I give up !!

[rosie5golf]

Well, it goes on, I book my e320 in for a new rear air bag and, for rodent eaten wires that knock ot the seat belt sensor and, all interior lights plus, my reversing sensors.
For a reasonable £697 it's all done. But, on the way home, up comes a warning that the o/s rear air bag is faulty. Back to my indie garage for inspection, all ride heights are correct, it's the sensor that's playing up.
My beloved Sadie ( my wife named her) is going up for sale unless someone can tell me how to fix it at not very much expense.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Couldn’t the indie give you a good idea of the price?
the sensor/height may need coding/setting on star after fitting?

 

[W1ghty]

Well, it goes on, I book my e320 in for a new rear air bag and, for rodent eaten wires that knock ot the seat belt sensor and, all interior lights plus, my reversing sensors.
For a reasonable £697 it's all done. But, on the way home, up comes a warning that the o/s rear air bag is faulty. Back to my indie garage for inspection, all ride heights are correct, it's the sensor that's playing up.
My beloved Sadie ( my wife named her) is going up for sale unless someone can tell me how to fix it at not very much expense

is there only one sensor governing rear ride height on an estate ? If it’s anything like the saloon self levelling , it’s often the metal arm that rusts away . Mine was £30 for the part .
Hopefully someone that knows more will confirm

 

[bob6600]

The sensor can be replaced and shouldn't be expensive. The garage should be able to determine if it's faulty or needs calibrating (as mentioned above).

 

[LTD]

Surely the same garage that dealt with your original repair should sort that out for a fair price considering all the work you recently entrusted them to do ?

 

[suty455]

sensors are cheapish and easy to fit you can also buy your own hand held tool to read faults/ calibrate airmatic etc I just bought one for mine does pretty much everything for £170.00, if you dont have full airmatic its a bit cheaper as a lower model will do rear only self level

 

[Dichtung]

Sell it!! The days when a Mercedes Benz motor car was a well engineered super reliable car are long gone. Ok until the warrenty runs out,; then they become moneypits.

 

[suty455]

Sell it!! The days when a Mercedes Benz motor car was a well engineered super reliable car are long gone. Ok until the warrenty runs out,; then they become moneypits.

God help you when you try some of the other brands out there then, however I must agree anything MB and Renault cross shares get rid/dont buy

 

[Dichtung]

Agreed. The W201/W124 era was, in my opinion the end of reliable Mercs After that. accountants took over with their big cost trimming scissors, and ill thought out ideas, like buying Chrysler.
I was owning and driving Mercs in the early seventies in Germany 220D/8s and the like They wore out, but they didn`t break down.

 

[jimjamiejames]

Which era e320 do you have, is it a w211? Is it a saloon or estate and is it airmatic or the self leveling suspension in the estate?

 

[W1ghty]

Sell it!! The days when a Mercedes Benz motor car was a well engineered super reliable car are long gone. Ok until the warrenty runs out,; then they become moneypits.

My 2009 W211 hasn’t become a money pit in my 11 years and 116k miles of ownership

 

[Dichtung]

Glad to hear it.

 

[mioba]

Surely the same garage that dealt with your original repair should sort that out for a fair price considering all the work you recently entrusted them to do ?

If its a seperate issue, why would they. They need to put food on the table also.

 

[LTD]

If its a seperate issue, why would they. They need to put food on the table also.

I said fair price - not free

 

[rosie5golf]

Couldn’t the indie give you a good idea of the price?
the sensor/height may need coding/setting on star after fitting?

He did actually put on the star system and set the ride height but it now says ride height malfunction. I'm considering converting to normal springs.

 

[johnsco]

My 2009 W211 hasn’t become a money pit in my 11 years and 116k miles of ownership

Neither has my 2009 W211.
I've worked it hard and it has been a good work-horse.

 

[suty455]

He did actually put on the star system and set the ride height but it now says ride height malfunction. I'm considering converting to normal springs.

You seriously need to consider another garage, airbags and the like are simple to install its the setup that takes the time, once the air system is set up its really simple in operation, dont swap for normal springs I promise you will regret it, the ride and handling are nothing like, parts can be bought relatively cheaply from aerosus, I have a full new set of rear bags and front struts from them, I had to go OE for the rear shocks as the estate has shorter ones that no one else makes yet, the aerosus stuff is excellent and has the same warranty as Mercedes parts (fitting excluded of course)
Mine now has a full new system all bags struts, shocks and pump, the most expensive part was the rear shocks , but this is the last car I will buy whilst I live in the UK so it needs to last until I retire and go and live in a warmer place!

 

[rosie5golf]

You seriously need to consider another garage, airbags and the like are simple to install its the setup that takes the time, once the air system is set up its really simple in operation, dont swap for normal springs I promise you will regret it, the ride and handling are nothing like, parts can be bought relatively cheaply from aerosus, I have a full new set of rear bags and front struts from them, I had to go OE for the rear shocks as the estate has shorter ones that no one else makes yet, the aerosus stuff is excellent and has the same warranty as Mercedes parts (fitting excluded of course)
Mine now has a full new system all bags struts, shocks and pump, the most expensive part was the rear shocks , but this is the last car I will buy whilst I live in the UK so it needs to last until I retire and go and live in a warmer place!

Thanks for that, he has been a good indie garage for me. Nothing is too much trouble but, I think I will stay with the air suspension and, get him to look at the sensor.