I received my C350e middle of December and have added 3,000 kms. Most of these were on country roads with, say, 700 in major cities.

I thought the Airmatic suspension would give me an extremely "cushy" ride, since I have set it to "Comfort".

However, I feel that the suspension is no better than a regularly sprung car and I can't notice any difference between "Comfort" setting and "Sport+" setting.

I find it crashes into irregularities on the road and, generally feels stiff.

In Australia the car comes with 19" wheels as standard with 35 profiles on the back (40 on the front).

Does anyone else feel that Airmatic is not as good as it is purported, or, do I have a problem? Are the low profile tyres giving me the problem?

 

Airmatic is good on undulating roads but crashy on poor sharp surfaces. 19" wheels don't help especially with run flats but remember that this system is very basic in the C and it's focus was more towards adaptive driving rather than comfort. I can definitely tell the difference between comfort and sport plus.

 

AirMatic alone is a start. Swapping to 18" non run flats is also a huge help. I can definitely tell which mode I'm in without looking.

 

You're probably better off buying a car without Airmatic and using the $1K you save towards a set of NON-runflat tires for a more comfortable ride.

 

Not sure why you put NON in caps...I recommend non run flats in conjunction with AirMatic. The conventional tires (I recommend Michelin Pilot Supersports) will help by transmitting less impacts thru the suspension and into the cabin, but getting that extra cushion of air that AirMatic provides is essential if you want the traditional creamy MB ride. That's why it's standard on the flagship S Class. For $1100 it's a no brainer on a C but it does usually require a special order car and a 90 day wait. Well worth it though.

 

Thanks for the responses. However, the C350e comes standard with Airmatic and 19" run flats, in Australia.

I would assume this is to cope with the extra weight of the battery for the Hybrid drive?

I've had two other C Classes (W204 and W203) with standard suspension and they seemed to ride better than the Airmatic. However, they couldn't be changed from Comfort to Sport + etc.

 

Run flats are there for a reason and that reason is the MB discovered that spare wheels are round after they put in a square recess under the mat.

 

Maybe the extra weight of the batteries negates the benefit of the air springs. Dropping to 18" and the MPSS would be your best bet.

 

To Luton Driver.

That's not true for the C350e. All of the space is taken up by battery, big diameter cables, cooling pipes, etc. for the Hybrid motor.

It's quite frightening to see when the cover is removed. I would imagine that it would cost a small fortune to repair, if someone ran up the back of the car.

 

In the Netherlands, the C350e is standard equipped with 17" rims an non run flats.
In must say that the airmatic is an improvement over standard suspension and i can feel the difference in characteristics in the different agility modes.