► The AIRMATIC system in the Mercedes W211 chassis may be a comfortable option, but it is no stranger to failures. If you are seeing a light on the dashboard of your W211 chassis Mercedes-Benz that says “vehicle too low”, it is likely that your air suspension has failed in one way or another. Most commonly this presents itself as the strut losing its seal and leaking air.
Kyle Bascombe, our Mercedes Catalog Manager, is here to walk you through the steps needed to get this job done, from pulling the old struts out to installing the new ones and cycling the air compressor to let the new bag re-fill with air. This job is fairly straightforward and you won’t need many specialty tools outside of the nice to have air line socket for that hard to reach area.
Read this DIY on our blog: https://blog.fcpeuro.com/how-to-replace-rear-airmatic-air-struts-w211-mercedes-benz-e500-e300-e550-cls550
For more W211 content and information check out the W211 Mercedes owners hub on our website: https://info.fcpeuro.com/mercedes-w211
Index:
00:00 – Intro
01:41 – Tools Needed
02:36 – Diagnosis
04:13 – Wheel Removal
04:51 – Getting to the Rear Air Strut
10:30 – Rear Air Strut Removal
10:42 – Preparing the New Strut for Install
11:52 – Installing the New Rear Air Strut
17:40 – Cycling Air Into New Strut
18:00 – Thanks for Watching!
Shop the parts used in this video:
Rear Air Strut Kit: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mercedes-airmatic-air-spring-kit-rear-arnott-industries-a2724imp#description?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=mps%20w211&utm_content=rear%20air%20strut%20diy
Specialty Air Line Tool: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mercedes-airmatic-suspension-line-socket-baum-tools-2110009?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=mps%20w211&utm_content=rear%20air%20strut%20diy
This video applies to the following vehicles:
Mercedes-Benz E320
2003 Mercedes-Benz E320 Suspension Air Spring
2004 Mercedes-Benz E320 Base Suspension Air Spring
2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 Base Suspension Air Spring
Mercedes-Benz E500
2003 Mercedes-Benz E500 Suspension Air Spring
2004 Mercedes-Benz E500 Suspension Air Spring
2005 Mercedes-Benz E500 Suspension Air Spring
2006 Mercedes-Benz E500 Suspension Air Spring
Mercedes-Benz CLS500
2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS500 Suspension Air Spring
Mercedes-Benz CLS550
2007 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Suspension Air Spring
2008 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Suspension Air Spring
2009 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Suspension Air Spring
2010 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Suspension Air Spring
2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Suspension Air Spring
Mercedes-Benz E550
2007 Mercedes-Benz E550 Suspension Air Spring
2008 Mercedes-Benz E550 Suspension Air Spring
2009 Mercedes-Benz E550 Suspension Air Spring
Mercedes-Benz E300
2009 Mercedes-Benz E300 Suspension Air Spring
2008 Mercedes-Benz E300 Suspension Air Spring
Mercedes-Benz E280
2007 Mercedes-Benz E280 Suspension Air Spring
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Here's a quick video on how to bleed the air out of the air strut: https://youtu.be/uzZnPcINL8I
that reservoir that arnot removed is like saying bye bye to comfort ride mode , don't ask me how i know! when you drive the car every day from home to work and you have on your rute 10 km of dirt road at 80 km/h it s an big difference ! glad to say w211 is like an tank car !
After doing this one side of my vehicle sits about an inch lower, has been this way ever since.
Is there a lifting/Suspension disabling procedure to follow before putting an Airmatic car on a lift/jacks?
Is this the same procedures as in 2005 station wagon e320 4matic???
What happens to the air reservoir ?
Question…the hose that was cut isn’t needed with the replacement arnott shock? Without connecting the old hose to the new shock, will everything still function properly with airmatic settings?
Why the new Airbag doesn’t have expansion tank and what will be the effect in long term
Love the that t-shirt man. Ok back to the vid
I just got back from doing this work with the new air struts as discribed. Great explanation but I have one thing to add: since the deflation is not really easy I losened the bolds that are closer to the car center as well (not native Somebody may translate better). This way you can slide the old air Struts to the inside (not wheel facing side) which makes the job so much easier especially if you still have pressure on the bags. Sure if you have a diagnosing computer and can manually deflate it might be an unnecessary step but for the DIY community I can recommend to do it this way. Cheers
Do you need mercedes Star computer to inflate the struts after replacing them?
Thanks for a great video. Instead of using the special 10 mm slotted socket, could one just cut the airline at the fitting with a razor blade? It seems like the airline just gets pushed into the new Arnott fitting bare. Maybe there is not enough slack to lose a bit of airline? Thanks if anyone can advise.
jesus old merc has 307000 on it
Thank you for the video.
Thank you as well for advising that there is the option for eliminating the larger hose for the central reservoir.
Keep up the great work
What did you do with the air hose you cut with the razor blade? was it plugged up. or just left as is with a open end
What about the hose
Do the arnott springs retain comfort, sport, and sport 2 modes?
But parts are expensive no?
Thanks for this video. I hit a roadblock though. The electrical connector doesn’t seem to fit the arnott. Arnott has two pins and oem has three. I’m not even able to slide the connector in
Since you've recently turned to Volvo, Audi and BMW…I have a Mercedes question. I have the strong smell of burnt exhaust in my E350 W212. Nothing inside the car and no smoke. I'm wondering of it's a slight Cat problem, fuel richness or port or normal? It's not crazy bad but, I've had in for the last 6 months. Everything is in perfect running order besides this smell. Full B Service at a large well known Mercedes Service Center (although, I had to manual reset the service indicator) about 4 months ago. Everything was checked and all filters and oil replaced.