MooflesThaCat

Hey guys. I was changing my Pads and rotors the other day when I encountered some tears on the covers of the rear airbags. They both are still holding air just fine and I haven't encountered any problems yet, but I was wondering if i should address the torn covers or just wait until I have to change the bags. The car is an 06 e500 with 103k on what I suspect are the original air springs. I can't read the back labels, but the front air springs are labeled "Continental Air".

I couldn't tell if there were any oil stains as it was raining and everything was wet already at the time.

kajtek1

Is it torn by an object, or deteriorating due to age?
If it seems solid otherwise, I would just glue the cover.
06 bags sure sound like about time to replace.
Mine were replaced by PO at about 9 years of age but 140k miles.

2MERKS

That's a tough call...I always say, "you can pay me now, or pay me later".
Depending on your driving habits and roads in your locale, personally i would recommend replacing the bags.

Faniskogen

I have the same problem. I only have 55000 miles on my and it seems to have been torn open by some object and not due to age.

Any tips for a material that we could glue our holes with?

MooflesThaCat

I would say that they are torn due to age as both left and right bags exhibit the same tears in the same location. Am I correct in understanding that these are just dust/dirt covers?

Faniskogen

I got this from my local dealer, he said this was a replacement kit for the covers. I don't know how much hassle it is to change them.
Cost was $150 for the parts.

kajtek1

$150 per piece or pair?
I think to get cover replaced you need to remove the strut, so if Arnot bag cost about $250, that make sense to replace whole thing.
For gluing torn cover my first choice would be polyurethane roofing caulk you can buy at Home Depot.
That stuff after drying makes rubber-like material that will flex.

MooflesThaCat

Thats for the front strut, but thanks.

kajtek1, where can you get the arnott bags for $250? Their site has it listed at like $400.

kajtek1

I did not have to buy bags yet (knock on the wood) but other members posted the price about $500 per axle.
Check old topics where did they buy it, but bare in mind that even we don't have inflation in this country, the prices doubled or even tripled on most items in just last few years.