Hello all, i have a 02' w220 s500 Amg Spt Pckge with 275s on the rear on amg alloys. W/104k miles. owned 4 years since 72k.
My airmatic functions perfectly, no saging, raises and lowers. no lights on the dash or warnings. My rear tires are 1 year old and are down to 50% with only 6k miles on 45k mile all season toyos.
last set was bfg gt 2s that lasted 11 months to nearly bald. I dont do burnouts my car just has an issue.
The Issue: When i go over an uneven lane my car gets sucked sideways and kind of wobbles. the rain and snow are HORRIBLE. in the snow i can go about 45mph and the car just wags back and forth, it feels like the back half of my car is going to twist off. i lowered the suspension down to sport mode, same thing. I read something on here about turning off Traction control, Havent had a chance to try that yet but i dont feel thats the issue with how it behaves over uneven surface.

When the car has brand new tires 75%+tread the rain and snow issues go away but still does minor sidewalk over uneven surface.

My alignment is good, suspension parts are "visually" good, but i know there is alot you cant see. I know there is certain parts you can test with a crowbar? Could use help there. Jacking the car up and there is no play in the back wheels, any way you move them. Tips, tricks for common issues?

I am handy and can do my own work, realistically the car is a lil rusty and worth peanuts, maybe 4k and is Real sad that is the same price as a civic with the same year and miles! i just dont want to spend $$$ for a tech to say its (....) then go spend this $500 then it not fix the issue. i have talked to a few mb techs and they thought it sounded like a worn shock/strut issue.

On here all i could find was semi related issues of a possible damper??

If its say a strut i will fix it and drive it another year but im not going to Replace $1500 air shocks on a sinking ship with a cargo hold full of lead treasure.

I have been looking for something new in the 25-35k range like an e550 to avoid airmatic which i love, would love an amg but i like the comfortable ride. thats all a whole other debacle. Is there a thread for this type of thing??

I have a company coming tomorrow to put on some new cheap nexen 5000 all seasons to get me through the winter at least.

Thank you so much!!

Sorry i cant provide any help with the super powers of your rear end but i wanted to tell you you can get new aftermarket rear struts for 190$ which is cheaper than a coil conversion i bought 2 for my junkyard s500 build and they work very well and id only rate the install at a medium difficultly.

It might be worn out bushings on top of the struts. Mine kind of does the same thing and I've found a bunch of threads explaining the rubber mount on top of the strut eventually dries out and shrinks letting some free play. Does the rear end clunk over bumps at all?

So, you're recommending that he buy parts that: A) are a guess and B) have given you problems?

Many 'alignment shops' DO NOT MEASURE accurately the alignment of rear wheels. Incorrect rear wheel alignment will certainly cause unstable road performance. Toe-in is surprisingly influential as is Camber.

No it doesnt clunk or make a noise. these are ones you check from the interior on the back deck correct? i checked them awhile ago and looked fine.

I feel like it could possibly be the strut, 1 side seems just slightly more bouncy than the other when pushing down on the trunk. can i replace just 1? Just as i thought New tires fixed the uncontrollable rear end in incliment conditions and there is a lessened tail wag over uneven surfaces but is still there. maybe 40% reduction.
I know these tires will only last 1 year, maybe 7k mi though as the last 2 sets have.

The rear over slow speed bumps does give the feeling of maybe past its prime.

Another note, i do have that hard metal clunk in the front when i first sit in the car for the day, nothing over bumps or any other time. steering is tight, i figure ball joint?

Wait - so it clunks? Or not? You have to locate and fix the clunk first. That clunk is a loose bushing or balljoint and as long as you have loose parts in your suspension, you're going to have terrible handling.

FWIW - I just did the entire front end on my S600. Lower control arms (MB), lower torque arms, balljoints, upper control arms, inner tie rods, outer tie rods, steering rack boots (all Lemforder). About $1,600 all in.

Remarkable how nice the car feels now.

If I had your issue, I would rebuild the rear end. Lemforder or MB OEM parts only. The cheap aftermarket stuff fails in weeks, or perhaps months, requiring you to re-do the job. I found a complete W220 rear end control arm set on eBay for about $700. Add a good alignment, and I mean a good alignment, for about $150. I would trust the dealer, and locally, Bert's Alignment, but not a tire shop or regular shop. You need someone who knows what they're doing.

Here's an example of a rear end kit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Mercede...QAAOSwSblZs5lx

Once the bushing wear is eliminated, then I would consider replacing the struts. For the Airmatic cars, Mercedes makes them, Bilstein makes them, and Arnott rebuilds them. I would consider only those three. Any other aftermarket stuff is of unknown quality, durability and reliability.

If it's just bouncy with no clunking, it's probably the accumulator(s)

Except that he said, "My airmatic functions perfectly"...so, no accumulators...right?

You're absolutely right! I don't know why I thought this thread was dealing with an ABC equipped W220.