2011 Mercedes-Benz E550 Suspension Problems

The vehicle felt like it was all over the road at highway speeds. Took it to a mechanic and the rear subframe had become weakened with premature rust. The mounting point for one of the rear suspension arms had broken off of the subframe and was making contact with my gas tank. I called the dealer to see if there were any recalls. No recalls for this issue however there are a few reports on this website. I have also been on forums for my vehicle and it is a VERY common problem on these vehicles. From what i gather this is a widespread issue, and the fact that it could possibly puncture a gas tank and cause serious injury that something should be done to correct the concern.

NHTSA ID

11500100

Incident

Jan 3, 2023

When I parked my car there was a loud hissing sound near left front end but no smoke or anything from under the hood. When I drove it again I received a warning of (MALFUNCTION) when I was turning left the front left tire was grinding on the actual car and barely made it home. The car warning turned red and said pull over car too low. When I parked the car the front left side is now sitting on tire and touching the ground. Unable to drive. Not been investigated by a mechanic, insurance, etc. There was also an airbag warning before this issue. The contact has stated that she is disabled, and the vehicle is not currently drivable.

NHTSA ID

11493609

Incident

Nov 14, 2022

The air suspension started leaning heavily on one side after being parked for 12+ hours. And 2 days ago, while warming up the car, air suspension did not stop pumping air until front right air strut blew up. It was really loud and unexpected, I was lucky the car was not driven when the explosion happened. Checking through forums, most people who own W212 E-Class with airmatic suspension have issues with car lowering over night. This is a big Safety concern that might lead to blow out of the strut(or multiple)

NHTSA ID

11469220

Incident

Jun 12, 2022

THE AIR SUSPENSION LEAKS

NHTSA ID

11337947

Incident

Jun 1, 2015

Mileage

40,000 mi

AIR SUSPENSION APPEARS TO BE LEAKING. AFTER SITTING IN MY GARAGE OVERNIGHT THE BODY OF THE 2011 MERCEDES E550 IS LOWERED BY ALMOST 2 INCHES. WHEN I START THE CAR AFTER SITTING LESS THAN 24 HOURS, A PROMPT ON THE DASH INFORMATION SCREEN INDICATES "VEHICLE RISING, PLEASE WAIT". THE MERCEDES HAS JUST OVER 64,000 MILES. IN RESEARCH OF THE ISSUE, IT APPEARS TO BE A CHRONIC MALFUNCTION WITH THE W212 MERCEDES AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM, AS WELL AS SEVERAL HUNDRED TO 1-2 THOUSAND DOLLAR REPAIR.

NHTSA ID

11228663

Incident

May 1, 2019

Mileage

64,000 mi

SLOW LEAK OF AIR SHOCKS UNTIL THE VEHICLE IS NOW COMPLETELY DOWN AND UNABLE TO RISE.

NHTSA ID

11220752

Incident

Jun 17, 2019

Mileage

70,000 mi

THE AIRMATIC SUSPENSION ON THIS VEHICLE HAS PREMATURE WEAR AS DO MANY OTHERS. THE AIR SHOCK COMPONENTS LEAK AIR CAUSING THE CAR TO LOWER DANGEROUSLY TO THE GROUND. IT OCCURS STATIONARY, WHILE IN MOTION, AT VARIOUS DRIVING SITUATIONS.

NHTSA ID

11205945

Incident

Jul 1, 2018

Mileage

95,000 mi

"CAR TOO LOW" WARNING CAME ON WHEN I GOT IN MY CAR AND DROVE ABOUT A BLOCK; I PULLED OVER, LOOKED AROUND THE ENTIRE CAR AND THEN GOT BACK INTO MY CAR; THE 'CAR TOO LOW' WARNING HAD DISAPPEARED; THE NEXT MORNING I NOTICED THAT THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE WAS ALMOST TOUCHING THE FENDER; I CONTACTED A LOCAL FOREIGN CAR REPAIR SHOP AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE SUSPENSION HAD FAILED AND THAT BOTH SHOCKS (WHICH I WAS TOLD HAD AIR BAGS) NEEDED TO BE REPLACED; I HAVE NOT DRIVEN THIS CAR 500 MILES SINCE I PURCHASED IT THE 1ST OF FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR (2019) BUT NOW SINCE THIS HAS HAPPENED AND WITH RESEARCH THIS SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH THE MERCEDES CAR; IF I HAD KNOWN I WOULD NOT HAVE PURCHASED IT.

NHTSA ID

11195654

Incident

Mar 31, 2019

Mileage

92,000 mi

LEAK IN AIR SUSPENSION. FRONT OF CAR DROPS DOWN WHEN STATIONARY FOR A FEW HOURS.

NHTSA ID

11185551

Incident

Mar 9, 2019

Mileage

84,511 mi

I'VE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THESE AIR SUSPENSIONS, IT APPEARS THEY ARE MADE TO FAIL TO MAKE THE OWNER SPEND MONEY EVERY YEAR, I'VE HAD ALL TYPES OF MALFUNCTIONING WITHOUT ANYTHING MAJOR HAPPENING TO THE CAR. I SPENT OVER 2500$ REPLACING THE REAR SUSPENSION AFTER IT SPONTANEOUSLY STARTED MALFUNCTIONING BEING UNEVEN ETC.. AND NOW NOT LONG AFTER THE REAR ONES MESSED UP I'M HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE FRONT ONES. IT IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE THESE PRODUCTS FUNCTION WITH FRAGILITY AND LEAVE THE OWNER IN A PRECARIOUS POSITION BECAUSE THE CAR WILL LOWER ITSELF TO A HEIGHT WHERE THE CAR IS UNABLE TO DRIVE LEAVING THE DRIVER TO PAY POTENTIAL THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS... AND IF THE ACTUAL PUMP MALFUNCTIONS YOU ARE LOOKING AT AT LEAST 6!GRAND FOR ONE PART. I'VE ALREADY BEEN TAKEN FOR ABOUT 10000 FROM MERCEDES LAST YEAR ALONE.. PLEASE HOLD MERCEDES LIABLE FOR FUTURE REPAIRS TO THESE AIR SUSPENSIONS. ALTHOUGH NOTHING HAS HAPPENED THE FRONT IS MALFUNCTIONING NOW AND I DON'T HAVE THOUSAND TO SHELL OUT AGAIN TO MERCEDES

NHTSA ID

11152245

Incident

Jun 20, 2018

TAKATA RECALL. VEHICLE INOPERABLE DUE TO INFLATORS NOT HOLDING AIR. CAR SUSPENSION SAGS WHILE STATIONARY. WARNING COMES ON PROMPTING DRIVER TO PULL OVER.

NHTSA ID

11114029

Incident

May 31, 2018

Mileage

77,000 mi

AIRMATIC ISSUES AT HIGHWAY LOWERED, AIR LEAK AFTER COMPONENTS BEING TESTED BY MERCEDES-BENZ OF CARAL GABLES. THIS IS AN DANGEROUS ISSUE

NHTSA ID

11089183

Incident

Apr 5, 2018

Mileage

22,000 mi

FRONT OF THE CAR DROOLS EVENLY ABOUT EVERY FOUR HOURS REGARDLESS IF DRIVING OR PARKED. EMERGENCY STOPS REQUIRED WHEN DRIVING.

NHTSA ID

11062987

Incident

Dec 15, 2017

Mileage

115,000 mi

AIRMATIC FRONT AIR STRUT/SHOCK FAILURE. THE FRONT LEFT HAS FAILED ON MY CAR. IT HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING AND A SHORT WHILE AFTER AN ACCIDENT AND THE TWO MAY BE RELATED DUE TO THE BRAKING FORCES PUTTING PRESSURE ON THE FRONT STRUTS. THE FAILURE DID NOT HAPPEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CRASH. HOWEVER, ABOUT A MONTH LATER, OR SO, THE CAR LOWERED AND RED WARNING LIGHT CAME ON WITH A WARNING TO TO "PULL OVER AND STOP DRIVING IMMEDIATELY". I WAS DRIVING NORMALLY, BUT I HAD THE ACCIDENT IN LATE JUNE. ALSO, IN ADDITION THE THE TEMPORAL OCCURRENCE OF MY ACCIDENT, THE STRUTS APPEAR DEFECTIVE JUDGING BY COMPLAINTS ON MERCEDES FORUMS. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE THE CAR LOWERS, THE SUSPENSION HITS BOTTOM AND THE TIRES RUB ON THE FENDERS MAKING STEERING IMPOSSIBLE.

NHTSA ID

11021398

Incident

Aug 21, 2017

Mileage

71,000 mi

THE FRONT AIR SUSPENSION DROPS (BOTH SIDES AT THE SAME TIME) AT RANDOM TIMES -- SOMETIMES WHILE PARKED AND SOMETIMES WHILE DRIVING. I HAVE SPENT $1,116.53 SO FAR AND HAVE REPLACED THE PRE-FUSE BOX, RELAY, AND VALVE UNIT. THE SAME PROBLEM PERSISTS. THE DEALER AND A PRIVATE REPAIR SHOP ARE STUMPED AS TO WHAT THE PROBLEM IS. SEEMS LIKE A FREQUENT PROBLEM REPORTED ONLINE BY MANY OWNERS AND THAT MB SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THIS FAULTY DESIGN.

NHTSA ID

11018660

Incident

Jun 15, 2017

Mileage

96,025 mi

TAKATA RECALL MY FRONT AIR SUSPENSION LEAKS ALL THE TIME A LOT

NHTSA ID

11014859

Incident

Jun 12, 2017

Mileage

80,000 mi

I RECENTLY PURCHASED THIS CAR AND FOUND OUT THE NEXT DAY REAR DRIVER SIDE SUSPENSION IS VERY LOW I.E. 10% OF THE TIRE IS HIDING UNDER.

NHTSA ID

10983253

Incident

May 3, 2017

I HAVE OWNED A 2003, 2005, 2009 AND NOW A 2011 E550 AND EVERY ONE OF THESE CARS CAME WITH THE SAME AIR SUSPENSION PROBLEM. ITS NOT FAIR FOR THE CONSUMERS AND ITS CERTAINLY NOT FAIR FOR ALL MERCEDES BENZ CUSTOMERS. MY MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THE NOTORIOUS AIR SUSPENSION PROBLEM IS CAUSED BY A LEAK IN THE AIR SHOCK. WHICHEVER AIR SHOCK LEAKS, THATS THE SIDE OF THE CAR THAT WILL LEAN DOWN. MY E550 IS LEANING ON THE FRONT SIDE AND BOTH PASSENGER AND DRIVER SIDE ARE BOTH AFFECTED. I WAS QUOTED 1600$ FOR EACH SHOCK FROM MB, WHICH IS OVER 3200$ WITH ALL THE TAXES. EVERY NIGHT WHEN I PARK THE CAR, I WAKE UP IN THE MORNING WITH THE CAR LEANING DOWN.

NHTSA ID

10953729

Incident

Jan 10, 2017

Mileage

99,000 mi

SUSPENSION. ON VEHICLE IS LOPSIDED ALSO NOT ABLE TO RAISE OR DRIVE COMFORTABLE BE THE SUSPENSION IS NOT LEVEL. VEHICLE IS NOT DRIVABLE IN MY OPINION. EVERY TIME I'M COME OUTSIDE THE CAR IS EITHER LEANING TO ONE SIDE OR ON THE FLOOR.

NHTSA ID

10908174

Incident

Sep 10, 2016

Mileage

64,840 mi

I BOUGHT 2011 E550 BASE SEDAN LAST YEAR. IT HAD 25K MILES ON IT, AND 2 MONTHS LATER MY REAR SUSPENSION BEGAN LEAKING AND COST ME 2K IN REPAIRS. THE CAR WOULD LEAK OUT AIR FROM SUSPENSION OVER COUPLE HOURS. DEALER OR MY AFTERMARKET WARRANTY WOULDN'T COVER THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE IT'S NOT ON THE CONTRACT, BUT I'M NOT THE FIRST ONE WITH THIS ISSUE. WE SHOULDN'T BE BUYING NEW AIRBAG SUSPENSION ON A CAR THAT HAVEN'T HAD THE ORIGINAL TIRES REPLACED YET.

NHTSA ID

10897712

Incident

Oct 17, 2015

Mileage

26,000 mi