I know there's a lot of concern over failed airmatic components - are there any
 

sources for rebuilt E55 shocks like this for the S-class?

http://www.arnottindustries.com/part...18_pid126.html

This would be much cheaper than buying new Airmatic parts.

To be honest, working for MB, I really don't see many failures in the airmatic system that directly damage the shocks. Most commonly, the relay for the pump sticks and the pump overheats and quits working. Other times, the 2 wires for the Airmatic pressure release switch have chafed on the Left front wheel well liner and the valve to relieve extra pressure is rendered inoperative. That is observed when the front of the car is very high, like 4WD mode. My suggestion is that if you do have a failure and the car is sitting on the ground, it should be towed to a shop, because driving the car is what damages the shocks.

Nick

Working on it as we speak, I need cores for research. Any one that has a bad AirMatic strut for W211 AMG don't throw it away, PM me. I will post more information as it becomes available. For now I'll park some pics here of my R&R.

OK, I had my suspicions about my right front strut leaking a little for about a year, I drive the car so infrequently that it dose settle down to its lowest possible state after like 2 months. Well this time I had encountered a highway that was being resurfaced, the machine that grinds the old road surface had left a ridge across the road that was about 1.5''-2" high. The traffic was moving along at 80 and I was in the left lane, I saw the ridge and moved to the left to avoid as much of the ridge as I could but the right front tire hit it hard enough for me to remember it. The next morning the front suspension had collapsed. The red warning was on in the MFD. I pushed the raise button and could see slight lift then a leak down in what I would call short cycling, during this time i went to the right front and put my hand to the lower bellows and could feel air escaping.
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Here you can see the lowest measurement from the ground to top of wheel opening 24" the car has standard/stock size rims and tires.

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The car would roll forward and backward OK but any turn would cause a rub. I can not say at what size tire/rim it becomes impossible to roll the car without rubbing. Airmatic failures can stop you cold in your tracks. I believe Mercedes offers a block part # p32.00-2022-09 so that a car with failed AirMatic can be towed.

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When you touch/open the drivers door you may hear a multitude of things starting up, among them is the AirMatic. I chose to disconnect the battery to avoid any surprise.

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Here we are the car is jacked up and blocked, the front tire has been removed and you can see the strut. Below the aluminum cylinder is a rubber bellows and that is where I could hear and feel the air escaping. To the right of the strut you can see the level sensor. I set up a a few blocks of wood and used a 2x4 to run the suspension through its partial range of motion and the strut leaked audibly in both directions.
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This is the lower section of the strut, you can see the lower mount bolt and lower ADS dampening valve and the wires that come out of it. You may also notice I tore the part number tag off the strut, bad move the number was wrong and caused all sorts of confusion, more on that later.

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Other manufacture numbers and the all important AMG sticker.

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Here we have the top of the strut it has 3 nuts that hold it in place and one pneumatic tube and one 3 wire connector.

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The new strut. I had some problems with finding the right part if you want know more about that see this link
https://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-...ml#post3355179
I would like to thank Mr. Brenton for his help in determining the correct part number.
This is to date 2/09 the current W211 AMG AirMatic Strut and yes they were $625 to $750 But not any more. I ordered all the least expensive ones that were on the web and had all orders canceled one after the other 3X. I finally went to my favorite dealer Central Florida Euro Cars and they gave me a discount that matched the best dealer price I found, that was Duval Motors, list price $1110.00 less 20%
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Here is the part number on the box right front W211 AMG hydro-pneumatic strut.

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Time to get your eyes checked.

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To access the wire connector from the lower ADS unit, you must remove the inner fender panel.

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Remove all fasteners that hold inner fender panel and pry outer edge out of the fender.

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Don't forget the plastic nuts in the top of the wheel well.

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This is the plastic clip that anchors the electrical connectors, pop it loose from inside of the frame rail (I cracked mine by prying it from the outside) Then there is a release in the clip to allow you to unplug the wires.
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As long as you have the inner fender panel out make sure your oil cooler is clean an free of anything that would restrict air flow.
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Now we can remove the clip and unplug the wire to the lower ADS.

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Now you can remove the 3 nuts that hold the strut up.

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Now you can remove the air line (careful with this) don't let any dirt inside the pneumatic system.

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Now just unplug the 3 wire connector.

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Now remove the lower bolt and the strut will be free, I was able to collapse it enough to remove it over the top of the axle.
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Here it is coming out.
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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.
Attachment 384243

All the fasteners back on and torqued wires routed and connected and the air line hooked up.

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Inner fender panel cleaned up and installed.
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Tire back on and jack and blocks removed. First test at highest ride hight 27.75" held over night.

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Now I am going to open up my old strut to determine the fault, I would like to get a few "blown" struts to see if they can be reconditioned/rebuilt.
So send me your bad strut!

Must be contagious... mine is almost sitting on the front tires and has the warning message as well this am.

As a always, thanks for the detailed pics and explanations. Sorry to hear about it going out. Please let us know what you find out when you open up your bad airmatic.

Interesting... for some reason I was under impression that AMG has regular suspensions, not the AIRMATIC… ??? Or does it have comfort pkg?

Man, me and my slammed car... I hope that stuff lasts!

No, all E55's have AIRMATIC.

OliverK posted a source for re-built air shocks somewhere in these threads. Something like $400 or so, which is half price.

So in your opinion, most airmatic failures on the E55 could be prevented by proactively replacing the relay every so often and making sure the wires for the airmatic pressure release switch are protected form the wheel well liner?

FYI, parts.com sells them for $650ish new. Pictures of the install show it's really not that difficult to do. Thank you to the poster who posted the pictures. Those should be added to the DIY thread at the top.

Andy

Nice pics Yacht Master! Let us know what your research determines.

Excellent procedure and write up. Is this the same ?? for the E500? I have the warning on my FSS also.

Is this normally a warranty item?:nix:

If it fails in warranty I would expect it to be warranty, but shocks on normal vehicles are considered a wear item. But blowout on the air suspension might be material defect and not a wear out. Depends on your dealer and your results may vary as past performance is no predictor of future results.

Ok,, just had to :rolf: on the last statement after my retirement account is in the tank and I AM RETIRED.

Andy,

I ordered from parts.com first, and what they do is just cancel your order with no notification, and as well they don't credit your credit card until you e mail them 7 times and dial their number that doesn't work 24 times. They failed twice, they do not up date there prices and the dealers in there network refuse to sell the parts at parts.com's advertised price. One other thing parts.com charges shipping in my case it was over $100 and the part was to come from a dealer 12 miles away from me, I found this out from my credit card company. Use parts.com at your own risk.

Ditto

Yikes, sorry to hear that. I was counting on that being a good source if I ever should have the need for one.

Any updates on tearing it apart to see what has failed and the possibility of rebuilding them on your own?

Andy

Interesting you guys aren 't happy with parts.com. I ordered an MB part from them and within 24 hrs I got a call stating they could not ship it to me. I cnx the order and deleted them from MB Parts Favorites. There are other places I can buy that will ship way down here in Louisiana.

It has been difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of people's airmatic failure, but I think this thread nails it. It seems that normal wear and tear can weaken the components, however a good pothole or drastic change in the road surface can blow one of them out.

For those who's shock has failed, do you remember hitting a pothole hard enough prior to the failure?

Or letting your wives drive the car the day before? :)

Wow… Are those much different from E500, or just adjusted differently??
The reason I am asking is that I was thinking of switching to the regular ones since performance vise, comparing to my previous CLK55, and even to old E320, Airmatics suck big time. I am driving it for over a year now and still fill the difference and some discomfort. (I have sports and comfort packages).

Update, I have an aftermarket warranty and even though I paid for the new AirMatic strut and installed it, the company is going to cover it. I do not have a check in hand but they have processed it and tell me the check is in the mail. If this proves true I will post the name of the warranty company. One other thing I have been waiting to see (if the claim goes through so) that I can finally open the damaged strut and possibly find a means to rebuild them.

GREAT WRITE UP!!!

Great write up! Has anyone had issues with the rear going bad? My ride height is fairly low but just recently started having the rear right side sag. At times the car will be even, but then when I'm on the freeway I can almost see the car titling to the right side. Suggestions? Is there anyway I can personally check?