October 7

2013 Mercedes ML350 Suspension System

Mercedes

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Mark: Hi, it's Mark Bossert. I'm here with Bernie Pawlik, Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Vancouver's best auto service experience. 25 times voted by their customers as the best repair shop in Vancouver. We're talking cars. How are you doing Bernie? 

Bernie: Doing well. 

Mark: So 2013 Mercedes ML350 had some interesting issues going on with the suspension. What was happening? 

Bernie: So the vehicle came to the shop, the complaint was that the back end would drop down occasionally and there's some warning lights on the dash for the suspension system. So we proceeded to do some diagnostics on the vehicle. 

Mark: So what did you find? 

Bernie: Well first thing scanned for codes, found a couple of codes relevant to the system. There was a dump valve code, that the system wasn't discharging air properly among other codes. And then we proceeded to do a visual inspection of the system and then tested the operation. Why don't you get in some pictures because this is where things get interesting.

Mark: So what kind of rear suspension does this vehicle have? 

Bernie: Yeah, so, the air suspension is only for the rear of the vehicle. It's not a full air suspension system. There are many vehicles where the springs or struts will be all air operated. So you can adjust the height of the vehicle all around. This is just basically to keep the backend level when you put a load on it. So the rear uses air springs but there's no air suspension to the front. 

2013 Mercedes ML350 Suspension System

So this is a picture of one of the old rear air springs, air bag, we sometimes call them. That air is pointing to where, you know, one area of leakage.

Bernie: You can go to the next picture, we can have a look at a couple other things. 

Mark: Just before we go there. That's a big balloon essentially, but heavy, heavy duty and is pressurized with air, which is what allows it to lift and suspend the vehicle ultimately and absorb shocks a little bit, I guess? 

Bernie: Exactly. Yeah, it's a spring, but instead of being made a metal, it's made of air. The air will compress as you hit bumps. And yeah, it's a very large bag of air. I mean, that's a exceptionally strong rubber and flexible.

Mark: All right, let's get to some pictures. So here it is in the vehicle. That doesn't look good. 

2013 Mercedes ML350 Suspension System

Bernie: No. So part of our diagnostic procedures to find out, you know, are these bags leaking? So, you know, if there was a severe leak, you'd be able to hear it hiss, but there wasn't anything like that. So we use a tire leak check spray. It's basically something like foam is kind of like soap, but it's exceptionally foamy. So the minutest leak will, will start showing up in bubbles. And you can see all those pink bubbles on the right side are a leak. And then on the left, there's a big sort of white clump and that's basically a leak in the bag.  Yeah, right over there where you're moving the mouse pointer. That'd probably be a larger leak present. 

2013 Mercedes ML350 Suspension System

And that is the top crimp where the airbag is crimped onto the plastic sort of mounting piece. And there's seepage coming out of there as well. So there you have it, you know, leak found.  Confirmed airbags definitely need to be replaced. 

Again, another view. This is a view of the air spring. You can see cracks. A lot of those cracks or would not be leaks, but you can see a split that kind of moves away from the direction of that arrow. And that's obviously a leak as well. 

2013 Mercedes ML350 Suspension System

Mark: Yeah. That's probably the big bubble that we saw.

Bernie: Exactly. But those sort of radial angular cracks are not necessarily, I mean, they indicate the airbag is obviously old, but it could look like that and not be leaking, but it's not going to have too much life left in it. Again, we're in 2024 now doing this podcast, so this vehicle is 11 years old. It's had some time of usage of   banging around and pumping up and down, going over bumps.  Mark: Even with not that many kilometres. Is that going to be an issue? 

Bernie: Yeah, this vehicle at about 115,000 kilometres. So not really very high mileage. 

Mark: So it's more a case of probably weather exposure and temperature changes. I'm sure these bags get hot as they're going up and down a lot, probably. 

Bernie: Oh, yeah. Time as well is a factor, you know, 10 years out of an air spring is probably about kind of an average. You'll get sometimes less, sometimes you'll get more, but they do wear. 

Mark: It's not a leaf spring in other words. 

Bernie: Yeah, yeah. Which lasts almost forever.

Mark: Yeah. So what's this? 

2013 Mercedes ML350 Suspension System

Bernie: So this is the compressor. So we also replaced the compressor. As I mentioned earlier, there were some codes for a dump valve issue and compressors is not just the compressor that fills the air springs. It also controls the amount of air in the system. So if, for instance, you had a, you know, say you put three people in the back and a few hundred pounds of luggage, the suspension system would pump this air springs up.

And then when everyone gets out, of course, the vehicle sits too high. So, you know, the air needs to be released from the system. And so the compressor does the whole operation. And so inside there's a dump valve. And if that valve isn't operating properly, it'll cause a problem. Now, the other thing, and we do these repairs from time to time on these vehicles, you know, the compressors will wear out. When you have leaking airbags like that, the compressor has to work extra hard.

2013 Mercedes ML350 Suspension System

So it's only a matter of time before the compressor is basically done for. And I would say in the case of this one too, it might well be that had we not done it the compressor may have failed very quickly afterwards anyways. So it's kind of like with the exception of the ride sensor and the computer that operates it, which rarely ever goes bad, you know, we've replaced all the mechanical components of this vehicle and should be reliable for a very long time.

Mark: So how common is this system in any kind of vehicle, but I'm sure it probably more prevalent in luxury vehicles? 

Bernie: Yeah, it's more of a luxury feature. I mean, it's used in, well, I don't know, 5%, maybe less. It's not super common. Most MLs of this model year, I think pretty well all of them have this kind of system. But you know, it's found on other brands and makes of vehicles as well. And it's not something new. I mean, you go back to like a seventies Lincoln, and we're talking about luxury cars, but seventies Lincoln or Cadillacs, they'll have those kind of things too, just to keep the ride level. 

Mark: Or theoretically softer and more compliant and firm when it needs to be, et cetera.

Bernie: Exactly. Yeah. Air suspension is great. I like it a lot. I've had cars with it, but when it, when it goes wrong, it's expensive to fix. It's certainly more expensive than having just metal springs and more failure prone, but it is nice. It works well. 

Mark: And it does have a more limited lifespan than springs.

Bernie: Exactly. 

Mark: So once everything's fixed, how's the vehicle running? 

Bernie: Yeah, it's great. You know, it goes up and down, no leaks. 

Mark: And how are these 2013 ML350s for reliability? 

Bernie: Well, they're all right. I mean, this is a 3 litre diesel version vehicle, this particular model. So they do have their problems, but generally pretty good, more complicated vehicles. So there's more to go wrong, but generally a pretty decent vehicle. 

Mark: So if you're looking for service for your Mercedes in Vancouver, the guys to see your Pawlik Automotive, you can reach them online at pawlikautomotive.com. You can book your appointment right there. They'll get back to you. They'll find out what's going on. They'll get ready for your appointment. Or, you can call them at (604) 327-71112 to book your appointment. Either way, you got to book ahead. They're always busy. Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Thanks so much for watching and listening. Thanks Bernie. 

Bernie: Thank you Mark. Thanks for watching.

About the author 

Bernie Pawlik

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