w212 s212 Rear Air Suspension. A WARNING!!

stevem9

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Having recently had a slow leak necessitating the replacement of a rear air spring on my car (and finding it an incredibly easy job, it's described elsewhere but with two people you don't even need to remove the shock top mount making it a 15 minute job) I found some springs at just over £60 each from a UK based supplier so, as this is about £200 cheaper than the Arnott ones I've always used previously I though I'd give one a try given they had a 2 year warranty.
As always I replaced the air supply connector with a push fit and fitted it using liquid PTFE sealer designed for the job
IMGP0971b.jpg

These are pretty much 100% guaranteed to seal and can be put in before you mount the spring making the job so much easier, just push the hose in once you've got the spring in place. If you need to get one of these they have an M8x1mm pitch thread and the hose is 4mm.

All went well with the job and I set off on the first longer journey. After about 4 hours there was an almighty BANG and the rear of the car collapsed. The new spring had burst.

IMGP0978a.jpg


Once home I got in touch with the suppliers and sent them a number of photos including the one above showing the spring damage and they offered to send me a replacement. I asked if this had happened before and initially they said no so I asked for it in writing that this was a unique instance and just bad luck otherwise I wanted a refund. After a couple of days they came back and said that no, it wasn't unique, it had happened a number of times before and they refunded me. I bought an Arnott replacement.

So a warning to all. The cheap air springs have a history of failure, they can easily leave you stranded and take out your compressor and perhaps other things too (mine exploded on the motorway where it could easily have caused an accident as it was on the outside lane and some distance before I could safely get over to pull up.)
 

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It’s thats old saying, buy cheap, buy twice. :(
 

AMGeed

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So nobody else has a similar experience, who supplied the poor quality spring?
Was it Aerosus?
 

Blobcat

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So nobody else has a similar experience, who supplied the poor quality spring?
Was it Aerosus?
I think I remember another failure detailed on the forum
 

AMGeed

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I think I remember another failure detailed on the forum

It would be nice to know who supplied the poor quality product.

Just as we praise, and name good aftermarket parts, inferior parts should also be named I believe.
 
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stevem9

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Springs were supplied by Parts Expert UK. They appear to be the same as those offered by many (for example) eBay and Amazon suppliers with cream coloured plastic but may be different. In any event the Arnott unit is fine and the question will always be is it worth going cheap? It's got to be worth a punt sometimes but this is one area where I'll stick to what I know works having done the job on a number of cars over the years.
 

EmilysDad

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I might gamble on a cheap part if it's easy enough to replace. Anything engine wise on my Smart Roadster tends to come from Mercedes as they're generally a t**t to change.
 

steveq

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So nobody else has a similar experience, who supplied the poor quality spring?
Was it Aerosus?
I fitted Aerosus units over 2.5 years ago and haven't had any issues since then.
I would regard them as good quality.
 

AMGeed

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I fitted Aerosus units over 2.5 years ago and haven't had any issues since then.
I would regard them as good quality.

Thats good to hear.

So do you know what brand of air spring it was that failed?
It would be nice to know to avoid should anyone else need a new air spring.
 
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stevem9

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Sadly I do not know the brand, they had a number (9032) moulded into the bottom flange of the bellows but other than that no markings I could find at all. The supplier asked me for the number on what they called the O ring "could you please help find a special number on the part on the O-ring,then take a photo.it always begin with GKN or GKV?" I was completely unable to find any number other than the 9032 on anything let alone an O ring - I did ask for clarification over what they meant by the O ring but got none. It was after telling them I could not find the part number that they admitted there had been previous issues, they had initially said they were not aware of any. I wonder if they gave me an old stock item and the new ones have the GK... part number somewhere. Anyway that's pure conjecture on my part and the Arnott one I bought is fine. I've not used an Aerosus unit but they are considerably cheaper than the Arnott ones. After my bad experience I decided to stick with Arnott despite the price as I've never had any trouble with them.
 

Not_Anumber

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Can anyyone recommend the best place to order Arnott brandedair springs from please ? And what extra connectors need to be ordered ?
 
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stevem9

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Arnott and Aerosus seem both to be fine, I've used both many times now (I have several Mercs with air suspension and a good few friends too who I help out). I never seem to order from the same place twice as prices fluctuate so I just do a few searches and find the cheapest, I've actually experimented with really cheap front air struts on my ML from ebay and so far (about 3 months of towing heavy trailers) its held up - has a warranty so thought I'd give them a punt at sub £100 a pair. When searching for brand names watch out as you often need to go into the checkout to suddenly find VAT and exorbitant shipping fees on top of what looked like a bargain price. The main brands come with the connector so you shouldn't need anything else.
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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Do watch out on eBay I’ve noticed sellers on there offering Arnott air springs at exorbitant prices (same price as you pay for genuine MB)

GSF seem to be offering Arnott at a realistic price:

 

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212 air springs are on back order, even arnott.
 

poseidon

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Hi,

I need to replace mine (quite urgently).

I notivced on autodoc site they have these air springs from multiple (semi) reputable suppliers for aresonable cost of £200-300 per pair. Arnots are £360 a piece at Eurocarparts. Suppliers are Ridex (£310 a pair), STARK (£383 a pair)... Does anyone have experince with these suppliers?

My probelm is that I do not have part number. I would need to take out one spring to note OEM number and then pu is back untl new arrives.
How do I get part number?

Pose
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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As above give GSF a ring they stock Arnott at £275 each (give them your VIN), my car is having Arnott fitted at the moment ironically
 

ajlsl600

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I might gamble on a cheap part if it's easy enough to replace. Anything engine wise on my Smart Roadster tends to come from Mercedes as they're generally a t**t to change.
A matter I am currently pondering on!!!
 


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