Merc airmatic suspension problems

cantdecide

Dad has been attempting to buy a Tealite blue (?) '02 E240 Avantgarde with 54k and FSH from a Merc main stealer in Cork for 3 weeks. Guess which one:rolleyes:

We saw this car at the valeters the day after it arrived as a trade-in. It had a serious clang in the front suspension so we decided on a deal subject to Dad being happy with the Avantgarde's ride after the clang was fixed. Test drove it again, gave the ride the thumbs up after showing it the bumpiest road in the area, but on the spin it showed up faults for the suspension among other items we spotted. They undertook to sort everything. They rang and said the airmatic problem was a split hose.

He was called to collect the car but it turned out that not only were not all the jobs done, it had collected a fine big smack over the N/S rear door and wheelarch. It went off to the panelbeaters and it was ready today, paint was 100%. It has now been three weeks since first viewing between the various pit-stops.

Dad collected the car today on his third attempt but noticed a big deterioration in the ride. It positvely BANGED at the rear when a bump would hit it the right way and handled badly. A few minutes of chin-scratching and I spotted that the N/S rear was lower than the O/S by about an inch, with the engine running.

I know it has a raised suspension option but I have also concluded that the ride height is varying by about an inch both front (stays level) and back depending on when you look at it. He hasn't used the stiffened options yet as they are just cruel on our desperate roads.

Dad went back to work out of fear of fireworks and I took it back to the stealer myself. Of course, the suspension had levelled off by the time I arrived and I left with assurances of warranty work if it went pare-shaped.

Earlier this evening, we switched on the car to see how it was feeling and from the rear, we could hear air escaping in 2 second bursts every 5 seconds, like it was attempting to pressurize but it didn't lift, so the arch was level with the top of the tyre. Pushing down on that side affected the air sound. Later this evening, the car was now lower with a lean of about 2" L-R on the O/S- it has literally bottomed out on the O/S. Pushing down on that side has NO effect. We didn't start it so we're not sure it will lift, making it safe to move.

He wants to shove it back to them but I don't think he'll find a better example, despite what probably amounts to teething problems.



If I encourage him to stay the course, am I likely to end up with egg on my face or is there a set amount of things it could be? My Dad's nerves are pretty much shot over this car even though it seems fixable enough to me.

shanel23

This '02 model is it the old or new shape ? - w210 or w211 ?

maidhc

Get out if you still can.

cantdecide

shanel23 wrote: »

This '02 model is it the old or new shape ? - w210 or w211 ?

Woops. W211 shape.

Pete4779

cantdecide wrote: »

Dad has been attempting to buy a Tealite blue (?) '02 E240 Avantgarde with 54k and FSH from a Merc main stealer in Cork for 3 weeks. Guess which one:rolleyes:

Send it back. As it's airmatic, is this on a W210 or W211? I think that there was no Airmatic option on the older W210 series, which means you're dad must have bought a late '02 W211 which was only launched in late 02 as well, which is the car that gave MB and DC at the time the bad rep for problems.

The same airmatic problems were in the W220 S-Class of that era, and the later facelift (it runs around 3 years ahead of the lifecycle of the E) resolved it.

You do not want a W211 E-Class from launch to end of 2003 unless you have a perfectly running example. The first 14 months+ of production cars had far far higher problems, not just with electronics. Safest W211 E-Classes to get are 2004+.

Things like Airmatic are €€€ to fix. It's a lemon, and I imagine that Airmatic will only be the first of many problems. There are many perfectly working others available, usually around the €30k mark.

In fact, unless it was a much more recent model from say 06+ I would actually avoid any MB with Airmatic. There are other far more useful options to look for and you can find top specced models which all for some reason don't have airmatic. I would really suggest bringing it back. You'll find loads used for sale and you could also look at MB Direct in the UK.

cantdecide

It comes with a 12mth warranty which is about as long as he'll keep it AND it's far enough below 20k to make your jaw drop. Has just 50k on the clock and it is a very well specced example. It's not like it's going to the scrapyard afterall, I'm more concerned about the head-being-wrecked factor...

unkel

cantdecide wrote: »

It comes with a 12mth warranty which is about as long as he'll keep it AND it's far enough below 20k to make your jaw drop

If your father is happy enough with the ongoing repairs and if he's not in a hurry, he should go for it. Don't take it until it is 100% sorted though, even though it has a warranty. There's not much motivation for the salesman to sort you out after he gets his money

He's only planning on keeping it for a year. I probably don't have to tell you it will be very hard to sell on?

HungryJoey

My father was in a similar situation when he was buying his W211 ('02) E240 avantgarde. It had high millage (94k) but was very well priced also he knew the chap selling it. It needed one or 2 things done to the suspension, which made him wary about buying it but he went for it! 2 Years later its running like clock work, there hasn't been one problem with it. Gorgeous car, I love getting in it! It also has the 2.6 V6 engine, which has enough poke under the bonnet to keep you happy. It has all the bells and wistles too being an avantgarde.

I'd say if he is willing to get the repairs done, go for it! My father took a gamble with his, saving him nearly 8-10K compared to the same spec car, at the time. 50K miles is very decent for a 6 year old merc with FSH, if the garage is going to repair it, Atleast consider it!

Personally, I dont think I would ever drive a 4 pot merc (E200) just like I wouldnt drive a 4 pot BMW. The V6 in the 240, is silky smooth. My father has had the old 2.4 V6 in the W210 and the 2.6 V6 in his current W211 and they were both silky smooth and had a nice purr when you pushed them.