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Hi guys, last week I noticed that the ride on my S500 had become little harsh than usual. None of the buttons on the dashboard are pressed for the sport suspension. It feels like there is too much air in the tires or I am riding on 24's... It's not bumpy, it just feels tight and harsh. Went to the mechanic and there was a Stored Fault indicating front right accumulator. So he reset it via Das and I went for a ride but nothing changed. He said to drive it for a couple of days and see if the fault will come back. Went back today and checked again on Das but the code is not back. Actually there is no codes whatsoever. I have researched a lot the past couple of days here and I realized that they are few things that will affect the ride. Dampening Actuators, Control Valve, Body Acceleration Sensor....from what I read and after talking to the mechanic, all of those will be throwing a code. I have no codes!! Could it be that my struts are at the end of their life? Any ideas or suggestions ?? TIA
I assume you have abc since only abc uses accumulators . They would be my first thing to change as they dramatically affect the ride . How old are yours ? Might be time to change them . If you have abc you might just also have minor debris in your system I would do a full abc fluid and filter flush first and see if that helps
I have had similar issues with my car, detailed in a recent post. While it is more of a pitch and yaw issue going over uneven pavement, the jolts transmitted to the cabin are rather sharp regardless of Airmatic setting. Like your car, mine has no loss of air pressure nor failure to rise and lower. It has to be one of two things: the hydraulic strut part of the suspension is bad, or the Airmatic control unit is going bad. Unfortunately, the majority of threads deal with a leaking Airmatic system. I hope we can get to the bottom of this soon.
I have had similar issues with my car, detailed in a recent post. While it is more of a pitch and yaw issue going over uneven pavement, the jolts transmitted to the cabin are rather sharp regardless of Airmatic setting. Like your car, mine has no loss of air pressure nor failure to rise and lower. It has to be one of two things: the hydraulic strut part of the suspension is bad, or the Airmatic control unit is going bad. Unfortunately, the majority of threads deal with a leaking Airmatic system. I hope we can get to the bottom of this soon.
John
Hi John,
My mechanic believes that one or more of my struts just have gotten old since the car has about 100k at the moment. So yes you stand correct on the Hydraulic part of the strut failing. Also that will not set a Fault or a Code. We believe that any other electronic component will set some kind of a code or a fault. Since owning the car ( 5 years now ) I have done only one rear passenger strut. So at the moment I am leaning towards doing the front ones....
I will make an appointment at Mercedes next month to confirm my diagnosis and have the rear Airmatic assemblies replaced. I want to stay with genuine MB assemblies as my car, at 11 years old, has nothing aftermarket and with the exception of this issue, looks and drives as new. I have a good relationship with the service advisor and their mechanics are excellent. It is my understanding that Arnott units have new air bags on old hydraulic struts. Correct me if I'm wrong. I believe the genuine MB units are all new. Let us know how your car feels after the new units are installed.
I will make an appointment at Mercedes next month to confirm my diagnosis and have the rear Airmatic assemblies replaced. I want to stay with genuine MB assemblies as my car, at 11 years old, has nothing aftermarket and with the exception of this issue, looks and drives as new. I have a good relationship with the service advisor and their mechanics are excellent. It is my understanding that Arnott units have new air bags on old hydraulic struts. Correct me if I'm wrong. I believe the genuine MB units are all new. Let us know how your car feels after the new units are installed.
John
I definitely agree on staying with Genuine MB. My mechanic won't do any Arnott since he has had to do the job more than once with them. So he will only install Mercedes or OE Bilsteins. Now the rear one that I did few years back it was a Genuine MB but it was a Refurbished one. MB does not sell New Units anymore. They refurbished their old ones. Now the question is, what do they replace ?? I have called the dealeship and they can't give me a straight answer. Like you said, Arnott replaces just the bags and I don't want that. So it's either Refurbished MB or OE Bilsteins. Decisions decisions lol
I believe Arnotts replaces the core with a quality gas strut. There's no way they use used cartridges. Plus the rubber/components are supposed to be much better quality which is why they give a lifetime warranty (I believe)
I believe Arnotts replaces the core with a quality gas strut. There's no way they use used cartridges. Plus the rubber/components are supposed to be much better quality which is why they give a lifetime warranty (I believe)
Thanks for the suggestion but like I said above Arnott is not an option for me. My mechanic won't touch them since like I said before he's had to do the job more than once in numerous occasions.
Arnott offers both remanufactured Original Equipment (O.E.) front and Arnott Designed NEW front struts for the W220 Airmatic® without 4MATIC® and offers only Arnott designed New struts for models with 4MATIC. The same Remanufactured OE and Arnott designed new rear struts fit both Airmatic models with and without 4MATIC.
Arnott remanufactured OE struts are machine tested, cleaned, sanded and repainted. Then Arnott rebuilds each with, new longer lasting, seals (not the epoxy filled mess found on other remans); a multi-ply ContiTech air bladder with heavy duty crimping rings, new connectors and reuses the OE active damping coil. The strut is protected with a new dust baffle and OE can.
Arnott designed NEW struts feature a brand new shock damper which was custom tuned for the S-Class and has zero miles. The new damper provides an excellent ride for your 10-16+ year old vehicle. The new strut does not include the active damping characteristics which often wear out in older 10+ year old OE units but the Arnott strut still maintains your vehicle’s load leveling capabilities. The top is machined in our CNC machine shop from aircraft quality aluminum which is stronger than the pressed steel OE top. We add the same multi-ply ContiTech air bladder, crimping rings, longer lasting seals and connectors as in the reman but replace the bottom isolator seal which is often subject to failure in the OE.
Both the Arnott new and remanufactured OE units are backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty in North America and Europe and come with a 30-Day satisfaction guarantee.
02-24-2017, 01:17 PM
