Beeson

Hello everyone, I need some opinions. I have just recently experienced the bane of all old S-Class ownership. My S recently gave me the dreaded “airmatic malfunction” error on my way back from work. I assumed it was my old air compressor as it’s been on the fritz for over a year now (really loud, and the occasional error filling the reservoir.) So I replaced my pump with an Arnott unit and changed the relay to still get the Airmatic Malfunction message. The compressor now kicks on (it didn’t before as it finally locked up) but nothing happens. I press the vehicle lift button and nothing happens. The car says “vehicle rising” but it doesn’t move at all. (I have a sophisticated iCarsoft MB Scanner and the levels of the struts don’t move at all. )

Any thoughts? The car isn’t slammed and is pretty even all the way across (the front right strut is slightly lower, but unnoticeable). The is overall lower across the board, but doesn’t seem to be leaking anywhere as it’s in the same state I left it when I come out it in the morning. It just rides roughly and is annoying. Any help/tips would be awesome! As far as I know everything is original now except the pump and relay. In the winter the front right strut does seem to have a slight leak, as it would lower in temps less than 20° F. But it would always level as soon as I unlocked the car. I checked this morning and all four corners are where they were left, but still lower than usual. I’m thinking the valve block or reservoir.

konigstiger

5283 and/or 5288 indicate a problem with the Airmatic compressor and/or a leak in the pressure line between Airmatic compressor and valve unit or valve unit and central reservoir. Check the pressure line between compressor and valve unit and the line between the valve block and central reservoir with using soapy water while pressurized.

Beeson

I finally fixed the issue after a while of being confused. I replaced the pump and relay only for nothing to improve. Car still wouldn't raise and I still got the dreaded "Airmatic Malfunction" error message upon starting the car. I went a few weeks of driving my family's cars until I finally had time to fix it. I remounted the pump (which had fallen due to me breaking parts of the mount removing it.) Still nothing was working and the car wouldn't lift. Finally, my uncle suggested the fuse and low and behold it was blown. Probably when the old pump decided to crap out. We replaced the fuse with another 40A we had laying around and the car lifted with no issues. No error messages and nothing comes up on my scanner now. Car rode slightly odd for the first few miles and was raised significantly from usual. Then after a restart and toggling the lift mode on and off everything went back to normal and it rides so much better now. I'm very happy with the outcome and was so ready to have my car back. After about 2 weeks of daily driving the family's loaded out C300, it was refreshing going back to something that's super comfortable and has some decent get up and go with no turbo lag. Thanks for the help as always konigstiger!