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I'm trying to sort a suspension issue on my '04 E500 Airmatic. The front air struts are new-both had obviously blown one after the other. Supposedly the rear was done just before I bought the car 2 years ago. The left rear always seemed like it sat a little low. I just replaced the shock on that side-not necessarily thinking that would raise it, but it was obviously blown too.
I understand that there's only one ride height adjustment sensor for the rear. If that's true what else should I be looking at? I don't have any codes that suggest anything.
If a front corner is too high it can sag in the opposite rear.
Are the two rear bags the same brand / matching parts numbers?
Is the wheel alignment OK and are the arms/ bushes good?
As Plutoe rightfully points out there are a thousand articles and millions of posts on the topic; most of which are garbage (so just going there will suck up your time).
Take a step back and first look at the car as if it has regular suspension and make sure everything other than the springs (bags) are good. Silly example but a bent frame/mount can hang a corner although all the MB software in the world will say 'Everything is fine' 🤣
Then have a good look a the various height sensors and arms as well as the bags themselves.
Thanks for not giving me a useless asshat answer like the previous one. I did spend a lot of time trying to find something in the posts, but nothing jumped out at me. I don't know what WIS is.
From the front it doesn't look like either side is notably higher than the other, I'll give it a measure, that does make sense about corner to corner height. To my knowledge both rear bags were changed together. Just had an alignment done. I believe bushings are ok, don't see any play or hear any suspect noise or knocking.
I'll have another look at things. Is it correct that there's just one height sensor in the rear?
thanks!
WIS = Workshop Information System. The instructions for the work to be performed.
Calibrate the air suspension. Xentry or quality aftermarket diagnostic system will allow you to do so. I've several posts on this so use Advanced Search upper right and my user name. See .pdf attachment for info on the Airmatic system.
FWIW, with my car's suspension set to lowest allowable in front (3.1 degrees inclination angle), and middle of allowable range in rear (-1.2 degrees inclination angle), the front fender rolls come in at ~26 1/2", the rear fender rolls come in at ~27" from the ground. Side to side might be off by an eighth or quarter of an inch. Correcting an issue with one front strut has corrected the rear ride height for me when I calibrated the suspension over two years ago. I'm about to calibrate it again on next week's service as the driver's side front appears to have drooped 5/8" compared to the passenger side front. When calibrating use an inclinometer app on your phone the first time you calibrate.
Last edited by bbirdwell; Nov 6, 2024 at 09:07 AM.
Yep, whenever you replace parts on the airmatic system, you need to recalibrate. Something like the MB iCarsoft will not be able to, you need to have something like Xentry or Autel to do so.
The rear has a single height sensor indeed, its quite hard to get to.
I have a gravel drive, it's hard to make accurate assessments so I went to my shop yesterday. The opposite front is indeed sitting high. He thinks that's probably the issue as some others suggested here. I'll know on Wed.
I'm in a holding pattern. Took it to the shop and he made the adjustments, however when he tried to save them it said that the numbers were out of range and it couldn't save. I'm not sure what tool he was using, def not the dealer/factory. I'm not sure where to go from here. I have an appt. with a Merc specialist nearby but it's weeks away, I don't want to have to wait that long. Going to try another shop tomorrow.
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