hey guys. had my s550 for about a month now and noticed when it sits in the garage for a few days without being driven it gets low on its own. it looks really good dont get me wrong but im wondering are the shocks leaking air or is this normal? i also noticed when i start it the compressor starts pumping and it raises itself back up. the front seems lower than rear.

 

Check this out
https://www.tsbsearch.com/Mercedes-B...32-22-P-058343
Titled - Vehicle Ride Height Drops While Not In Use

 

awesome!

 

Likely a small leak, when it starts dropping overnight you need to fix the leak or you are going to have to add a compressor to the repair.

 

can the leak be fixed without replacing the whole strut?

 

Don't just go replacing parts, you need to determine where the leak is.
​​​​​​If the leak is in the strut you would need a new one.

 

what else could be the cause though? Shouldn't the computer warn me about a leak?

 

Spray soapy water around the top of both front struts. You will see the little air hose there. Look for tiny bubbles. Let it sit a few minutes. If you see any the leak is there.

 

There are hoses to connect the system.
The computer is not omnipotent, the diagnostics will tell you only what it was programed to when certain conditions are met and those conditions are subject to what can be sensed.
Once a leak gets bad enough it will likely point to a section of the system.

 

That does not look like a leak, that looks like an s class that sat for a few days.
the system is filled with air.
if it sits a few days air will come out. Nothing is airtight.
if you have a leak it would be more dramatic of a drop and it would be clear which side or strut is failing.
These struts have lasted me over 10 years on my w220 and both my w222 and w220 sit a little low after not being driven for a few days.
If your airmatic compressor is kicking on a lot and for more than a minute you have a leak.
leak is usually at the strut or valve block.
Computer won’t tell you everything and can only tell when a sensor says pressure is off.

 

you're making me feel better, cause these components arent cheap! It never slams down to the ground like ive seen on some other cars, it simply lowers a little and mainly in the front from what I can tell. As soon as I start the car the compressor pumps it back up to normal in like 10 seconds. I'll check with soapy water anyway to be sure. Thank you

 

If the slight lowering is a sign of a leak, it usually happens in the front because of the long term sustained loading due to the weight of the engine (comparing to the rear).

 

You defenitely have a problem. It might only be slight, but it is a problem. The quicker you act and find the leak, and get it fixed, the better chance you have of not burning out your pump. I've owned several air and hydraulically suspended cars, starting with my Infiniti Q45A in the late 90's. The car should not lower noticeably even if sitting for a week or two. By the way, I've enjoyed watching the mods you're doing with yoiur car

 

No need to act until it starts lowering overnight, just keep an eye on it for now.
​​​​​​

 

Its completely normal unless its lowering overnight. Every car I have ever had with air suspension has lowered some if its sat for several days to a week. My S560 has always done this, even when it was new. If it lowers overnight thats a different story. Just keep an eye on it.

 

I posted about this in the past, and here is a copy of my notes/response at that time (specifically during cold/winter months):

I've been taking measurements (distance between the lower edge of the rim to the fender) over past 2 days:

Baseline: 27.25 inches (2 days "48 hours" measurement )
Distance between the lower edge of the rim to the fender):

• Baseline: 27.25 inches (day 1 morning)
• after 12 hours: 26.75 inches (day 1 night )
• after 24 hours: 26.75 inches (day 2 morning)
• after 36 hours: 26.75 inches (day 2 night).
• After 48 hours: 26.75 inches (day 3 morning)

Experiment is done. This confirms the air contraction theory for the W222 AIRMATIC system, during first 12 hrs only before it stabilizes, with around 0.5 inches due to air contraction. This happens when ambient temperature of air inside suspension drops to 30-40F or lower, yielding a lower air density and thus a smaller air volume in the suspension which causes the car to set lower.
**For the record, these measurements were taken at temperature of 32-35F. I expect the contraction to increase by another 30% based on air density at 15F or lower, meaning another 0.25 inch for a total of 0.75 inches at colder temperatures such as 20F or lower.
Based on this, 0.75 inches of height difference is within design parameters, however, for those who experience more than 1-inch of height difference overnight, i would encourage them to test for any potential air leak especially during summer or when temperature is not that low.

If you experience a height drop that's outside the normal numbers/parameters above, It's likely that there is a leak somewhere.

 

My car was dropping overnight. I did not record how much of a drop but it was very noticeable when I entered the garage ...it ended up being front struts and valve block (part of my big ticket "NO W223" repairs) ... now With weather down to 35F i have not experienced any overnight drop in the four months since... I can say I paid very close attention to the tire to wheel arch distance afterwards to see if my problem was resolved and it appears that distance has stayed consistent..... It is normal for me to be parked 2-3 days at a time...

 

I have. 2019 s560. My car I doing the exact same thing. Lowers from the front to roughly the same height as your photo. I got the car inspected and replaced both fronts struts as I was told they had a small leak. However, that didn’t resolve the problem even one bit. So, just wondering what you did to fix your car?

 

Lowering is because of a leak, diagnose is soapy water all lines.
If it does not lower overnight I would not worry about it.

 

Magic Body Control equipped cars don’t have this failure. 146,000 miles on it.

Just saying.

 

This failure is also very rare in W222 S classes with air matic. It’s actually pretty amazing how reliable it is.

 

I mean besides the fact your ECM can get wrecked by oil wicking it's way into it at any second

I'm kind of kidding, but that's a massive issues on these cars honestly. This engine isn't cheap by any means. But so far my repairs have been a turbo coolant line and a heater valve, so not bad considering how much the car really is

 

Thats a totally different issue, I'm talking about the Airmatic system. The 222 by and large is actually very reliable for what it is.

 

Hey guys,

I have 2019 s560. I was noticing that the front would become quite low and every single time I would start the car the air compressor would go on and visibly raise the front.

I took to an independent shop and they found a very small leak in both front struts. They did not examine the rear. They advised to change the front struts. I did just that and it cost about $5600 Canadian (Mercedes dealer did the work and used OEM Benz strutts). Unfortunately, I have not noticed any change and the car still lowers at the front. However, on the rare occasion the car’s height doesn’t change overnight. There does not seem to be a connection in what driving mode I park the car in (eco vs comfort).

I’m worried the air compressor may wear out due to it going on every single time I start the car for about about 30 seconds, sometimes longer, sometimes less. But never more than 1 minute.

I measured each side of the car from ground to the top of the wheel well in centimetres. Here are the measurements.

The car is always parked in a heated garage.

Driver front:
Average height after driving: 72.25cm
average height after being parked overnight: 71.17cm
Average change in height: 1.08cm

Passenger front:
Average height after driving: 73.05cm
Average height after being parked overnight: 72cm
Average change in height: 1.05cm

Passenger rear
Average height after driving: 73.18cm
Average height after being parked overnight: 71.95cm
Average change in height: 1.23 can

Driver rear:
Average height after driving: 74.15cm
Average height after being parked overnight: 73.60cm
Average change in height: 0.55cm

I went to dealer to get the car inspected again and they said the car didn’t even reduce in height and stated everything looks fine. Charged me like $300 bucks for the inspection. I’m a bit surprised the car never even reduced in height because for me it happens each night as shown in the data.

Looking at the data, what do you guys think?
I am getting worried about air compressor going on every single time I start the car to raise the car back to its driving height.

 

You likely have a leak somewhere along the lines.
The compressor running for a minute at start up is unlikely to cause issues, what you don't want is the compressor running every 5 minutes to keep the car level while running.