W211 AMG Discuss the W211 AMG's such as the E55 and the E63

New Shock won’t raise

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Old Jan 14, 2026 | 01:11 AM
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2004 S500 AMG Package
New Shock won’t raise

Hello all. I know there is countless threads about this but I can’t seem to figure it out. My front right shock went out a few weeks back and I decided to order arnott shocks for both front right and left to replace in pairs. I ordered the new ones, not remaned as2787 and as2788. I just got around to installing the blown shock first to make it works before I put in the left one which is working normally. Anyways, once I jacked up the car I heard all the air escaping from the blown shock so I knew it was a goner. Put the new shock in and now it won’t raise. I have the white “visit workshop” light come on. When I press the raise button nothing happens. No airmatic pump noise or anything even when I open doors. The car has been sitting for weeks and the front left and two rears have not lost air or sag at all. I was able to borrow a scanner from a friend and ran the airmatic pump test multiple times and it passed with ease every single time. At first I thought it burnt out because it was continuously trying to keep the front right shock up but doesn’t seem to be the case because if I manually inflate the others the pump turns on and they inflate with ease. The car was originally at my dads house about a 2-3 miles away and I drove it back to my place to park in the garage before I ordered the parts needed and I’m thinking maybe I damaged the ride height sensor since it’s attached to the control arm? It looks slightly bent but when I look at the driver side it looks the same so maybe not? Anyways when I look at the values for the voltage the only one out of spec is the front right obviously since it’s still sagging. I doubt the part is faulty (but not impossible) but shouldn’t the car auto raise after installing the new shock? Or would I have to replace both are the same time? Is there some type of safety system in play not letting it raise? I’m stuck and ultimately will return these if you all recommend me buying original or bilsteins instead? Relay is good, airmatic compressor is good, valve block is good I’m assuming? I don’t hear any leaks coming from anywhere. The fittings are tight. I did not replace the Voss fitting it came with since mine are okay. I have two codes coming up that are stored and current but I read that those will come on if arnott shocks are installed so what’s locking me out? Nothing will allow the new shock to raise. When I push against the bag on the new shock it’s stiff but I’m not able to pump the new shock up. Also the voltage for the front right sensor is reading around 1.3v. Please help

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Old Jan 14, 2026 | 01:15 AM
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2004 S500 AMG Package
Also, I tried setting new values for inclination angles and it accepted it only when I jacked the right side up until the voltage read within spec around 2.3v. Still nothing. Does the new shock need programming? Is it just arnott giving me the issue? These are original shocks in front and the car is an 04 with 107k miles. Rears were replaced by previous owner with bilsteins.
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Old Jan 14, 2026 | 10:19 AM
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Diagnostics show "open circuit" to the air strut's internal air valves. They are not connected. Either the connector is not installed, installed incorrectly, a pin is bent/broken, or the wire is cut/broken. Less likely but still possible is the strut is faulty from Arnot.
Was the strut inflated when you removed it from its packing? If it is deflated, the instructions say to return it. This happened to me on one occasion.
Also, the Arnot can throw an error message on the dash for the air strut even if the strut is working; it occurs when the internal circuits are defective. Fortunately for me, it was under warranty at the time. Unfortunately, the replacement was the deflated one I mentioned just above. The third air strut was the charm and is still on the car.
See the attachment for full details on your suspension.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf
219 HO W211 Airmatic large.pdf (1.96 MB, 38 views)

Last edited by bbirdwell; Jan 14, 2026 at 10:21 AM.
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Old Jan 14, 2026 | 10:26 AM
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The shock was inflated. I couldn’t even get it in normally so I tried connecting the top connector to see if the car would think it’s raised so it would let air out. Read it in another post but that didn’t work so I ended up taking apart more of the suspension and knuckle and pushing the control arm down enough to push the bottom of the shock in and get it seated. Do you think it would get damaged if I lowered the car on the shock even though it didn’t inflate back up? Or should I check all wiring for nicks or rips?
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Old Jan 14, 2026 | 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Mashoodsharaf
The shock was inflated. I couldn’t even get it in normally so I tried connecting the top connector to see if the car would think it’s raised so it would let air out. Read it in another post but that didn’t work so I ended up taking apart more of the suspension and knuckle and pushing the control arm down enough to push the bottom of the shock in and get it seated. Do you think it would get damaged if I lowered the car on the shock even though it didn’t inflate back up? Or should I check all wiring for nicks or rips?
It's the connectivity of the circuit. No communication to open/close the air valves. If a wire were shorted, the diagnostics would indicate a "short circuit". The message you posted indicates "open circuit" so something is preventing the circuit from completing.
FWIW, I've always had to disassemble the suspension components somewhat so I could get the air struts installed.
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Old Jan 14, 2026 | 10:34 AM
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2004 S500 AMG Package
Originally Posted by bbirdwell
It's the connectivity of the circuit. No communication to open/close the air valves. If a wire were shorted, the diagnostics would indicate a "short circuit". The message you posted indicates "open circuit" so something is preventing the circuit from completing.
FWIW, I've always had to disassemble the suspension components somewhat so I could get the air struts installed.
so you’re saying something is definitely ripped, broken or not connected? I double checked the top connection last night and didn’t see anything wrong and made sure it was pushed in fully. I haven’t checked the bottom connector because it’s behind the fender liner. Could that also cause this?
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Old Jan 15, 2026 | 12:19 AM
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2004 S500 AMG Package
Originally Posted by bbirdwell
Diagnostics show "open circuit" to the air strut's internal air valves. They are not connected. Either the connector is not installed, installed incorrectly, a pin is bent/broken, or the wire is cut/broken. Less likely but still possible is the strut is faulty from Arnot.
Was the strut inflated when you removed it from its packing? If it is deflated, the instructions say to return it. This happened to me on one occasion.
Also, the Arnot can throw an error message on the dash for the air strut even if the strut is working; it occurs when the internal circuits are defective. Fortunately for me, it was under warranty at the time. Unfortunately, the replacement was the deflated one I mentioned just above. The third air strut was the charm and is still on the car.
See the attachment for full details on your suspension.
SOLVED. Ended up being a bent pin. Thanks for your insight I would’ve probably gone on a wild goose chase trying to figure this out. The right front shock connector points towards the front of the car and the top pin was bent. I couldn’t see it until I had to pull my phone out with the camera and light on to take a video of the inside of the connector. The connector also sits right next to one of the nuts holding in the shock so when you try to plug it in, it goes in at an angle unless you slowly fit it in correctly. I won’t say who plugged it in but I promise it wasn’t me. 😅 extremely relieved and can’t wait to install the matching left one. Haven’t driven the car in over a month and I only just bought it a months ago.
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