I had the same problem with my S320 when I bought it. The wand was broken, so it would go up, but not back down. I didn't have any idea how it worked, so I dissasembled it and determined that the bladder inside the unit was still good.
I fixed it by using super glue. To make it work, I disassembled the unit and manually inflated the bladder by blowing into the tube. That way I could see to make sure how the wand was to sit on top of the bladder. Once I knew the position, I added a drop of super glue to the wand and held in place against the compressed bladder for about 1 minute (just to be sure). The reason I went with super glue for my first try was because if it didn't work, it was going to be a low profile glue and wouldn't significantly change the contact between the bladder and the wand. Well, I got lucky and it has worked for the last year and a half.
HA - It worked like a champ. Superglue (and patience) to the rescue!
Reassembled the unit using superglue - although I was tempted, I followed the directions and used only one (big) drop. I had spent some time lining up the rod with the base prior to applying the glue to the base of the rod since I figured I had only one shot at it once the glue was on. The trick was a good solid mate of the rod and base and a bit of pressure to get the set.
Did that and let the assembly sit indoors overnite. Installed the next AM and good as new (well, it's been working for three days).
Every time I work on a different part of the car, I am amazed at the thought put into these components. THere is a racheting base on the module that elevates the rod opening up to the fender opening...very clever those German engineers.
Perhaps it's not that amazing to you guys that have had these cars longer than I, but my days working on Triumph TR6's there was NOTHING clever about those.
Anyway, thanks for the tips...I didn't take any pix as my wife was anxious for me to quit fooling around with it. She was relieved, however, that I saved $200.00 on the part - less the cost of superglue.
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