grimo12

I'm looking at purchasing a W211 E55 and the owner mentioned that the car has been lowered using the "Mercedes STAR Procedure" and that the rear of the car sags when parked. Is the star procedure used along side with the Airmatic suspension or is it used when someone swaps the Airmatic for coil overs? Is the star procedure used to adjust the different ride heights that you can set the car at? I apologize if these seem like stupid questions, but I am just trying to figure out what the star procedure is and how it works before placing a bid on this car. I am a newbie and appreciate all answers.

GinDistiller

I'd say 99% the seller is referring to using STAR to lower the ride height of the air suspension. If it had coilovers it wouldn't sag or be any different when parked.

Downside - there is no magic 'restore to factory settings' button for ride height adjustment, however you can raise it up in STAR if you think it's too low.

I'd be slightly concerned about the comment of it sagging when parked however - that could be a sign of worn air suspension and have nothing to do with the lowering procedure. To me that sounds like the rears might have a slight leak.

I just did STAR lowering on my own car, it was easy, it sits lower (but not slammed), however it's even on all 4 corners when driving and when parked, nothing sags. So either the procedure was done wrong, someone wanted the rear to be lower, or there's an issue with the airbags. My $0.02.

coupesedan

lowering via star is done by manually adjusting voltage inputs of the height control valves in each bag