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Ok so after hours of research and bs I have realized that there are 2 different ypes of rear air springs for the w211 or 06' cls55/e55 amg. The original type(bilenstein) air bag, and the (arnott) revised version. I will link the pictures of these 2. But they are both vastly different looking but fit in the car, except that the arnott aitspring doesnt utilize the resevoir tank or have a bushing at the bottom screw while the (bilenstein) original type model air spring does.
The first pic is the orignal type rear airbag while the end pic with the red bottom is the arnott revised style rear airbag. Both work for the car apparently. Ive seen videos of people using the arnott brand one and replacing the original one with it, I even called arnott today to confirm that they fit for my car by providing them my vin number. I actually bought the arnott springs a week ago and thought there was only 1 model for my car to use, when my mechanic friend came by to remove the old ones install them he claimed that they wouldnt work due to not utilizing the air resevoir. But since arnott "eliminated" the need for it, there has to be a drawback somewhere.
I need my car working so I am going to install the arnotts, but I want to know which one is actually better for ride feel and performance, I feel like cutting the use of an air resevoir/billows tank is not a good thing and is going tomake the car ride worse,also I enjoy hearing my air suspension depress and let out air after i lock my car and walk away(im pretty sure that was the excess air in the bellows tank making the sound) and so If i go and install these "revised" bags what should I expect? It seems like nobody is aware of the 2 different kinds of rear air springs at all and info on it is not availible, thanks for the insight.
Original style Airbag/strut
Arnott Revised Style Airbag/strut
Last edited by Rpkxnoscope; Oct 15, 2019 at 11:16 PM.
Arnott has had replacement air springs for W211 for a long time. Many independent Mercedes repair shops recommend using Arnott as replacements for the OEM Bilsteins. This has been out for years. I could not tell any difference in the ride after installing Arnott. All modes of Airmatic work with the Arnott; Comfort, Sport, Sport+, raised mode.
Get the Arnott installed, then be done with it. I am sure there will be other things needing attention on the car soon.
For the rears I used Arnott. I didn’t get around to pulling the old expansion tanks out yet but plan to at some point. I didn’t notice any difference in ride either.
For the fronts, you’d want to stick with Bilstein if you want to keep ads (comfort, sport 1/2). The Arnott fronts don’t keep this functionality.
For the rears I used Arnott. I didn’t get around to pulling the old expansion tanks out yet but plan to at some point. I didn’t notice any difference in ride either.
For the fronts, you’d want to stick with Bilstein if you want to keep ads (comfort, sport 1/2). The Arnott fronts don’t keep this functionality.
Originally Posted by F1Fan
Arnott has had replacement air springs for W211 for a long time. Many independent Mercedes repair shops recommend using Arnott as replacements for the OEM Bilsteins. This has been out for years. I could not tell any difference in the ride after installing Arnott. All modes of Airmatic work with the Arnott; Comfort, Sport, Sport+, raised mode.
Get the Arnott installed, then be done with it. I am sure there will be other things needing attention on the car soon.
Ok thank you for the responses, extremely insightful and the fact that it feels like normal and steel retains the 3 suspension modes makes me more confident in these arnott air bags. @F1fan mentioned that the front air shock that are arnott arent able to use different suspension modes scares me, becuase in the front of my used 3 month old cls55 the front right airstut is an arnott airspring and the front left is oem, and the front right arnott airspring makes a clickling/creaking kind of sound when turning the wheel(and no its not the steering rack of control arms I got them both replaced. So when i replace the fronts when they fail eventually I guess ill keep what you said in mind about the arnott front struts not being able to use the different suspensino modes. Thanks again for the comments.
Arnott half assed the air spring desing. There is a non reservoir version of the factory rear air spring that was used on rear self leveling cars. Arnott designed one airbag that can be with either self leveling or airmatic. The problem with the factory Bilstein design is the subframe has to be dropped slightly in order to replace the reservoir. That's why mechanics prefer the arnott design. It saves on labor. If you want factory ride and quality stick to the factory supper.
Arnott half assed the air spring desing. There is a non reservoir version of the factory rear air spring that was used on rear self leveling cars. Arnott designed one airbag that can be with either self leveling or airmatic. The problem with the factory Bilstein design is the subframe has to be dropped slightly in order to replace the reservoir. That's why mechanics prefer the arnott design. It saves on labor. If you want factory ride and quality stick to the factory supper.
The thing about the factory design is that I wouldnt need to drop the subframe because my reservoir is working fine I would just reconnect the hoses , the issue is that bilestein only sells the full kit airbag and reservoir for over 600 bucks each, the arnotts are 360 each. I couldnt find any other reputable brand manufacturer of the original airbag design all people selling the original design are coming from China and I really dont trust the quality, the arnotts are going in on Saturday and I'll update this post. If the new arnotts ride like shat or don't make the cool air release sound when I lock or unlock the car I'm gonna be pist lol.
Last edited by Rpkxnoscope; Oct 16, 2019 at 01:31 PM.
I made sure to check out rock auto, When I looked and even now I looked again under cls55 and e55 I only see the bilenstein overpriced one and the arnott one. I might have picked up the "ultra-power" or "SKT" one if I saw it but still It doesnt come up for my car. Also I see that it says the part number is "A2724" the part number for the cls55 is "A2725", the number is different due to the a2724 model not having "ADS" and not being to use the different suspension modes, but I am not sure. Im going to stick with the arnott 2725 that I got on sale for 360$ each and pray that they function as well as stock and also let out a whoosh of air when I lock and unlock my car.
The Arnotts are in, and they work fine and my car still hisses at me after locking it by it releasing air which I really like . It drives better than the original 100k mile airbags I had. But still have me the see workshop light a few times for 2 days after they were installed, today it didnt give me that warning but weel see in the future.
RockAuto seems to have the lowest selling price. Is it a fair trustable seller or do any of you would recommend another provider to purchase these from? Thanks!
. It drives better than the original 100k mile airbags I had. But still have me the see workshop light a few times for 2 days after they were installed, today it didnt give me that warning but weel see in the future.
