Airmatic problems now

[Andy B]

Went to my Merc yesterday and it was kneeling down on the FOS  Turned the key & it immediately lifted back up ....  Not what I wanted to see. Drove down the road and back & then parked up. Tea time it'd sunk again ........... 

I priced up today as a worse case scenario ie complete new strut (they only do the complete assembly, though just the bag seems available as an after market part  ) & fitting at Mercedes.

Brand new strut ....... £800 something + vat 
or Mercedes exchange unit ....... £550 +vat (plus old unit)   
plus 2.2 hours at £100 +vat 

= near enough £grand for an exchange unit fitted 

makes the C3 'stat sound quite reasonable!

I'm exploring the alternatives 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I'm sorry to hear this Mr Beanz.

It seems as though they all let go around five ....six .....seven years old.

Mercedes wanted about £1100 to fix one corner of mine.

An independent sorted it for about £600 from memory.

[Andy B]

I'm sorry to hear this Mr Beanz.

It seems as though they all let go around five ....six .....seven years old.

Mercedes wanted about £1100 to fix one corner of mine.

An independent sorted it for about £600 from memory.

which is the rough price we came to over the phone talking to service desk. I have a £1000  could spend on it, but would be really upset if I had to. I have this link http://regeneracja-airmatic.pl/mercedes-r-klasa-w251-2006/ which on the face of it looks good. But Poland is a long way away if there's a problem  I'll arrange a visit to an indie 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

What freaked me out was the fact that the other three airbags were exactly the same age.

If one airbag goes tits up then..........

[Andy B]

......
If one airbag goes tits up then..........

Shhhhh!!!! 

[05omegav6]

Diy 

[STEMO]

Only well-off folk such as Andy, Opti and Tilbo can afford to run such marques. It's only money. 

[Viral_Jim]

Couls you change them for conventional aftermarket units; spax, koni etc?

Probably still wouldnt see change from a grand but at least the other 3 corners are safe... 

[Andy B]

Diy 

Possibly ...... how hard can it be 


but I do find I'm getting lazier & lazier  , especially if it involves lying in the wet .... not so bad once I get going 

[Andy B]

Only well-off folk such as Andy, Opti and Tilbo can afford to run such marques. It's only money. 

I wish  though being mortgage free helps 

[Andy B]

Couls you change them for conventional aftermarket units; spax, koni etc?

Probably still wouldnt see change from a grand but at least the other 3 corners are safe... 

been in work all day ...... doing as little as possible  .... so not looked, but have to say that I do like the ride on air and it means it's always level when towing. I suspect that the electrickery would object to not being able to see the Airmatic

[EMD]

Couls you change them for conventional aftermarket units; spax, koni etc?

Probably still wouldnt see change from a grand but at least the other 3 corners are safe... 

been in work all day ...... doing as little as possible  .... so not looked, but have to say that I do like the ride on air and it means it's always level when towing. I suspect that the electrickery would object to not being able to see the Airmatic

I thought you were an electricial 

[Andy B]

....

I thought you were an electricial 

Only to a degree  .......... plus I'd need STAR (MB's Tech II) to tell the car that it no longer had Airmatic

[05omegav6]

....

I thought you were an electricial 

Only to a degree  .......... plus I'd need STAR (MB's Tech II) to tell the car that it no longer had Airmatic

That might get complicated as non airmatic will almost certainly have air assisted rear springs plus standard shocks

[Marks DTM Calib]

Are these not the struts which have the seal set at the top which fails, I seem to recall MB doing a seal kit for them?