Hello everyone. Yes, I new to this forum. I have reviewed many posts (very informative), however I recently purchased a 2003 S430. AFTER I purchased the car I began hearing a lot about possible suspension problems, and how costly that can be. I was wondering, should I begin to worry about this expense, on a car with 120k miles? I am trying to be proactive and look for early signs of possible problems. Any advice on timeline when to begin worrying? Thanks, in advance.

 

early signs are coming outside after a few days and the car is sitting on bottomed out suspension. Usually a leak. But still should be able to hear the pump running and if the car returns to normal ride height(s) then the leak is probably small. Now if the pump runs but the car doesn't raise, then more air is leaking than is going in.

Or in the 2003 and up usually the air pump relay goes on the fritz first and this can cause the pump to runs continuously and wear itself out or discharge the battery fast. If the car is bottomed out and or you haven't heard the air pump activate in days, then the relay is probably gone or the air pump itself is dead. Usually the pump do keep up a loud racket when it's on it's last leg.

Timeline though I'm not sure. Seen some W220s of that years with 200,000 odd miles and not have any major air suspension issues, while some less than 60,000 miles are sitting at the Benz shop bottomed out waiting for repair.

Luckily the air suspension system usually gives decent amount of warnings before giving up the ghost.