W212 E63 AMG - 65 Plate - Rear Air Spring Issue ?

[M5 London]

Hi All,

So I bought my 65 Plate E63 from an MB main dealer back in October 2018 with 17,130 miles on it.

Car is now at 21,260 miles.

Here it is :

Over the last few days, initially I thought I was imagining it, but the OSR seemed like it had dropped overnight when I got to my car to take it out for a drive.

Today I thought I am going to take a photo, before waking the car up by unlocking it. I then took a photo immediately after unlocking it. I did not start up the car or even sit in it, simply an unlock by touching the door handle (key less go etc).


Pre :

Post :

Stupidly I did not take both photos from the same exact position, but I am 100% sure its clear to see that it sits much lower before waking the car up, plus I watched it rise within a few seconds.

From what I understand these cars do not drop overnight unless there is some form of leak from a rear air spring. The original owner definitely did not tick any Citroen DS option that I can see from the VIN data card

Also equally stupidly I did not take a similar set of photos from the NSR.

Any ideas guys and girls, or similar experiences ??

I have read that these rear air springs do fail and sometime in their youth too....

What is the general duty cycle of these rear air springs ? They do not drop overnight and then re fill once the car is started up right ?

Also I do hope that if the rear spring has failed or is failing, that MB do the right thing and replace it under warranty (apparently I have a 2 year warranty as an AUC AMG MB from time of purchase, 10/2018 to 10/2020)

The only thing I think they could argue is the weight of our, pretty much ONLY, rear seat passenger. He is the only chap that sits in the rear of the car, and coincidentally too, on the Offside and he weighs 9.1KG, is Heston our Pug :

Thanks for reading !

 

[JimmyR]

Sounds like there is a leak. I note you bought the car from a MB dealer in Oct last year so presumably there is still a warranty, for 12 months at least? If only 12 month warranty you have little time to try to diagnose this yourself, just get it back to the dealer and let them look at it.

 

[Cyclone1]

I think the rear does drop overnight or if left for a decent period of time. The car then adjusts when you next put the key in. Will check mine over the next couple of days

 

[Hakon]

Nice discs.
I've been keeping an eye on mine too, a drop does indicate a loss of pressure in the system and the fix will be covered by your two year MB / AMG coverage.
I've read that early and late failure does happen with the bags / pump / lines and best when under warranty…I'm kind of hoping mine goes in the next year so I can get the very very faint leak around the water pump done at the same time.
As I understand it, if the lair leak is significant over a period of time the electric motor in the air pump can work hard to maintain pressure and get damaged in the process.

 

[M5 London]

Sounds like there is a leak. I note you bought the car from a MB dealer in Oct last year so presumably there is still a warranty, for 12 months at least? If only 12 month warranty you have little time to try to diagnose this yourself, just get it back to the dealer and let them look at it.

Thanks ! Thankfully it has a 2 year warranty so have some time to get it sorted. So will get it booked in for an inspection. They also owe me a free front wheel bearing adjustment (long story) so will get that done at the inspection too.

I think the rear does drop overnight or if left for a decent period of time. The car then adjusts when you next put the key in. Will check mine over the next couple of days

Yes ok noted thanks ! It just seems a bit odd that it would drop. Please do and let me know thanks !!

Nice discs.
I've been keeping an eye on mine too, a drop does indicate a loss of pressure in the system and the fix will be covered by your two year MB / AMG coverage.
I've read that early and late failure does happen with the bags / pump / lines and best when under warranty…I'm kind of hoping mine goes in the next year so I can get the very very faint leak around the water pump done at the same time.
As I understand it, if the lair leak is significant over a period of time the electric motor in the air pump can work hard to maintain pressure and get damaged in the process.

Haha thanks ! Went for the MB rear pads and discs in the end, after much deliberation !

Noted well and I look forward to hearing what MB say. I am taking it back to my supplying dealer, also where I recently had a major B service carried out too. Hopefully they act rationally and really look into it. To be fair to them they replaced my front drop links without any questioning or even real prompting from my side, under warranty.

Doing a bit of research, I note a company called Arnott, make replacement air springs and several purchasers feel they are of higher quality than the MB original parts. They are about £250 each.

 

[Hakon]

When I changed the rear discs, I jacked up the car from the front jacking points so that it became high enough to put axle stands on the corresponding rear jack pad. Unlike the E39 M5 it seems as if jacking an E63 from the diff is a nono.

Once finished and the rear of the car back on the ground, both left and rear wheels were tucked up inside the arches as per your photo.
I assumed that the with no load and the rear suspension dangling that the air was released for some reason, once fired up the rear lifted back quite quickly.
Coinicdence but how long ago were the discs changed ?

 

[M5 London]

When I changed the rear discs, I jacked up the car from the front jacking points so that it became high enough to put axle stands on the corresponding rear jack pad. Unlike the E39 M5 it seems as if jacking an E63 from the diff is a nono.

Once finished and the rear of the car back on the ground, both left and rear wheels were tucked up inside the arches as per your photo.
I assumed that the with no load and the rear suspension dangling that the air was released for some reason, once fired up the rear lifted back quite quickly.
Coinicdence but how long ago were the discs changed ?

Yep good point actually !

Rear Pads and Discs which were done at Wayne Gates, on 17th September.

Previous to that the only time the car, in my ownership, has been airborne was mid August for its B Service at MB.

 

[dm2583]

What a cracking colour - Dont think I've ever seen one that colour before!

 

[M5 London]

What a cracking colour - Dont think I've ever seen one that colour before!

Many Thanks !!

Its grown on me a lot and does make the Uber Exec sort of stand out, in a subtle sort of way.

Looks slightly different shades in varying light conditions too, warning, pic dump :

 

[SmartAmg]

Yep, like that a lot!

 

[amzchhabra]

Definitely a rear suspension problem. be prepared to not have your car for a good period of time, thankfully I had a courtesy car provided by the main dealer a few weeks back when mine went at 36k miles.

Initial diagnostics was a damaged valve block, which was replaced. Car back and the next morning it was still the same, so back in again for a new compressor this time. 3 days later assured it was all tested and OK, the car was back again. Overnight, it was back on the floor again, so third time lucky I had the rear air bags replaced, on both sides. They then kept the car a further two nights, isolated so the system wasn't triggered, and measured throughout the day until they were satisfied that it wasn't dropping, even a millimeter.

Car has been perfect since it's return, and thankfully all was done under warranty.

My warranty renewal with MB has come up and I'm now wondering if the £1700 they want for a year is worth it?

 

[ShaunB]

If it were me, I'd be inclined to keep that £1700 set aside to myself in case it needed anything, if it doesn't, then after a year you could go on a very nice holiday.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Am I the only one reading this thinking WTF is going on ? Two expensive virtually brand new cars with potential defects that will cost (someone) Thousands and thousands of pounds , not to mention time off the road, one has 36K miles on it and the one amzchhabra had repaired failed at 21K miles !!

Nothing as major as this should go wrong on any car with such low mileage, let alone from a marque withing a marque (AMG) who pride themselves on build quality.

And please don't give me any of that "...very powerful ..and complicated systems nonsense.." as we speak there are machines working in fields on a farm near you with more tech in them than we see here.

Very nice car that should be out and about and not sitting in a workshop having its suspension repaired

 

[M5 London]

Am I the only one reading this thinking WTF is going on ? Two expensive virtually brand new cars with potential defects that will cost (someone) Thousands and thousands of pounds , not to mention time off the road, one has 36K miles on it and the one amzchhabra had repaired failed at 21K miles !!

Nothing as major as this should go wrong on any car with such low mileage, let alone from a marque withing a marque (AMG) who pride themselves on build quality.

And please don't give me any of that "...very powerful ..and complicated systems nonsense.." as we speak there are machines working in fields on a farm near you with more tech in them than we see here.

Very nice car that should be out and about and not sitting in a workshop having its suspension repaired

Just for clarification my one has 21K Miles and amzchhabra has 36K Miles.

I have yet to determine the issue on my one, but does very much seem to be the rear air system obviously.

However I agree, as there seems to be lots of incidents of this nature on young and lowish mileage E63s, its a little worrying in terms of overall reliability, and perhaps even design. If it were the odd isolated incident one could give MB the benefit of doubt, but it seems it has occurred on quite a few occasions, however this could also be considered rare in relation to the total number of E63 cars out there.

Anyway thank god for the warranty. But I suppose that's why I paid a little over the odds by purchasing from an MB dealer, to get the 2 year warranty on AMG cars.

I have spoken to my service chap at my MB Dealer and its going to be going in for an inspection soon.

 

[Hakon]

Interesting to see what MB think about it.
Seems like engine mounts also fall in to the catagory of simple things failing early on the E63.

A great colour and as a wagon, wow

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[st13phil]

However I agree, as there seems to be lots of incidents of this nature on young and lowish mileage E63s, its a little worrying in terms of overall reliability, and perhaps even design.

I've run two E63's - a pre-facelift PPP car and a facelift standard car - both to >40k miles and neither had any issue with the rear suspension or the engine mounts. On that basis, they're 100% reliable

First thing to say is that there have been examples of air suspension failing on the rear of W/S212 E63's. What the failure rate is I have no idea because owners tend to post on t'internet when something fails, not when it works.

Second thing is engine mounts. Again there have been anecdotal examples of apparently premature failure, but no indication of the failure rate. I suspect that most people don't have much appreciation of quite how much work engine mounts have to do on any car, let alone a 550+ hp one. Just like suspension bushes they have a finite life and that life will be hugely affected by how the car is used. Oh, and I've never heard a complaint of a wear part prematurely failing where the driver didn't claim that they drive at all times like Miss Daisy's in the back

 

[M5 London]

I've run two E63's - a pre-facelift PPP car and a facelift standard car - both to >40k miles and neither had any issue with the rear suspension or the engine mounts. On that basis, they're 100% reliable

First thing to say is that there have been examples of air suspension failing on the rear of W/S212 E63's. What the failure rate is I have no idea because owners tend to post on t'internet when something fails, not when it works.

Second thing is engine mounts. Again there have been anecdotal examples of apparently premature failure, but no indication of the failure rate. I suspect that most people don't have much appreciation of quite how much work engine mounts have to do on any car, let alone a 550+ hp one. Just like suspension bushes they have a finite life and that life will be hugely affected by how the car is used. Oh, and I've never heard a complaint of a wear part prematurely failing where the driver didn't claim that they drive at all times like Miss Daisy's in the back

Yes sure but the quote of mine that you used was not it its entirety :

However I agree, as there seems to be lots of incidents of this nature on young and lowish mileage E63s, its a little worrying in terms of overall reliability, and perhaps even design. If it were the odd isolated incident one could give MB the benefit of doubt, but it seems it has occurred on quite a few occasions, however this could also be considered rare in relation to the total number of E63 cars out there.

But anyway I do generally agree with you that these, heavy and powerful cars do wear out components, but the counter argument is that the parts employed by MB should be appropriately capable of the perceived / potential duty cycle of these type of cars....within reason of course.

I am a great believer in preventative maintenance and I have several pages of forum threads detailing out just that, preventative maintenance items being replaced, as they have done their job and past their best now (not failed though), and if you want your car feeling great you need to be on top of it.....but at 21K miles I feel the car still should be fresh and relatively reliable (there seems to be no evidence that the previous owner was a Ringmeister, but you never know I suppose)

Let see what MB say....

 

[st13phil]

But anyway I do generally agree with you that these, heavy and powerful cars do wear out components, but the counter argument is that the parts employed by MB should be appropriately capable of the perceived / potential duty cycle of these type of cars....within reason of course.

Oh, don't get me wrong: premature failure of components is always a bad thing. However, my point was that if the MTBF for any component is (say) 2,000hrs, then there will always be outliers that fail at <1,000hrs and also >3,000hrs. It's only when the in-service premature failure rate is significant that it indicates a design or manufacture problem and none of us are privy to that information.

I would also say that my experience matches that of many other E63 owners in that they are well screwed together, are reliable and - most importantly - huge fun to drive. I hope once you have your current niggle sorted that you then go on to have a similar ownership experience

 

[AMGeed]

Waiting with bated breath with my 28k mile E63 purchased last week

The is a very large ownership of this model in the US and they are quick to complain about anything.
I certainly haven't read of any frequent rear suspension issues on the US forums yet.

 

[M5 London]

Oh, don't get me wrong: premature failure of components is always a bad thing. However, my point was that if the MTBF for any component is (say) 2,000hrs, then there will always be outliers that fail at <1,000hrs and also >3,000hrs. It's only when the in-service premature failure rate is significant that it indicates a design or manufacture problem and none of us are privy to that information.

I would also say that my experience matches that of many other E63 owners in that they are well screwed together, are reliable and - most importantly - huge fun to drive. I hope once you have your current niggle sorted that you then go on to have a similar ownership experience

Yes fully agreed !!

.....and for the components that were to fail prematurely, its thankful to have a warranty in place !

I very much enjoy this car and have had it for 11 months now. Its a great steer and very refreshing having daily driven ///M cars for over a decade now.

Also I hope that this thread is not being considered as one of me complaining about my car and what looks like an air suspension failure, but rather it was more to report it and seek feedback from others on this subject so I can essentially learn more about it myself.