[W212] [Airmatic] Sports vs Comfort while parked

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cezar

Active Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2019
Messages
114
Location
not UK
Car
W212 E350 CGI
Need some help guys

Looks like whenever I leave the car in sports mode (airmatic) I always find it very low after a day (can barely put my hand between the upper side on the tire and the fender). When starting the engine there’s no red warning but I occasionally get the wait to raise message. If I leave it in comfort mode, it also drops, just a bit and when starting the engine it just levels as us usual with no message in the dashboard. This only happens for front. The rear airbags were both replaced some months ago.

most probably this requires strut replacement but wanted to get some opinions here as well.

thanks
 
actually i'm from Europe but my English failed when looking for a word for wing and fender sounded about right

appreciate the link, it's part of my collection already. as I was saying i'll most probably go for replacement.

the question that still bugs me is why only on sports mode I get this behaviour? in comfort no matter how many days it sits it's all ok (hope i didn't jynx it now)
 
On the 211 E55, which has AirMATIC as standard, the car runs 10mm (IIRC - might be 15mm) lower than on comfort - so I presume your car might be the same.

A car with AirMATIC will sink a bit when it settles so the above should account for the difference.

You could run it up on diagnostics to check the pump and struts pass.

When my AirMATIC pump failed on my old 55, the car was on the floor after one night - so I'd be surprised if you have a failure there.

Also, when parked in my garage, the floor appears level but it actually has a camber to allow water to drain (you can find this out by dropping a bit of water and see which way it runs).

This meant one side was lower than the other after parking, which I thought was a problem, but the car naturally wants to sit level so where you have slightly higher ground, this will reduce the gap between the wheel and the arch slightly.
 
i had all the system checked few months ago when my rear was really in trouble.

indeed in sport mode it drops about 10mm or so compared to comfort

i'll try to do some tests but i'm also preparing for a replacement :| won't be cheap

LE: good point about the garage inclination... might have something similar although i don't think it's linked ;)
 
When my AirMATIC pump went on the 55, the car was on it's rse one morning and no chance of getting fingers between the wheelarch and tyre.

I estimated they started to go wrong every 5 years but that could be bad luck.

So could be that.

One of the joys of air suspension but I think it's worth the cost for the ride quality, personally.
 
reopening this old one... problem is still the same, so
- in sport mode, overnight it just drops all the way down
- in comfort mode, few times found it lowered on the right side during the past year

I'd suspect leakage but why not all the time... could that be a sensor? sometimes when it's all down I get the dash message to wait to lift, sometime it just shows it's raising, BUT sometimes it doesn't show anything... this makes believe the car doesn't even "know" how low it is and maybe it went "on purpose" like this to self level...

any hints would be appreciated.
 
You probably need to get the car on diagnostics (ideally Star) so a "rodeo" can be run on it and a test of the pump.

If the rear doesn't sink and the struts have been replaced, one would perhaps be suspicious of the front struts unless you are now saying it sinks on the back overnight.
 
Back sits perfect. It seems to be right front only, although sometimes all front is down and sometimes just the right (never just the left one).

Going to an authorized service it's a lottery tbh but I'll see.
 
In the UK, most people wouldn't take this to a Mercedes dealership to have this specialist fault finding done, but an independent Mercedes Specialist who has STAR and will be both cheaper than a main dealer and almost certainly more knowledgeable. May be you can find one near you?
 
if you can get the covers off and get under, spray the lines with soapy water and the bags. If you see bubbles, you've found your leak
 
I need time, space and more.important those small plastic parts that always break... Will see.... Couple of weeks again with no bad bahviour... That's what confuses me... All's good now...
 
Hi, I had this with the back of my GL. Sometime fine sometimes one corner down. The air bags kind of fold in on themselves depending on where the ride height is and where they settle. This is where road grit accumulated and caused a pin hole. Sometimes the pin hole was sealed by the bag folding in on itself. Sometimes not. Bummer that it is the front as bag is integral to the strut. They can be changed but it’s a bit more involved than the rear which was just a separate air bag.
 
Exactly. that's my scenario as well... Yesterday morning again to the ground... Most probably i have to change the strut/airbag :(
 

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