2012 merc amg

Darn Air Springs. My suspension is down on the right front. Took it to the dealer today after waiting a couple weeks for an appointment. They say they ordered some Block or Valve the service writer wasn't sure which and could not tell me more about the part and would not even give me any paperwork saying the part was ordered, no paperwork when I left the car off either, so it seems kinda a wasted trip there and back as I had to get a ride and it's about a 45 minute drive.

The service writer wanted me to leave the car there without even telling me what the issue was or when the ETA of the mystery part was due to arrive. Not gonna risk leaving my nice car there outside for a indefinite amount of time. It seems to me it's not leaking as it doesn't go down any lower than 1 and 1/2 inches, it raises up when I put the suspension in the snow mode as it should but still an inch and half lower than the left side. It stays at the same level for days, no issues. This leads me to believe no air leaks.

I curse the day I bought the 6000 dollar Mercedes extended warranty, it's still under warranty but it was a complete waste of money. It seems to me there must be some kind of calibration where if one side is lower than the other with the air spring suspension it can be raised to level the car off? I'm gonna try a independent shop for this issue as I'm taking a trip in about a week and would like to try and get this issue fixed.

The car drives funny being lower on the right front side. The dealer doesn't care, They never do, it was like the nightmare issue I had with the fuel leaking on top of the engine a year ago from the low pressure fuel In the meantime the car reeked of fuel and I'm lucky the car didn't burn down. All it was all along was a simple clamp on the passenger side of the engine near the fuel rail.

The right front air spring was replaced about a year ago at another dealer up north, the old one was making clunking sounds. Perhaps the air Pressure sensor could be faulty? Maybe there's a level sensor that simply needs adjustment? Perhaps it's a easy fix? Any advice would be appreciated. What a nightmare today.

I ran a car repair shop as my career for over 20 years and can spot when a place is a disorganized mess. It seems too though just about all car dealers here in Florida are all screwed up post Covid without enough help, I guess a lot of the employees ended up with long Covid and are outta work, like 20 million people outta work in the country with long Covid, not just a Florida thing I guess. Sad situation, I'm glad I have some car knowledge and diagnostic skills, otherwise I guess I'd be riding a Bicycle.

superpop

If it is not leaking air and raises and lowers then that sounds like the sensor that connects to the shock via a link. This sensor tells the cars computers how high or low the car is in that corner. If you can remove the tire I would just take a look at everything and make sure nothing is loose or unplugged. Shame that a 4 year old car is already having these kind of problems though.

Tom in Austin

Boy, what a PITA to have to drive 45 mins to a dealer. I guess you don't have a good independent shop closer?

2012 merc amg

Yes I really went out of my way yesterday, my girlfriend had to get up early to follow me to dealer for the 740 am appt and then drive me back to Venice only to have to drive me back there in the afternoon to pick back up the car the same as it was when I dropped it off. The service writer suggested I leave the car off but would not disclose what part it was that was ordered or even when the ETA was the part would be available. The car could have been sitting behind the dealership for weeks for all I knew, I had to pick up the car. It's a fairly high crime area too where cars get broken into or vandalized, they park the cars they line up around the backside of the building, there or no fences or anything. I am going to complain to Mercedes once again about how unprofessional this dealership is but I'm sure it won't do any good as from everything I've seen Mercedes is beyond the point of really caring about anything other than making a buck selling new cars. I really am thinking about getting rid of this car at this point having gone through this sort of thing so much in the past, just not worth it. The next two closest dealers are over 70 miles away. This is a very high population affluent area with a lot of luxury cars, there is a super need for another Mercedes dealer around this area. If I were to hear of another dealer going in around this area it might change my mind about my thoughts of keeping this car or getting rid of it.

2012 merc amg

I just looked up what the MB dealer up north replaced a year ago on the right front. It was the right front lower control arm and not the air spring like I thought. I'm thinking now maybe there is a sensor that runs by a lever off the right front lower control arm and maybe that is out of adjustment?

Tom in Austin

The front ride height sensors are attached to the upper control arms.

Mitch Alsup

Austin is rush hour; 45 minutes might be as low as 10 miles........

SW20S

I agree it must be a sensor, if it was a leak it would pump back up level when its running.

Do you have a decent independent mechanic locally? Honestly they would be better at diagnosing things than the dealer. Even if you paid them to diagnose it and then took it to the dealer for the repair under warranty.

Tom in Austin

So true Mitch! I keep remembering back to 1984 when I moved here ... not like that anymore!

2012 merc amg

Yes agree Steve, I'm going to stop by there tomorrow at the local independent Benz repair place and see what they say. I've never been there but my Doctor who has a older V12 S600 told me they are great and uses them a lot. Thanks for the info Tom that the sensors attach to the upper control arms, I was hoping it was the lower control arm as that might more explain this issue after the dealer in RI replaced a right lower control arm a year ago, maybe the two things have nothing to do with each other I'm not sure.

I'm hoping maybe there is a adjustment for the sensor which would make it a simple repair. I remember adjusting the sensor on my Cadillac many years ago to adjust the height of the air shocks on the rear suspension.

SW20S

The shop that I had my brakes done at was a referral to me from a client of mine who has an old 2000 S500, and man is he great. I bet your independent will have thoughts...

C Swenson

Did your indy figure it out or at least provide any helpful information?

Have you considered using the BenzNinja's services remotely? He lists an Airmatic Calibration Service on his site ("calibration options: Suspension lowering, Manual calibration and Automatic calibration").

2012 merc amg

The car actually has the magic body control which is 100 percent hydraulic. Nothing is leaking and no faults coming up on the dash I’m gonna drive the car back up north and have the dealer there look at it and recommend whether I should have them change out the hydraulic oil at this point. It must be a level sensor connecting rod that’s slightly bent or something otherwise I’d think I’d be getting a code.

Tom in Austin

Not too familiar with MBC ... is that system a combination of air springs and hydraulics? I'm imagining air provides the basic ride height and springing and the hydraulics add the dynamic element to respond to road surfaces and provide the curve function

2012 merc amg

I’m not even really familiar with it and I think that most dealers aren’t either that’s the scary thing about it especially as the car ages. Pretty sure it’s strictly hydraulics and no air springs. That’s the scary thing about it because if something goes really wrong with it there’s nothing supporting the car and it would have to be flat bedded. Hopefully at the dealer I use up north they will have somebody that knows what they are doing with mbc. I think at the least I should probably change out the hydraulic fluid as the car is up to 52k miles although I don’t see anything in the owners manual about that. I think I do remember seeing somewhere it’s suppose to be changed but not until 100k miles. There’s a thread on these forums about it now I can’t find it.

2012 merc amg

I did find this thread. Sounds kinda scary. https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...h-filters.html

SW20S

Strictly hydraulic and no air springs. If something went wrong with Airmatic it would be the same thing though.

A good Mercedes independent mechanic should be very familiar with the hydraulic setup.

JohnLane

MBC is ABC with cameras, more electronics and more pump. Wonderful system overall. Plugging into Xentry will point out where the car thinks corner heights are. Will also reveal any codes. Verify that the little dog bone guy for the level sensor at that corner is plugged in.

You describe a sensor failure. There are level sensors at each corner of the car; just like Airmatic.

Yes; change the fluid. I like to do so every 30,000 miles. Good practice.

2012 merc amg

Thanks John. Very useful information. The dealer I took the car too here in Florida Communicated zero to me and I don't think they even looked at the car other than to tell me the tires and the brakes appeared to be ok. The car is going to a dealer I've used a lot in the past with very qualified techs, I'm sure they will get it all sorted out when I get the car back up there. Any idea on how much it costs to change the Suspension Hydraulic fluid roughly, never done it before? Where would the dog bone guy be at the level sensor, it's the right side of the car thats down some in the front. Would it be near the upper control arm? I'm thinking I could get the car up on the lift before I leave here in Florida and if it was something as simple as something like a sensor that was unplugged I could plug it back in and fix the car. I still find it hard to believe how useless the dealer here in Florida is. They didnt even write me up when I dropped the car off, I got zero paperwork even when I left. Something really wrong with that mercedes dealer, makes mercedes look really bad. Also wouldn't you think if I had a sensor failure I'd have a message on the display like suspension malfunction or something? No messages or lights. I'll see if I can get the car down to the tire place to put up on the lift and see if we can check out the connector.

JohnLane

Dog bone link to level sensor connects to upper control arm in older cars. I have not looked for it in my 222 car yet.

MBC flush will be a couple hours of labor with 4-5 liters of fluid. 221 cars have a filter in the reservoir that gets changed with each fluid change. I have heard rumor that the filter is built in to the 222 reservoir but have not verified.

Having the ‘Rodeo’ performed is good practice to go along with. This is accomplished via Xentry. Expect this to be a separate charge.