2.1

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
73,650 miles

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problem #2

Jun 112008

S600

  • 49,000 miles
This car has an air suspension system which has a severe problem. The car has no springs, instead each shock absorber has a pneumatic system that supports the weight of the vehicle. When both rear shock absorbers fail at the same time the whole rear of the car drops down and the car has to be stopped, posing no hazard. But when only one of the rear shock absorbers develops a small air leak, the car does not loose much height and there is loss of traction in the tire in the involved side because there is not sufficient vehicle weight being applied to it. This loss of traction in only one tire causes the tire to spin on light to moderate acceleration, but worse, it causes the tire to "lock up" on braking. Immediately the ABS system gets activated and in trying to prevent this "lock up", the ABS system decreases the braking force on the remaining 3 tires causing marked decrease in braking capacity. When this happens at highway speeds, braking distance is extensively prolonged, posing an extreme hazard. This is a severe design flaw which merits immediate correction by the manufacturer, or action by the government to prevent this type of suspension from being installed in any vehicle sold in the usa.

- Caguas, PR, USA

problem #1

Apr 202007

S600 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 98,300 miles
Had 2000 Mercedes S500, car in garage for a week, noticed the car is very low, tires almost rubbing the inside of the fenders, turned car on and warning massage said " car is too low, stop aeronautic system" raised the car with a panel button, car raised. Called the dealer, said you can drive it. I drove it and it very noisy, the second day did the same, very low almost on the ground. Same problem happened before about six month ago, while out of the state, told by the dealer it need reselling the aromatic system. Fixed that time (October 2006) cost me about $650. Problem keep going with the same aromatic system. Looked up online, www.benzworld.org and found hundreds of similar complains about the same airmatic system. It is very expensive to repaired, and if repaired, it keep failing over and over. There must be a recall to correct it. It is very dangerous if it happened while driving, the whole suspension might collapse which may cause serious injuries. Pleaase help, thanks.

- Greenville, MS, USA