An outlier on Airmatic?
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 589
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From: Snowville, ID
W212 E350; W166 GLC300; W164 ML550; W164 ML63; W221 S65; W220 S430; Escalade ESV
An outlier on Airmatic?
I got my 04 S430 W220 Airmatic in 2012 from Seattles area. At the time, it had 50k miles. I didn't do my homework and learned about airmatic stories after taking ownership. I bought it unseen and looked like the previous owner didn't have a garage as dry leaves were all over the engine compartment and the dirt blocked the trunk drainage. In hint sight, I would not bought this car if I looked at it before the purchase. Rear seats were ripped and trunk liners were off.
The S430 didn't satisfied my need for speed so I gave it to my son 4 years ago when he started college. For the last 4 years, this car wasn't garaged in desert heat in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. Today, it has 135k miles but surprisingly the airmatic still functions faultlessly. It might fail tomorrow, next week or next month but it haven't failed yet. Besides the Hella relay and the crumbled hose on the pump, I haven't done anything else on airmatic maintenance.
Is this an outlier? I don't know. With above conditions over 16yrs, I'm doubted if this is just an outlier. Often we read about early failures but we don't hear much from reliability stories so I thought I would share. Anyone else with original airmatic struts with over 150k miles?
The S430 didn't satisfied my need for speed so I gave it to my son 4 years ago when he started college. For the last 4 years, this car wasn't garaged in desert heat in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. Today, it has 135k miles but surprisingly the airmatic still functions faultlessly. It might fail tomorrow, next week or next month but it haven't failed yet. Besides the Hella relay and the crumbled hose on the pump, I haven't done anything else on airmatic maintenance.
Is this an outlier? I don't know. With above conditions over 16yrs, I'm doubted if this is just an outlier. Often we read about early failures but we don't hear much from reliability stories so I thought I would share. Anyone else with original airmatic struts with over 150k miles?
Last edited by DrDoe; Aug 17, 2020 at 05:33 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 262
Likes: 34
From: Houston, TX
'05 S430, '05 S600
I just had to replace my first Airmatic strut (front left) last month. My car has...wait for it....242k miles. I bought it with 90k miles and I have enjoyed it very much. I have STAR DAS and after the replacement, I went through and ran some air leak checks and it passed all of them with flying colors! Sad thing is, the only reason I had to change that strut was because even though that strut was on its way out, it still had probably another 20k to 50k miles of life left in it. Problem is, I was busy textign and driving and did not notice this LUNAR-sized crater and I caught it just right. The car hit so hard, change I had in the ashtray jumped up and landed on the front passenger seat. That hit took out what little life that strut had left on it and when I got to work later that day, I parked and got out like I normally do and I could hear a slow hissing sound which was the beginning of the end for the strut. It got worse really quickly from that point.
For the sake of argument, my car spent most of its life in Southern California so it had a good early life. Now it lives in literal hell here in Houston, TX.
Good luck with your car!
For the sake of argument, my car spent most of its life in Southern California so it had a good early life. Now it lives in literal hell here in Houston, TX.
Good luck with your car!
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 589
Likes: 60
From: Snowville, ID
W212 E350; W166 GLC300; W164 ML550; W164 ML63; W221 S65; W220 S430; Escalade ESV
Originally Posted by turbonos7
I just had to replace my first Airmatic strut (front left) last month. My car has...wait for it....242k miles!
There are clunky sounds when I drove over the bumps so I will need to replace the control arms [65]. While at it, I will probably replace the ball joint [10] and the spring control arms [40] also.
Only ball joint [10] might need special tool to press out/in. Everything else seems straight forward.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 589
Likes: 60
From: Snowville, ID
W212 E350; W166 GLC300; W164 ML550; W164 ML63; W221 S65; W220 S430; Escalade ESV
A shop wanted $1450 on labor for the spring and control arms, ball joints and stabilizer bar links so I went ahead with the job myself. It took me about 7hrs including new front brake pads.
Anyway, with the mud guard off, the compressor air filter and grommet was exposed. Both were replaced in 2017 or 30k miles ago. Looks like this needs to be a regularly maintenance item for airmatic.
Anyway, with the mud guard off, the compressor air filter and grommet was exposed. Both were replaced in 2017 or 30k miles ago. Looks like this needs to be a regularly maintenance item for airmatic.
