W211 STOP Car Too Low...Help

[masterclk]

Well my first opportunity has arrived. Display in blazing red showing the warning sign Car too low stop.....

Any tricks of the trade and before someone asks can you do a search on the fourm its broke....

Kind Regards

 

[corned]

I'll take a stab at your car having Airmatic, and it's just gone 'pop'.

 

[masterclk]

Yes Airmatic so the soft, med & firm settings. Together with a button to raise the car.

When you say popped, i did not hear any noises!!

Advise....

 

[momomo]

It doesn't make any noises. Have a walk around the car and see if they all are low or look sagged. If its just one corner it may be that one strut leaking, if its sagging everywhere it will most likely be the pump which is worn out/burnt out.

Get it diagnosed before throwing any money at it.

I know there is a siemens airmatic relay which was always faulty and can cause the pump to burn out. The relay fails and keeps the pump in the on position burning it out. This is located in the engine bay. This relay is replaced by a hella one which cured this fault. My experiences are with a face lifted W220 though.

I also remember, although not sure how the pump is mounted on your 211, the bracket or frame becomes rusted and doesn't do its job properly and can cause airmatic problems and premature failures of the pump also.

To see if it is working properly press the airmatic suspension button to raise the car and it should raise slowly without stopping or any hesitation.

When car is raising there should be no loud whirring sounds or burning smell, if so the pump is worn out. The car wont raise properly if so and will struggle anyway. Also as a quick check, when parked, check all four corners to see if all the struts are holding at a level height and none of them have dropped or lowered. This means that they aren't holding air and have had it.

These are just most common airmatic problems to look for.

 

[masterclk]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Unfortunately the car does not rise up or make any noises from the engine bay when I press the button to raise it.

The car has sunk on all four corners so does not seem to be a leak on one corner.

I am struggling to identify where the pump is located as I see the clear tubes going to the front shockers but not where they end up.

Fortunately I have a friend with all the Mercedes Diag tools so will need to pop over to see him.

He was suggesting that the height sensors are quite common to fail...and if it sinks anymore then not to drive it....

 

[shorty]

The pump has failed , and the car has been settling down , probably for a few weeks . The pump is located behind the front bumper on the passenger side . Has the car shown any other messages , like a pic of the car with an arrow beneath and some text saying Visit workshop ?
It could be worth checking the pump fuse , its found under the drivers front carpet behind a small plastic cover , it will be a large 40 amp fuse .

 

[masterclk]

The warning sign visit workshop (with car rising symbol) did come on over the last three days intermittenly but the suspension has been working. The red warning came on this morning on my way to work but not on the way home. However the visit workshop remained.

I will check the fuse and hopefully tomorrow I can get it on the diags from my friend.

I also did pop into a local friendly merc indi and he said quite common fault (he had a sunken S class in his garage) and he kindly showed me a reciept from Merc for £220 for pump and relay for a W211 that he has just done. Said he normally charges around £80 for the replacement.

 

[masterclk]

Car is been on the DAS system and the first fault said leak in system or to that effect.

We then went through the options and tried to raise each corner...no movement

Reset the whole system and potential errors are pump/relay. Have not checked the fuse as I guess it would have shown an error by then for not communicating with pump (correct?)

The car today did go onto the red warning sign but only when I was going down hill for a very short period.

I spoke to the local indie who is 15years time served with MB and said quite common "there's the W211 that I have done and there is a S Class sunk like yours to do. Sometimes the pump does get corrosion on the electrical components due the environment it is situated..."

Booked it with him next week so expecting to cost around £320 all in with new relay as standard.

Is it worth doing anymore diags as I am thinking a swap of the relay could fix it...wishful thinking!!

 

[jaymanek]

no the relay causes the pump to fail not the other way around.

 

[shorty]

It would be worth checking the fuse , this was blown on my car . When I had the car connected to STAR it gave me no reason to check the fuse , I was instructed to check of a leak , or bad connections .

 

[masterclk]

Shorty

Done the hard work and taken out the drivers carpet including detaching the accelerator pedal.

I know which fuse it is however cannot for the life of me get the fuse out to check.

Is there an easy way!!

 

[Soltan]

MasterCLK I wish you luck, the same thing just happened to my car, same age as yours. It's currently in with the dealers so we'll see tomorrow what they say.

I wonder if this is an age thing? How long should the airmatic last on a car?

 

[Soltan]

Well according to the dealer it's going to cost me £1300 to get the front strut replaced. No chance of any goodwill.
If it's not the wife it's the car

 

[momomo]

The front struts have a repair kit available. It may not need replacing but this repair kit may fix the issue. Depends on the condition of the strut i guess and how long its been dropped and holding the weight of the car.

 

[masterclk]

Shorty

Done the hard work and taken out the drivers carpet including detaching the accelerator pedal.

I know which fuse it is however cannot for the life of me get the fuse out to check.

Is there an easy way!!

Did manage to check the fuse, had to take the connector out from the bottom and push up with a small extension of a wrench. All fuses are okay. So going to change the pump and relay...hopefully nothing else, i doubt its my struts as all four corners are sunk.

 

[momomo]

Yes does sound like the pump and of course the relay should always be changed especially if its the older faulty one.

 

[welsh-e55]

Replacement strut

Well according to the dealer it's going to cost me £1300 to get the front strut replaced. No chance of any goodwill.
If it's not the wife it's the car

Hi Soltan

I had the front left strut on my E55 (W211) replaced 2 weeks ago.
I was also quoted £1500 by MB Dealer, and £780 + vat for the part alone by an independent.
In the end I ordered a remanufactured strut from Arnott Inc in Florida.
It cost me just over £400 for the part (incl. shipping), then £50 in import duties and tax to get it over here. My independent dealer fitted it for £160.
I now need to send the faulty strut back and they will give me $100 refund for it.
If you go over to BenzWorld then you can get hold of a 10% discount code.
I phoned to make the order rather than online, and it meant the shipping was calculated cheaper.

As for the replacement part, it is remanufactured to a very high standard and is a quality item. I'd really recommend them and the replacement part has been excellent, solved the problem and given no difference to the car in terms of handling.
If you need any more info let me know.

 

[masterclk]

Pump definately needed replacing however more worrying my indie found the root cause with the pump cables being chaffed against the body and shorting out. Additional diagnosis are now pointing to the Airmatic control module.

I am seeing if my friend genuinegermanparts who advertises on eBay has the part as we seem to be getting conflicting part numbers A037 345 1232 and another from the dealers.

Part retails at £460 inc VAT however should get at least a reasonable discount as my Indie used to work for the same dealer.

Is the above sound feasible and any way I can save some cost, i mean can the module be tested/repaired?

 

[jaymanek]

speak to BBA Reman, they are probably the best for control units.

 

[masterclk]

Almost Solved

Thank you however BBA have not repaired this type of unit and said they will look at it for around £35. Anyway I managed to source one from Dronsfield for £100+

So the root cause was the +ve lead from the airmatic pump had been rubbing on the car body to finally short and blow both the pump and also the airmatic control module. Sadly no fuses were blown to prevent any of this happening which has upset me.

Do I have a case with MB as the car has a full MB Service and this is definately a build issue. My indie (ex 15 year MB) also showed me an identical pump with both cables worn down and fully exposed.

The car looks as if it is is still a bit low on the rear side so not too sure if this will settle up?