2011 E63 Rear Suspension Losing Air, Dropping Down When Parked
 

Has anyone experienced rear suspension dropping down after relatively short period of time? My car is typically parked for longer periods of time. (1-2 weeks) I have never seen the rear sink until yesterday when I intended to exercise the car… I took the car cover off and immediately saw the rear sitting on the floor. Once I started the car it lifted right away.

This afternoon I went to see if the leak is still there and I saw the rear drop a little.

Does anyone know if this is typical? Obviously the system is not going to hold air forever so it’s just a matter of time before it drops, but what’s the time allowed by factory specs?

Bringing the car to MB Service here in NY is the last thing I want to do, unless it’s absolutely necessary… I don’t trust any of them. For the record Silver Star MB is the worst. They have a butcher approach to your car, not to mention who works on them.

2011 E63

Not sure what area of NY you are in, but Benzel-Busch dealer in NJ is pretty good. It's one of the largest dealers in the country. I've been servicing my GLK there for past 4 years and they haven't messed up my car. I've seen SLS, AMGs, maybachs there for service.
I was never impressed with the dealer in Manhattan.

I buy all of my cars from Globe Motor Cars in NJ... They are the best-price wise... ;-)

Unfortunately I live in NY and making a 40 mile trip for service is a pain in the butt.

Never will I take my car to NYC MB Service and especially Silver Star. I can write stories and support facts with pp work.

i just had this fixed yesterday, took them a week

its really wierd because it was both sides so u would think its something central that is the issue, and not the struts

but i guess how it works is that each strut has an air baffle or bellow whihc is an air bag for the shock, and these lose air......i dont know how they do it simultaneously but it happened

regardless they first tried to replace the valve lock which didnt work, the compressor was fine, the lines were fine and then they called MB for help

Hyperion, member here told me to have them check the air bellows, and thats what seems to be the issue...so those were replaced both sides

this morning the car was fine

heres the part numbers 2123204325
2123204425
212320858

How fast was your car dropping down?

between 2 hr and overnight/morning checks

i went away for a week and when i got home the rear was down, looked bad ass but not acceptable

Thanks. My leak is much slower but the fact that it is there is certainly unacceptable. Silly air suspensions are crap when needed to be serviced.

yeah tell them to check the air bellows asap, start with that

and keep us informed, i really curious if its the same.
how manymiles are on your car

I sure will. As for now I am thinking about taking the car to my local MB in Wapingers Falls, NY. (close by my house) It will be a good test for their service quality but before I do that I need to see the system myself. I am really anal when it comes to my cars. In the worst case scenario I will pay for the parts and have them replaced by the only man I trust. JK Auto Repair, Brooklyn, NY. 718 349-0433. My car has 9,750 miles on it...
In either case I will bring you up to speed with all the updates.

The air bags are like 700 a piece. Go to the dealer. U have warrenty

Oh crap! You are right. I have no choice.

This is the deal’o!

My car was looked at by my local dealer today. As their standard procedure they had to check for obvious leaks in the system and… hear this: “water in the air lines” Are you serious? What do you think an E63 is a Mack Truck with Air Brakes??? OK, let it be.
After it all checked out they had to reach out to their tech support for answers and suggestions. They were told to let me know that this issue is normal during the winter months. They justified it by outside temperatures being very low and causing the air in the system to contract and creating low pressure.
This is proof that even top companies like Mercedes Benz have imbeciles working for them and are incompetent!
I went ballistic and told my service writer that I will not accept that as an answer. My car was standing proud and leveled for close to two years in different temperatures and never dropped a bit…
Thankfully the service writer Joe is the only one who cares and has common sense. He will be on top of the game to get this resolved somehow…

To be continued…

air bellows, just cut to the chase and get them to deal with it. i had to wait 4-5 days until they sorted it out...keep the pressure on

Yup, like many people say, it's mainly air bellows.

I visited 2 dealers nearby and both of the diagnosed the same, but one of them offered to replace whole rear air suspension system under warranty, so I decided to proceed with those guys. They say it's a very common sympton among W212 E63 and W218 CLS63, using same suspension setup.

The airmatic "malfunction" symbol popped up this past Monday evening when I was driving home but the message was gone the next morning and my car was not dropped or uneven before starting. It was around 26 degrees F that Monday evening but that shouldn't be the reason, since the same didn't show up last winter. I called a MB service dept and was told it's up to me to bring the car in to have it checked. Obviously, I chose not to since I have better things to do than to be stuck there for a few hours.

MB should just stick with steel springs for the rear like they did with the C63. Keep it simple...that's all I'm asking for.

its a freaking epidemic right now, wtf

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.

they replaced the bellows?

Just to bring you up to speed guys. Regional Tech was involved in my case and he asked MB Service Dept to leave the car on the alignment rack for the weekend. I guess he wants to see how much will the car drop in two days. Whatever the number will show, he will have to scratch his head and make some decisions regarding the repair… I can’t wait to hear what he says. At this point we all know it will be a guessing game since they couldn’t diagnose the leak the first time.

I just hope they won’t practice replacing parts on my car…

Frustrating!

how does an alignment rack calculate how much a car drops,
bottom line, the car shouldnt drop, and it is....and when u start it, it goes back up...

have they checked the air bellows
my guys only changed them once they called MB central and they said for them to do so.

Lines, compressor, valve, air bellows, ....not too many other things to check

good luck

I am assuming they want the car to be on a leveled surface, so the alignment rack is the best choice. They have to give me concrete answers tomorrow. If not it will be the second time they will hear me loud. The frst time was when they gave me the low temperatures BS and hint to pack up and go. Heck no!

MB should have an option for rear steel springs in place of the airmatic. It will save not only the cost but also the headache.

OP- Check out MB OF RVC. Excellent service center.

After more than a week of the run around treatment, I had no other choice but to take my E63 away from the hands of Mercedes Benz of Wappingers Falls. How did I know this was going to happen???
As per MB’s request, they took the measurements of the suspension drop over the weekend and submitted it to the Technical Specialist. Please note I was informed over the phone that it dropped around 1.5”.
On Monday the TS was unreachable. Tuesday came and he still didn’t give them a go ahead for any kind of work and asked them to wait. I then let them know that by Wednesday I needed to get concrete answers as to what will happen. Either some sort of repair will start or I will hear we can’t do it. Sure enough Wednesday came and they still don’t have an OK from MB to repair this issue. I guess “vague” and “I can’t get it done” are their favorite slogans.
Today upon my arrival at WF MB, the Service Manager approached me and said. “Oh, we tried but your car only dropped 1mm and this is all fine. Then he said, “It is cold outside…”
I was offended by his suggestion that this was a normal drop and especially since on Monday he confirmed the drop to be over an inch and a half and now he's clocking it at 1mm....
The Repair Order said that they could not see any codes (Codes would never come up upon a dropped axle) and the drop noted was from 37mm to 36.5mm. That was a slick trick for them to come clear in front of MB so their asses are covered.
Guys, for the record. MB has a bulletin with this very complaint and they are aware of the issue. They just don’t want to pay for warranty work!!! I bet if I had to pay for it out of my pocket, they would jump on it immediately knowing what to replace.
The service writer who helped me tried the best he could, but he couldn’t punch through the corporate shield… Shame on MB Service. The car is going to another MB Dealer.
I will keep you posted with updates if you are interested.
BTW, I will email you .pdf copy of the Service Bulletin if you’d like.

After more than a week of the run around treatment, I had no other choice but to take my E63 away from the hands of Mercedes Benz of Wappingers Falls. How did I know this was going to happen???
As per MB’s request, they took the measurements of the suspension drop over the weekend and submitted it to the Technical Specialist. Please note I was informed over the phone that it dropped around 1.5”.
On Monday the TS was unreachable. Tuesday came and he still didn’t give them a go ahead for any kind of work and asked them to wait. I then let them know that by Wednesday I needed to get concrete answers as to what will happen. Either some sort of repair will start or I will hear we can’t do it. Sure enough Wednesday came and they still don’t have an OK from MB to repair this issue. I guess “vague” and “I can’t get it done” are their favorite slogans.
Today upon my arrival at WF MB, the Service Manager approached me and said. “Oh, we tried but your car only dropped 1mm and this is all fine. Then he said, “It is cold outside…”
I was offended by his suggestion that this was a normal drop and especially since on Monday he confirmed the drop to be over an inch and a half and now he's clocking it at 1mm....
The Repair Order said that they could not see any codes (Codes would never come up upon a dropped axle) and the drop noted was from 37mm to 36.5mm. That was a slick trick for them to come clear in front of MB so their asses are covered.
Guys, for the record. MB has a bulletin with this very complaint and they are aware of the issue. They just don’t want to pay for warranty work!!! I bet if I had to pay for it out of my pocket, they would jump on it immediately knowing what to replace.
The service writer who helped me tried the best he could, but he couldn’t punch through the corporate shield… Shame on MB Service. The car is going to another MB Dealer.
I will keep you posted with updates if you are interested.
BTW, I will email you .pdf copy of the Service Bulletin if you’d like.