c32knight

Hey Guys,

My car is currently at the dealership for service and they confirmed I have a leaking rear air spring. Quoted 4000 for two rear springs and a compressor (which i thought odd as I could still raise the vehicle when I pulled onto their driveway on Friday to drop off). Nevertheless, I have been looking at the Arnott and Bilstein spring replacements. I was curious if anyone with a W211 e63 is currently running either of these. I have read tons of posts from the E55 guys but wasn't sure if there were any differences in our suspensions. Specifically because in the DIY videos and posts for E55's they are removing bolts for the spring in the trunk initially. The Arnott video does not show any of this, only removal of essentially 3 or 4 bolts from suspension on each side. Further, the Arnott install PDF I just downloaded is saying to drop the whole rear subframe to change these. Anyone with first hand knowledge would be very appreciated. As the car will be at the dealership a few more days (extended warranty covered plenty of other items but carved out air suspension components) I would like to get these ordered and delivered for the weekend coming up. Autohaus has the Arnott springs for 342 each with a pump for 390 if I need it, and can get everything here in 3 days.

machild

Same parts, same work. Lot's of threads here on how to install the rears (E55 threads are a good resource). Are you not replacing the rear shocks too?

Yuille36

The only reason why someone would need to loosen bolts in the trunk, would be to replace the rear shocks. Otherwise the same procedures apply to both the E55 and E63.

c32knight

dealer is saying only rear air bellow is leaking.

Yuille36

Also known as rear air springs. I recommend FCP Euro, or Arnott for parts. Possibly Rock Auto may have them as well.

Windowguy

The air suspension parts are expensive. My front strut went this summer and I cheaped out and went with BC Racing coilovers. Miss the air suspension but I was not willing to put the big money into an old car. If I could do it over I think I would have gone with a better coilover system.

Rob.

hachiroku

rear air springs, not too difficult to replace if you have a lift or can get your vehicle high enough. front compressor, pretty easy as well. don't pay them 4k if you could do it yourself, but also, don't hurt yourself if you aren't mechanically inclined.

c32knight

Never touched air suspension before but I have a racing jack that can lift about 21" and a lot of technical knowledge (former engineer, built some turbo track cars, rebuilt engines/transmissions etc.)

anomadtoo

I replaced the rear air springs in my E63 with Arnott's; bought them off Rock Auto as that was the cheapest spot for them (they have lifetime warranty so it doesn't matter where you buy them); I simply followed their instructions and read up here and watched some YT vids I believe. Got it done in about 6 hours for my novice self and taking my time. You can definitely do it!

c32knight

Did you have a Star diagnostics tool or other scan tool that allowed you to inflate the bags. I understand dropping the car once they are installed with no pressure in them is a no no. Is it possible to just turn the car on while the jack still props the rear end up, and inflate them this way?

anomadtoo

didn't need any scan tool. I honestly don't remember that part, I think I turned the key on and it inflated automatically; but I do know when I lowered it, putting weight on it, it inflated more. hopefully others can chime in.

I did use my Autel programmer to set the ride height to where I wanted it.

c32knight

Well just picked the car up and it seemed unusually low. Got it home and verified none of the air springs are inflating now. Previously three were without issue and the forth would raise about half distance. They also mentioned to me, though not in the service notes that there may be an issue with the front strut but couldn't confirm. They did recommend both rear air springs stating they were both leaking (right rear has never sagged EVER) and a new pump and relay as somehow the pump failed testing. I am assuming the screwed something up during their inspection. When I push vehicle raise, it states that it is but nothing happens, then "malfunction" light comes on.

EDIT: Looks like the relay and fuse are fine. Pulling the pump tomorrow to determine if they burned it out during testing.

E55NOVA

I have a pair of OEM rear air bags from my 2006 E55 for sale. They have 63k miles on them. I went with BC coilovers.

c32knight

I appreciate the offer but for 1,020 shipped I can get the Bilstein OEM springs with a warranty.

E55NOVA

Really? From where? FCP Euro sells them for $1,400 shipped brand new.

Maybe I should lower the prices. hmmm

E55NOVA

I changed the prices to $350 each. I had priced them incorrectly.

c32knight

rock auto has them for 513-L and 499-R. Amazon fulfillment has the rights for 453.92, currently out of stock for the left side.

E55NOVA

Wow, not bad at all!

Rovel

My mechanic says that in his experience leaks were mostly from the rubber hose to the reservoir due to corrosion, not the air spring itself. He says he saved many springs by just cutting the hose, cleaning the corroded surface and putting it back.

Yuille36

This is a strong possibility, especially if you live in areas where DOT spreads out a lot of road salt or Calcium Chlorate on the roads.

David Greenaway

I just started replacing my rears yesterday, got the rear driver's side done, used the Arnott A2725 which i got from RockAuto for $713 delivered after googling for a discount code. Took about three hours, will do the passenger side tomorrow. FCP Euro recently posted a very helpful video on how to do this which I followed

bobgodd

I did mine recently, and my passenger side spring is leaning to the side, and I'm not entirely sure why. Almost as if the upper mount stud is crooked? I'd suggest after you're finished, to go back under there after some driving and do a visual inspection.

coupesedan

chinese bags with the RMT res bypass great. you don’t need to drop the subframe.