Since the warranty expired I have been plagued by the failure of the airmatic suspension.

The car is a Sept. 2005 model & I have now had to replace all four struts & other parts of the Airmatic system. Mercedes contributed 30% to the first failure but all future work has been carried out by a independant Mercedes specialist who is an ex- Mercedes technician.

He has proved to be very good & of course much cheaper than the Mercedes main dealer. He says that corrosion is a major problem of both mine & my wifes car due to the amount of salt on the roads during the winter on the country roads & indeed I have seen evidence of this when the car has been on the ramp. He also says that as salt is not used in Germany & the underside of Mercedes are not as protected as other manufacturers.

I am at my wits & wallets end with this problem & wondered weather this is a regular Mercedes & Airmatic problem? Is their anything I can do to negate the problem or am I stuck with the regular expensive replacement of Airmatic parts? Maybe I should just get rid which would be shame because I love the car & it has thrown up no other problems at all?