Oxygen

I thought my alignment was funky, but then I noticed that it changes as I drive... which is crazy weird. So I figured it was something with the suspension.

Then I noticed that my right rear of the car is always about ~.5" lower than the rest of the car at times when the car is parked.

I used the raise feature, all 4 sides of the car go up, but the rear right is still lagging behind about .5". It goes up, just less than the other. When I lower the car, it lowers and is still .5" lower than all 3 other wheels... is that crazy?

What do you guys think it is before I take it to the dealer?

shadowgriffen

Do you have ABC? I understand that Active body Control is a hydrolic based system, and although I'm not entirely familiar with this system, my hypothesis is that there may be a fault there.

Oxygen

I don't have ABC, just standard AIRMATIC.

newton22

There was a similar thread in the E55 forum. Funny, my right rear is HIGHER than the left rear. The two fronts are the same, so its not a washer issue. I have also measured the rear on different surfaces at different locations, and confirmed my right rear is indeed higher.

Never got it checked out though.

Jayhawk

My right rear has always looked a little low, but I never had it checked. I had the car in for service on Sat. though and they found I had an air leak in the front struts and I had to have them replaced. I had noticed that the car would rise up when I started it, but never thought much about it. My point is that if there were a problem w/ the right rear, they would have detected it too, so I would not worry about it. These airmatic systems are very good, but nothing is perfect all the time. I can live w/ little variations here and there.

Oxygen

Would this affect my alignment? Most of the time the steering is correct, 10% of the time it pulls to the right and 15% of the time it pulls to the left (very very slightly in both cases)

newton22

Go to the dealer or any alignment shop and have them give you specs on the camber angles for all four corners. If your two rears are similar, you're fine. Front twos should also be close (a gap of no larger than ~0.5 degrees). Front pairs and rear pairs are many of the times different.

The main reason I was not concerned with my right rear corner being higher was because the rears had similar camber angles (-1.3 left and -1.1 right I think).

My fronts are at (-1.8 and -1.3) I think. But remember, the left front corner of the car will raise a tad when only one occupant (in this case, the driver) occupies the vehicle. So, all in all, I was not worried (Oh and your angles should be closer to 0 or slightly negative or postive. Only lowered cars yield negative camber, unless corrected with camber bolts).

02S430

i had my right rear airshock replaced, the ride was very bump before it was done, i didnt notice anything wrong like u sed, it rose and droped on request from the button and wen turned on

Jayhawk

It should NOT "PULL" in any direction! Get it fixed!!!

newton22

I had my alignment done and it still pulls. I regret those moments of adrenaline. I pushed the S430 too far and now the tread on my tires are uneven. lol

Jayhawk

Damn, that's too bad! You need to lower your adrenaline level...

lorinserSclass

I know on the front shock absorbers that the air matic and the shocks are all one assembly...I thought everything was fine but the shock had given out and was causing the car to be a little lower on one side due to it collapsing..I had been driving like that for a while and thought everything was ok because the car raised, lowered and seemed fine (my car is lowered so I thought the rough ride with the 20's and both red dots on was normal) anyway..I replaced the shock absorber and all is even..still have a rough ride though due to the rims...lol

whoover

Take it to the dealer. There are lots of things it can be. My S55 didn't pull, but the steering wheel was slightly off-center when the car tracked straight. It bugged me and turned out to be a bad ABC valve block. Car handled noticably better after they fixed it although I hadn't noticed the handling degrade.

Airmatic is somewhat simpler, but complex enough to take it to the dealer, not a typical alignment shop.

S500Sport

Why would you replace them? I read some where that there are sealers that seal the gap. I also read that some parts belonging to the strut would be replaced and viola. I would think twice before taking the car to a stealership. I prefer watching my local mechanic repair the car while I'm standing behind his back watching.

SUNILP

repair kits are available for front shocks only. Not rears.

fusion2007

my car does the exact same thing.. i never put too much thought into allthough i do get alignments every 3mnths

NJS430

You can drive yourself crazy looking at your car when it is parked. Even measuring the height on both sides isn't really an acurate way of telling if the level control is working correctly. The only way to tell for sure is to but it on an alignment rack that is perfectly level and measure it there. The car adjusts itself from a sensor located mid-ship based on the tilt of the car. The dealer can check it and if necessary perform a calibration. My sense is that you may just think it is off. Look at any parked car and see if you think they are off.