After I started my car this late morning this message came up but went away after I pulled off.

On my way back from the beach this message came on frequently even after pushing the 'raise suspension' button.

The front right corner seems lower than the left when I inspected the car when we arrived.

Both rear sides looks equal.

I have to drive 1400km back home tomorrow, can I drive it like this?

I actually don't have a choice since everything is closed and I have to be back in business by the day after tomorrow.

could be that the shock absorbers are leaking and not fully damaged.

I forgot the name but I think there is a company by the name of "Arnott" maybe someone else can pitch in, which is a money saving alternative

Blown Airmatic shock. Common problem, fails without giving any symptoms.
Your shock is blown so there is not much damage you can do to it anymore. Drive back slow, you may destroy your front tire due to the excessive camber. If driving back is your only option I would think you can do it.

I had the same problem in Montreal, QC,Canada , I was near an MB dealer : They kept the car 10 days ( no shocks available in Mtl. or U.S.A.) THE BILL :$2,700.00 . After looking in EBAY , I found Arnott's rebuilt for $499.00 garanteed for life !!! I would not ride home : leave the car at a safe place,buy on Ebay Arnott's shock , and have it installed on the car, that is the more for your money to go !!

Yup or go to Arnott directly. I think it's a couple $ cheaper and they look $$.

I looked at Arnott website and they don't offer shipping Internationally, eBay has it really expensive compared to buying it directly.

Any links where you got yours ?

Find a friend in the states to ship them to their house and have that person ship internationally?

You could also burn out your pump attempting to drive that far, I had a front strut go and managed about 100 miles to get home not sure I would fancy driving almost 10X the distance.
If you have to then take it easy and I would break often at least allowing your pump to have some rest.

/\ I would do this. And then get some Arnott shocks asap. Good luck.

Aaron

Thought I'd piggyback a question in this thread. Is there a way to check if my airmatic is going bad using my star? I replaced the fronts with Arnotts about a year ago. The backs tend to sit low after a few days now (sometimes) and I can hear the pump turning on pretty frequently. There are pressure sensors in each of the struts and the rears are lower than the fronts, perhaps that is normal due to the weight of the engine in front but is there a way to check for leakage?

Yes do an pneumatic test, it tests the pump first and then each shock
To the OP, it can also be your pump only, so do the star pneumatic test first, drive home slowly

Update. We drove home normally and arrived safe.

Message came on sporadically but I more or less ignored it since there was no change in the car's demeanor i.e bumping or pulling to one side.

I will have it checked out on Wednesday.

Now, another thing: according to ARNOTT they are not shipping the shocks internationally, so, taking a cue from seven6zero in a post above: who will be my friend in the States to assist getting the parts to South Africa? I will pay ARNOTT and FedEx directly, so there's no risk to the 'friend' - he only need to change the label and redirect it!

Continues operation with car too low even if it is held at the correct ride height will exceed the duty cycle of the compressor and it will burnout.

Glad you got home safe. If nobody else offers, I'll help you out with the international shipping if your covering it all. Glad your okay, would have stunk to have been stranded. -John

That's very generous of you 03'55AMG, I will of course cover all costs if you will redirect the parcel for me.

I would however first try and see if my insurance won't cover the cost of a local dealer repair.

If not and ARNOTT is the only way, I will most certainly make use of your offer.

Please pm me your e-mail address.

Thanx again.

No problem brotha, glad to help a forum member out anytime. I'll drop my email and number in your inbox.

Super old thread but I wonder if the compressor is already gone if anything can go wrong