Car is riding like a truck! (non MB)
I found out the Nitrogen is missing from the rear system.
I was blaming the H&R springs and thinking I should remove them, but it rode very nicely (firm but nice) when I first installed the springs.

There has been a THUNK in the trunk (eat your heart out Dr.Seuss) for a while, I suspected the spare was bouncing around or the jack or maybe the battery cover plate.
I also noticed that I could sit on the edge of the trunk and it would not move.

Should I rebuild or go aftermarket? Any opinions?

Thanks,

__________________
Bryan Harter
1992 500E Smoke Silver
2002 CLK55 AMG Cab Silver/Black
2001 Harley Fatboy - Pearl White
2004 F150 FX4 Silver/Grey
1969 GTO Liberty Blue
1956 F100 Black

Bryan:

Unless you haul footlockers, unwieldy luggage or heavy ballast for a living in your 500E (slim chance, I am assuming), I recommend that you simply defeat your self-leveling system and run with Bilstein Sport shocks, all around. Feel the road - but not to the same degree as a 16-year-old teenage boy in a spring-chopped/slammed 1965 Volkswagen beetle with paste-on whitewalls.

Again, as ever, this is my tongue-in-cheek/foot-on-the-gas $0.02; however, if you wanted a 4x4, sitting several feet off the ground, you would have purchased a Range Rover, I must assume. "Get down," just not in a new recruit context... rather, "get down on it" and FLOAT, FLOAT ON..."

Remember that the self-leveling suspension on a 500E does a good job at helping the car launch-the rear shocks pressurize themselves and limit squat when you come out of the hole. I doubt I'll ever defeat mine-if I want to ever upgrade, I'd do an AMG suspension that retains the adaptive rear struts.

There's my 2% of a buck

__________________
"If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?" Sir Sterling Moss

Michael
2014 E63S Estate
2006 SLK55
1995 E500
1986 Porsche 944 turbo

Micheal,

I am intrigued by the AMG upgrade possibility...
Where can I find more info on all these wonderful AMG parts?
I have Koni front dampers and would like to retain the car to original as much as possible. It isn't very pretty but it is pretty awesome....


Thanks,

__________________
Bryan Harter
1992 500E Smoke Silver
2002 CLK55 AMG Cab Silver/Black
2001 Harley Fatboy - Pearl White
2004 F150 FX4 Silver/Grey
1969 GTO Liberty Blue
1956 F100 Black

I just had a talk with Lou about the self leveling system.
Seems the Sachs engineers had a pretty good idea and product, MB just forgot to publish some type of maintenance program for them. I was told that the system should be flushed every 2 years.

I think I may have played a part in the system failure by not adjusting the ride height after I installed the H&R springs. This probably caused the car to run under pressure, not sure if I can validate the theory. It lasted 10 years without a flush so I can't complain too much.

I was also told the design was upgraded in '94 to improve the nitrogen cell seals and increase the capacity of the cell.

__________________
Bryan Harter
1992 500E Smoke Silver
2002 CLK55 AMG Cab Silver/Black
2001 Harley Fatboy - Pearl White
2004 F150 FX4 Silver/Grey
1969 GTO Liberty Blue
1956 F100 Black

The nitrogen modules in the rear are cheap to replace, only $75 each x2. Well at least I thought it was cheap considering all the benefits of the system. I understand 100k miles is the typical life. I think it cost me about $300 to have them replaced on my 500E and it made a huge difference. The hydraulic fluid is part of the major service....don't let your mechanics skip it.

I picked it up last night and it rides like a mercedes again! Still have a couple of issues to sort out with the dealer.... They charge much more for their cells $140 but I figure it is their problem for the next year.

__________________
Bryan Harter
1992 500E Smoke Silver
2002 CLK55 AMG Cab Silver/Black
2001 Harley Fatboy - Pearl White
2004 F150 FX4 Silver/Grey
1969 GTO Liberty Blue
1956 F100 Black