I know there's a lot of concern over failed airmatic components - are there any
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2007
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From: Treasure Island, FL
GLE 63S
My E55 has 64000 miles on it with no airmatic issues yet.. My wife's E500 had the front left go out. I ordered a remanufactured strut from a comapny in Florida. http://www.arnottindustries.com/ it was $399 plus shipping. An has a better than new warranty. Also reading the previous threads on Parts.com I guess they've cleaned their act up as I've had nothing but GREAT service from them.
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3-five-five/ TUNDRA/ 07 997 cab
My E55 has 64000 miles on it with no airmatic issues yet.. My wife's E500 had the front left go out. I ordered a remanufactured strut from a comapny in Florida. http://www.arnottindustries.com/ it was $399 plus shipping. An has a better than new warranty. Also reading the previous threads on Parts.com I guess they've cleaned their act up as I've had nothing but GREAT service from them.
Member
Joined: May 2008
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2005 E55
yeah... happened to me 2 months after getting a CPO car.. dealer said 'mechanical failure'.. replaced under warranty.
took a week to get em from germany.
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From: Dallas, TX
2007 E63, 2005 Dodge Ram Hemi
Damn a week..?? I'm taking mine in Monday for my driver rear. It reflates every time I start it, but it is also the only corner going low, which means my car isn't levelling...
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From: Louisiana
03 E500 and Corvette
To do the job correctly the differential/rear suspension is pulled from the car for the replacement. I checked when they were doing mine and "we pulled everything from behind the transmission to do yours".
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From: Dallas, TX
2007 E63, 2005 Dodge Ram Hemi
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From: merryland
cornfed gtr and m3
Just came out of work, drove about 5 minutes to a store, came out and the rear of the car was dumped. Set it to comfort mode and the rear went back to my normal ride height. Will it still adjust like that if there is a failure? Normally I ride with Renntech LM set to 6 in the rear and my ride set to sport, so the car is pretty low.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Louisiana
03 E500 and Corvette
Just came out of work, drove about 5 minutes to a store, came out and the rear of the car was dumped. Set it to comfort mode and the rear went back to my normal ride height. Will it still adjust like that if there is a failure? Normally I ride with Renntech LM set to 6 in the rear and my ride set to sport, so the car is pretty low.
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From: merryland
cornfed gtr and m3
It will continue to adjust but exceed the duty cycle on the compressor and burn out the compressor. Then you will have double failure. Remember it will leak all the time until leak repaired. The only way it can reach "normal" height if to replace the air leaking out. This is what makes the compressor run longer.
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From: Louisiana
03 E500 and Corvette
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,347
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From: Dallas, TX
2007 E63, 2005 Dodge Ram Hemi
The shock...I'm assuming they run a pressure test..?? I told them my driver rear was deflating overnight, so my SA called me back and said it was leaking and they ordered a new one to go one.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 451
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From: Pensacola, FL
2003 E55 AMG
How do I check this? I have some creakin in the front end when backing out the garage and every now and then I here the compressor coming on when the car is running. Is this normal or do I need to start looking for a leaking shock? How do i check them? The car seems pretty level all the time.
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Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Louisiana
03 E500 and Corvette
How do I check this? I have some creakin in the front end when backing out the garage and every now and then I here the compressor coming on when the car is running. Is this normal or do I need to start looking for a leaking shock? How do i check them? The car seems pretty level all the time.
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From: Mililani, Hawaii
2005 AMG E55
Careful, I broke mines too. The plastic was brittle.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 406
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From: Mililani, Hawaii
2005 AMG E55
The install is a little more difficult. The strut is shipped pressurized/extended so to get it in the car it needs to be collapsed. I believe MB techs may use Star to do this, I had to trick the strut by hooking my battery up and connecting the upper electrical plug and let the air out of the strut (with car jacked up the AirMatic controls thought the car was now too high) and let the air out while I compressed the strut.
I installed the strut to the top and bolted in 2 of the 3 nuts at the top loosely. The strut will be pressurized like yachtmaster said so there's no way its going over the lower arm extended. Connect the top electrical harness to the strut, not the air line. Connect the battery, start the car and set the ride height to the lowest setting, sport 2. You'll start the hear the air dumping out of the strut. Leave the car jacked up so the sensors think the ride height is too high. This will try to dump air from the strut to lower the vehicle.
I then took a 2X4 block, wedged it under the bottom of the strut, took another car jack under the 2X4, and started jacking up the strut to compress the air out until there was enough clearance to get the bottom over the lower arm. Slowly start to relaese the height from th jack as you push and wiggle it over the lower arm. Eventually, the 2X4 block will fall out and the strut will straddle the lower arm to put the bolt back in.
Continue with Yachmasters DIY...
If there was an easier way to compress the strut, please share it here.
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 30
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e500 2004
Right now I am stuck.
Can anyone tell me how to get my old strut over the axle for removal? All bolts etc have been removed, it's just getting the old strut out of there now. I've tried everything, including jacking the strut up, but the strut seems to bottom out, leaving me an inch short to get the strut over the axle. Any suggestions? I even tried to hook the electric system back up to see of the computer would retract the strut, but no luck.
Everything is unhooked and unbolted, just need to retract the strut enough to get it over the axle and out.
Help!
Thanks,
Todd
Can anyone tell me how to get my old strut over the axle for removal? All bolts etc have been removed, it's just getting the old strut out of there now. I've tried everything, including jacking the strut up, but the strut seems to bottom out, leaving me an inch short to get the strut over the axle. Any suggestions? I even tried to hook the electric system back up to see of the computer would retract the strut, but no luck.
Everything is unhooked and unbolted, just need to retract the strut enough to get it over the axle and out.
Help!
Thanks,
Todd
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 406
Likes: 0
From: Mililani, Hawaii
2005 AMG E55
Right now I am stuck.
Can anyone tell me how to get my old strut over the axle for removal? All bolts etc have been removed, it's just getting the old strut out of there now. I've tried everything, including jacking the strut up, but the strut seems to bottom out, leaving me an inch short to get the strut over the axle. Any suggestions? I even tried to hook the electric system back up to see of the computer would retract the strut, but no luck.
Everything is unhooked and unbolted, just need to retract the strut enough to get it over the axle and out.
Help!
Thanks,
Todd
Can anyone tell me how to get my old strut over the axle for removal? All bolts etc have been removed, it's just getting the old strut out of there now. I've tried everything, including jacking the strut up, but the strut seems to bottom out, leaving me an inch short to get the strut over the axle. Any suggestions? I even tried to hook the electric system back up to see of the computer would retract the strut, but no luck.
Everything is unhooked and unbolted, just need to retract the strut enough to get it over the axle and out.
Help!
Thanks,
Todd
Super Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 685
Likes: 121
From: Palm Coast, Florida
2019 E-450 Wagon
Dealer wanted $3300 to do both front struts.
Waiting for parts from Germany.
I thought the S.A. said $3.3K each, but he must have meant total...
Aftermarket warranty is picking up the tab...Money well invested last year.
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
e500 2004
Update: I took the car to the local yocal shop. They told me I had the wrong struts, as they were 6"'s too long. I told them they come fully compressed and you have to use the car computer to trick them into retracting. Then I realized I probably knew more than they did, and then I called myself stupid for taking it there in the first place, then went and picked the car up and drove it to the dealership. Now I have a loaner, and asked the dealer to install the remanufactured struts that I purchased. So stay tuned.
The company I bought the shocks from told me that I needed to remove three bolts which connect ball joints to control arm, in order to pull the control arm down enough to remove the strut. I started to do this, but then said to myself "how the heck am I going to get this all back together??" So, unlike me, I called enough enough, and now car is at the dealership. The mechanic at the dealer told me that it is a tough job to do at home - without the Mercedes Master Computer, which they use to compress the shock automatically. He chuckled when I told him I was trying to do this myself at home.
I would have done this easily, as I had it all apart, etc, if I just could have gotten the strut over the control arm and out. I hope at the end of this that I can at least say I saved considerably on the struts.
Todd
2004 E500 2wd airmatic
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
e500 2004
No warranty - expired. I bought the car CPO three years ago.
I assume you are talking about an Aftermarket Warranty? I will inquire at the dealership though, since the struts alone are over $3k.
Thanks
I assume you are talking about an Aftermarket Warranty? I will inquire at the dealership though, since the struts alone are over $3k.
Thanks
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 692
Likes: 73
From: Houston, TX
2003 E55 AMG; 2013 GL550 4Matic; 2003 CL600
This part was a *****! Took me about 30 minutes to figure it out. Let me try to explain it in more detail.
I installed the strut to the top and bolted in 2 of the 3 nuts at the top loosely. The strut will be pressurized like yachtmaster said so there's no way its going over the lower arm extended. Connect the top electrical harness to the strut, not the air line. Connect the battery, start the car and set the ride height to the lowest setting, sport 2. You'll start the hear the air dumping out of the strut. Leave the car jacked up so the sensors think the ride height is too high. This will try to dump air from the strut to lower the vehicle.
I then took a 2X4 block, wedged it under the bottom of the strut, took another car jack under the 2X4, and started jacking up the strut to compress the air out until there was enough clearance to get the bottom over the lower arm. Slowly start to relaese the height from th jack as you push and wiggle it over the lower arm. Eventually, the 2X4 block will fall out and the strut will straddle the lower arm to put the bolt back in.
Continue with Yachmasters DIY...
If there was an easier way to compress the strut, please share it here.
I installed the strut to the top and bolted in 2 of the 3 nuts at the top loosely. The strut will be pressurized like yachtmaster said so there's no way its going over the lower arm extended. Connect the top electrical harness to the strut, not the air line. Connect the battery, start the car and set the ride height to the lowest setting, sport 2. You'll start the hear the air dumping out of the strut. Leave the car jacked up so the sensors think the ride height is too high. This will try to dump air from the strut to lower the vehicle.
I then took a 2X4 block, wedged it under the bottom of the strut, took another car jack under the 2X4, and started jacking up the strut to compress the air out until there was enough clearance to get the bottom over the lower arm. Slowly start to relaese the height from th jack as you push and wiggle it over the lower arm. Eventually, the 2X4 block will fall out and the strut will straddle the lower arm to put the bolt back in.
Continue with Yachmasters DIY...
If there was an easier way to compress the strut, please share it here.
In the MB strut-replacement instructions they say to disconnect the top ball joint during the replacement. That might help when installing a fully extended strut, although I wonder if you could put the ball joint back on without compressing it a bit.
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
e500 2004
Front-right failed for me on Saturday, I'm about to order the Arnott strut and will do the replacement this week.
In the MB strut-replacement instructions they say to disconnect the top ball joint during the replacement. That might help when installing a fully extended strut, although I wonder if you could put the ball joint back on without compressing it a bit.
In the MB strut-replacement instructions they say to disconnect the top ball joint during the replacement. That might help when installing a fully extended strut, although I wonder if you could put the ball joint back on without compressing it a bit.
Just picked up the car and the struts seem fine. So I paid $400 for each strut with a lifetime warranty, and $450 for the labor (plus $93 x 2 for the ball joints). Dealer original quote was $3300 for the two struts and labor, so I am happy that I saved over a grand.
Based on one day of use so far with the new struts, and their customer service, I would recommend Arnott.
Todd
04 E500 2wd Airmatic
