Paulcomi

Just replaced my rear air struts and the car is holding level overnight which is terrific. But I believe that even though the front is not leaking the damper portion of the air strut is bad because they’re making noise over rough roads I’m aware that Arno sells remanufactured struts along with some others on eBay but I can’t seem to find anybody that sells new air struts so I can be assured that the hydraulic portion of the struts will be new and not just replaced airbags on refurbished units.

cetialpha5

For the W212, I believe you're pretty much limited to MB. They just didn't sell that many systems, airmatic became optional at one point and the E550 stopped production after 2014. You can probably shop some of the online MB dealers that discount.

Paulcomi

what vendors are you guys using?

konigstiger

You can start here: https://www.mbdirectparts.com/ however, current part # left 2123203138 & right 2123203238 will now have 80 added which means MB re-manufactured (MB part warranty 1 year).

Paulcomi

Man I’m really hesitant to plunk down that kind of money for something that’s not new considering that the airbag part itself in the front seems to be OK it’s just the hydraulic strut portion I believe is what’s clunking

Oda112

Arnott used to sell them for a few months late last year, price was 749$ with core in. It seems like they don't have them for sale anymore for whatever reason. Try giving them a call, maybe there's something wrong with their website. https://www.arnottindustries.com/pro...c-ads-incl-amg

KEY08

Clunking, banging, squeaking, knocking can be caused by so many things in the front end, you need to be 100% sure it’s the strut before changing it out. Nothing worse than complaining about the cost of a part in advance and replacing it only to find out it was something else. A double whammy.

Paulcomi

You know that’s why I brought the car originally to a dealership to get a full diagnostic just to put my finger on what was actually going on and I basically found myself in a beartrap that I had to extract myself from I still never found out what the sound was in the front

Paulcomi

I’m suspecting that the strut itself, not the airbag portion, is what is making these noises. Has anyone checked their struts by releasing the air in the airbags in front to check them? If not how else do you determine if they’re in good nick?

konigstiger

Was suggested/attached bulletin recommending control unit update ever discussed with dealer? Independents with Xentry also have this ability.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post7707789

Paulcomi

No because that information came after I had picked up the car

Paulcomi

I spoke to Arnott today and they eased my mind I don’t believe that my front struts are a problem. You can push up and down on the car and if the front struts are going bad you would be able to tell and I know I’m not losing pressure because the car is maintaining its ride height overnight it hasn’t had to do any vehicle rising for three days now so I’m thrilled I must have a bad bushing or something

Paulcomi

I had the car looked at yesterday by an independent who took a test drive and he agreed it sounds like a bad strut in the front air strut.

Frim what I now understand the companies who sell refurbished air struts for these w212 cars only do a send in refurbish service because the strut itself is a sealed shock that cannot be refurbished.they rebuild the airbag top but if the oil filled shock portion is bad it won’t improve. That’s why cores are in such short supply.

Looks like my best option like others have said is to buy new parts from MB.

KEY08

Please update this thread if you install the new struts and your issue is solved. It will help others with their diagnosis.

Ungarisch

the OEM rebuilds are completely newly rebuilt, as in both the air bags are replaced as well as the shock are revalved and fluids changed. Also, when buying OEM rebuilds there is a great chance that you'll be getting brand new ones as there is a shortage of core returns, my supposed rebuilds came as brand new without the 80 designation at the end. I paid 750 each from https://oembenzparts.com

Ungarisch

yes there is a good chance that it's the strup mount tops that are clunking. It's what it was for me, as soon as I replaced both front air struts, the front end clunk went away.

EDIT: my symptoms were clunking when cold over bumps but would go away as the car warmed up.

Paulcomi

Just thought I would pass along something that successfully identified the source of my front end suspension noise. Using an Apple AirPod and a strip of black plumbers tape which is pretty much like electrical tape I stuck the AirPod to the top of my air strut and went for a short ride and listened to the recording and compared it to the other strut. I heard a definite clicking popping and clunking which coincided with bumps in the road.

To verify it was the strut I did the same side-by-side comparison securing the AirPod microphone to the side of the strut below the airbag next to the wheel And just as a baseline comparison I attached the AirPod microphone to a suspension arm on the noisy side of the car and listened to it.

Now that I have a very strong suspicion that the strut itself is bad I was able to order the part through one of my local Mercedes dealers and they even gave me a discount off and online source. Hope this helps others.

Paulcomi

For others looking to replace their front airmatic struts I have learned that the w212 airmatic strut for cars without 4matic are not like other airmatic struts. Some companies advertise that they will rebuild these struts but what they don’t tell you is that they do not rebuilt the strut-just the airbag top of the strut.

These w212 front air struts are dead when the oil filled strut shock goes bad so if you have one rebuilt the bag will hold air but the strut will be in the same condition the as you send to them. If yours goes bad like my drivers side did you have to get an OEM Mercedes part which now are being sold as remanufactired or try your luck with a salvage or used part.

KEY08

You are ingenious.

Ungarisch

this is correct, I find it absurd to pay someone $500 to replace just the rubber bellows and still get back what is essentially a blown shocks. At $750 for OEM, I see no reason to buy otherwise.

Paulcomi

Well the best that I could get OEM for was $1000 and that’s through a dealer giving me almost a $200 discount so it’s a hard pill to swallow

Ungarisch

hmmm price must have went up about $60-70 bux. I paid $742.50 left side and $752.40 right side (+ 2x $115 core, which I did get back) from OEMBenzPart in the August of 2018

https://www.oembenzparts.com/oem-par...t-212320323880
https://www.oembenzparts.com/oem-par...t-212320313880

Paulcomi

Thats great pricing. I’ll keeo that for the right side

Paulcomi

Well it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I just installed and road tested my car after replacing the drivers left side aromatic strut with a factory remanufactured unit. The knocking sound is gone which confirms that even though the air strut held air the oil filled strut went bad.

If if this happens to your vehicle there’s no point in sending.your bad strut to a rebuilder. These struts are a sealed unit that can’t be rebuilt so all you’ll get for the $500+ is your bad strut back with a new air bellows.

I was really hesitant to begin this because other videos and DIY‘s on doing this on other models show having two separate bowl joints which I’m hesitant to do. I shot some video as I was doing the process of removing and reinstalling so if there’s any interest I will share what I learned in the process

My right front aromatic strut is not making any noise and has not leaked or given me any reason to replace it and at $1000 I’m just not willing to do it yet although The boot is trashed so I may remove it just to install a new boot. No one seems to have one in stock so looks like I’ll have to find one online

Oda112

I'd like to see that video. I think mine need replacing too. Both of them make knocking noises when it's colder out. There's no oil seepage though. Did you see any of that on your bad strut?