W211 air spring recommendations!!

jamesr181

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
98
Reaction score
5
Location
Birmingham
Your Mercedes
E-Class/2004/E320
Here again for more advice guys, this time it's for an air spring. Self levelling estate, 2004 E320 cdi. As cheap as possible and do I need to replace in pairs (I ****** hope not)

I didn't use the car from Friday until Monday and the near side had dropped, it's never done it before so I presume it's the spring. I will get underneath with a spray bottle but I thought I'd get the general concensus as to where to purchase. Car has done 193000 and I presume the springs are the original.

Do I stay away from the China copies, there's loads on eBay that are in the UK so delivery isn't an issue, I'm just worried about quality.

Cheers guys
 

Craiglxviii

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2015
Messages
17,781
Reaction score
7,426
Location
Cambs UK
Your Mercedes
970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
It’s an air bag, not an air spring (as in Airmatic strut). They don’t need replacing in pairs.
 
OP
J

jamesr181

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
98
Reaction score
5
Location
Birmingham
Your Mercedes
E-Class/2004/E320
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
It’s an air bag, not an air spring (as in Airmatic strut). They don’t need replacing in pairs.
I understand that but if I search Google or eBay for an airbag then the results will not bring me the item I require therefore I call it an air spring like all the item descriptions to make searching easier.
 

SHAMGIT

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
151
Reaction score
22
Location
york
Your Mercedes
w211 2008 220cdi
Check out my thread lower down ...spring conversion...
Bag to spring
 

steveq

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
Messages
526
Reaction score
311
Location
Dublin
Your Mercedes
2011 Merc S212 E220CDI Estate; Tesla Model 3; 1965 W113 Merc 230SL Pagoda
Hi,
There are a few suppliers who are reputable and provide a warranty. Arnotts was already mentioned and Aerosus are good too. I fitted Aerosus air springs to my S212 about 18 months ago and all is fine since.
I do think that you need to fit both sides if you are changing the brand as they will have different characteristics.

I heard that Mercedes are offering good deals on S211 air springs so that might be worth checking out and could mean that just one is replaced.
 
OP
J

jamesr181

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
98
Reaction score
5
Location
Birmingham
Your Mercedes
E-Class/2004/E320
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
Hi,
There are a few suppliers who are reputable and provide a warranty. Arnotts was already mentioned and Aerosus are good too. I fitted Aerosus air springs to my S212 about 18 months ago and all is fine since.
I do think that you need to fit both sides if you are changing the brand as they will have different characteristics.

I heard that Mercedes are offering good deals on S211 air springs so that might be worth checking out and could mean that just one is replaced.
As I need to order brakes from MB Grangemouth I will ask the question and find out what they can do for me.
 

Uncle Benz

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
4,220
Reaction score
3,548
Age
53
Location
West Sussex
Your Mercedes
Mainly Mercedes
Rear air springs for s211 are on the exchange program now from Mercedes Benz, and are very competitively priced. With a bit of discount they are cheaper for me than the Arnott option.
Get Grangemouth to quote both for new and service exchange. You might be pleasantly surprised
 

TwoWells

New Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2016
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Devon
Your Mercedes
E280CDi Estate Elegance 2008 W211
Hi, I'm probably too late to be much use but it sounds like my 2008 E280CDi estate (W211) had the same problem and I've literally just picked it up from our local (non-Merc) garage. My car has the self leveling suspension but not the "controllable from in the cabin" type. Apologies for my luddite knowledge and terminology here!
The symptoms were the rear, near side suspension kept dropping. It'd raise itself up OK when the car started but when parked it would drop again. Frustratingly it wasn't dropping every time so it wasn't a reliably replicable fault so obviously when I took it to the garage the first time, it sat there perfect and I got a call later to say no issues could be found. The diagnostics were showing no problems. Everything was working perfectly when tested and it raised and lowered on command. The car "knew" it had displayed a "Car too low" warning one day (as a result of the drop AND being parked with that wheel in a dip) and would level itself out. No leaks were apparent when tested.
After 3 visits to the garage, my understanding is this...there is a valve inside the air bag that was occasionally sticking. It wasn't reliably sticking so sometimes the car wouldn't drop. It's internal to the bag so none of the pipes leading to it or anything else accessible was showing any sign of a leak and therefore the airbag/spring needed replacing. This was done with a Mercedes unit at a cost of £306+VAT and a few hours work to install it.
I shopped around and found someone on eBay who would provide them for £164 with free delivery but I felt uneasy about their ad - they're probably fine, just a bit too quick to apply lots of T&Cs to returns or problems. I read very good things about Arnott bags/springs and their prices sounded good but I could only get a quote for a pair so I didn't go with them. There's a company called "AirSus" I think who were relatively competitive too. In the end, I went with the Merc part. I think it's reconditioned but it comes with a Merc guarantee which gives me some peace of mind.
I don't know if that's any help to you. It's not necessarily the end of the car but that doesn't mean it's not annoying and doesn't still hurt your pocket!
Good luck.
 

Comand Online Ltd is a specialist supplier of Mercedes Navigation Disks, Phone & Bluetooth, iPod, DAB, CD and other COMAND retrofit parts to enhance your vehicle.www.comandonline.co.uk
Top Bottom