I recently posted in this forum about airmatic problems on my recently purchased 2000 S500. Initially my relay malfunctioned, set my compressor into running overtime, unnoticed by me, would not shut off. probably ran for an hour or so after parking. burned the compressor. I purchased a new compressor, and valve block, from Arnott . The compressor arrived, with a broken tube, had to send back, bought a new one from the dealer, because I had the car in a shop in Reno which works on MB only, ( not the dealership) I was surprised the local MB dealer was only about 40 bucks higher than Arnott. This Independant shop installed the new compressor and valve block, called me late in the afternoon saying the couldnt get the car leval, the right rear was very low and the rest of the car sitting high. They said they were perplexed and coudnt locate the problem and to come get the car. This was tuesday before new years at 4 pm. At this point I was kind of desperate so I called the local MB dealership and was told to bring the car right down. Now from what I have been reading from other members on this forum The stealership is not the place to go. When the got the car, within an hour they called to say the independant shop had installed the valve block wrong and I had a rather substantial leak in the right rear strut. They also said I had some small hairline cracks in tops of both front struts. Prices thru them were very high, I believe they said about 1400. each ouch. I asked them if they would install struts from Arnott and the said they would. I called Arnott from the MB shop and bought all new reconditioned struts, 2nd day air, the had them by friday morning and installed them by noon. They did give me an option on kits for the front, but I opted for new .
I really cant say enough about the MB dealer, very cordial, friendly and they would install parts they didn't sell.The labor was about $500. for reinstalling the valve block and strut r&r . They did say the independant shop I originally went to works on primarilly older MB and not to familier with late models. Independant shop wouldnt refund any money even tho they installed valve block wrong.
Best of all I have my S back with new suspension that works great.Big lesson learned, don't ignore warning signs, replace old relays, and all MB dealerships arent crooks.

 

Good for you! What is the name of the MB Dealership? When I lived in Folsom, MB Sacramento had no issues installing non-OEM parts if it saved me money. They'd only charge for labor.

 

The dealership is MB of Reno, Steven Darr was the service guy, they even packaged the old struts and sent them back to Arnott for the core charge. I am really dissapointed in the independant shop I first went to. I thought they should have at least returned the labor for putting on the valve block. Bob

 

dispute the credit card charge to the first shop, assuming you paid with credit card

Get a receipt from Mercedes of Reno showing valve block was installed wrong and submit it with dispute. You should get all your money back. Instructions on the back side of most cc statements

 

unfortunately I wrote a check. He says he spent several hours troubleshooting the leveling issue after installing the compressor and valve block. The tech at MB said the connections were messed up on the valve block. indi also couldn't find the leak of right rear strut. The MB tech it was pretty obvious. Once they found that they noticed small cracks in the tops of the front struts, although there was a small amount leaking. He said I could wait in installing a kit, but I decided to do a replacement now. I didn't want to burn out another compressor. lesson learned.

 

Steven Darr is my cousin. Glad to know he treated you right.

 

dealerships not always the enemy, in reno they have always treated me well. they let me bring my own parts. labor about the same as indi. steve even called to see how things with the car were.

 

My dealer is good and there are others out there. One thing about working with Airmatic is that there's a Mercedes protocol for testing it via SDS and while on the alignment rack and using a Romess to check levels. Good dealers will do it the right way whereas some Indys just can't. My Indy is good and has SDS but no level rack to use, so he says go to the dealer. You'll pay a bit more but at least it'll get done and no more experimenting, etc...

 

I was going to go to a local shop to have my tires rotated, balanced, and an alignment because they have the Hunter Road Force balancing system.

Are you saying going to the dealership they can do an alignment on a specialized piece of equipment that also tests and measures the airmatic? My local independent MB service place has an SDS (the touchpad computer system that plugs into the car right?), but I'm sure Griffin Tire does not.

What is the best decision?