PeterJC1

I have a 2003 S500 4Matic. This Summer I heard a sound of air escaping from the right front of the car. It was intermittent and was more of a whoosh than a hiss. A significant amount of air purged from the system. Shortly thereafter the right shock blew. I replaced it and in a short time without hearing the sound again it blew as well. That shock was replaced and failed as well. At that point I began hearing loud noises from either the air block valve or the compressor. I replaced the air valve block and rebuilt the compressor. We then replaced the blown shock. The car after this work was way out of kilter, the left side 2" higher than the right. I took it to a dealer and they got it squared away and leveled out with the STAR Diagnostic programming. All was fine for 3000 miles and then the shock blew again. All 3 of the replacement shocks were aftermarket. The first shock to blow was the OEM original Mercedes shock. After that 3rd aftermarket shock went I picked up a re-manufactured OEM Mercedes shock from the dealer last week. The car is level and properly raised but now I'm hearing the original air escape noise I heard before the first shock failed. The noise is again coming from the front right but is intermittent. What could possibly be causing this. The valve block is new, the compressor sounds great, the shock is just replaced and it's not a constant leak it is only periodic while driving. I am completely vexed by this issue. At the same time, unrelated, I replaced both front rotors, both front lower control arms, both front upper control arms and both stabilizer bar links. The car only has 81,000 miles on it now and I have to say I'm shocked I've had to do this much work to it. I bought it in December and it was completely tight at the time. I've had 10 BMW's over the years including (3) 7 Series, which combined I put 400,000 miles on and never had this many issues in such a short time frame.

wallyp

This is a long-distance guess, not a diagnosis...

The air leakage may be normal operation. The Airmatic system maintains the desired ride height by adding and removing pressurized air as needed. When you get in the car, your weight lowers it - the system adds air. When a passenger gets in - air is added. When the passenger gets out, the car is too high, and air is released. When you get out, air is released.

The added air and the released air goes thru the air filter at the compressor, which muffles the sound. If the filter is missing or disconnected, the air release is much more noticeable. You might want to make sure that the air filter is in place and properly connected.

PeterJC1

Wally,

I will check to be certain the air filter is connected. The hose was ripped and I replaced it so I'm pretty sure it's all set. The pssst of air was quite frequent, every few hundred yards and more when braking NOT when hitting bumps. I tried pushing the car down hard on that corner but couldn't replicate it, no air came out from pushing down hard. As I said it my post I began hearing it just before the first shock blew. Thanks for the response. Peter