EVOnation

has anyone done it with success


Im tired of thinking when my air matic will fail etc etc, thats just one more thing that can and will fail, I'm not an aggressive driver and would like to change this whole thing to regular, problem free set up.

help

rccmerc

As of now no. There is a company called Strutmasters but they do not have a conversion for the W220. You might want to call them and see if they have one in the works. See link

http://www.strutmasters.com/catalog.php?cat=57

And stop thinking about the Airmatic - Rest assured it will fail, in the mean time enjoy the car

EVOnation

do all 220's have airmatics, Im thinking in Europe lower diesel models might have regular struts, springs setup

Mustyzzle

Nope, they have airmatic.

EVOnation

dammit

make absoulute no sense to me,

air matic suspensions had been tried since the 60's, they are weak, expensive and always fail within few years. What the hell is mercedes thinking, mb used to last for a lifetime, these days its for 3 years, and then buy a new model...

Gondon

Nah Airmatics is the best!

EVOnation

how do you figure, oh you're just being difficult

at $1100 per strut, it's hardly "the best"

rccmerc

You don't indicate what model year you have, but I hope you went into the purchase of your car with eyes wide open, as these cars out of warranty can be expensive to maintain/repair - these cars ain't Honda's. When all the German crap works it is the best riding car I have ever been in and very rewarding to drive. However, you are correct, an investment it is not. Keep things in perspective, your *****ing about the suspension in an S-Class, life can't be all that bad

my06clk

Pete.

What do you think a conversion will cost you $79.99?

And I beg to differ with your comments regarding the three year thing. NOt all S class cars have suspension issues. Sure, we all know that they are prone, but there are many many drivers of 200 and 2001 model S classes that have not experienced airmatic issues. But to say that they are only good for three years is just well.. wrong.

I said this before and I will submit the same to you. Name me one model of any brand car that has been around since 2000 or 1999 and is still around today in full demand.

IF you don't like your car sell t and get a different one but don't assume that just because you have heard so many complaints that everybody has them or you will.. At least with mercedes it is primarily 2000 and 2001 models that log the most issues today. That's not bad for an 8 year old car.

I'd much rather chime in here and listen to folks whine about the issues with their car because at least it reminds me that there are a lot of them still around. WHen the junk yards in this country are completely filled with many varieties of all makes of cars since 1999, it sort of refreshing to know that W220's are still very unpopular as potential junk yard dogs..

People decide to change cars every three years or so, that has nothing to do with the car. Stats will show that they just go to another owner, then to another and another..etc.. IF you can find me a list of brands that are as prestigious as this car and have the same longevity, please let me know because I can tell that the list will be quite short.

And concerning air shocks...THe lincoln continental has had airmatics also since early 2000 and they have about a 90% guaranteed disaster rate on their AIR Suspension. Just about every one of those things I see on the road are sitting on the ground.

IMO opinion, I think its insane to even think about ruining your car by trying to use regular shocks. That would be a major structural demotion. YUK. I'd just trash the thing and go get a better car if I had to resort to that.

Gondon

Nicely said My06CLK

EVOnation

dude, you probably owned a cadillac in the past so for your its a no brainer, 3 years, time to replace everything

but for the past 100 years mercedes was known for producing quality things

THINGS THAT LAST A LIFETIME IN SOME CASES,


3 year old $100,000 S class, get the f..k outta here, this thing shouldnt happen untill 10 year later. I mean dont get me wrong, I like the fact that you are so lenient and understanding. MB is sure glad to have you as a client.





pps thats why these cars go through years of testing, to find out and make sure that an s class doesnt cost you an arm and a leg

thats why you buy quality, expensive ****, so that it wil last a loooong time

sledge1100

Status symbol! You gotta pay to play!

my06clk

Just when I was trying to be nice to you you had to go and pull the cadillac card...

FYI.

I'm not the Caddy type!!! AND I've owned more Mercedes cars than most people ever dream of... But that doesn't make me a goo client of MB nor does it make me some kind of social hot sh%$.

What it has done is allow me to see past what was and realize what is...
YOu can spend money on a brand new vehicle as i did and still have issues.
YOu can also spend money on a used vehile and it is basically problem free.

You keep trying to say that yor car should las a lifetime because it costs X # of dollars when you fail to realize that today it's not worth CRAP.so what it costs back when the dollar was strong has jack Sh&^ to do with what's going on today.

So later for that !00K conversation. I'm tired of hearing people use that as a crutch. face the facts!! your car is worth a small fraction of what it was suggested it should sell for back in the day.

How can you want to preach expense and quality,when you bought a 7 or 8 year old car for a fraction of the original oversticker.? Even if its a three year old car its still the same B.S conversation..

You are ******& at the wrong church if you are looking for sympathy from anyone about your shocks...Just replace them and move forward.. It's you guys that love to whine but never get things repaired the way they should then cry even more when the price of repairs finally get through the roof.

People research and research and they know all of the ins and outs before they leap. Now you want to say that the Brand sucks... While I don't disagree with you on that point to an extent, I don't agree with you thinking "well because my struts are bad then the car is a peice of crap as a whole.."

Its really stupid to think you can pay a lot of money for something and it's going to be problem free as a result.You must never owned a house.. right??

Yeah these cars go through years of testing all right..But by you, me,
and the complaints that are logged at the the dealers. This is why they would facelift a car three years into production and it's new animal in terms of reliability.

Now you with your 40 something posts are ready to re-engineer your car because you don't like the struts.. Well good luck with that..LOL

Owning an S Class is like playing craps at a casino.. You have to show up to the table willing to spend money, and things could change drastically with a roll of the dice. But as long as you stay at the table, you have to be willing to spend money.. IF you are not, then you should take your game and your broke a@#$ over to the nickel slot machines and leave the craps for people who can play the game

S500Sport

There is no problem with the suspeinsion.. if you drive the car regularly and avoid pool sized pot holes.. you'll be fine..

If you leave a 2008 S550 for a week its suspension will drop too..

02S430

SUNILP

i have a 2002 S500 with original struts still in the car. Car has 111,000 miles. I did the top reseal on the struts with the 50 dollar repair kit at 80k.

IngenereAMG

I have had my SL55 since '03 with no problems from the ABC. I track the car. I have lowered and dialed in some additional stiffness and it has been bullet proof.

AH1W-COBRA

these cars are developed to make an unparalleled driving experience a reality no matter what the outside world throws at the car.it costs big $ to make it happen and big $ money to keep it happening.you are given the opportunity to own/drive a $100,000 car,you like the way you feel driving it,you must like the way you are treated simply because you roll up in an S class or you would never have bought one.you have two options,make more $ to support the MB habit.or go and buy your reliable lemming jap crap dream car.nothing personal,just the facts in my oppinion.

EVOnation

dude youre a fu..ing moron

Im not gonna waste time to read this rant, but you dont get it.


3 years is good for morons who dont know quality from ****.
Mercedes Benz was quality before, something happened and they as a company acknowledged that they are going through a difficult time, fine.
but small electronic problems, and suspension failure witin few years if f...ing unnacceptable.

dont get me wrong, I'm glad youre happy the way it is now, again you dont know quality from ****....

ebay bling bling is your style

my06clk

let me make sure Im adding this up correctly.

I have no issues with my car at all along with many other happy owners.

You have some obvious issues with your car and or mercedes as a company but instead of either getting rid of your problem or fixing it, you opt to go on a hater campaign while you actually consider a complete suspension modification on what is arguably one of the finest luxury sedans ever but Im the f&@king moron.

Take your issue and your name calling somewhere else. It was pretty clear who the moron was from the start of this post.

Good luck with your car.

Gondon

W220 is the best sedan in the world without a doubt.

my06clk

Any many including myself would agree.But as you can see by the tone of this poster, you can never ever please everybody no matter what you do........

ajkennedy

Pete,

One correction I noticed: the struts are only $399 each and hardly take two hours to switch out for years of continued "no service". The ride is superior to a coil coversion and the work is easy enough for ANYONE to do on your driveway.

http://www.rover-renovations.com/New...-com-s/339.htm

Otherwise, I am too new to get into the thread with any crediblity.....

my06clk

Thats a great bit of info but not to reopen this bizzare post!!

Put it somewhere else...

Skylaw

One contributor wrote in recently to say he had 225,000 Km on his early W220; relatively few problems. That's over 140,000 miles, for us non-Metric types. Sunil's experience is not too different. Doesn't sound to me like the W220 is a throwaway, or a 3-year car.

Like any piece of machinery, the W220 will break occasionally. Folks have to fix the W140s, too.

On the other hand, a recent Bottom Line Personal newsletter said the Lexus ES 350 was one of the most problem-laden cars for 2008 - yet so many seem to think the Lexus is ever-so reliable.

I'll stay with my S-Class. And I have never owned a Caddy; have had many Audis with their Quattro drive system, and an Infiniti Q45 (which I could hardly wait to get rid of). But the Benz has been the best.

If anyone wants a Mercedes without Airmatic or ABC, the options top out with the smaller engined E-Class (the E-350 in the model years we are discussing).