S211 E55 rear suspension

[Mondayo]

Morning, I'm after a bit of advice.

All the following is based on the assumption that I need to replace my rear suspension. My local indie has had as look and I've had it plugged into STAR somewhere else and they both think the rear nearside bag is leaking. They've also recommended changing both bags....does this sound sensible?

I've been putting off (aka saving for) replacing the rear suspension airbags on my E55 estate but now am ready to bite the bullet.

Have any of you bought the bags recently?

My local MB dealer is quoting £441+vat per bag.
I've seen Arnott ones mentioned on here before but are they any good, particularly in AMG spec? Do I get an error code if I use them? I've gone on a couple of websites and for the AMG ones they seem to be saying they're generic and can fit either side but it's not clear if the price is for one or two. If it's for one, they're more expensive than MB!
Also some of them are coming up as W211 parts, not S211.
Eg. https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/arnott-air-spring-u...

I've also found a company called Aerosus and they're much cheaper and seem to come with decent reviews but has anyone here used them?
https://aerosus.co.uk/mercedes/e-class/w211-s211/m...

Any help and/or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

I'd go for Arnott (I did), does away with the air reservoir on the back too which as another source of leaks.

I got a great deal from my local factors on them.

 

[Mondayo]

I'd go for Arnott (I did), does away with the air reservoir on the back too which as another source of leaks.

I got a great deal from my local factors on them.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Have you put them on the same car? Mine is a 2004 E55 estate.

Do you have a link or number for your local factors please?

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Have you put them on the same car? Mine is a 2004 E55 estate.

W211, just a matter of checking with Arnott on their web site if you need the 2724 or 2725 bag.
Alternative just check the part number on your current springs, VIN or reg I can check easily.

Do you have a link or number for your local factors please?

Thomsons in Stirling but I just checked for local dealers on the Arnott web site.

 

[Mondayo]

I've rung up my local factors and for the S211 they're £411+vat a side, which is only £30 less than the genuine Merc ones!

 

[merc85]

Yep i've got Arnott on the back of my e55 s211 , there spot on.

We can do these for £420 each inc vat plus £15 delivery, but you may find eBay cheaper or Autodoc.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

I'd go with Arnott all day long, they just seem better made than the OEM and I'm guessing they are a newer technology design.

 

[Mondayo]

Yep i've got Arnott on the back of my e55 s211 , there spot on.

We can do these for £420 each inc vat plus £15 delivery, but you may find eBay cheaper or Autodoc.

When you say "we", who is we?

 

[Mondayo]

Also, when you had yours done, how big a job was it?

 

[merc85]

Also, when you had yours done, how big a job was it?

Sent you a Pm bud

Mercedes Benz Waterhouse fitted my units

 

[E55BOF]

The new front strut the seller supplied with my ML420 was an Aerosus, and it was to replace an Aerosus strut which was knocking badly at only 10K miles. To be fair, it had done that in six months, and Aerosus were refunding the full purchase price of the failed one, but if I need to buy any new struts, they'll not be from Aerosus.

 

[Alps]

might just the ballasts on the rear bags leaking.... not a good indie if he hasnt found the leak and assuming its the bags

 

[Vick N]

Check the pipe to the reservoir. Common place for a leak and easy fix with new clips.

 

[moodi]

If I was doing this all again, I would go genuine MB. I used a company in the UK (who are no longer trading) that rebuilt original OEM units doing a refurb on the shock absorbers too. Very happy with the quality but the customer service was not great - which may have contributed to their demise.

I'm not convinced anyone has made a true non-OEM equivalent that retains all of the adjustable dampening features.

 

[Vick N]

BILSTEIN are the oe manufacturer too so I would contact them and see if they can beat Mercedes Benz.

 

[moodi]

I think all Mercedes supplied units are remanufactured too, FYI. So some money back on exchange basis.

 

[Mondayo]

I went with Arnott in the end. Best price (thanks to a forum member) and the main benefit was that they don't have to drop the whole back of the car, like on the MB ones.

Still a very expensive operation, but it's no longer doing it's Citroen impression, so I'm happy enough.

I've tried posting a pic of the old ones but apparently the file is too big.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

 

[Silverarrows]

You must always go for Arnott's on the E55 AMG S211:

The OEM remote alloy reservoirs are very poorly designed and the main root cause of rear Airmatic leaks -A little extra investment by Daimler AG in stainless tanks and permanent aircraft-quality joints would have avoided this, and the huge never-ending array of customer complaints.
Moisture corrodes the alloy around the reservoir spigots, the steel-banded joints and rubber hoses degrade over time, re-sealing the spigot to rubber tube with clips does not work and always will leak sooner or later!

I made numerous attempts over three years to create reliable seals, but failed - I eventually binned my OEM E55 AMG rear bags which actually were OK and not leaking after 19 years of use!
I bit-the-bullet and fitted a pair of Arnott's from Autodoc (£980), Arnott eliminates the remote reservoirs, so are reliable, OEM, Aerosus and all the copied Chinese rubbish have reservoir spigots- these cannot be sealed with rubber hose and Jubilee clips!

Only Argue the Toss if you own an E55 or S211 Airmatic with ADS, and fit other than Arnott!