S211 Rear Suspension

[c107]

The estate version of the W123 to W210 all used the hydropneumatic self levelling suspension at the rear. However, the 211 replaced this system with an air suspension derived from airmatic. Thus, a S211 can either have the basic rear air springs or the full Airmatic system.

My car, has the basic air springs, and now has what seems to be a very common problem, the rear sinks down on one side after the car is turned off.






This topic is covered extensively on the forums for the modern benzes. It's possible to buy OEM versions of the factory air spring and replace it. Or you can go down the route I have decided to go down and buy the Arnott replacement air springs that apparently have a much tougher bladder and are not reliant on the air pump in the front of the car which also goes bad.

I found these for USD$261 per side and they should arrive Friday.

 

[c107]

I wanted to fit these right away as one side was droipping really badly and my wife needs the use of the car.

So I gave it a go and fitted the worst side last night. Started at 8:30pm and ended up finishing about 1am. A couple of things got me stuck. Most of the instructions assume your air spring is 100% cactus. So just releasing the air line is not enough. You also need to fully deflate the air spring manually. It's like deflating a ball by inserting a paperclip or similar where the airline goes.

Next I found I needed a third hand to pull down the suspension for removal and insertion. Instead I used some tube to allow me to use my weight to pull down the suspension with my feet to insert and remove the spring.

Looks like the springs were replaced before as they appear aftermarket. No mercedes logos to be seen.

The new one seems to be of a more substitutional construction.

The outcome is that the car is not dragging its behind along like a dog with worms. The ride height seems a few cm too low and I get an error message but at least I feel better about driving the car. It's not the red stop one, just the information one. next step is the other side and to double check the installation due to the error.

 

[c107]

I forgot to come back and update this. when i fitted the other side the error went away and proper ride height was restored.

 

[Styria]

I take my hat off to you C107. You have a heck of a lot more knowledge about the modern cars, such as this one is. The time factor on your part - fifteen years ago, it was a cinch working all night. Nowadays, I just half sleep my time away - other than waking up TK. Regards Styria