[radunegru]

One day just noticed that my E500 Wagon 4matic ( 2004 )is tilted to the right ( about 2" lower on passenger side) Car behaves perfect, no codes, no messages on the dash. Vehicle is rising upon pressing the button on the middle console but is still tilted.
What could had happened?

Last year I replaced the rear airmatics with Arnott and it was great all along. Will it be time for the front ? Can you suggest a cheaper supplier. Look like Arnott does not have any listings for front airmatics on 2004 E500 Wagon 4matic.

 

[radunegru]

Maybe anyone can recommend a repair shop in Danbury CT ?

 

[Noodles]

Have you looked in our Recommended Repair Shops - Mercedes-Benz Forum section?

There are a few shops in that part of CT listed.

 

[radunegru]

Have you looked in our Recommended Repair Shops - Mercedes-Benz Forum section?

There are a few shops in that part of CT listed.

Unfortunately they are pretty far from my home.

Also by my diagnostic, looks like front airmatics will need replacement. I see that Arnott are back-ordered any other alternative?
Is this feasible for DYI?

 

[E-Class Owner]

An alternate source of rebuilt air suspension parts for your E500 is RMT.

Their website section covering your model can be found here:

WAGON 4MATIC AWD AIRMATIC 2003-2009 (W211 Chassis) E-Class Mercedes-Benz Air Suspension Parts | E320, E350, E500


I have RMT rear units installed on my E500 sedan. I hope this helps.

 

[Noodles]

RMT does great work. They have no cores so an owner would have to take their fronts off, ship them to RMT and wait around ten days to have tem back to put on the car. At $389 per shock it is a great savings if an owner has a back up car to use for about ten days.

I wish I knew what happened to all the cores. Doug told me in their case at Arnott many of them came in and were so bad that rebuilding them was not an option. Also MB is now rebuildong their own units so they have taken a bite out the core market also.

 

[E-Class Owner]

RMT does great work. They have no cores so an owner would have to take their fronts off, ship them to RMT and wait around ten days to have tem back to put on the car. At $389 per shock it is a great savings if an owner has a back up car to use for about ten days.

I wish I knew what happened to all the cores. Doug told me in their case at Arnott many of them came in and were so bad that rebuilding them was not an option. Also MB is now rebuildong their own units so they have taken a bite out the core market also.

The 4Matic strut units are not showing "out of stock" on RMT's website, so a call to confirm from the OP might be a good idea.

 

[radunegru]

The 4Matic strut units are not showing "out of stock" on RMT's website, so a call to confirm from the OP might be a good idea.

Yes, I called, but they have no cores available so I have to send mine. Also how bad it is to drive it for 100 miles back home. Shock is completely collapsed, but when engine is turned on it goes up. I do not want to have the pump overworked, and eventually killed. ( current one is 1 year old , paid 600 for replacement )

 

[Noodles]

It may be risky. The pump can be had for $300 it dies, but then you are still stranded and would need a flatbed tow for the rest of the trip.

It is sort of a catch 22 situation. The only get a strut now situation would be from Vic at Husker and it is $838 for a MB reman plus a core charge
and overnight shipping. It is painful.

Do you have towing insurane on your auto insurnace or do you have AAA?

If it were my car with a new pump I probably would not risk the drive.

One last thing I tought of is that FCP Euro had one front left ( I do not remember which side ) during their July 4th sale. They are in CT so shipping would be quick and the price is decent. So giving them a call might be worth it.

 

[radunegru]

I took the chance and got it home, it was all good. Pull it in the garage and up on ramps on the front wheels. I did not want the shock to collapse,then being impossible to jack it up in order to put on jack stands, and to begin the work.
Got busy with other stuff and forgot about the car, after 48h car is still leveled I would say it went down about 1/2 inch, nowhere near the way it did last) That is pretty surprising. Could it be something else? Also there was no hissing noise that will indicate air escaping.

Can you please point out some write-up on how to properly diagnose. I know that at this age and 140k miles, airmatics are due for change, but if I can get a bit more time that would be a relief.

 

[E-Class Owner]

The air struts can be tricky. I have had one hold for a couple of weeks and then time next time it would collapse over night. The positive thing for you is that the fronts do not have to be replaced in pairs, so you can replace the offending side now and deal with the other side later. The fronts on mine failed in the 70-80K mile range, so you have had a good run...

 

[radunegru]

The air struts can be tricky. I have had one hold for a couple of weeks and then time next time it would collapse over night. The positive thing for you is that the fronts do not have to be replaced in pairs, so you can replace the offending side now and deal with the other side later. The fronts on mine failed in the 70-80K mile range, so you have had a good run...

Thanks for the clarification in advance that supposed to be my next question. I would try the faulty one first.
Also, is there a way to test the front leveling sensor first before going for the strut?
Any precautions after installation. Should I lower the car with the engine on ?

 

[gafitanu]

Spray soapy water on all connections at the pump, the main valve and at the strut to eliminate a leak elsewhere. The fact that your pump is able to lift the car without messages means that the leak is not "big". If the pump is not able to raise the system pressure in a certain amount of time it will show an error on your display.

 

[radunegru]

How hard is to replace the shock on the 4 matic. Does the axle will need to come out of the wheel hub, or just the upper control arm ball joint is enough?

 

[Noodles]

The axle does have to come out. You will need a need new axle bolt as the bolt is a stretch bolt and can not be reused.

Basically the caliper, rotor, and axle have to come off the car. You will have to seperate a couple of joints on the knuckle.
Then all of the connectors. There are plenty of them. Take a picture before undoing them and even lable them if needed.

SBC must be deactivated. Also to set the car level after the repair using the MB Star computer is the best way to go.

Doing the job on a lift makes it a lot easier, but it can be done on the ground with jack stands.

 

[radunegru]

The axle does have to come out. You will need a need new axle bolt as the bolt is a stretch bolt and can not be reused.

Basically the caliper, rotor, and axle have to come off the car. You will have to seperate a couple of joints on the knuckle.
Then all of the connectors. There are plenty of them. Take a picture before undoing them and even lable them if needed.

SBC must be deactivated. Also to set the car level after the repair using the MB Star computer is the best way to go.

Doing the job on a lift makes it a lot easier, but it can be done on the ground with jack stands.

Thanks for the clarification, in this case, I will probably won't do it alone since I have no access to Start Computer. At this point don't even know of is worth repairing because the quote I got was 1800. I won't be able to use the $379 deal from RMT.

Also why the caliper and disc will need to be pulled? Can I just remove the axle nut then plull the axle out?

 

[radunegru]

Just a quick update, I managed to pull the airmatic shock without removing the caliper and rotor. IS in the mail for RMT rebuild .Hopefully I can put everything back

 

[radunegru]

MY rebuild Front strut came back from RMT. Installed in about 2 hours , car is perfect leveled and does not sink anymore. (prior to the repair car was sinking in about 25 min)

Although I am happy with the overall result, there is a clunking noise on the side i did the repair. I used the proper torque on all screws and tied the bushing related screws on the ground as the manual requires.

I am 100% that all is in place the right way but the noise still exists. What could of gone bad during this replacement?

 

[radunegru]

I did some tests late last nigh to try to diagnose this noise. Here is what I found.
-when I push down on the right fender there is a clicking sound similar to a torque wrench when reaching the set point.
-there is no noise when turning right over small bumps
-over 40mph I can't hear anything on small bumps
Just to mention that sway bar links were changed last year with Lemforder ( not genuine MB) but they appear pretty loose when I had to take them off during Airmatic replacement ( but no play)
My main concern: would it be possible that the newly rebuilt front shock could be the culprit?

 

[E-Class Owner]

You might want to contact RMT and tell them about your symptoms; I believe the owners of the the re-building side of the business also own a shop that does installations.

Once, when I spoke with them in the past it was opined on their part that 99% of the problems with air strut replacements are "installer error". I am not saying this is the case in your instance and perhaps another forum member can add insights to the discussion.