evan8

Hello, I am getting an Air Suspension Malfunction error on my 2012 GL450 and everyone seems to point to a bad air compressor. Would someone help to share should I go with OEM again or Arnott? My OEM lasted now 7 years and started to fail. Not sure people have had better experience/reliability and ride quality of the Arnott. I know Arnott has lifetime part warranty and OEM has only 2 years. But I hope to not have to fix them all the time so whichever one has the longevity would win seems to me. BTW, not sure Arnott compressor would go well with my other 4 OEM structs.
Thank you so much!

alx

Get the Arnott and be done with it.

evan8

Thank you! From what I read, there has been cases when Arnott compressor would go out prematurely even earlier than OEM. And it caused other air struct bags to leak. Any thoughts?

DennisG01

Anything can fail at any time. If you search long enough and hard enough you can find negative reviews on anything. In my opinion, I think either brand you've mentioned can theoretically last as long as the other. I chose Arnott because of the price, warranty and also that I felt it was at least as good as the MB in terms of quality.

You'll likely hear/find more reviews about the Arnott brand because more DIY'rs use them... and more DIY'rs are on forums... hence the 'fail ratio' for Arnotts is skewed.

The struts won't care what brand compressor you use... they're not that smart...

EDIT: Oh... are you doing the work yourself? If not, does your shop have a preference - or a 'requirement'?

evan8

Thank you Dennis! The shop prefer Arnott. MB dealer will of course use MB part. But what gets me is the shop charges the same $800 total for the Arnott compressor + labor. That is how much MB dealer charges. In my mind, if the cost is the same, why not go with MB.

evan8

Does anyone know if the compressor is going weak but there is no sagging of the air structs, does the compressor needs to be replaced? I read that the air structs is what keeps the car up. And if they are not leaking, the car should hold leveled. The compressor is pumping air to the air tank that is the warning showing not enough pressure. But the air tank should still have enough air to give to the structs to keep the car leveled.

DennisG01

It's probably taking longer than it should to reach the proper pressure - hence the warning. It's taking longer because it's worn out. I don't know if this affects all of them, but when my compressor was wearing out, it was noticeably louder, as well. Once I put the new one in, I had to REALLY struggle to listen close enough to hear it.

"In my mind, if the cost is the same, why not go with MB"... Or, you could look at it as "They're the same price, but one comes with a lifetime warranty". Looking at it that way, it seems like a no brainer.

kombifan

If same price go with the mb dealership.

They have a two two year parts and labor warranty that is valid at all dealerships.

If if you trust and have a good relationship with your Indy and expect to visit them over and over again do go with them if you feel comfortable, but tell them they are charging the same. They shouldn’t be.

evan8

Thank you Dennis and Kombifan for your suggestions! It is so helpful to hear from you who have much more experience and perspective on this! Have a great weekend!

Redrobin

I just changed the compressor on my 13 Gl450. If you have any mechanical skill, diy could save you some money. The toughest part of the job was removing and remounting the front tire. Takes 1-1/2 hour tops

Rg1620

When my compressor went weak it would run constantly and then overheat and shut off. The car sat at about the correct height. I made a rookie mistake and replaced the from struts and Airbags. Same problem. I then replaced the compressor and all was good.