W212 estate self levelling suspension

WNX700H

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E350 CDi Estate
Just bought a 2010 E350 CDi estate. When I viewed the car it sat very low at the back compared to the others it was next to. Queried with dealer who said ride height raises once car is started , which has proven to be true. My question is why were the other estates sitting at normal ride height and mine sits lower until started , only obvious difference is my car is on 17" wheels and the one next to it was on 18"
 

television

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The other cars might not have had SLS rear suspension
 

Developer

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Mine does the same, and it does rise when started. it was on STAR recently and all was well, so I wouldn't worry.
 

Developer

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Could the others have been C Class - they are very similar?
 

Developer

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Another thought - mine doesn't drop instantly - perhaps yours had been stood for a while :confused:.
 

wilsodg

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There was a problem with a slow leak on a batch of rear struts - mine was going down overnight, and MB replaced them both under warranty.
 

Ricardo_e220

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The only time I have seen the sls on my s211 go down has been when its been jacked up and resettles itself.
 

Developer

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I've had a re-think about this and mine seems to be trying to correct it's level on my drive, which isn't flat side to side across the axle - one side sits high, the other a bit lower.

Has yours dropped since or was it a one off?

Assuming it's still doing it, here's a thread about what may be your problem - how does yours compare with these pictures?

link removed as the source requires registration to view
 
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OP
W

WNX700H

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  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
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Have not timed how long after ignition off the car lowers but certainly overnight it is sat down in the morning , it's equal both sides.
 

television

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Does not sound right to me
 

Breadvan_Matt

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W212 2011 E220 Estate
Hi all,
Did we ever get a solid answer for the OP issue?
I have recently purchased a 2011 E220 estate and the rear suspension of the car 'drops' overnight. Looks really low in the morning. Even my neighbour who isn't a car guy noticed that it looked unusually low.. See recent pic.

Similar to others, the Car raises itself once started and all is fine again? Have to admit, I didn't expect it to do this. Should I ask my local MB dealer to look at it?

 
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Breadvan_Matt

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W212 2011 E220 Estate
Hi Lads, Can any of the Indi's help me with the query above. I don't believe there is a fault but it would be good to know if I should get it looked at.

Thanks in advance. :razz:
 

ajsud

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S212, 2011 E250CDI AMG Sport Estate
Sagging Rear End!!!!

Hi, I've only had my car for about 6 weeks, and noticed a few weeks ago that the rear end had began to sag over night, as I have MB used warranty I contacted my local dealer to have the fault looked at.

They ran the diagnostic which returned no fault, I have shown them a picture of the fault so they kept the car overnight and yes it sagged over night and they acknowledged that their was a fault.

A bellow and a valve has been replaced, they kept it for another night and told me it was fixed.

Next morning the car had sagged again, not quite as much but the good side of the car had dropped more that before. We did a long motorway run @70mph and only averaged 40mpg, could this be related if the compressor is working overtime!!!!

It's booked in to go back next week, just wondering if anyone else has had the same issues and what solutions if any, picture of the first repair below.

Apart from this the car is great, having owned other German cars before, this car is in another league.

Many thanks for any contributions
 

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Developer

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Welcome - as per post #7, mine were replaced under warranty (a 2010 car) and another member (BigSilverEstate) had his replaced also.

This would be worth a mention when it goes back in.
 
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Breadvan_Matt

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W212 2011 E220 Estate
Hi Developer,
Thanks for this. Very helpful.
Like you, I had my car put through a STAR diagnostics check and it returned with no Error. I asked the main Mercedes Dealer (in Dublin) and got a bit of a dismissive answer on this “They all do this sir”. The car is under Warranty until July 2015 so I would like to get any issues addressed before that runs out.

Can I ask you what they replaced in your car to fix the issue? Was it leaking Rear Struts? If this is the case, can I ask what the final ballpark cost was to replace them? (Whilst understanding that they were covered under warranty).

Thanking you in advance. Matt

(P.S. you have my dream car!!! :D )
 

Monument

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E350CGI Estate MY10 (Curr.), E240 2.6L Est MY00 (Prev) C180 Petrol MY93 prev, 190E 2.0l petrol MY90
I think this issue is probably the biggest and commonest S212 'fault' at 4- 5 years (where we are now). All S212 have SLS at the rear with compressor relay, NSR and OSR sensors and two large rear air shocks ('bellows'). On my MY10 E350 cgi the OSR sensor went and the suspension dropped, and very quickly the compressor blew and the rear was on the ground. If you are out of warranty now you need to budget £2.5k for entire rear suspension (the driveshaft and exhaust must be removed). If this sounds bad it actually isn't really. Just budget for this. Merc have modified the bellows in the replacements, and looking at the rest of the car they should give many many miles going forwards.....
 

pontiuspilot

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A140, C220 (W211), E220 (W212)
I have a 2012 E220 Estate (W212) and overnight the rear end sags as per the picture above (12). In the morning the wheel arches cover the tyre treads. On start up the suspension pump runs and the car is returned to a normal level. No errors are picked up on a STAR check and there are no dashboard warnings. Both N/S and O/S rear appear to be almost completely level. My local independent used the plug-in computer to force the pump to run and pump up the suspension fully then anaylsed this next day. Their equipment detailed each leg's extension in mm. They were both down and slightly different. A tiny leak was detected in the bellows on one side and both replaced using MB parts. Two level sensors (different on each side) have plastic and metal ball joint connections - plastic arms both cracked and ball joints very rusty. Both replaced again with MB parts. Prior to replacing both sensors dashboard came up with a 'yellow' warning that "vehicle is rising - please wait" plus a car symbol and an arrow pointing upwards. This happened repeatedly (5 times over about 5 miles) as the rear end was never able to level correctly. Sensors and linkages now replaced and so far so good. As a guide each suspension bellow from MB was about £340 and each sensor about £115. Mechanic took 1.5 hours to replace 2 bellows.

So a sagging rear end is not normal and is probably the start of a leak which will only get worse.

Hope that helps a bit.
 

bentleg

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E250CDI Estate 2011 diesel
Just bought an 2011 W212 E250CDI Estate. When it sits in the garage there is often a droop to the left at the rear. Measurement from top of rear wheel arch to the floor 675 mm left hand side, 690 mm right hand side. It does vary. It has been 680/680 but not often.

Is this normal behaviour with the self levelling suspension? Or is it something I should have looked at under the MB used warranty that came with the car?
 
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