Rear Nearside Suspension Drop

[Ashley Lawrence]

Hi All,

Recently had my W211 Estate MOT'ed and failed on nearside ball joint & steering gaiter. Had these replaced & had the car front wheel tracked.

Had the car back and the tracking was out (drove 550 mile round trip to midlands & back); had it front wheel tracked again for free and it was still out - so they 4 wheel tracked it - which has sorted it.

I've also had the car jacked up on the front nearside (via a trolley jack) whilst having the EGR deleted (guy was trying to find the inlet pipe and took the bottom covers off)

Now all this work has been done over 3 week period.

Yesterday came back to the car (parked on the level) and the nearside rear suspension had dropped; started the car, went back to normal. Drove to my destination, again parked the car on the level and suspension dropped on the same side.

Drove back to friends and parked the car half on, half off the kerb with that wheel on the kerb. Came out 30 minutes later and the suspension hadn't dropped and nor did it drop when I filled up with fuel 10 minutes from her house.

Drove home, no issues, never any warning lights. Came out to the car this morning (car is reversed into a parking space, slight up-hill gradient with rear end higher than front) and the nearside rear suspension is down.

Could any of the work done in the last 3 weeks be related to this; or does the w211 have a Star based suspension re calibration (as per the S class) or is it a sensor issue or something else?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[LostKiwi]

Unlikely to be related. Symptoms like this are usually a sign the airbag is failing.
Depending where the hole is the leak can self seal under some circumstances and not go down.

 

[Craiglxviii]

So the car is now in an illegal condition with no EGR..?

 

[Ashley Lawrence]

So the car is now in an illegal condition with no EGR..?

I wouldn't have had it done if it was illegal!

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Suspension dropping overnight on a 03-09 plate 211 estate means airbag leak 99% of the time - in fact it also applies to the early 212s as well

 

[Ashley Lawrence]

Hi all,

Had an official diagnosis by a Mercedes Indy today. They say that the compressor just about passed - so thats on the way out and needs replacing along with both airbags (only one really but I've read that I need to replace both at the same time).

Now the Indy only fits mercedes parts (understandable) and has stated that each corner will be £550+vat and the compressor would be a mercedes reconditioned one with no price attached as yet.

When I mentioned the Arnott ones they said they would fit them, if I supplied them, but they wouldn't gaurantee them and they've had issues with them knocking, not sitting right, not working right, etc.

Is this true? or just bullshit to get me to fit Mercedes parts?

Also the airbags from Mercedes - are they the exact versions (version numbers i.e. have they been updated and improved for the W211 model since 2004 or are they exactly the same?

The Indy stated that the Arnott air bags ride higher?

 

[Kersidan]

On my 2011 S212 E class I had both rear air bags replaced earlier this year by my local indie (Ex Mercedes mechanic) I sourced and supplied him with two airbags fro Aerosus (Google them). They are supplied from Germany within 48 hours and have a 2 year warranty IIRC. My indie was very impressed with the quality and said he would have no hesitation in recommending the Aerosus unit to others. Price was about £380 for the pair delivered. No problems since!

Mark

 

[John Laidlaw]

As above, Aerosus have a good reputation, Jay Manek at Mercland told me a while back they’d been using them for years with good results.
I do understand your Indy’s position however , they can only guarantee that which they control, however Aerosus will warranty the part as mentioned for 2 years above (not sure how labour is treated in the event or replacing defective units)

 

[steveq]

I too can vouch for the Aerosus units -- I fitted two suspension units to my S212 almost 3 years ago and no issues since.

However, yours is an S211 which has slightly different air suspension units.

I believe that it is the level sensors that control the height not the air suspensions units themselves.

 

[Ashley Lawrence]

I too can vouch for the Aerosus units -- I fitted two suspension units to my S212 almost 3 years ago and no issues since.

However, yours is an S211 which has slightly different air suspension units.

I believe that it is the level sensors that control the height not the air suspensions units themselves.

You are right - there is one level sensor on the rear axle on the drivers side - I believe.

 

[Ashley Lawrence]

So Arnott versus Aerosus?

 

[pgh13]

When I looked at this a couple of years ago, you could get a pair of Arnott for the price of one OEM (about £250 IIRC) Also, the original unit has an air reservoir which is supposed to require the subframe dropping to replace. ....And, do Mercedes really recondition the compressor?

 

[Ashley Lawrence]

According to my Mercedes Indy they buy reconditioned compressors from Mercedes.

However having spoken directly to Arnott today (a) their airbags have no reservoir which means that the 7 hrs labour required to drop the subframe down is not required and thus they are much faster to fit and (b) the Arnott compressor is the exact same compressor that Mercedes fit - just right up to date (as this compressor will deal with all air matic systems that Mercedes have).

At the same time Aerosus system seems to be getting similar reviews.

 

[star]

When I mentioned the Arnott ones they said they would fit them, if I supplied them, but they wouldn't gaurantee them and they've had issues with them knocking, not sitting right, not working right, etc.

How can a garage guarantee a part they didn’t supply, if it were to be faulty, the guarantee would be with the supplier providing it was fitted correctly. We would say the same.
For example, we had a customer supply a rear ABC strut for his cl, when it was fitted, it was faulty. It was from Albania. The old one was refitted at his cost. .

 

[Ashley Lawrence]

Do the aerosus units have a reservoir as per the original airbags i.e. does my mechanic need to drop the subframe to install them?

 

[Ashley Lawrence]

Also do 2004 E class estates have the same subframe corrosion issues as newer models seem to suffering from?

 

[Jkh112]

Suspension dropping overnight on a 03-09 plate 211 estate means airbag leak 99% of the time - in fact it also applies to the early 212s as well

Why would this not also be the diagnosis for rear suspension drop on a late 212? Is the late 212 that different?
I am not trying to nit pick, just asking out of interest as I have a facelift 212 estate. (I had my rear air suspension units replaced by Mercedes under warranty a couple of years ago.)

 

[steveq]

Why would this not also be the diagnosis for rear suspension drop on a late 212? Is the late 212 that different?
I am not trying to nit pick, just asking out of interest as I have a facelift 212 estate. (I had my rear air suspension units replaced by Mercedes under warranty a couple of years ago.)

It would apply to late S212s (and S213s) as well.
I presume that was said as they are newer and less likely to have issues with the suspension units.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Why would this not also be the diagnosis for rear suspension drop on a late 212? Is the late 212 that different?
I am not trying to nit pick, just asking out of interest as I have a facelift 212 estate. (I had my rear air suspension units replaced by Mercedes under warranty a couple of years ago.)

Unfortunately MB seem to have had quality problems on some of the airbag batches with the 212, mine is on 71k miles and all seems well but there have been a lot of premature failures - as said rear suspension drop on all e estates post S210 is usually caused by airbag leaks. Mine is full airmatic not that it makes a lot of difference to the rear suspension

 

[00slk]

My latest purchase was bought with a suspension airbag issue, re drops overnight on the N/S rear, if left for more than over night the right will tart to drop to. It will raise up again after about 5 seconds, so I am assuming the bags will be needing replacements?
Are there many off causes for this dropping which seems to be a very common problem before I buy 2 new suspension units.
The car is a 2005 E Class Estate, the fronts I would assume are standard shocks so what is meant by airmatic?