asat

Hi to all and hope your summers are going well. Going to be installing 2 new Arnotts in the front of my 2010 S550 4matic. Don't have a Star or Xentry, but do have access to my mechanic friends expensive computers, Snap on and Autel, both of which have ability for ride height calibration settings. My ride height has always been a little funky, right side front being around a 1/2-3/4" lower than the left. I would like to set ride height as close to what the average is and would appreciate feedback on measurements of all four corners at normal height from ground to fender well at center, or from center of wheel to fender well. Also, when I was playing around with his computers, I see that I will have to set angle of inclination. I don't have a Romess inclinometer tool and really have no idea where to go with that setting. I have read some people say to set it towards the lower limit while others say set it somewhere in the middle of upper and lower limits. All feedback would be much appreciated! Thank you everyone for your help!
Only doing the front shocks for now as one is leaking and I've read that the rears usually lasts longer. Also going to be installing Akebonos in all four corners. Any tips/advice on my weekend project would be much appreciated!
Thank you all in advance!
Adam

BOTUS

first step would be the condition of the three level sensor link rods... they regularly seize and give odd readings - a few recent posts about it, check them out....

the car is supposed to be set at the factory and u just do maint they do not need fiddling about in software all day long - check / my advice, CHANGE all three sensor links $30 each.... then change the struts, then drive it about for a bit and see where it is...

whilst you can fake the sensor angles or get at developer mode and fiddle with ride height its all silly and doesn't work out

do the sensor linkages
do the air pump diagnostics
do a strut if worn out
then get to a dealership with the inclinometer, everything else is a mumbo jumbo fiasco

BOTUS

well, found out a bit more about how you do this ...

I have yet to meet a garage with the inclinometer dealer tools you fit to the suspension to set the ride height and thus have never got far... over the year various bods have played and got nowhere and the one that knows you need to set the inclinometer values says when he has to, he makes them up (as doesn't have the tools) buts its all a bit random and time-consuming. Another garage just said input anything it just works, calrified with his boss and he said we just set midway between the range.... however last time I spoke to the first pace he said "your car is a bit strange and doesn't seem to respond properly"

then it occurred to me I never even looked if I can break it at home - and it turns out I should be able to with my snap on tool

I found a front rear adjustment menu I didn't expect to find and played with that and added +15mm at the back and the car went up - still lopsided but higher and closer to where its supposed to be. But then when I came out of that menu it just let itself back down to where it likes to sit....

Then found another option to adjust each corner and got very confused as the car only gets three level sensors - where the sensors give front either side and the back gets done together... played in that menu - nothing seemed to do anything but decided to try again - where upon I realised plus minus button on the tool display I hadn't spotted before, and thus managed to get each corner set correctly only to find it just let its self down to its stupid happy spot as soon as you exit the adjustment page. But then realised after doing all 4 corners to tool moves on to a new menu when you come out of the suspension adjustment page, asking I put in the inclination angles....

so I guess the way the dealer tool works is the same, but I was too stupid to see how to do it and never read this step on any forum before

I suspect with the angle tools fitted on each corner of the suspension... set the ride height per corner by changing the air pressure in each strut... (using an adjustment menus where all 4 corners get own + / - height change) and the next step is - jolly good - now input the inclination angles the tools on the suspension are stating thats giving this ride height. Which I guess lets you lock in the ride height

I made something up and it just says go away mug, dodgy values - as they were within the spec I don't get why it says go away??


here's the dealr stuff for the w220

BOTUS

wow... what a phaff and misuse of time....

as you go to save the changes, 7 out of 10 times it drops the left rear 20mm before you even finished inputting the 4 corner values to store the new set points (how / why ???). Then 2 out of 10 times it does exactly the same but picks the other rear corner (little bugger !). And often when you have completed it perfectly (and it didn't drop whilst saving and says completed successfully). A few minutes later you hear it dump air and just goes back and settles to exactly where its always been before you ever started !!!

queue 6 attempts last night, of which the first almost seemed to do something, then went for a drive and it was nearly all the way back to where I started... on the last three attempts I decided there MUST be another phase related to the other adjustment menu and maybe you MUST do one after the other to have a correctly calibrated car that stays were you set it....

at the end of the 6th go of getting it right and stored, it went wrong on the next step, by then it was dark and I'd had enough, so I thought lets just check out some of the other madness. It has a whole load of test menus to play about with each corners functions - and came across something like "roll on test to automatically calibrated values" where upon the car dropped 30mm each corner and was too low …. and then the suspension wouldn't move. it was nearly locked solid... drove home the 500m and it was stiff as hell, like a hoodie in a nova... But it wasn't on the floor !!!

I decided the car must have thrown a wobble, so decided I'd let it fall asleep and hopefully wake up happy this morning (it didn't)
I'd seen last night the suspension wasn't locked out (air safety BS modes it can get in when its thrown its teddies) or throwing any fault codes. But as the switch on the dash wouldn't raise the car or get the compressor running at all this morning something was amiss.... So I ran full diagnostics and nothing on the whole car...

Looked about for my spare 40 amp compressor fuse (can't find it) as, if its not locked out, but the compressor won't run its usually the fuse... But its NOT the fuse its just fine !!!

So that got me back to my reflections on what I'd done wrong last thing, last night - the secondary level calibration I'd done... the set point front and rear is -15mm to +60mm so what the hell is normal ??? days before this was the only bit I'd managed to get to do anything where I'd said go up 15mm and it did but then on exit, just went back to where it always was.

But last night I'd got the levels per corner correct, the car kind of settled back to its normal wrong stance (to my annoyance), but when going on to the front rear height calibration, I'd said 0mm both ends and it took the calibration. But then dropped about 30mm in all four corners after I'd tried "roll on test to automatically calibrated values"

This morning as soon as I said OK front and rear height is 30mm the compressor fired up and the car went to its usual stance, and had its usual jelly wobble compliance... I hadn't broken it, just told it to do the wrong thing.... It looks like half way between limits is the normal setpoint - just as many use for the individual corner calibration...

So now I'm thinking OK set it up then pick mid position values on all 6 inputs and it should work !!! queue 4 attempts with a power supply getting it set perfectly and 3 out of 4 times it does exactly what you ask, accepts and locks in the changes, tells you it was successful then goes and sits wrong where it always does !!!

What it seems to be doing is deciding someone is tampering, rather than calibrating, so it plays along then throws all your work away...

If you don't move every corner you can't save ANY settings
If you don't go on to the second, front rear calibration step, it doesn't save anything (which seems remarkable I never read about this anywhere ??)
If you try new heights, but then save with the same numbers it ignores all the work you did
If you need to let air out, give up it disturbs the pressure in the strut and goes random on completion
It has a mind of its own and doesn't stay where you asked it anyway
I don't see how a dealer could get this right (ever ?), certainly not in a time frame that's affordable

However, after the 10 hours I have spent attacking the stupid thing, I have now got the left rear to go up 30mm and stay there siting at its correct height - which is more than three garages have done in 6 attempts over the years !!!

What should be simple is pathetic, why on earth can't you just drive about adjust a corner let it settle and save the result !!!! At present my fronts are a bit low (maybe 6mm) and my right rear too high 15mm... so still work in progress.... This was one of the 2 in 10 attempts when it dropped after getting it right ...then wouldn't pick up this corner, when trying all over again.... (at times you'd swear the wrong pipe is on the wrong corner... puts **** loads of air in the right rear and the left front goes up 10 mm !!!! pretty amazing as you can hear which corner is getting the air ??? ) I had more than 10 goes at drip feeding it some air - each time jumping on the door sills both sides and waiting a good few minutes to see if it would move / settle

ended up with
LF at 1.9
RF at 1.9
LR at -1.8
RR at -1.9

then a secondary front rear calibration process
Front height at +29mm
Rear height at +26mm

all of which are pretty much mid point values