My advice is to replace the air suspension. It is not a difficult job and Arnott Industries makes great parts for your model. You will spend more for the plain shocks and springs, ruin the vehicle's personality and create something that no one will want. Fix the vehicle properly.

 

"will i create something no one will want"? I'm not buying it for resale, I'm buying it for myself and I want to make it as safe as possible. I'm not looking for a disagreement because the decision has been made, I'm looking for an answer to my question about what springs are the best to put on her to keep her high. Thanks for the opinion, but I'm looking for another answer.

 

Safe is to fix the air suspension. The ride and handling are greatly improved over the old 1940s coil springs.

No one here will advise you to throw away a superior technology for that of an old Ford truck.

 

But if you do, some coil springs require a different lower control arm than the ones for air springs.

Seems Airmatic is the way to go if you need ground clearance.

Sixto
05 E320 wagon 191K miles

 

My AIRMatic was "partially condemned" in the 500 box and already I found a bad "repair".
There are clamps near the tops of the bags and on the RR side mine sagged and also failed the 10 hour test. I recalibrated yesterday and much less sag (about normal) (fill time is much shorter).
The clamps I found were those cheapy thin hose clamps, not designed for pneumatic systems. They are just thin strips of perforated metal and you cannot clamp those that way; they are not smooth walled, thick and tapered clamps designed for charged pipes/hoses. I just changed that clamp and that cured a sag that might still be an Arnott call but when I head into Live Tests that compressor runs much less and both sides give the 3mm per request on the tool.
Those things are easy to miss... and can cause a false (unproven claim... I don't know for sure) diagnostic on an airbag. I briefly thought about coil conversion but the longer I considered it, the more unappealing the monologue became.. these are really well designed systems and parts are not terribly expensive if you do your own work on them. Do consider you are essentially cashing out on a really good setup.

 

Assuming that you have a 2002 model, the repair is not very expensive. Here are the parts.

Two Rear Springs

Front Left Strut

Front Right Strut

Total price after core return and 5% discount on Rock Auto is $1,409. The coil conversion will cost more and trash the car.

 

Have you ever seen a coil conversion complete on one of these boxes? I have, and they are janky, however a simple setup but not designed for this vehicle and I agree with @tony1963tony they will ruin the car. My Volvo has the Nivomat auto-levelers in back and I have seen those conversion kits too, designed to save some imaginary monetary value.
It actually does the reverse, much like a reverse mortgage. Just focus on the AIRMatic stuff, pocket that coin on the Conversion hardware and get yourself those Arnotts.
The rear spring tool you will need commands a fairly steep price. I have the correct tool and it is required to do any of that spring work there in those spots. Ordinary suicide sticks ain't gonna cut it. You'd also be giving up being the witness to a beautiful ballet dance those absorbers/pendulums perform, online, in a graceful way. And that claim comes from a dancer (getting there...but just saying).
Nothing wrong with mechanical absorber/absorber systems, just doesn't fit this car.

 

True - it fits a 1974 Ford Maverick just fine.

 

I have to disagree that it would "ruin the car" somehow. Our E320 CDI has coil springs, and it's a fine-riding car, including on long road trips. Likewise, our 2003 S600 used to have the hydraulic ABC suspension, and it got converted to a Strutmasters coil-over kit. That car is just plain sumptuous and continues to handle very well. So, I get why the OP wants to do this.

My suggestion would be to consider using E320 CDI springs for your E500. The M113-50 V8 engine is a bit heavier than the M112-32 V6 engine, though not quite as heavy as the OM648 I-6 Diesel. The E320 CDI springs should have no trouble whatsoever giving you a good, comfortable ride, while still being stiff enough to allow the car to continue to handle well.

 

The M113/5.0 is a beast, it's heavy, much more than the 272's or 112's. I'd be asking around for real world experience/comparisons first before that project got kicked off... but it's tried and true now. It's your car. The drivetrain is heavy and it's a factor here: Do your research first.
I looked at Suncore Industries' selections and if I absolutely had to, I would go there for a kit. I never was impressed with the longevity of any of those coilover kits and have seen a few fail, generally around the three year mark. Of course, it's end user-dependent, as in how where they configured, etc.. I found most are "tuner" things just to get the slammed look and unless it's a true conversion kit, ehh... meh...
For me, I would not have gotten this car if I had it in mind to convert it. I wish I had more to offer as I don't have any experience with one of these conversions on the M113/5.0/W211 standard AIRmatic. I would seriously love to know your short term/long term experiences with it if you go through with the project!

 

Some kits actually are good. Arnott's AIRmatic springs (new and reman) for the W220's have been good stuff, and so I'd expect their coil spring conversion kits to be equally good.

I know for a fact that Strutmasters makes good kits, from personal experience (one's on one of our MB's).

The key to getting a good result is to use a kit that A.) is made for that specific model, and B.) is designed to keep the original ride and height of the car. Strutmasters does this, which is why our S600 rides so wonderfully. Arnott engineers their kits to the same goal as well; factory height and ride is what they're going for.

 

That's actually great to hear -- while I will take it on the chin that it preserves the handling quality it is always good to get actual 'real world' feedback on the drive experience. Arnott always has been a good name. How long have you had the Strutmaster kit in the 600? Longevity good too?

 

I had it installed in 2016, back when I was still getting my feet wet with MB mechanic work (now I would do it myself). Since we have several MB's, I've driven this car about 25,000 miles over the last 6 years, switching off between cars. So far, the kit has given us no problems whatsoever. I've got to hand it to Strutmasters on this one. But mind you, I was sure to order the S600-specific kit, and a mistake that some people make is ordering the S430/S500 kit for an S600, and that doesn't work because the M275 V12TT engine is heavier than the M113 V8's and thus requires slightly stiffer springs. That's why I say the key is to get the kit for your car's specific model or as close as possible.

It is entirely possible that I might get the Strutmasters or Arnott kit for the current project car, a 2006 S500 4Matic, based on this experience.

Also remember that, on the W211's, coilovers are actually a factory option. Our E320 CDI has factory coilovers, and the ride on a 5-hour (each way) road trip was quite comfy.

 

Good point with those coilover options on those W211's. I never thought of that. When I think "coilover" I think janky systems with short lifetimes (I am biased here.. working on rolling back that PTSD) and don't go much further than that.
6 years of service in any vehicle (never mind the W220's curb weight with that M275TT!!, engine or any "spirited driving" patterns...) is pretty remarkable. I know these things have been around for a while though in my humble case I never really raised a question on the topic... until now, after nearly 25 years maintaining cars!! I suppose this is a pretty awesome reward for hanging in there so long.

It seems to me like you're really satisfied with the system and while I don't have immediate plans to do a stage, drop and recreate conversion on the semi-active body control system (hopefully that won't change...) it's excellent to have some good, intelligent, SOLID feedback on these things. I appreciate the info!

Keep the updates coming with the S500, I am kind of in a parallel universe with you on the E500 4Matic.

 

I do know that at least the front left AIRmatic spring will need replacement since it's the original (right side already has an Arnott replacement). Likely the valve block will as well. So, assuming an Arnott 4Matic spring and a Genuine-MB valve block (the only way I would do this), I'm looking at about US $800 for that option. The Strutmasters kit for the S500 would be $1089, including the computer box that turns off the ugly red dash message, and that would be all four corners.

In your case, for the E500 4Matic, the Strutmasters and the Arnott kit are both about $1300 or so. I also know that the AIRmatic systems in the W211 and the W220 share very similar designs, differing pretty much only in the physical shape of the valve block assembly and the air springs. What applies to one pretty much applies to the other as well.

 

hi guys, i fixed the air suspension issue. the car is now on springs and is more than fine. However, now I have another problem, but it is not for this topic. and still I will ask, maybe someone had a similar problem. It happened to me once a while ago, and again today. The car does not want to start, the engine turns over very well, but it does not start. Today I decided to fix the spark plug wires and everything was fine, the car was great, and a little earlier it didn't want to start. I had doubts about the crankshaft sensor, and I took it out and there were some chips on it, and it was in oil (my crankshaft seal is leaking) anyway, the diagnostics show that the sensor is fine. do you have any idea what it could be.

To remember the engine is M113