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Hello Guys,
I have been experiencing some airmatic issues and was hoping to get help here. I have a 2012 E 350 with 140k km on the dash.
I have noticed an erratic leak of the Airmatic system for example since last week the car was parked in a hotel no problem until Wednesday when I unlocked it to get some stuff from the trunk.
The next day I found the car with the 2 rear struts flat. Sometimes instead of the rear suspension. it's the whole passenger side that goes down. and I noticed that when the key is next to the car.
I keep hearing the car trying to level or evacuate pressure. took it to the local Mercedes dealer (I am in Senegal) but they could find any error code.
maybe one of you has already experienced this.
Thank you in advance for the help.
Saer
Do you get any Airmatic warning messages in the cluster (see below)? Does the car have keyless-go? You mentioned going to the dealer, they scanned the car with Xentry? Go back and have them run all of airmatic tests using Xentry. Considering the drop in height is not consistent to a corner, axle or side... it could be more than a simple leak.
Yeah, I have this anytime the car goes down. But going to the dealer again is not an option cause they have already told me that they don't have the capacity/training to fix any "Advance feature" from Benz (Airmatic, Distronic, etc...) they don't even sell a vehicle with it.
The only way now is to go pull the code at the gas station service shop.
Also, I forgot to mention that sometime after the vehicle goes back up the passenger side is a bit lower than the driver side but not all the time.
Like I said earlier I will go and pull the code and let you all know.
Thanks ,
Yeah, I have this anytime the car goes down. But going to the dealer again is not an option cause they have already told me that they don't have the capacity/training to fix any "Advance feature" from Benz (Airmatic, Distronic, etc...) they don't even sell a vehicle with it.
The only way now is to go pull the code at the gas station service shop.
Also, I forgot to mention that sometime after the vehicle goes back up the passenger side is a bit lower than the driver side but not all the time.
Like I said earlier I will go and pull the code and let you all know.
Thanks ,
The tests I was referring to are built into Xentry (software) that the dealer should have used to pull the codes in the first place. Really isn't difficult, you enter a different menu, tests are listed and they are self-guided for airmatic (no input or action by tech besides pressing start and letting test run).
Forget about fixing the car, see if they would be willing to just run the test and share the Pass/Fails for each of them. If they are unwilling, consider buying a Xentry setup (w/ C4 multiplexer) which will run $700-1000. Or find an independent specialist which has it.
Airmatic system can be hard to diagnose and often any codes present are not very helpful. There's a lot of threads on airmatic issues, I could write a dissertation on it. Unfortunately without certain tools you may end up "pissing in the wind" as we say. You may resort to just throwing parts are it.
You also never answered if you have keyless-go? One check you could perform, drive the car around till the ride height is somewhat "level". Park the car, lock it and put the all the car keys at least 15 ft away from the car. You said the car makes adjustments/noises with the key nearby. I would wait around the car (without the key of coarse) for 15 minutes and listen and observe.
Then leave the car and return in 4 hours and see if there's any drop. Then come back in 12 hours and check again if there's any drops. Report findings.
After you do all that, repeat it again... expect now after you park and lock. Get under the rear bumper and disconnect the airmatic valve body. This would point to whether its a leak in the system and/or a "control" issue (i.e., the car is trying to lower itself).
Hello Guys,
I was able to pull codes from the car using Bosch ESI Tronic 2.0.
I got the code C156984, C156B00 from the Air Matic Module, and based on the B210F00 error we checked the battery voltage which was 11.7v.(I have start and stop system which stopped working almost at the same period I started having issues with the airmatic )
The guys suggested that a dead battery could be a possible cause of faulty sensor reading.
I got a quotation from the dealer to replace the two batteries and the cost of the parts is 1800$. I think I will just order it aborad. in the meantime, I will try to disconnect the airmatic valve body as suggested by @bmwpowere36m3.
I Will get back to you when I remove the battery from the equation. By the way, if you have a suggestion on a particular model that I could order. that would be great.
Thanks again.
C156984 The right front vehicle level is outside the tolerance. There is a signal below the permissible limit value.
C156B00 The time for filling the compressed air reservoir was exceeded.
I would start my charging both batteries (start and aux) with proper battery maintainer. Then disconnect the main battery for 10 min. Reconnect the main battery. Scan for codes and write them down. Clear the codes and go for a drive. Come back and scan for codes and report.
Low voltage in these cars can do weird things. However, likely you still have some type of fault in the airmatic system, regardless of the batteries health. Whether they need replacing, ideally you'd perform some testing. At the same time, it wouldn't hurt to replace them if their over 5 years. I hope the $1800 is not USD for batteries... both can be had here in the states for less than $400 from the dealer. Even cheaper if you source from a supplier.
As far as suggestions, I don't know what available locally. I think most of the cars take H7 batteries and I suspect H6 and H8 would fit as well. Take a picture of both batteries and post your VIN. We can go from there.
Last edited by bmwpowere36m3; Apr 28, 2021 at 10:59 AM.
Hello yes, it's 1800 USD. it was actually 5500$ for the two batteries plus the brake pad/disk .then 1000$ for labour.
I use to buy the parts from mbpartsworld.com but they no longer take international orders. now my only option is using parcel forwarders.
I finally bought this Battery from Varta based on the picture I took .. my VIN is WDD2120591A644612. and the aux is a0009827008 but the voltage looks ok but I'm looking for it online. It's difficult to find someone who ships worldwide.
Yea, that's wild... I'm guessing there's really no option available locally?
Reminds me of a documentary of life in Cuba, where the subject was trying to get a battery for his project car. The dealings, backroom, black market, difficulty in just getting a basic car battery... which was also $$$ and more than he could afford it.
2016 E350 4Matic wagon, 2019 Ford Expedition, 2019 Chevy Bolt EV
any Group 48 or 49, aka H6 or H8, thats a true AGM/VRLA, with a rating of about 760CCA (for the group 48/H6) or 900CCA (group 49/H8) will do nicely, it doesn't have to be a Mercedes branded battery. Mercedes uses the 48/H6 batts on gas cars, and the 49/H8 on diesels usually. the 49 fits most gassers and gives you some extra reserve.
changing the battery is trivial. open the hood all the way, remove the plastic cover over the battery compartment (3 clips, and gently lift it out), 10mm wrench on the negative/ground terminal first, then remove the + terminal, then a 10mm (?) wrench on an extension to remove the clamp block holding the battery in place (middle of the front-facing side of the battery, near its bottom). lift out old battery, lift in new, secure clamp, connect vent tube, attach positive first, then negative/ground. your engine should re-learn any adaptations within a couple days of driving.
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