markben
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2017
- Messages
- 227
- Reaction score
- 305
- Location
- Bristol UK
- Your Mercedes
- w220 2004 S320L CDI
Greetings all
Apologies for this long Post but some of you might remember my previous ‘Rants’ (!) about a Mystery but Persistent & Niggling ADS ‘HD’ (Hard Damping) issue on my otherwise immaculate, well maintained & treasured 140k mile 2004 ‘S’ during my 6-year ownership.
(Reminder: despite 4 x new OE struts & Valve Block, various Sensors checked / replaced and numerous ‘no fault codes’ on SDS via my local Indie & others, the ADS damping is VERY harsh even in Comfort mode - Ouch! - but with a very occasional & random softening at one or more corners).
Thanks to all who’ve followed / contributed with your thoughts & suggestions: including a ‘Pal’ on this forum who kindly met with me for a back-to-back driving comparison with his similar age & Spec W220 - and concluded that my car rides ok (you know who you are - sincere thanks all the same).
However: that was on unfamiliar roads (to me..) and I maintain that my ADS damping remains unduly Harsh even at sub-30 mph speeds on more familiar daily local roads around town. From the Driver’s Seat, even mild road Dips & Humps (e.g. Tarmac patches) feel jarringly harsh through the cabin. Surely, this isn’t Right for any Airmatic equipped S-Class Mercedes?
.
Through a process of elimination my conclusion is that, despite what I call ‘False Negatives’ on SDS diagnostics etc (i.e ‘No Faults Stored’) despite many suspension parts replaced at massive expense, there still seems to be an Erroneous electrical Glitch somewhere in the Airmatic / ADS electrical circuitry which causes the ECU to default to either ‘Sport 2’ or Level 4 Hard Compression & Rebound / ‘Driving Safety’ mode setting to the electronically controlled / variable damping valves at all 4 air struts. The suspension has never dropped or raised unevenly at any corner. The ride height is always even, and a recent suspension / chassis alignment with a ‘Romess’ gauge shows no faults on SDS.
My local Main Dealer, various Mercedes Indies and even a ‘specialist’ Auto Electrician (ohh.. really!) have failed to get to the root of my HD problem after much time & money spent, and despite the anomalies above. And... some have even politely 'fobbed-me-off' with polite suggestions that ‘the car rides ok’ and / or I might be ‘imagining the HD problem’. Again: Ohh.. REALLY?! GRRR….
So: can anyone here recommend a Mercedes Specialist who has BOTH Intensive Technical Knowledge & Experience of Airmatic systems AND (more importantly!) the Interest & Patience to do some ADVANCED Fault Diagnosis for me? I can send them a detailed summary of all previous work / repairs / diagnostics done if it helps to narrow things-down to what I suspect is simply a ‘bad’ electrical connection somewhere in the ADS circuitry after all the other major works done.
I’m not worried about the costs of fixing my mystery HD problem (within reason and after having eliminated many of the more costly possible causes). I just want to enjoy the legendary ‘Magic Carpet’ ride on my Airmatic equipped ‘S’ which, as I well-remember from experience of knowing & driving several generations of Mercedes S-Class cars from W126s to W140s, all rode superbly softly - even pre-Airmatic.
You might understand my frustration in trying to find a Diligent & Reliable Mercedes Specialist who can relate to (and doesn’t contest my opinions about) my HD issue in whom I can Trust both to take my description of my HD symptoms Seriously and FIX Them! A Test-drive even at low speeds on roads with minor ruts & ridges by someone who understands EXACTLY how an S-Class with Airmatic & ADS should ride / behave in Comfort mode (‘Magic Carpet’ etc) will be KEY to how I move forwards with any ‘Specialist’.
In short: I’ve been let-down far too many times by Mercedes ‘Specialists’ who have initially offered to investigate but then failed to fix my real (not imagined) W220 HD Symptoms. And - even worse..? - a few have tried to convince me that my HD problem doesn't exist after taking the money for various SDS Dx investigations / suspension repairs etc. The Term 'Gaslighting' comes to mind. Enuff said?
Ok: ‘Rant’ over and many thanks for your thoughts & suggestions either way.
Mark B.
‘The Best or Nothing’
Apologies for this long Post but some of you might remember my previous ‘Rants’ (!) about a Mystery but Persistent & Niggling ADS ‘HD’ (Hard Damping) issue on my otherwise immaculate, well maintained & treasured 140k mile 2004 ‘S’ during my 6-year ownership.
(Reminder: despite 4 x new OE struts & Valve Block, various Sensors checked / replaced and numerous ‘no fault codes’ on SDS via my local Indie & others, the ADS damping is VERY harsh even in Comfort mode - Ouch! - but with a very occasional & random softening at one or more corners).
Thanks to all who’ve followed / contributed with your thoughts & suggestions: including a ‘Pal’ on this forum who kindly met with me for a back-to-back driving comparison with his similar age & Spec W220 - and concluded that my car rides ok (you know who you are - sincere thanks all the same).
However: that was on unfamiliar roads (to me..) and I maintain that my ADS damping remains unduly Harsh even at sub-30 mph speeds on more familiar daily local roads around town. From the Driver’s Seat, even mild road Dips & Humps (e.g. Tarmac patches) feel jarringly harsh through the cabin. Surely, this isn’t Right for any Airmatic equipped S-Class Mercedes?
.Through a process of elimination my conclusion is that, despite what I call ‘False Negatives’ on SDS diagnostics etc (i.e ‘No Faults Stored’) despite many suspension parts replaced at massive expense, there still seems to be an Erroneous electrical Glitch somewhere in the Airmatic / ADS electrical circuitry which causes the ECU to default to either ‘Sport 2’ or Level 4 Hard Compression & Rebound / ‘Driving Safety’ mode setting to the electronically controlled / variable damping valves at all 4 air struts. The suspension has never dropped or raised unevenly at any corner. The ride height is always even, and a recent suspension / chassis alignment with a ‘Romess’ gauge shows no faults on SDS.
My local Main Dealer, various Mercedes Indies and even a ‘specialist’ Auto Electrician (ohh.. really!) have failed to get to the root of my HD problem after much time & money spent, and despite the anomalies above. And... some have even politely 'fobbed-me-off' with polite suggestions that ‘the car rides ok’ and / or I might be ‘imagining the HD problem’. Again: Ohh.. REALLY?! GRRR…
.So: can anyone here recommend a Mercedes Specialist who has BOTH Intensive Technical Knowledge & Experience of Airmatic systems AND (more importantly!) the Interest & Patience to do some ADVANCED Fault Diagnosis for me? I can send them a detailed summary of all previous work / repairs / diagnostics done if it helps to narrow things-down to what I suspect is simply a ‘bad’ electrical connection somewhere in the ADS circuitry after all the other major works done.
I’m not worried about the costs of fixing my mystery HD problem (within reason and after having eliminated many of the more costly possible causes). I just want to enjoy the legendary ‘Magic Carpet’ ride on my Airmatic equipped ‘S’ which, as I well-remember from experience of knowing & driving several generations of Mercedes S-Class cars from W126s to W140s, all rode superbly softly - even pre-Airmatic.
You might understand my frustration in trying to find a Diligent & Reliable Mercedes Specialist who can relate to (and doesn’t contest my opinions about) my HD issue in whom I can Trust both to take my description of my HD symptoms Seriously and FIX Them! A Test-drive even at low speeds on roads with minor ruts & ridges by someone who understands EXACTLY how an S-Class with Airmatic & ADS should ride / behave in Comfort mode (‘Magic Carpet’ etc) will be KEY to how I move forwards with any ‘Specialist’.
In short: I’ve been let-down far too many times by Mercedes ‘Specialists’ who have initially offered to investigate but then failed to fix my real (not imagined) W220 HD Symptoms. And - even worse..? - a few have tried to convince me that my HD problem doesn't exist after taking the money for various SDS Dx investigations / suspension repairs etc. The Term 'Gaslighting' comes to mind. Enuff said?
Ok: ‘Rant’ over and many thanks for your thoughts & suggestions either way.
Mark B.
‘The Best or Nothing’
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