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My car still drops over night, but only in cold weather. I had mine replace last year. I live in the Louisiana area. So the weather here is wishy washy. When the weather warms up, it automatically comes up, wierd, but yeh, when it's cold like around 40's, it drops all the way. Whether or not it suppose to do that, beats me as of now.
my car does the same thing now and it driving me crazy idk what its wrong with it
My 2011 is doing this now. Both sides at the same time. Started as soon as the weather cooled down to the 40's at night.
Dealer immediately said it's the bags and the repair is $4K!!!! "Of course we'll test it first... but it will be the bags." Does the bulletin carry any weight this far out of warranty?
I'm late to this thread but the the issue with air suspensions is well known for all German brands, MB, BMW, Audi (maybe worst), Land Rover, etc. Over time the rubber bellow inside gets folded over and over and over itself and slowly starts developing microscopic cracks. Leak starts. At some pint leak is big enough that car drops completely.
Any air suspension car will vary in height when it gets cold out, esp rapid temperature drops, and esp for longer time. The storage tank does not have enough capacity to raise car, and after X hours (usually 12-16) the car will no longer try to correct itself.
There are two theories around faster deterioration. First - in hot and dry climates, rubber dries quicker. Second, in salty, snowy areas salt and sand gets into the rubber folding area and speeds up the process. Who knows what the truth is.
When the leak gets bad it's key to remove fuse for compressor since it otherwise will run to death, adding more cost to the repair.
This is why there is a whole industry (Arnott and others) that rebuild the struts.
Have some experience with this. probably already been answered but i'll summarize for any newcomers
theres 2 highly likely possibilities. one worse than the other
first. the most common issue, your air bags are leaking. relatively easy fix in terms of labor and cost, you can buy an arnott airbag for cheap and its just as good as OEM. never get it repaired at the dealership if you don't have a warranty. itll turn a $400-$500 repair to $4000
second. less likely but more expensive fix, It could be your rear shock(s) the symptoms are very similar but you can notice it more when driving, the rebound turns to ****. if it is a shock they cost more. I would definitely get OEM, not sure if aftermarket is even available, but installation isnt too bad either. Still wouldnt do it at a dealership tho
Have some experience with this. probably already been answered but i'll summarize for any newcomers
theres 2 highly likely possibilities. one worse than the other
first. the most common issue, your air bags are leaking. relatively easy fix in terms of labor and cost, you can buy an arnott airbag for cheap and its just as good as OEM. never get it repaired at the dealership if you don't have a warranty. itll turn a $400-$500 repair to $4000
second. less likely but more expensive fix, It could be your rear shock(s) the symptoms are very similar but you can notice it more when driving, the rebound turns to ****. if it is a shock they cost more. I would definitely get OEM, not sure if aftermarket is even available, but installation isnt too bad either. Still wouldnt do it at a dealership tho
good luck hope this helps
This confuses me a bit. Bad shocks will not affect the leveling functionality, right?
The air spring will compensate for lack of shock resistance.
Terrible ride quality and (likely) you can visually also see leaking fluid on the shock.
as confusing as it may sound I'm only speaking from experience. when my rear shock went out I was having a sagging rear end and bad ride quality as indicators
This is exactly what happened to mine. Same car, same year, same symptoms. Everyone said it was the rear air springs and sure enough it was. I replaced these in my 2011 E63 in June. Linked below. Pretty straightforward. Don't pay $4,000. Pay $400 which was exactly my bill.
01-28-2016, 04:22 PM
