Need some advice regarding airmatic failure
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Joined: Sep 2011
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From: Bay Area, CA
2006 E55 AMG
Need some advice regarding airmatic failure
So I got the "car too low" message and noticed my front right side was slammed. I'm debating whether I drive to the dealer or just order the arnott part cause I don't know of its ok to drive on the freeway to the dealer. Is there a way to tell of its the air spring vs the shock that has gone bad?
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From: Southern California
E55 w/ goods, Z32 Project underway
Not recommended but I did drive mine on the 5/14 freeway for 50 miles. Rub during sharp turns so I made them wide. Bought Arnott and has been great since.
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From: Bay Area, CA
2006 E55 AMG
And if I do arnott instead, what can I expect for an Indy installation vs dealer?
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From: Socal, Chino
E55 2006 / CLS55 / S450 / Jag XKR2011
If you will keep the car for long long time, I suggest coilover conversion. I am kinda paranoid now about when will fail and hopefully not when I am not in town. If you decide to keep the car for 3 to 5 years, you will probably change both front airmatic which will cost you with labor $1200 with Arnott so I rather do the conversion for $2800 once for all include the rear ones.
Thread Starter
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From: Bay Area, CA
2006 E55 AMG
If you will keep the car for long long time, I suggest coilover conversion. I am kinda paranoid now about when will fail and hopefully not when I am not in town. If you decide to keep the car for 3 to 5 years, you will probably change both front airmatic which will cost you with labor $1200 with Arnott so I rather do the conversion for $2800 once for all include the rear ones.
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Thread Starter
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From: Bay Area, CA
2006 E55 AMG
I just checked back on the car and after unlocking/locking it, it sounded like it was trying to raise the front for like a minute (I could here the compressor). But it didn't go up.
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From: Honolulu
W211 E55, 911 turbo, 911sc, RX330
I had the same problem a month ago. My car has an extended warranty that covers the air strut so I was lucky. They do have an allowable price for parts, but Hawaii dealers are about 50% higher than mainland list. NAC wouldn't cover this amount, but they did cover the Arnott. I figured something like this would happen so I took my car to my indy instead of the dealer. Total cost was about $900 or so. Just make sure Arnott has the correct strut in stock. If not, you may have to wait about a week.
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E55 wagon, Porsche 550 replica
As pearlpower said it is painful for the OEM parts at the dealer. $871 for a front strut, $555 for labor, and $215 for a four wheel alignment and a new camber bolt at the dealer in my area. Labor seems ridiculous for a job that doesn't really take that long.
Last edited by Richard55; Nov 24, 2012 at 10:04 AM.
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05 E55 AMG, E320 CDI, Turbo E46 M3,IS300 2JZGTE,VQ35 Turbo Maxima, Mercedes 300D
Too bad it didn't break up here in SJ. I know good Indy up here. +1 on the Arnott definitely the way to go! I switched mine out last year. Went on biz trip for 3 weeks .. fronts (Arnott) stayed up .. looks like the backs are going out though 
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From: Bay Area, CA
2006 E55 AMG
Dealer called. They said front right strut is gone. Left one might die soon and the compressor died trying to keep pumping air into the strut so it overheated. So I need all three parts. Dealer gave a quote of $3k total.
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From: Bay Area, CA
2006 E55 AMG
I'm throwing the idea around of getting this fixed, then replacing the car with a C63 with a warranty just for the peace of mind. Anyone interested in a 2006 Silver E55 with 79k models and pretty much all options other than distronic and designo?
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From: Bay Area, CA
2006 E55 AMG
Either way, I'm not planning on keep the car longer than another year so I don't want to hurt the resale value with mods (even though members from this forum might appreciate them, I don't think the avg joe will be).
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W211
I've replaced my front strut over a year ago and recently both my rears sag after about three days. This happened about the same time and I also notice a slight drop in both my fronts after a couple of days. Could it be something else like the distrubution valve or compressor leak like I've read in some threads? I just find it kinda strange that all of these are happening around the same time.
