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I have a 2011 E550. For a while now I get the Airmatic Malfunction warning. After that warning the front drivers side lowers to were I need to pull over. That same side occasionally lowers when car is parked. Parked in the exact same spot it also stays perfectly level with no lowering. I got codes from a scanner. What can the problem be? Codes
You have an intermittent leak on the driver's side. Leak when in motion, but it may not leak when standing on the sweet spot for the strut . That is a naughty one to find.
Because of the leak the compressor stays on too long, and it will wear out if the leak is not fixed.
At times car can also go without any warnings or lowering while driving.
Even more difficult to track. It can be loose connection, or not exposed at normal height, but once the car oscillates on the road it gets exposed or loose and leaks.
Read the document for the DiY section, and how to track leaks. You may need someone to bounce the car when looking for the leak.
To begin check for leaks @ valve unit & proactively both front struts, also check wiring harness @ compressor. No external leaks detected could be strut is intermittently failing internally.
I have a 2011 E550. For a while now I get the Airmatic Malfunction warning. After that warning the front drivers side lowers to were I need to pull over. That same side occasionally lowers when car is parked. Parked in the exact same spot it also stays perfectly level with no lowering. I got codes from a scanner. What can the problem be? Codes
Have the air springs been replaced yet in your car? If not, 99.9% sure you have a leak in the spring. 10 years is at the top life for the springs, all of them.
I had an issue with this and it was very confusing when the car suspension left in Sports mode would cause the car go down but in Comfort mode it stayed up. This happened first in rear and soon after in front.
Both cases was caused by air leak in one of the rear or front sir springs. This odd behavior does not mean that in comfort mode the leak stops. It just happens to be that the car left in comfort mode has the springs tall enough so that the one spring can hold the car from going all the way down.
Do a simple test. Leave car in both Sports and Comfort modes over night and see the results. My bet is you have a leak and the fix is to replace air struts, both of them and then the rear springs as they will all go soon if not replaced earlier.
The job for both is very easy to do if you are a DIY person at all. Only problem is the front air struts are a bit pricey.
The error messages you have are related to leak. I had the message about car level being outside range too.
I also had the pump time out sometimes but at that time (rear springs) I did not have the scanner yet. I bought the scanner after replacing rear springs and started having issues in front. For that the pump did not time out, if I remember correctly, but I had the outside range error message every time it was down to the “floor” if I had left suspension in Sports mode over night.
The problem can, of course, be with leak in air tubing or valves too, but what you show is so similar to what mine was doing. I also replaced the $350 valve block as the first attempt to fix the problem but turned out there was nothing wrong with the old block. Left the new one in as at nearly 10 years the valves may generate issues anyway.
Car was parked for 4 days and the suspension did not lower what so ever. My wife drove the car today with no issues what so ever!!!! I am stumped by this!!!!!!
No confusion!!!!!!! Just don't want to be changing parts for no reason.
Only drivers side front going down does not happen. The car body is made as rigid against bending and twisting as they can make it so it is not possible just for one corner of the car go down. I can guarantee you that the opposite side goes down with it also, perhaps not as much as the opposing rear goes up with the lowering driver's front. If you would have only the driver's side front go down your car would have a very severe issue with the body, which, of course, is not the case.
One of your error messages says the system pressure reading is bad. This could actually be the whole key for the problem. If the pressure reading shows pressure is at level it needs to be but actually is not then when the system tries to lift car up it would actually cause it to go down as the pressure in the reservoir is not present. And it seems your problem is "flaky" so it could easily be a pressure sensor going bad being flaky first before it at some point would go out all together. Could also be bad wire connections due to corrosion etc. But, as you mentioned, sometimes the car is down after sitting over night it tells me you have a leak. The system is not operational when car is parked.
Throwing parts in it is sometimes what you need to do. You need to start somewhere so change that pressure sensor first. It should not be that expensive and should be quite easy to DIY.
If you don't want to change parts you can always take it to the dealer and let them throw parts at it and believe me, they will charge you for every part they throw at it regardless if it solved the problem or not. They would just do all this with their hourly charge and parts pricing they have.
All the symptoms I have expressed don't happen on a regular basis. Car can sit and front suspension lowers. Sometimes it can sit a couple days and stays fine. I will start with the pressure sensor.
Park the car overnight in sport and then comfort mode, locked, with the key at least 15 ft away. If it doesn't drop consistently in either mode... diagnosis will be difficult. In some cases I would also disconnect the electrical connector from the valve body to rule out a "control" issue. However this can be problematic on intermittent issues without some planning and knowledge.
Spray down all the lines and connectors with soapy solution looking for leaks... if none found, proceed to disconnect the line between the compressor and valve body (from compressor). Stick it into a cup of water to check for bubbles (meaning leakage thru valve body).
If nothing is found, begin replacing the struts or springs that the drop is occurring at... replace in pairs. As noted by Arrie, at 10yrs their ripe for replacement. My struts are not leaking yet on my '11 E550, but the rear springs were (VERY COMMON). Additionally the valve body had a slight leak, so it was replaced as well.
11-02-2021, 08:30 PM
. That is a naughty one to find. 
