Sensible unicorn 2008 W251 R500L Sport
Discussion
So the drive tonight revealed some interesting issues…
Firstly, there is no longer any vibration at speed, which is a good thing.
However, I was greeted with a tyre pressure warning message, then with this suspension malfunction message
then a couple more tyre related messages
The suspension message happened once and not again, so I’m taking that with a pinch of salt for now.
The tyre pressure warnings… I guess that’s another item tucked away in COMAND? I’m going to have to study the manual again.
As for the alignment, it’s a dumb tool exercise and now the car is pulling to the left. Having experienced this before with the E500, the castor must be staggered with the n/s front further forward than the o/s in order to keep it on a straight line in the UK. I think that I’ll have to book it in with Black Boots, who know what they’re doing.
Driving wise, the seat does adjust as much as the Range Rover and I can’t get the upper back comfortable yet. It’s a lovely cruiser, however, the long wheelbase really does make it feel limo-like.
Firstly, there is no longer any vibration at speed, which is a good thing.
However, I was greeted with a tyre pressure warning message, then with this suspension malfunction message
then a couple more tyre related messages
The suspension message happened once and not again, so I’m taking that with a pinch of salt for now.
The tyre pressure warnings… I guess that’s another item tucked away in COMAND? I’m going to have to study the manual again.
As for the alignment, it’s a dumb tool exercise and now the car is pulling to the left. Having experienced this before with the E500, the castor must be staggered with the n/s front further forward than the o/s in order to keep it on a straight line in the UK. I think that I’ll have to book it in with Black Boots, who know what they’re doing.
Driving wise, the seat does adjust as much as the Range Rover and I can’t get the upper back comfortable yet. It’s a lovely cruiser, however, the long wheelbase really does make it feel limo-like.
The tyre pressure monitor on my 2009 S211 is similar, I think you should be able to reset it or access the menu by pressing the trip reset button (thats the 'R' button the screen is referring to) when the tyre pressure monitor is on the display. I can get to that screen with the wheel controls on my car (which doesnt have COMAND) rather than the head unit menu, if that makes sense?
Edited by Willber on Thursday 19th October 06:37
On my E Class you use the right arrow on the steering wheel to scroll to the last menu.
There you have several options including Vehicle Assyst (service indicator) and Tyre Assyst.
Use the down arrow to get to the one you want and hit the select button to display the current pressures.
It won't do it from completely cold; you need to drive for a few minutes.
Really handy.
ETA; just thinking that the R might be based on a 211 not a 212......
There you have several options including Vehicle Assyst (service indicator) and Tyre Assyst.
Use the down arrow to get to the one you want and hit the select button to display the current pressures.
It won't do it from completely cold; you need to drive for a few minutes.
Really handy.
ETA; just thinking that the R might be based on a 211 not a 212......
Edited by AC43 on Thursday 19th October 11:56
Michael, I would advise getting the suspension compressor checked. Coupling the extended run-time when the suspension was raised and the so far one-off dash warning suggests it may not be in the best of health. It may well fail in short order but the bigger issue is not keeping the air springs properly inflated and risking damaging them. On 211s Star can perform a health check on the compressor.
Regbuser said:
Talk about London buses... BM buys an R500, and there are another couple now on AT..
That chromite black is v nice
Odd… this comment didn’t appear on my desktop browser (edge) yesterday but appears on my mobile browser (edge). That chromite black is v nice
Edited by Regbuser on Wednesday 18th October 20:33
Anyway, it is actually a very nice colour which seems to shift from a steel blue to a modern ish grey to black.
The W251 R500 on AT are with the M113 engine. In comparison to my E500, I find that the torques aren’t as available at low revs on the R500… however, it could take a few hundred miles to adapt to the different usage/throttle inputs.
bolidemichael said:
Mini drama last night as I couldn't locate the locking wheel nut -- daylight helps...
The tyre guys were very efficient, I ordered the tyres yesterday -- Continental AllSeasonContact2 -- and dropped it in the morning with them. I asked them to check the alignment and tracking too, and also the part numbers on the alloys. According to AlloyWheelsDirect, the front offset (ET60) differs from the rear (ET48) and I wondered whether they might be mounted incorrectly and contibuting to the handling issues.
I received a call and he told me that he was shocked... some bolts were hand tight, if that and some were ridiculously tight -- to the extent that he warned me that the locking wheel nut might snap and he'd have to call a specialist in... I asked him to proceed and received a call a little while later to let me know that it was all ready to go.
New tyres... but as you can see, it's marked where one of the alloys is buckled
Lots of balance weights required all round!
Another of the alloys has been repaired at some stage and he commented that all four of the wheels are the same part number i.e. the same offset; I checked in the manual for reference and sure enough, they are different offsets on each axle
I'll have to ask him which alloys were fitted! I'll then source appropriate replacements x2, have them all refurbished/repaired, shod with the correct tyres and fitted/balanced.
He also mentioned, btw, that the alloys wheel refurbishment was shocking -- no paint on the inside and non cured in an oven, uneven paint on the rims so that he had to use a sealant against the bead.
As for the alignment, the o/s toe was pointing inwards other than that, camber was good and the outgoing tyres were in decent nick and wearing evenly. I'll drive it on the motorway this evening and assess the vibrations.
I was correct to have revisited this! We checked the alloys and indeed, the two offside were xx002 front alloys with ET60 offset and the two near side, xx902 ET48 offset. They’re remounting the tyres, which are rotational and setting the tyre pressures. The tyre guys were very efficient, I ordered the tyres yesterday -- Continental AllSeasonContact2 -- and dropped it in the morning with them. I asked them to check the alignment and tracking too, and also the part numbers on the alloys. According to AlloyWheelsDirect, the front offset (ET60) differs from the rear (ET48) and I wondered whether they might be mounted incorrectly and contibuting to the handling issues.
I received a call and he told me that he was shocked... some bolts were hand tight, if that and some were ridiculously tight -- to the extent that he warned me that the locking wheel nut might snap and he'd have to call a specialist in... I asked him to proceed and received a call a little while later to let me know that it was all ready to go.
New tyres... but as you can see, it's marked where one of the alloys is buckled
Lots of balance weights required all round!
Another of the alloys has been repaired at some stage and he commented that all four of the wheels are the same part number i.e. the same offset; I checked in the manual for reference and sure enough, they are different offsets on each axle
I'll have to ask him which alloys were fitted! I'll then source appropriate replacements x2, have them all refurbished/repaired, shod with the correct tyres and fitted/balanced.
He also mentioned, btw, that the alloys wheel refurbishment was shocking -- no paint on the inside and non cured in an oven, uneven paint on the rims so that he had to use a sealant against the bead.
As for the alignment, the o/s toe was pointing inwards other than that, camber was good and the outgoing tyres were in decent nick and wearing evenly. I'll drive it on the motorway this evening and assess the vibrations.
I’d already visited in the morning to inspect the alignment, once again, as the steering was pulling strongly the left. He confirmed that the offside toe was out.
I’ll need eccentric bolts to adjust the camber, not fitted any longer as standard.
I also spoke to the owner of this old smoker who has travelled to Norway and SoF in it…
Back to the now… the welded alloy
and a misaligned bumper
Willber said:
The tyre pressure monitor on my 2009 S211 is similar, I think you should be able to reset it or access the menu by pressing the trip reset button (thats the 'R' button the screen is referring to) when the tyre pressure monitor is on the display. I can get to that screen with the wheel controls on my car (which doesnt have COMAND) rather than the head unit menu, if that makes sense?
Thank you. I tried pressing and holding the R for three or so seconds and it beeped at me. However, since then the tyre pressures will have been readjusted so I’ll see if it prompts me once again. Edited by Willber on Thursday 19th October 06:37
AC43 said:
On my E Class you use the right arrow on the steering wheel to scroll to the last menu.
There you have several options including Vehicle Assyst (service indicator) and Tyre Assyst.
Use the down arrow to get to the one you want and hit the select button to display the current pressures.
It won't do it from completely cold; you need to drive for a few minutes.
Really handy.
ETA; just thinking that the R might be based on a 211 not a 212......
Thanks. It would seem to be the case. There you have several options including Vehicle Assyst (service indicator) and Tyre Assyst.
Use the down arrow to get to the one you want and hit the select button to display the current pressures.
It won't do it from completely cold; you need to drive for a few minutes.
Really handy.
ETA; just thinking that the R might be based on a 211 not a 212......
Edited by AC43 on Thursday 19th October 11:56
Stegel said:
Michael, I would advise getting the suspension compressor checked. Coupling the extended run-time when the suspension was raised and the so far one-off dash warning suggests it may not be in the best of health. It may well fail in short order but the bigger issue is not keeping the air springs properly inflated and risking damaging them. On 211s Star can perform a health check on the compressor.
Thanks Stegel, I’ll go and plug it in this afternoon and see what’s up. 
)or is it just the offsets that differ?bolidemichael said:
The W251 R500 on AT are with the M113 engine. In comparison to my E500, I find that the torques aren’t as available at low revs on the R500… however, it could take a few hundred miles to adapt to the different usage/throttle inputs.
Like for like the M273 has more torque and powah everwhere compared to the 113. But your R is 200kg heavier so it'll cancel most of the gainds out.
Best thrash it a bit just to be safe though.
Stegel said:
Michael, I would advise getting the suspension compressor checked. Coupling the extended run-time when the suspension was raised and the so far one-off dash warning suggests it may not be in the best of health. It may well fail in short order but the bigger issue is not keeping the air springs properly inflated and risking damaging them. On 211s Star can perform a health check on the compressor.
E90_M3Ross said:
Personally I would get that suspension fault investigated. It'll be logged on the system, and in light of it taking a long time to raise, could be indicative of a problem that's yet to rear its head (although I don't know how it all works, but that's what I'd do).
RicksAlfas said:
I had a Merc with Airmatic and when the compressor failed it dropped it on its bumpstops. It was a pig to recover from a flat, quiet car park. It would have been a nightmare on a country lane! I would get it looked at quickly too if it's on the way out.
Thanks. Following Stegel's advise (thank you for the other comments too, guys), I popped it in to my indy man after the visit to the tyre man and they popped it onto STAR.
Confirmed that the compressor is failing (bottom of page 2) and a load of low battery related warnings that've been cleared now. I have to say and I've failed to mention (I think), that the car is slow to crank; I have had it on the trickle charger overnight on the first night, but it's still slow to fire.
I also asked them to print out the data card for me
I'd replace the battery, clear the codes, and only then start worrying about weird behaviour and codes. All bets are off if the battery is weak, you'll get endless glitches and bulls
t error codes logged.
Pump isn't the end of the world, although I used an eBay special (Max Speeding Rods!) on a Jaguar X350 recently and it sounded like a jackhammer whenever it was running, so I wouldn't recommend those.
t error codes logged.Pump isn't the end of the world, although I used an eBay special (Max Speeding Rods!) on a Jaguar X350 recently and it sounded like a jackhammer whenever it was running, so I wouldn't recommend those.
There are rebuild kits for the pumps on eBay which some have had success with, but I decided to throw a new pump on my E500. One of the woes my car suffered from, making diagnosis more difficult, was a dodgy connection to the pump - the connecting plug and socket had overheated due to the pump running too much / too often, allowing the contacts in the plug to move backwards and give an intermittent connection. It is seemingly a known issue. I cut the loom back by a small amount and replaced the plug and contacts. Something to perhaps check on your car.
ETA - Agree with GoL above on battery / codes. Whenever I’ve had battery issues, the next scan lists all sorts of issues which when cleared don’t reappear.
ETA - Agree with GoL above on battery / codes. Whenever I’ve had battery issues, the next scan lists all sorts of issues which when cleared don’t reappear.
Edited by Stegel on Thursday 19th October 20:21
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