OK I have been digging around and can't really find anything other than its a leak or in need of replacement and about to make this U.S. Sailor Broke! I don't make the money I used to when I bought the damn car prior to my joining the service.

I love the car but am starting to hate all these BS issues. Engine mounts (i changed the bad one myself), broken loud as hell click clack sun roof (i closed this manually and have left it alone), mysterious clacking sound from front of car in the morning or after car has been siting for a while(i have no idea what it is, anyone?), some odd clunk when riding over road imperfections (i have raised the car and cannot find any loose components),Squeeky as hell suspension and now this damn "Stop car too low" Warning. The car is sitting too low on the passenger side front and back but the front is waaay too low (tire is about 1inch from rubbing on the inner wheel well). I am not sure if i can/should drive it. Uncle Sam has given us a 4 day weekend but if i can't fix the car by Tuesday I'm am soooo screwed.

Any pics on where to look for leaks or perhaps routing for the airlines would be greatly appreciated. The warning light goes on and of and from outside and I can see the car raise and then drop after a couple of seconds as well as hear the air pump run longer and more frequently than it used to. so i am pretty sure its a leak and I think I can hear a hiss and it not coming from the strut but sounds like its coming from the lower center of the engine compartment. I tried to follow the air hose from the top of the front passenger side strut (not leaking there, where the hose is fitted with the brass attachment) but it disappears towards the back of the engine somewhere. Does someone know where it goes from there? is it possible for it to melt or get burnt by the exhaust system? The reason i say this is because over the past few months my car will randomly smell like burning plastic? but when I look underneath the car I cant find anything. I am really sorry for the novel long post guys. But any help/pics advice you could throw my way would be greatly appreciated. I am wondering if it would be cost/maintenance effective to just swap out the oem parts for more reliable coilovers? I can't spend tons of money like the E55 that I read about here on the forums. Is there a more affordable option? Man I hope its just a leaky hose (cross fingers)

Thx,

-Hooyah

 

AMG 1234 , keep your head up, things will get better and a happy new year . Please go to the 2 websites . 1 EVERYTHING BENZ and type in "e 500 airmatic issues" and 2 ARNOTTAIRSUSPENSION. com . and click on Product . If you need more info , feel free to p m me . keep us posted.

 

Hooyah back at you. I actually have the same car and have the same problem. You might be luckier than I was, but I don't think so. The air pump is on the drivers side just forward of the tire well. There is an air manifold there that could be the source of the leak. There were bloggers that posted that some air lines rubbed against the tire well and that's what caused their leak. Well, mine was the front driver side strut that failed. I bought the arnott replacement struts and had that done. Still was getting the airmatic visit workshop code. I changed the pump and relay myself (not too hard to do) and still the problem exists. I don't have the dropped low issue, I just have a leak that I caved in to take it to the dealers and they said that my rear struts are leaking. Arnott doesn't make the rear ones so you will either have to get the oem ones or used from a junkyard. The car is in the shop right now so I will let you know how that goes.

 

I'll just co-sign what's already been said. Airnott doesn't sell the rear air springs (not yet, so they say). I had to replace one of my front air struts, and my rears are weak. I think I've got some seepage at the holding tanks (in the trunk) or somewhere along the lines. The rears haven't failed, the car still raises. But if it sits for a day or two, the rears will seep down.\

Airnott link - http://www.arnottindustries.com/part...18_pid127.html

Good luck on your repairs.

Roo-Roooooo

 

Hello everyone, Happy New year to you all as well. Thanks for the rapid responses. I will check out the Pump to see if it is leaking there and perhaps the hose near the wheel well. Thanks as well for the the websites. I am planning to get under the vehicle today and poke around. I think the Hobby shop on Base is closed today so I will not have a lift to put the car on which will suck, but oh well. It feels really good to know the community here on MB WORLD is sooo helpful! Kinda takes a bit of the stress off knowing we can bounce some of this off each other. I will circle back as soon as I find out what the issue is.

THX,

-Hooyah!

 

Hey Taylor and Steven! Thanks for the heads up on the Arnott Shocks! Wow if it turns out to actually be a bad front strut (i hope its not) you just saved me over a thousand bucks!! I can do 399.00 = ) man you just made my day!

 

HI AMG 1234, since you're a diy guy there is a thread here that you could look up , it shows in picture step by step how to change the shocks or what ever needs to be done on your car . Please look it up. it will save you some of your hard earned money. Good luck sir

 

Hey Steven, what/where should I search for the shock R and R step by step guide? Thx! I am about to order the part from Arnott. I am pretty sure it's the shock since I can hear air escaping after and during the pump attempts to raise the vehicle. I pulled out the air line and inspected it for damage and leaks at each brass fitting and it is one piece from shock all the way to the little aluminum block with all the other lines coming out of it.

 

I have a passenger side Arnott if you are interested.

 

Rear shock link.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...-absorber.html

Front shock link.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...there-any.html

More front.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...tic-shock.html

 

Thx Jimbo, He Navae500 i sent you a pm. I already ordered the part from Arnott but if yours is a really good deal it may be worth it for me to buy yours and send the other one back. Hit me up

-Thx
HOOYAH!

 

Hey,
Sent you a PM regarding your situation.
Good Luck!!

 

OK soooo, I replaced the shock and the car is no longer looking stupid leaning forward and to the right. The car is now telling me to visit work shop and has a picture of the car with an up arrow on the instrument cluster = /. so i guess now the car is too high??? can some one please tell me if they they have experienced this as well?? I am hoping i just need to rest something...The rear right seems a little higher than the rest and i have already tried unplugging the frt and rear battery for about 20 min. please help.... thx

 

My car is a used 2005 Mercedes E500 W211

For a few times: Recently, I get the red signal: Stop, car too low.
It goes away within a minute.

Two days ago, I noticed the driver's side rear ?fender being more
close to the tyre. Or.. the drivers side rear has sagged.
Driver's front side appears fine.

I see the red signal Stop, car too low again.
I pressed the up button, and the red sign goes away.
Happily I drove off, and researched on the internet when I'm home.

I went back to see the car again. All four wheels are fine. No sagging.

Question: Is it the "strut" that is failing?
If it failed once, is it better to replace it early? (by a workshop).
Or... if it failed once, does it mean it would not magically go away?

Many thanks again.

 

Best to find the air leak now or you can damage the compressor. In the rear it may be an air line or the larger hose from the rear air shock/spring to the reservoir tank. Also could be a sensor failing.

 

The leak in the air strut forms at the bottom where the air bag rolls. I put arnott on my E500. They weren't leaking when I sold the car.

IF $$ is an issue for you this car is going to be very maintenance intensive for air suspension, airmatic brakes if you have them, and the charging system with it's dual batteries and system to charge. After owning my E500 for 10 yrs and knowing how/what is failing IF I were in your place I would repair it and consider another brand of car.

BTW you will also hear people tell you I am way off as they are great cars. They are but they break a lot and are expensive to repair. After all this IS my opinion based on owning ONE and not owning an entire fleet. But your results may vary.

 

Many thanks.
I live in Hong Kong, China.
I have always considered Mercedes Benz as a best brand of car.
There are Rolls Royce, but from magazines, British cars are not reliable.

E500 is very luxurious. I never imagined that I could buy a E500.
HK$7.8 = US$1
In Hong Kong, a new E500 could be around HK$1 million.
The 2005 second hand E500 only costed me HK$150,000 in July 2013.
Odometer says 46,000km. But Hong Kong Car dealers may or may not
have tempered with it.
I know a 8 year old car is different to a new car.
In my opinion, it's still very good value in money.
It's cheaper than a newish second hand Toyota Corolla.
Cannot really resist it.
I have factored in that I may need to pay some money for repair.
The second hand car sales told me that my car was a w211 facelift.
The headlights are the new headlights. The left right indicator have the
horizontal strips.
But.... I found out that's a lie after I bought it. I was worried about
the sensonic brakes, but as this forum suggested, the airmatic may break fast.


And the 5 litre V8.
Never imagined I would be able to buy 5 litre Engine car.
When I was in Australia around 1999, Australians have the
Australian made 5.0 litre. But Australian Holden, Ford are
very different to the prestige, power and technology of a Benz Engine.
Internet says Benz is MUCH　Ｍｏｒｅ　ｒｅｌｉａｂｌｅ　ｔｈａｎ　ＢＭＷ


What would you have advised, instead of a Benz E500?
Do you think a Japanese car (e.g. Lexus) has less repair bills?
I used to be fond of Honda Accord. But I don't know if they make it
any more. In Hong Kong, some Honda are called Acura.

My friend had a 2003 E200. He switched to a 2012 Hyundai i40
Gran Turismo (GT) looking / hatchback looking car. It still has 4 out of 5 years
of warranty left.
He said the i40 is more spacious! That sort of cut back on my admiration
on the Benz. Internet, magazines often described E Class as the best
car in the world. At least from where I read it.
And Hong Kong people believe that Benz is safer to survive a crash.
And the superficial me would still prefer to drive a Benz rather than
a Lexus, or a Hyundai.

For the last few days, I checked and the car is ok.　
No sagging of the car on the wheel.

I would take the car to workshop next week.

When the airmatic suspension fails, does the car stop all of a sudden?
Does it affect the car only in resting, stopped position?
Or when the car is running?
Would the car be stalled/ stopped suddenly when I am driving?

Many thanks for all the helpful responses again.
Please give your precious opinion.

 

Could you tell me where the relay was for the Airsuspension .

 

I have a passenger rear bag for sale if interested. ..

 

Thanks again.

I took the car 2005 E500 with the sagging at the right rear wheel to workshop.
And visually I have only seen that happened once. While the red warning
signs came up about 3-4 times, and spontaneously go away.

The workshop said, there's likely a leak. But it's expensive. I think he quoted
around HK$40,000 (US$5128) to replace all 4 suspension Struts.
He said it's quite mild.
Maybe observe for now.

I asked if it is likely that I drive along, and suddenly the car died on me...
or if danger to my life.

He said the most likely is if the car is lifted up for tyre change, and then the
suspension dies when the car lands.
Which is unfortunate, as I am due for a rear tyre change in a few months.

Thanks for your comments on the above.

 

I have a RIGHT HAND DRIVE 2004 E320. which I drive twice a week. It sits in the garage a lot because I often use the old 1993 Long wheel base MAZDA 929. that sits outside in the elements and wait faithfully on me. I refer to the sides of the car from sitting inside the car as LEFT or RIGHT Side. I Replaced my 2 Original Bilstein rear air shocks with Arnott A-2536 ( now A-2724) in April 2013 - all was well for a while! - now in April 2014 the same problem comes back. [VISIT WORKSHOP (white sign) STOP- Vehicle TOO LOW (Red Sign). Is the limited lifetime warranty on ARNOTT SHOCKS only good for a year or do I now have to deal with the FRONT wheel shocks....??; as the back wheels of car look somewhat OK. - with a LEFT SIDE rear wheel clearance of two Whisky fingers or more under rim of finder to crown of inflated Tire; and just Two or less fingers height on the RIGHT side rear. The FRONT LEFT side is one and a half fingers between top of inflated tire and car Fender but the FRONT RIGHT side top of inflated Tire is ALMOST touching the Fender.
Sorry to trouble you guys with this!... but I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR your opinions for solutions.... With The ARNOTT I don't hear the air pump cut in as it did before the change. Maybe less air is lost and the pump need not cut in as often as before! Could the Pump be inefficient? Please let me have YOUR COMMENTS and OPINIONS on what I should do!