ruykava

so i was driving along a reasonably good road at 180km/h. when suddenly an unmarked speedbump comes up. i never saw it: suddenly my E240 hit, flew in the air, then hit the road again, on the opposite lane, hard.. grimaced hearing the front skirting shriek on the road.. then the whole car started fishtailing from the left to the right of the tiny one-lane road.... i thought that was it, i was gonna hit the trees on the side... but miraculously, the steering never lightened up.. i was in control.. and a few seconds later, the car was straight again, but there was a huge zig-zagging line of burnt rubber on the road...

what i was impressed with was that the steering didn't lighten, the ESP light didn't even blink (or maybe i just didn't notice in the 'excitement'), and the car was so naturally controllable even in that situation. i look upon it with new respect.

while in the air i noticed the CD player stopped, probably to give me concentration: very nice touch. funny how you notice these things in times of danger! or mayb it was just the impact that knocked the CD out of alignment. well, the car needs to be re-sprayed tomorrow, skirting is completely devoid of paint now. but most important of all, i walked away in one piece, and so did my W211. now, an hour later, i'm quaking in my shoes thinking about just now! strange it didn't seem terribly frightening at the time itself..

SAguirre

I am glad that all is OK. I have also had little issues on the road that made me test the E's capabilities. However, I have not left the pavement yet.

You might want to seriously consider getting a 4 wheel alignment. They should at least check the geometry of all the wheels to make sure nothing got thrown out of spec. Otherwise your tires will wear out prematurely.

Steve

JimPurdy

Congratulations on surviving a very scarry moment. I am sure that my knees would have turned to jelly and I would have had to change underwear after that encounter. It is good to hear that the safety systems in the W211 work as advertised.

ruykava

thanks for the advice saguirre: i'll do that while in the shop. had wanted to get it done for some time now but never got down to it: this might be a timely reminder!

ATS

I am glad you are okay. Not anywhere as bad but one time I was accelerating hard and hit a flat metal train track crossing (about 25 feet long) and due to it being wet, I started thinking to myself that the car was going to slide out sideways and I was going in the ditch, but the ESP light came on, the car stoppoed the power, I could feel it somehow correct itself from my side spin and then as soon as I was off the tracks, the power came back. I was amazed..