Airmatic DOA no warning messages
 

I have a 2005 E320 CDI wagon which has been a really good car so far, only has 113,000 miles on it. I returned from a weekend trip got into the car and drove it but it wasn't long before I figured that it was not riding well. I got out and checked and it was down both sides at the front but still OK at the back. Confusing thing is that there are no warning messages on the dash at all. Hence I just drove it away. The compressor is not making any attempt to run.

I have booked it into a Bosch repair centre but they cannot look at it for ten days so I am trying to do some diagnosis myself. A friend brought his scanner round but there are no error messages displayed on the scanner either.

As the car is fourteen years old I am thinking maybe just go straight to a coil spring conversion rather than waste time and money on the airmatic which will only get more problematic as the car gets older. Trouble is I really like the airmatic ride :-/

Anyone else had a similar problem, that is no messages in the message centre with sunken suspension?? If so what was the problem please? thanks in advance.

This happened to me but the rear end. What happened is that the linkage on the ride height sensor broke so it was saying that the height was higher than it actually was which caused the car to lower to try to correct it. Get your friend to read the ride sensor height, or to check em. This didnt throw a code for me as the sensors were still technically working

Just a possibility.

Many thanks for your suggestion. Open to all ideas at this point so will have a look at that.
I have been trying to establish which is the relay for the compressor. There is a fuse chart for the cabin fuse box and the rear but nothing in the car for the under hood fuses/relays.

http://knigaproavto.ru/shemy/en/merc...e-diagram.html

It's a 40A fuse (I belive fuse 61 but not 100% certain on the number). also relay S in engine compartment. If the fuse blew on the compressor it would have thrown a code.

Since this happend on both side in the front at the same time, hopefully it`s the hight sensor in the front. As far as I know, there is one sensor for the front, and one for the rear. So you can be lucky. If it`s the struts, it will be expensive.

I have a 2004 320cdi, and have replaced all 4 corners. I have also consider to replace the airmatic system with coil springs, but taking all 4 wheels is not cheap either. And I agree with you, Airmatic really make these cars something special. If you have to replace this struts, Arnott Industries have an alternative. If you take the chance, its also possible to buy new struts from China (they even call them China OEM :-) ). The front struts is easier to replace than the rear, you`ll find some DIY on Youtube. Found one from a guy who changed the front strut on a CLS, didn`t look that hard to do.

But hope its a minor eletrical issue.