rayray999

I was on the fencee for the Arnott shocks, and opted for the Bilstein for the front shocks/bags replacement, and I have had no issues with them.
But for the rear, I decided to with Arnott, and now after 2 weeks one of them is leaking, and the car sits on the ground on that side every morning.

Since it needs to be replaced, should I forgo the hassle, and just replace it with bilstein, or give them another chance ?

Any thoughts ?

mefferso

Are you sure the bag itself is leaking? Check the nut that connects the air line to the bag. Both of mine were only hand tight new out of the box. I sprayed soapy water to confirm air was leaking around that nut. I used a small wrench to tighten and that fixed the problem.

rayray999

I did by hand, but was afraid to use a wrench, as they had sticker on there that had wrench crossed out ..
I'll check it again today, but called Autohausaz, and they told me to send it back for a refund ... But since I had thrown my old one out, I ended up buying a new one, and once that arrives, I will send this one back, and hopefully get the refund ...

This car has been nothing short of a service disaster with things going wrong with it .. I just want to get it to a point where I can sell it, and move on to another brand .. We can't seem to go more than 2000 miles without something needing to be fixed on it ... I should have never bought it, as this car truly is a disposable car after 45k miles ...

BlownV8

You must have a diesel GL?

rayray999

Indeed, it is a diesel, and we bought it to replace our Ford Expedition for better fuel economy ...
It does give better fuel economy, but the out of pocket cost since the extended warranty ran out would have allowed us to drive the expedition another 60,000 miles, and that car went 80k miles with just oil changes, and one transmission flush while towing my 8500 pound boat - never had any issues ..
We have never towed with this car, and with my experience, it truly has been a garbage of a car to own, and soured my interest in any future Mercedes..

So, are you telling me the gas versions are more reliable, and it deserves a second chance ?

kombifan

YodaSyrup

Kombifan, which srs connector did you replace? Side curtain?

BlownV8

Love my 450. It's an amazing vehicle and has been ultra reliable. Still going strong with close to 250k miles. There are common issues across all engines but the diesel seems to have it's own special problems. The gasser gets poor mileage but I've been running regular unleaded for as long as I can remember. Regular unleaded is around 20% lower than diesel in my area so the mileage difference doesn't matter much.

kombifan

BlownV8

I average over 16 mpg and get around 20 on the highway. Interstate speeds of 70 mph or greater averages around 17. I'm also running 22" wheels and tires. Those cost me over 1 mpg. I was averaging 17.7 mpg on the stock 19" wheels and tires.

There may be a very slight difference in power but my mileage did not suffer with the switch. My car actually idles much smoother with regular than super and I suffer from no drawbacks. I made the switch around 100k miles.

rayray999

kombifan,
I have always used all Mercedes branded parts from the dealership that I bought myself, and only used approved Mercedes Mobil-1 diesel oil adhering to the manufacturer specs... And even at $12 a quart, I have checked the oil on that car on a weekly basis ... So, I will disagree about the oil having anything to do with it ..
But speaking of oil ......yes that car has had it's oil cooler seal replaced twice, and the first time they even rerouted the hose rubbing the radiator fan, where is tore into the hose, leaking coolant, and leaving us stranded 150 miles away from home ... And then they even made me pay for the entire service, and told me to chase down the other Mercedes dealer .... Joy ....And even after after all of that the POS car still leaves oil drops everywhere ...

Question for you gassers, having paid over $3000 for changing the hydraulic engine mounts that creamed gray paste all over my garage, and to this day I see a splat here and there forcing me to wonder if it was the old leak or new leak. Do the gassers also use the crap hydraulic engine mounts?

kombifan

BlownV8

Mine are still original.

rayray999

I thought that I would provide an update.
I received the new suspension airbag, and this time checked the nut, and it was very tight, so no need to tighten ... I removed the faulty bag (had to cut the tip off, as I did not find a way to get the air hose out without undoing the valve) ....
The faulty bag also had the valve nut very tight, so I don't think it was a lose nut issue.
I also did not see any defects or damage visually on the bag itself ...

After a few days the air is holding, so I will just attribute that to the list of all the unlucky problems that I have had ...

GLguy

Well, I'll be replacing front passenger one this weekend. After 8 year and 55K. Did the driver side 4 months ago.....Saw it dropped two days ago.....

EWT

I had one of their front shocks fail after a little more than 2 years and I think the other is now failing after 1.5 yrs. The left front corner was low once a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't repeated, but failing front shocks seem to start off that way. I'll jack it up and check for leaks with soapy water if it drops again although when I did that with the right front, it went from dropping every 2-3 mornings to audibly leaking and dropping almost immediately after the engine was shut off. Jacking the car up and extending the shock all the way to check for a leak seemed to enlarge whatever hole was there significantly.

I hoped they'd last longer than the MB part, but at least they have been great so far honoring the lifetime warranty. Once it is replaced, I will be on set #4 of front shocks @ 178K mles. I put the Arnott rear air bags on about 2.5 years ago, and they're still going strong, but the original rear air bags lasted much longer than the fronts (only on set #2)

qcman

Curious to know if anyone has ever used a liquid penetrant inspection on rubber material.

DennisG01

Wouldn't that just show cracks all over the place? Meaning, the entire rubber surface (even new ones) have imperfections all over the place - which is normal for this type of material.

Soapy water.

qcman

Im not certain, the rubber skin could be porous and make it look like the spring is bleeding. Was just a thought. With the soapy water, you need access to all lines as well as full view of the spring. If its a small pinhole leak on a hard to see area, it could be missed. Maybe im just over analyzing here.

DennisG01

Maybe I don't fully understand how that stuff works, but don't you still have to visually see it? If that's true, how is that any better than the soapy water? But, a mirror on a stick (or cell phone on video) can get into many places that you can't with your head. Sometimes, with the soapy water, you can hear the leak, too.

The bags are not porous. If they were, they wouldn't hold air.

qcman

When I meant porous I was talking about the surface only. But you're right about the soap test. It would be easier. Was just a suggestion / thought.

DennisG01

OK, gotcha. Yes, that was what I was referring to in post #18.