery at a good price and will install it for free at most locations. They will also test your alternator for free.

You need to find a good Indy who knows Mercedes, and preferably one, like mine, that lets me order the parts. A great place for aftermarket parts is Partsgeek.com, which almost always has the lowest prices and has great service. The best place for real MB parts is a dealer in Nebraska that will send almost anything for $11.50 and has the lowest prices on official parts by a mile. Huskerparts.com has the online catalog, but it's a little slow, so I usually go to 17vin.com and input my VIN to get a start on the part number, and use parts.com for the same purpose. Then I go to Husker with the part number and confirm it. If you order on the phone, you don't get the discount price, but you can always email Vic, their parts guy, with your VIN number and a question and he is very nice about getting back to you, and doesn't mind if you then order it online. Just don't take up too much of his time, and he will always help. I have ordered a couple thousand dollars of parts from him in the past six months for both of our cars, and the service has been flawless. Vic told me that such-and-such part number was the right one when other sources seemed to say it wouldn't work, but it did and saved me hundreds of dollars, so I trust him completely. Husker's prices are so fair that they make the official Mercedes parts a reasonable alternative to the aftermarket stuff -- in some cases cheaper. Also, it sometimes isn't obvious that there is an MB-OEM-remanufactured alternative available, and Vic will tell you if you ask. You can check yourself because it's usually the new-part number with 60 or 88 added as a suffix. So...211xxxxxxx becomes 211xxxxxxx88, for example. Leave the "A" prefix off when searching a part number on their web site. So...211xxxxxxx instead of A211xxxxxxx.
Thank you so much for the response! I actually took a trip to Autozone last night and found the main battery is good but needs to be charged (as you said). I will charge it and see if that does the trick.

As for the suspension - I have yet to find an Indy that had the STAR unit but I have a lead I will chase today.

Thanks again for the reply!
Old 01-09-2016, 01:19 PM
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My pleasure! Here are a few other thoughts.

Amazon.com often is a good source of parts, provided that you are getting them from the Amazon stock, and not from a Marketplace seller, where there are often a lot of counterfeits.

The alternator that I would recommend is the QualityBuilt remanufactured one; they are about the same price as the crappier of the national remanufacturers, but they are much better made, and often counterfeited. Amazon stocks ours.

If you get new rear or front air suspension parts, go with the Arnott stuff, and get it from Partsgeek for the lowest price. If you can't get the front ones, because they are in short supply, there is a place called Rebuild Master Tech in Florida that will rebuild your original ones, turning them around in a couple of days. Much better than $1200 each at the dealer.

If you need a new steering pump, the Maval rebuild is the best value proposition; high quality, good price. The Cardone stuff my mechanic won't install. Best price on Maval is at partsgeek.com

Axles and steering racks rebuilt by CVJ Axles in Denver are a good value proposition; excellent work by a 30-year-old company that makes stuff for Roush Racing and other NASCAR teams. More expensive than new Asian stuff, but you'll end up with a part that has the OEM metal, heat treat, etc., and is fully-rebuilt. The Maval steering rack is also supposed to be good, and will be less expensive than the CVJ rack. The best way to interact with CVJ is just to call them. If you have your model and trim (i.e. 2004 E500 4Matic Airmatic with Parametric steering), the nice lady who answers the phone will tell you whether they have a core in stock. If they do, they will make you an axle in 24 hours and send it to you. If not, you can send them yours for 24-hour turnaround, or you can call a company called Brinson that stocks finished CVJ Axles products. Brinson will ship the same day, with a markup over what CVJ charges.

Sometimes, you will need a bushing or such and Mercedes will only sell the whole unit. There is a german company called Febest that will often have just the bushing. German quality at a reasonable price.

Amazon is often a great source of Mobil1 0W-40 Euro. They often have it at lower prices than anyone. I like the Hengst fleece filter, which you can get at Amazon for a good price, also at Partsgeek.com.

Same thing for stuff like air filters. Amazon or partsgeek.

I guess that's most of my collective wisdom. Good luck!!

Last edited by wjcandee; 01-09-2016 at 01:25 PM.
Old 11-11-2019, 08:04 PM
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I know it’s been a wicked long time but dang man.. great info. Thank you!!
Old 11-11-2019, 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by E500Man87
I know it’s been a wicked long time but dang man.. great info. Thank you!!
My pleasure!! Been following my own advice. Still have the 2004 E500 4Matic. Now just about 1500 miles short of 200,000 on the odometer, and still running like a champ!!
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Old 11-13-2019, 07:59 PM
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Originally Posted by wjcandee
My pleasure!! Been following my own advice. Still have the 2004 E500 4Matic. Now just about 1500 miles short of 200,000 on the odometer, and still running like a champ!!
Great to hear! One hell of a machine. I am nearing 157K mi.. Easily the best care I have ever owned. Currently working through an issue I’m still trying to figure out - I thought it was my axles (ripped CVs) - no luck. Turns at low speed is resulting in a clicking (almost clunk). No noise, smooth as glass on the highway. Maybe wheel bearing?
Old 11-13-2019, 09:08 PM
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Originally Posted by wjcandee
If you have the original audio system, and no aftermarket stuff wired directly to the battery, I wouldn't worry too much about it being a parasitic drain.

Did you CHARGE your batteries? Or did you accept whoever-you-bought-it-from's assertion that it was "fully charged"? I wouldn't charge the aux anywhere except totally-out-of-the-car, but since it takes like two minutes to free it, that's no big deal. If you have a good charger that runs like 2/5/10 amps or such, then set it on the lowest setting and fully charge the aux. MB says not to charge the main in the trunk, and that's probably the safest advice. I would put the charger on the main battery and charge it until it is full. You will probably be surprised to find that it isn't. This will prolong battery life.

As to the way the car sits, yours is a common problem. One thing that may solve it is to recalibrate the car's level with the STAR computer. There is a calibration program in it (I have access to one) that takes about one minute and really helped with mine. It isn't perfect, but for "free" it was pretty good. You have 3 sensors. Two in the front for left/right and one in the back for front/rear. So if right rear is low, so, probably, is the right front to some extent. Calibrate the thing on a level surface and that will help. A good indy with Star or the dealer should be able to do this for you. Any time any work is done on the suspension or undercarriage, it throws off the calibration and it needs to be redone with STAR.

And before you try to self-diagnose and buy parts in the future, take advantage of the free help that's out there. Advance Auto Parts, for example, will test your batteries for free with the Midtronics tester (the only one MB recommends for AGM batteries). They are very nice about it, and if your battery is shot, they have an excellent Group 49/H8 Platinum AGM battery at a good price and will install it for free at most locations. They will also test your alternator for free.

You need to find a good Indy who knows Mercedes, and preferably one, like mine, that lets me order the parts. A great place for aftermarket parts is Partsgeek.com, which almost always has the lowest prices and has great service. The best place for real MB parts is a dealer in Nebraska, Husker Mercedes, that will send almost anything for $11.50 and has the lowest prices on official parts by a mile. Huskerparts.com has the online catalog, but it's a little slow, so I usually go to 17vin.com and input my VIN to get a start on the part number, and use parts.com for the same purpose. Then I go to Huskerparts.com with the part number and confirm it. If you order on the phone, you don't get the discount price, but you can always email Vic, their parts guy, with your VIN number and a question and he is very nice about getting back to you, and doesn't mind if you then order it online. Just don't take up too much of his time, and he will always help. I have ordered a couple thousand dollars of parts from him in the past six months for both of our cars, and the service has been flawless. Vic told me that such-and-such part number was the right one when other sources seemed to say it wouldn't work, but it did and saved me hundreds of dollars, so I trust him completely. Husker's prices are so fair that they make the official Mercedes parts a reasonable alternative to the aftermarket stuff -- in some cases cheaper. Also, it sometimes isn't obvious that there is an MB-OEM-remanufactured alternative available, and Vic will tell you if you ask. You can check yourself because it's usually the new-part number with 60 or 88 added as a suffix. So...211xxxxxxx becomes 211xxxxxxx88, for example. Leave the "A" prefix off when searching a part number on their web site. So...211xxxxxxx instead of A211xxxxxxx.
.....I can attest to huskerparts.com speed is not their forte! I ordered a MHI pigtail a few yrs ago it seems like they sent it via pigeon post lol!

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