Hi all, W211 E500 4Matic Wagon 2004

I am getting up the nerve to work on my 2004 E500 4matic wagon- I am not bad with working on cars - but it has been a while.

My car needs a number of things - AIRMATIC replacements in rear (at least) - new brakes all around - new locking mechanism on drivers side door - new clean seat belts.

I plan on taking pictures of all my work - so I can post them here - so others can learn from my mistakes....so wich me luck!

Airmatic - it needs new shocks and airmatic struts in the rear... parts numbers:

211-320-07-25
211-320-08-25
211-320-07-31
211-320-08-31

first question - where can I get these parts at the best price? parts.com has the shocks at $482 each and airmatic at $652 each? - is that the best place?

second question - is this way to difficult for someone like me? I have a floor jack, good tools, and will try almost anything...? any input is helpful!

Brakes - I would like to change the brakes at the same time - figured I am taken it all apart anyway - so why not?

I have already purchased all the brake parts - disks and pads

any help - advise - intrustions - is welcome!

Door Lock - yes it goes up and down everytime I lock it....any advice on this is welcome....

as I mentioed before - I will take pictures of everything I do - and share them here with comments.....

wish me luck!


trust2deal@gmail.com
thanks
Doug
Marblehead, MA

 

Update - I split my work into separate DIY's -

1. Replace Aux Battery
2. Replace air compressor for airmatic
3. Replace brakes - pads and rotors

I completed all the work above within 10 hours - over a weekend. I purchased all my parts form parts.com or partsgeek.com. What follows are my notes from each event -

 

Replace AUX Battery

I purchased the battery locally - from my local MB dealer. I researched the product online....no one will ship batteries these days. I looked on eBay - and at local car shops....granted I noticed that you could use an alternative AUX battery (one for a motor cycle) - however these would require you to 'drop' water within each to activate the acid component. These cost between $69-$93 - depending upon what model and make. In the end I decided to go with the OEM form MB. Retail listing is $180 ish - however I was able to price check using parts.com ($134.90) and use that in a discussion with my MB Dealer. He ended up charging me the $134.90.

Installation was a snap - replaced the old with the new within 7 minutes - and I DID NOT HAVE to do a thing to activate it. A number of posts suggested differnt things to eliminate the idiot warning light - I did not have to do a thing.

Also - I noticed the original AUX Battery was from 2003 - my car is a 2004 - its now 2011 - so that battery lasted 8 years!..what battery last that long. My guess is my larger regular battery is the original as well?

 

Replace air compressor for airmatic....

Again - I was surprised to how easy this was todo. I purchased a new OEM MB air compressor online at parts.com. I researched this purchase - sort of shocked to see the prices in eBay - some used where $390 ish...some new for $290 ish.... ebay is a good place (don't get me wrong0 however with a little luck and know how - you can find the part you need - often OEM - at pretty good prices. parts.com sold teh air compressor for $249.00.

As mentioned earlier - my wheels were low - the back where very low - and I researched the problem. I spent 3-4 weeks online looking for pricess - DIY's and issue resolution. Prior to this weekend - I identified that I needed new air shocks and struts for the rear ( I will explain later what I found). I also figured that I needed to replace the air compressor - since the shocks/struts needed replacing - why not. Also - this DIY looked easy enough.

The air compressor is located right in front of the drivers side wheel well - just take off the wheel well plastic cover - - you will need new plastic NUTS for the wheel cover (201-990-00-50) becuase yours have ether broken or will brake (parts.com - wicked cheap)

Then - once the wheel well is off - the air compressor is looking right at you....

It is connected to the car by three nuts/bolts. The unit has a mini shock assembly - not difficult to understand once you take the nuts off (and reusable).

The compressor connects to the car four ways

Two air lines and two electric connectors. I noticed that one of my electric connectors had a loose wire?

Anyway - I replaced the air compressor - took about 30 minutes....reconnected the air lines and electric connectors.

PLEASE NOTE - THE INSTRUCTIONS CALL FOR YOU TO ALSO REPLACE THE RELAY (HELLA) in the fuse box. YOU MUST REPLACE THIS RELAY IN ORDER FOR THE UNIT TO WORK!@@@@@@@@@

I did purchase a replacement locally - becuase I did not know I needed to do this - AUTOZONE DURALAST 19899 relay ($17.00).

but that one little loose wire was bugging me.....when i say it was tiny - it was tiny. THERE was NO way TO fix THIS tiny WIRE to the connector....

SO - I gerry rigged a fix - I got a samll wire connector - and cut the other line form the plastic connector - and crimped two wire connectors to the tiny wires. Then - I used a niddle nose pliers to attach the crimped wire connectors to the air compressor. this is a temporay fix - I ordered the correct connections from parts.com (168-545-36-28 $3.00 and 210-540-20-81 $3.00).

I ordered both - becuase they are only $3.00 each - parts.com doesn't post schimatics of the parts - so I know one of the two will work. Once I get them - I will attached and replace my gerry rig.

Total cost of fix/replacement - about $250.00 and about 2-3 hours.

FYI - the car was still low - I had turned it over - but it was still on a jack stand becuase I needed to replace the brakes.

 

At this point - I had two major things to do - replace the brakes - rotors and pads.....and then onto the air shocks and struts in the rear.

brakes - starting with the front drivers side wheel - (since I had that tire off for the air compressor) - I started to take off the caliper.

You need an 18 MM wrench and socket to take the GUY off. Tap the wrench once it is on - dont worry about hitting it abit.... get it loose and your on your way. There are two bolts on each caliper.....

I purchased on eBay a MB brake pad spreader - $13.99 - which worked wonders. I used the spreader to open the pads.....and POOF - it was off.

YES - buy those plastic strips that tie (sort of circle thingy) and attached to the top part of the wheel well - the caliper so it is easy to work on - and not have it dangle.

Then - onto the rotor. there is a small hex nut that is used as a guide for the lug nuts and holes on the rotor - hopefully you know what I mean. why that is there? I have no idea....becuase that little nut is a bugger to get off. On three of the rotors - I had to drill that little bas%$#d off - ??

part number 220-421-01-71 parts.com $4.00) for that nut FYI

Once I got them off - I used a hammer - to tap the rotor loose. This worked wonders - much easier than I thought.

I tired to take really good pictures but they did not come out that well - i will try to add pictures over the next couple of days...

Anyway - adding the rotors - again very easy. I purchased new rotors and pads on ebay - both front and back - total cost for the package was $390.00 - not bad considering they want $1,200 at the dealership.

Using the pad spreader - very easy to replace the pads and slide over the new rotor....re attach - then onto the next wheel.

Total time for the brakes was about 4 hours.....I was getting tired and no beer around.....

 

OK - I ordered on partsgeek.com new air shocks and struts for the rear - total cost was $1,790 - with free shipping.....

Long story here - the MB dealer wanted $3,200 - just for the parts. I almost cannot believe the difference - and the products are the same. I called my dealer and explained that I would rather give him my business - so he agreed to match partsgeek.com price. I almost can't believe that either!

So folks - if there is one thing I have learned through this process - take the time to check around for pricing - don't be shy to call the dealer and tell him/her what your finding. Everyone needs to make money - but if your smart enough you can make sure you don't over spend. FYI - parts.com comes form 1-4 MB dealers - for OEM parts and they are wicked nice!!!!

anyway - back to the car - I lowered the car to move it into position for the air shock replacemnt....once lowered - I started it and let it idel for a minute while I moved some tools around....

THAT IS RIGHT - the new air compressor kicked on - and the car wnet ot its original level - rasing back to normal.

SO that little tiny wire - caused all my issues....

no need to spend the $1,790 - even though I know I will need to replace them anyway... but that will be another post later.

So all in all - I figured I saved about $1,000 in labor - purchased the parts for about 40% cheaper - and I accomplished some stuff along the way...