How long should the dampers (shock absorbers) in W211 Airmatic front struts last?

[jeremy156]

I have a 150,000 mile E320 CDI with Airmatic. It suffers what I think to be a rough ride and is very sensitive to wheel balancing issues.

I had the opportunity to follow and observe my car from another today, driving next to it I could see that the front wheels (especially driver-side) appeared to "bounce" after hitting a bump at speed. To my untrained eye, the front wheel would hit the ground hard after being lifted, while the rear wheel appeared to settle immediately.

Does this indicate worn shock absorbers? Can these wear our gradually over time? What is a realistic lifetime for these items?

Unfortunately, the front shocks are an integral part of the airspring assembly and can't be replaced on their own, so I want to be pretty sure before I hand stacks of money to the garage to replace them. Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks,
jeremy

 

[corned]

I don't know how long they should last, but it sounds almost certainly that the dampers/shocks have had it.

You should not see any bounce or rebound of the wheel over rough surfaces. This would be borne out by the statement that wheel imbalance causes problems - it has a 'slack' area of travel to bounce around in, instead of being damped properly.

Whilst the strut is apart for repair, you should also take the opportunity to check all of your ball joints - there are quite a few on the front of a 211 and they don't last forever.

Once you're sorted though the car will ride superbly, and the different will be night and day!