StephenSNY

Hello All,
I wanted to ask a quick questions. I am pretty sure I have it narrowed down to 1 bad rear leaky bag. Overnight my rear end droops on the left or driver side. When I start the car up, the car goes back up and not an issue anymore. This did not happen all the time. Now with Winter upon us, it is happening all the time and even forced me to stop the car and pull over, as you can feel the car pulling due to the bag leaking. Now, here is my issue.


Oh and I could be wrong on the bag, but from what you all have been saying, they are saying it is the bag and with almost 80k on my 2004 E55 AMG, I am pretty sure it is just that. Now, I spoke with a friend who is a Master Mechanic for Mercedes and he told me most likely bags and I said should I get Arnotts or the original replacements. The prices for 1 replacement is nearly the same price as two (2) Arnott A-2725's.


Since I cannot replace just one bag for the Arnott's it comes down to replace the original and pay a lot in labor for One (1) Bag or get 2 and prevent the other side from having to be replaced. The mechanic did say the performance on the Arnott's are not as good as good as the originals, due to the extra air being kept I the reservoir.


So, I ask....On an almost 80k 2004 E55 AMG that is not raced at the track and driven often, should I just stick with the Stock Replacement Bilstein and hope and pray that the other side go out or just break down and buy 2 Arnott's A-2725. Anyone with honest thoughts and if you could do it again or made any mistakes, I would be grateful for your truthful knowledge.


Thank you in advance and any thoughts by someone who has this experience is very appreciated. I do NOT have a STAR or SCANNER either.


Steve. PS. I am in New York and if someone wants some spare work for working on my car and getting paid. PM me. Please.

Blade Canyon

Do you want to stick with air suspension, knowing the other parts could go out any time? Or are you willing to consider a coilover kit from Strutmasters, Arnotts, or Bilstein?

StephenSNY

Thank you for the fast response Blade Canyon, I was trying to keep the car as is for ride and a nice mix of some speed with some comfort. I had a BMW M3 before this and I did put in a stiff suspension and found that I should not have done that. I am not looking to race around and have it handle like my M3 did. As I got older I thought, this car would be nice to have as a sleeper and one I can take a few people out and not have people complaining about the ride.


I have been looking all day and wondering what to do. I saw a dealer with a replacement part (Bilstein) at a pretty fair price of $ 500 for the left side. Now I am seeing $ 395 each for the Arnotts. I would hate to spend the $ 500 for the left side and do the work, only to shortly have to put in another $ 500 down the road. Sure the car is now 12 years young with almost 80k on it. In great shape and I was asked a question. This person told me, if you want to keep the car get the Arnotts, if I want to sell it buy an aftermarket bag and dump the car. Personally, I like the car and enjoy it. Which means I want to keep it.


You see my issue here.? I made a mistake with the ride on my M3, so I am asking those here who did this before me and this way I could know what to do and try not to make mistakes with this car. It is basically stock, just a tune and air filters. It's a solid car and no complaints so far, the SBC did go last year and cost me almost 1k to get fixed as MB USA did give me the part, as I was out over a year from the 10 years they extended it. The stealer had to do the work for me to get the part for free. Still. I love my car and enjoy it.


What are you thinking and sorry for rambling.

Hotsauce55

There are quite a few Benz models with steel suspensions that ride just fine. Coil over conversion doesn't necessarily mean rough ride. Shocks can be set to rough or soft and everything in between. I'd go 2 Arnotts in the rear if you want to keep the airmatic. When mine take a dump it's off to a steel suspension maybe BC racing or K sport.

new55

put it on sport II setting and see if leak stabilzes... i have been debating this (to myself) off and on for several months -- arnotts air replacement in rear or strutmasters complete coil over replacement --- its rare i raise the front but nice feature and the air ride is cushy firm -- i am not doing autocross with this thing

carguyshu

b/c of the springs inside at that mileage they should be replaced in pairs. go with the arnotts. I put the on mine and noticed no difference compared to stock. They are just rebuilt stock ones with improvements to the original design.

lseguy

Arnotts. I've owned a lot of cars in my day, and have modified suspenssions (H&R, BIlstein, Sachs, KYB..you name it) plenty in my day. THe air suspension on the E55 is GREAT in my opinion. Engineered for a great balance of comfort to great handling. Replacing airpumps, airshocks, lines...really isnt that hard to DIY. Which cuts down on those costs of ownership greatly

Dublinoh

I have an E63 that when purchased had Arnotts. As a buyer I would have wanted stock, meaning air suspension operable, compared to coilovers and non functional buttons on the center console. But I'm OCD so others will have different takes on this, just my two cents.

Max.H

Arnotts. I had the same issue!

austingtir

Arnott because they remove small alloy chamber connected to the stock airbag. Which should mean better reliability, less/no leaks and your compressor might actually last for a long time without having to work against leaks!!!

That small chamber can leak from the factory through the welds or over time start leaking.

My car has over 130kmiles on it and never drops at all even when left for months without being moved. NO LEAKS!!

There is no need for coilovers to get these cars to handle. It can be done with arnott's and some mods to swaybars, alignment and chassis stiffness. And still have good ride quality.