I need to have a right front strut and the airmatic pump replaced on a 2003 S430. The mechanic is telling me I need to pay $125 following installation of the new airmatic pump to hook the vehicle up to the computer and reprogram the pump otherwise the car will not sit level or the airmatic will not work properly. I have researched this and cannot find anything about needing to reprogram the pump.

Does anyone know if "reprogramming" is required following pump replacement?

Thanks.

 

No, reprogramming the compressor is not required. It is controlled by a simple relay, and there are no computer capabilities built into the compressor.

https://w220.ee/Airmatic

 

Wally is right it's a plug and play but installation is kind of tricky. Pump is hanging under body. It has to be installed exactly same way with rubber bushing ,spring, washier. Otherwise there going to be a big banging vibration felt inside of car.

 

How certain are you that the Airmatic compressor is really faulty? Only the opinion of the same person who wants to charge you to reprogram it?

 

The Airmatic compressor is a wear part, which mostly doesn't last for more then 100,000-130,000 mls. You can check the pressure, attaching a pressure gauge to the supply line to the valve block, and switch on the compressor by bridging the relay. The pressure shall be >13 bar and stay for more then 1-2 h w/o dropping.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.

This is one of those situations where in an effort to save time and inconvenience an increase in both has resulted. I will spare you all the details, but I had a problem with the airmatic where the car felt a bit stiff and high and I had the "Airmatic - Visit the Workshop" error message. Within a few days my wife was driving the car and when she returned to the parking garage after work it was sitting too low and displayed the "Too Low Don't Drive" message. Towed by flatbed to a mechanic close to our home who said he was knowledgeable and experienced in airmatic repairs.

Vehicle was diagnosed with a right front strut failure and a burned out airmatic pump. However, he purportedly quoted me for dealer parts and over $2k total for one strut and pump replacement and install. I instead purchased Arnott strut and pump myself. His shop installed them (they have lifts but did not use a lift for the install and said the install was very difficult?!), called me to pick-up car saying it was ready and good to go, but when I got there (mechanic now out of town) and only after I requested to inspect the work and drive car once I was in the car the non-mechanic nephew of the mechanic (the "service writer") told me the Arnott strut was defective so the vehicle is still showing the same error code with the right front strut (I don't have the code with me but it relates to the right front strut valve). I'll spare you details regarding the additional interactions with the shop and mechanic but suffice it to say I took the car home. Maybe it is as simple as he says (bad strut) but I'm not confident in anything I am hearing from that shop as they clearly would have let me pay and drive out of there without saying anything further.

The car shows the "Airmatic - Visit Shop" error message. It holds suspension, rises when you push the rise button and seems to be working to the extent I can tell. However, it seems perhaps stiffer than normal and I have noticed a very strong vibration and noise for brief periods I have never felt before, which I suspect may be the pump vibrating. I really haven't driven the car for more than a short time as I am concerned it will progress again from Visit Workshop to Too Low Don't Drive.

I pulled the right front wheel off on Sunday to inspect the strut install. The control cable plug was facing towards the midline of the car rather than facing outward as it is on the other side and it looks like the strut control cable plug has been pulled almost fully into the wheel well from the engine compartment (perhaps this is correct). The cables are seated in the plug and the pin holding them is in place. I did not inspect the pump installation.

I am likely just going to take it to the dealer, although I could also get a replacement strut and see if that resolves it. The vehicle is a 2003 S430 with 50,000 miles.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

 

My guesses are:
- The strut is installed in the wrong orientation.
- The wire harnesses are not properly connected. This will cause error messages and very stiff suspension.
- The compressor is not mounted correctly. The mounts are somewhat complicated, with springs, rubber cushions and loose-fitting bolts. If the mounts are not installed correctly, you will get very noticeable noise and vibrations.

It is not a guess that the mechanic is NOT knowledgeable or experienced, and appears to be ethically challenged.

 

All what wallyp is saying is right. However, if the replacement strut is an Arnott part, it CANNOT be combined with an original Mercedes part. The Arnott strut doesn't have the the damper valves, but only a fake electronic to overrule the car's electronics. This is the reason the car feels somewhat stiffer, as it doesn't have the selective damper. As you now have two different struts in the car, the suspension controls won't work properly. Secondly, Arnott struts are known for coming defective from the supplier. The correct assembly of the compressor mount, can be seen in the following website www.W220.ee.

 

Some misinformation on Arnott Airmatic struts. Arnott rebuilt struts have the full factory damper system, including the adjustable stiffness, and match factory struts very well.

Arnott new-manufacture struts do not have the adjustable damper settings, but they perform well with factory struts set at medium stiffness.The electronics in these units is there only to prevent the computer from reporting a trouble code because the adjustable damper function is not there.

I have received a faulty Arnott rebuild, but it was replaced very quickly with minimum hassle and no cost. They shipped a replacement strut while I still had the faulty strut installed, so the car was out of service for only a couple of hours. I remain a satisfied Arnott customer, but have no business or financial link at all with them.

 

It doesn’t sound like there’s anything wrong with the replacement strut . It sounds like it was installed the wrong way as can be seen from it not matching the other side , and the vibration is from the pump being mounted right to the body so you feel the vibration when it turns on

 

https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/e...75/65q/32/232/
this is how the compressor needs to be installed. Parts 36-40.

BTW even you all like Arnott so well, MB recommends to replace Airmatic struts as a pair, after 50,000 mls, even only one failed. But the best choice and best performance you'll get using the original Bilstein struts. They never come defective and therefore no need to invest the time (and money) for a second try. Reconditioned air struts are a nonsence, as the worn parts cannot be replaced, being integral components of the strut, just check the pictures under www.w220.ee The only parts which can be replace d, are a few seals and O-rings....

 

^^ I agree with the above!! All great points! Arnotts are known to come defective and their QC is horrible but their customer service is very good. There may be members here like Wally that don't mind and have the skills to do the job twice or even three times but majority of people would like to just do it once and get done with it. So it comes down to personal choice/time/skill. I personally would choose Bilsteins or MB Reman before I go near Arnotts.

 

Couple of notes:

* Indeed you CAN install an Arnott designed strut next to an OE strut. Most people don't notice unless they are constantly adjusting the damping - which in that case they should have gotten the Arnott Remanufactured OE part. As it turns out - most people "set it, and forget it" so the Arnott designed units work out well
* Inevitably a remanufactured W220 strut will have a higher failure rate than an OE or Arnott designed new strut:

 

Big question marks from my side. How do the acceleration sensors on the strut domes handle the different damping rates of Arnott and Bilstein? If these sensors "notice" values outside their algorithm, you'll get Airmatic warnings. I may agree with your statement, that most drivers set the damping, and forget it. But there still is the recommendation of a pairwise replacement, especially, as you also mentioned, the cars are getting "old" and have mostly high mileage. In case if pairwise replacement many people won't feel the fact, that the damping adjustment is not there anymore. I only hope, that Arnott is telling them this fact? The Airmatic system is by far not the first air suspension system of MB, and it is by far not outdated or even weak. The W221 for example is equipped with the almost identical Airmatic system. The biggest issue with Airmatic is, that most of the dealerships are not trained and experienced enough to diagnose and fix arising problems. Due to their selling ($$$$$) targets, they rather replace parts, instead of fixing the failures. Most of the problems with Airmatic are: compressor is just worn out, pressure lines are leaking, compressor relay faulty, corroded wires/plugs on high mileage cars, failed acceleration sensors. All these things are simple and relatively cheap to be fixed, but need an in depth diagnosis. I personally run my Airmatic system now for 19 years and almost 200,000 mls. Total investment until now, 1 compressor, 1relay, and 1valve block (corroded connections of the air plugs). All DIY so in total around 500-600$. Due to some of these issues I had the car twice at the dealer for the Stardiagnosis, and in both cases they recommended to replace the struts first, and see if the failures clear, if not they'll swap the compressor and if necessary the valve block.

 

Hmm...sounds like the error causing the "AIRMATIC VISIT WORKSHOP" message is the "Y52y2" solenoid error. I had that in the wife's 2000 S500 as well (front right strut), though the strut itself seemed to be actually working just fine. Called Arnott, and they cross-shipped me a new one right away under warranty. Replaced it, same smooth glide-ride as expected from AIRmatic. However, we still got the Y52y2 solenoid code getting thrown. The likelihood of two Arnott reman'd struts failing in exactly the same way is slim-to-none. Possible? Yes, but exceedingly unlikely, so now I'm suspecting the wiring. By the way, the actual functionality of this replacement strut itself also seems to be just fine, so now I don't believe the first Arnott strut was ever actually at fault. In the case of both struts, firmness remained adjustable between "Comfort" and "Sport 1" (this car is an early W220 that didn't have "Sport 2" mode).

I can understand why bamberger_1 is saying replace them in pairs. I tend to do so basically because almost every car I've worked on still has the factory MB-brand struts, and it comes down to age (one's going, the other's probably about to). I've seen them with one Arnott reman on one side and the factory one on the other, and the car drove just fine, until eventually the other side (the factory strut) needed replacement as well. So, you absolutely can do just one side if you wish, but if so, I'd recommend using Arnott's reman instead of the new-manufacture one due to the adjustable firmness (some people really do prefer Comfort or Sport 2 modes).

As for Arnott's reliability, all but one of our W220's (we have four) use Arnott remanufactured front AIRmatic struts. The only one that doesn't is the S600, which came with ABC. So far, we have experienced no problems with the struts themselves.

Now, that said, since Rock Auto isn't getting in any more brand-new Bilsteins (Rock Auto's prices were great), I would then consider the new-manufacture Arnott struts. They're basically set permanently in "Sport 1" mode, which I happen to prefer (so does the wife).