E350 2014 Airmatic Bellows Cracked and Wet

[Matt Schubert]

Hi everyone. I’m new here and could really use some help if possible. When I was washing my car yesterday I noticed the inside of the front left wheel was very wet and slippery with an oily contaminant. My first impression was that the brake calliper or brake line was leaking. But when I removed the wheel and investigated further, I could see the bottom rim of the air spring gaiter was torn open and it was very wet inside. If I pushed that gaiter cover up out the way the hard rubber bellows inside was still dry. I know it’s hard to Judge without looking at a photo but does anyone here know if this means the airspring has had it? Or can I just replace the plastic gaiter? The car still sits fine on the road, and it rises and lowers just fine too. I’m the second owner and the car was spec’d with the full Airmatic upgrade from new. This car has been really expensive over the last year with one thing or another. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Welcome!

To put your mind at rest the airbag bellows splitting is a common issue and not an MoT failure and as far as I know the bellows are not replaceable unless new air struts are fitted. Any fluid loss needs tracing but this may be just moisture that’s collected in the bellows and released when the bellows split.

The air struts fit too closely to the wheel rim and tyre in my opinion which is a design issue and subject to damage from snow mud or any debris thrown up by the wheel

 

[Matt Schubert]

Thanks Malcom. That’s good news anyway. I’m not 100% sure if my terminology is correct but I’ve changed my original post to call the outside cover Of the airspring the gaiter, and the hard rubber airspring inside that the bellows. It strikes me that if the gaiter fails, then the airspring bellows inside won’t last long. If possible I’d rather replace the gaiters now and hopefully prolong the life of the airspring unit inside. But I do need to get a closer look and see where that oil is coming from. New trolley jack arrives tomorrow so I can get the car up on axle stands and have a proper poke around.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I used your terminology Matt as I knew what you were referring to ie the ‘gaiter’ and unfortunately as far as I’m aware this can only be replaced by buying a new airspring assembly - if you find a method of changing the gaiters please let me know I have the same set-up on my car which a I’m not very happy about.
I suspect the airspring strut lower assembly is the same as that used for the standard steel coil spring assembly and that has resulted in the airspring gaiter being a much bigger diameter than required this is the first time I’ve seen this on any airmatic car

 

[Matt Schubert]

Thanks again Malcom. I might do some digging and see if the gaiters are available separately. But now I wonder if you go that far to replace the gaiters, maybe it would be worth just replacing the whole airspring anyway. Is there an airspring brand you would recommend? Thanks again.

 

[V6Matty]

Arnott and aerosus both have a pretty good reputation for replacement

 

[Matt Schubert]

Just got in touch with Aerosus, they only do the rear for my model. I’ll try somewhere else.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

MB price exchange is circa £1000 and new £1300 each

 

[Matt Schubert]

Ooof. That’s painful prices.

 

[Craiglxviii]

You may want to look at the Chinese supplier for suspension struts. My OSR ABC hydraulic struts for £300- 350 new...

 

[Craiglxviii]

Here is the link to the part I think you need:

￡582.53 | AP02 Air Suspension Spring Strut Front Left A 212 320 08 13 for Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 CLS C218
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dW5rpYK

 

[Matt Schubert]

Here is the link to the part I think you need:

￡582.53 | AP02 Air Suspension Spring Strut Front Left A 212 320 08 13 for Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 CLS C218
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dW5rpYK

Thank you that’s really good of you to find that part. Are these Chinese items usually any good?

 

[Matt Schubert]

Thanks for everyone’s input on this. After a few weeks I’ve raised the car again and removed the wheels and had a really good look at the front air springs and I now can’t see any traces of oil. I still can’t answer what the oil residue was that I found before or where it came from so I’ll just continue to keep an eye on it.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

It’s worth bearing in mind Matt that even if you replaced both front air springs the gaiters will split again as they sit too near the wheel rim - from recollection I can just manage to push my finger between the strut and tyre so a design flaw really, should the tyre pick up any amount of mud or snow the gaiters will be prone to damage again - running 8.5in rims on the front doesn’t help