Airmatic suspension failure
Since the warranty expired I have been plagued by the failure of the airmatic suspension.
The car is a Sept. 2005 model & I have now had to replace all four struts & other parts of the Airmatic system. Mercedes contributed 30% to the first failure but all future work has been carried out by a independant Mercedes specialist who is an ex- Mercedes technician.
He has proved to be very good & of course much cheaper than the Mercedes main dealer. He says that corrosion is a major problem of both mine & my wifes car due to the amount of salt on the roads during the winter on the country roads & indeed I have seen evidence of this when the car has been on the ramp. He also says that as salt is not used in Germany & the underside of Mercedes are not as protected as other manufacturers.
I am at my wits & wallets end with this problem & wondered weather this is a regular Mercedes & Airmatic problem? Is their anything I can do to negate the problem or am I stuck with the regular expensive replacement of Airmatic parts? Maybe I should just get rid which would be shame because I love the car & it has thrown up no other problems at all?
The car is a Sept. 2005 model & I have now had to replace all four struts & other parts of the Airmatic system. Mercedes contributed 30% to the first failure but all future work has been carried out by a independant Mercedes specialist who is an ex- Mercedes technician.
He has proved to be very good & of course much cheaper than the Mercedes main dealer. He says that corrosion is a major problem of both mine & my wifes car due to the amount of salt on the roads during the winter on the country roads & indeed I have seen evidence of this when the car has been on the ramp. He also says that as salt is not used in Germany & the underside of Mercedes are not as protected as other manufacturers.
I am at my wits & wallets end with this problem & wondered weather this is a regular Mercedes & Airmatic problem? Is their anything I can do to negate the problem or am I stuck with the regular expensive replacement of Airmatic parts? Maybe I should just get rid which would be shame because I love the car & it has thrown up no other problems at all?
Asked on 15 May 2011 by Jwilco
Answered by
Honest John
No answer to this. UK road salt causes lots of strange problems, such as corrosion of the special valves of tyre pressure monitoring systems, so I guess its mixed metal components in the suspension that turn into a corrosion battery in the presence of saline solution from winter road salt.
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