eromlige

2006 R500 here.

Just wanted to know if the airmatic suspension (air springs, air struts, shocks) can be converted to a standard setup on these vehicles.

starbound01

With enough time and money you can do most anything. What you will not be able to do is 100% reliably get rid of the ride warning messages. You can purchase a kit to replace everything but if you put weight in the back you will set off the height adjust failure warning message.


The air ride is more expensive to repair than a base shock system. But consider this...
- You will loose the ride quality and height adjustment.
- You will still have to replace shock absorbers and struts with time. They are never lifetime and degrade with time. I never get why people thing suspension components should last forever on a 5-6K lb vehicle.
- You will have to consider the wear of the shocks in the read. If you have ride adjustment, those shocks are just over $500 each. Though that is inevitable at some point in time.


Replacing both rear air springs is about $400 as a DIY (Arnott replacements) and will take about an hour if you take the time to have a beer or 2. The originals appear to last 80K miles. I think the new ones will go much longer but only time will tell.


Replacing the front struts is about $500 each side. I've not done it but it looks like about 1-2 hrs as a DIY. The originals seem to go 50-60K miles. I'm 60K on the replacements (MB replacements). When these go I will get the Arnott replacements.

ghenry

I am doing front struts this week on my 2008 non airmatic. Quite the job but nothing to hard. Could have used an extra hand or two but i managed to get it down to parade rest. Waiting on the new struts via fedex ($184 ea) and its gonna cost $40 to have top bushing covers and springs swapped over to both new ones at a local shop. If you pull one down/apart be sure to check the upper bushing for popping. Jack the front end up with wheels off the ground and turn wheels side to side. If they are bad you will hear them popping. I learn something new everytime I get the wrenches out to work on this thing!!!! But thats a good thing and a BIG $$$ saver.
THE BOTTOM STRUT BOLT WAS A CHORE TO GET LOOSE partly due to the car being up on jack stands and clearance not optimum for a long breaker bar.

ghenry

The airmatic strut replacement procedure has several references to the STAR diagnistic machine for deflating front air struts before removal. There are several more steps referenced for the airstrut removal to achieve enough clearance for rem/ install. I have the printout on this job and only about 20% of it applies to non airmatic with the majority being geared towards the airmatic replacement instructions

eromlige

After reading through the various stories found here at mbworld, I just thought I should perhaps mentally prepare myself for this possibility/eventuality of replacing these. You guys have put the fear of god in me concerning this vehicle.

Also, I've had the thing a little over a month and already have had to spend $1100 at the MB dealership to have a Xenon headlamp controller replaced.

Of course, it wasn't covered by my extended warranty....fark!!!

DukeBoy27

I feel your pain Eromlige, even though I have a 2012 that is (knocking on wood) problem-free so far, something will likely go wrong down the road.

And even if the car stays problem-free, the resale value will still be a horror.

The R is a great car, but it is very expensive to own.