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I've had my '06 E55 for almost six months. The Visit Garage air lift warning came on several times per week, plus the driver rear would not lift if I hit the raise vehicle button, though ride height was fine. The garage said I probably needed a new air pump based on the code. I have no confidence taking long road trips in a car that can suddenly go down if there's a leak or pump failure.
Having learned my lesson with piecemeal expensive repairs on air suspensions on a Navigator, I took the car to Strutmasters. Their HQ is an hour from Raleigh. They put in coilovers and the car drives great and handles great. They said it will soften up a little in the next 3 months, but I like the way it feels right now.
Here are pics of the parts they took out. One was an Arnott refurb, so I guess the previous owner had already started his round of replacements.
Eibach springs on the new pieces:
Arnott offers $50 each for cores, but I don't know how much these will cost to ship. Heavy stuff.
I'm right in the middle of swapping mine. Doing it with a jack, and I really wish I took it to a shop to either do myself on a lift or have them do it. Its been a pain in the ***, and I dinged the fender with the upper balljoint (I disconnected it to get more space).
I considered going your route but decided not to - you are making a step back by ditching the air suspension. If you were building a track car sure, but it will no longer ride like the e55, and you do not have height control, which I find useful.
Its great not to deal with the air headaches, but I just couldn't make a step back in engineering..
I fully understand your point and why people want to keep the vehicle as close to original specs as possible. For me, the ride now is just as good or better than when I bought the car five months ago. That means I probably never got to enjoy the full E55 Airmatic comfort experience (never noticed any difference between the Comfort/Sport 1/Sport 2 settings) because of the bugs in the Airmatic system. I'm taking the car on several trips soon (800+ miles in a weekend), so I feel a lot better having this mechanical system.
Just saying, buying a high tech car and taking high tech out of it is a step backwards and giving up the features that this car has.
The air suspension adjusts based on weight - whether your car is loaded up with four people and a full trunk or empty, the ride height will be the same. The coils don't do that.
Steep driveway or rough roads, raise the car up with air suspension, the coils don't do that either.
Comfort - Sport 2 does change, you can even see the car drop lower. Sport 1 isn't that noticable, but I read the Arnotts feel better than the stockers, haven't tested mine yet
Maybe buy an M5 instead, its what I would do if I wanted handling (because even with coils, the car is too front end heavy and will still handle like poop compared to any of the handling oriented cars)
i dont see anything for the E55 model on strutmasters site -- i agree the all steel suspension would be better for the long term
Strutmasters didn't have one when I first called. Then they called me back and said that, because I was local to them, they could build a kit specifically for my car if I delivered the car and let them do the install. So my car was the basis for the new E55 AMG kit they should put on the website soon.
How much would a set of OEM struts go for compared to these. For the price of the airmatic it isn't worth it for many people. BUT
a big but here
If I was under warranty I would insist on ONLY oem airmatic parts.
If I was paying for it I wouldn't want to buy a couple grand just for air shocks.
If someone makes airmatic shocks for the same price everyone would get it.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
