At 140k on my '13 and several road trips on the horizon, I went ahead and replaced my rear air springs with Arnotts from Rockauto even though no issues with them. Several weeks later, its a family affair in the car on the way to the beach and the drivers rear spring explodes after going over a moderate bump. Thankfully we had only been on interstate for 5-10 miles and we simply turned around. No problem with the warranty replacement process. My mechanic said it came off the car in three different pieces. I'm still gungho Arnott but think I just got the 1/1000 (or whatever) faulty ones.

SO

We go and get the 2017 GLS we just bought (at the time we were borrowing and were buying the following week from a family member). Drive it to the beach without issue, except a rough ride from the 45psi the dealers like to air the freaking tires up to. Next day I walk outside and the car is sagged towards the passenger rear. Great. Nearest dealer is MB of Ft Walton Beach as none of the nearby indys had the part in stock and were closing for holiday weekend. Miraculously the dealer has the spring in stock and an opening at 7AM the next day due to a recent cancellation. Get there, of course $199 for diagnosis despite my instruction to just replace the rear damn spring. Hours later, I'm told 3k for valve block and rear spring. I called BS on valve block, so I tell them just replace the rear spring. Lots of pressure to replace valve block. All said and done, I (or really the family member) was charged 7 hours of labor at $189/hr and $600 for the spring for a whopping total of 2k to replace ONLY the air spring. The whole ordeal felt dirty and MB should be concerned with dealers like this as they will 100% send customers into the open yet also flawed arms of BMW, Audi, etc.. Felt like The Wolf of Wallstreet dealer parts and service edition....

As I expected, the car is absolutely fine with the factory valve block. SA and tech were in cahoots to rack up some commissions.....

I didn't really have any better options being out of town under a short timeline but just wanted to share a Labor Day weekend full of blown air springs and tales from the stealerships...

 

$2K for an air spring/strut replacement at the dealership? Typical, if not cheap when going to the dealership.

 

Hopefully you were able to get some BBQ and a cold one after all that!

 

Word of streets it been extremely slow in dealerships and all the way around so they looking into way of squeezing your wallet. Just a normal thing for them

 

Dealer quoted $5900 to replace front axel assemblies and alignment. Did it for $1400 at local Indy, German parts.

 

Crazy. All part of the model to then use the astronomical repair estimates as an opening for a new car pitch.

Just looked and go figure, the automotive group the MB Ft Walton dealership is owned by is private equity. Makes total sense now. The spectrum of customer vs profit focus is definitely tilted towards the latter....

 

My 2016 GL had similar issues. Rear bag sagged a bit occasionally on both sides. Then one bottomed out on a beach trip. Compressor was able to lift up enough for me to limp home and replace the rear bags. It has been 12k miles since replacement, multiple long trips and few moderate offroad, and no issue. No valve block or compressor issue at 107k. Overall, I'm very impressed with the air suspension keeping this big frame under control. It handles admirably on mountain trips (I'm comparing to other big SUV, van drove though the same road).

As this vehicle age, it would be good to stay away from dealership when possible. Spending $2000 on some fix, and knowing you have multiple of those coming for a car with 20-30k value doesn't seem logical. For comparison's sake, dealer labor cost in northern California as of now range from 300-430 per hour. They are fully booked with long queue time, so they have no incentive to charge less. They do have higher standard, higher cost. They are in the business to make money, so I don't fault them much.

For myself, not ticking them off with complain/argument works well. Eventually my cars will need their service for some hard to fix or warranty issue (and those did happen). Cheers

 

Dealer might have been correct... https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...-airmatic.html

 

Mine was thankfully just the rear bag despite their best efforts. A month later and no issues with the valve block that I'm aware of....