Wobbly Highway Ride - normal? E320 w/coil springs and E500 w/ Airmatic
11-16-2007, 05:20 PM
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Wobbly Highway Ride - normal? E320 w/coil springs and E500 w/ Airmatic
Test driving W211s to get a feel for them, in the early stages of shopping for one.
An E320 with the base coil spring suspension, and an E500 with standard airmatic both felt a bit floaty/bouncy on undulating expressway at speed (65mph). The word porpoising came to mind. Is this normal, or an indicator of a poorly kept W211?
The E500 stopped once the airmatic was adjusted to the intermediate setting. And the E320 smoothed out once the pavement got more uniform. Each had the base wheel/tire combo, 16s on the E320, 17s on the E500.
I'm assuming that this is out of character, and was caused by incorrect alignment, tire pressure, frame damage or suspension damage.
On the other hand, maybe my expectations are too high - is this just a tradeoff you have to accept to get the smooth E-Class ride? My daily drivers are an E38 BMW and a 4th Gen Camaro on Koni SAs, so I am used to a heavily damped suspension. But these two W211s didn't feel nearly as composed over highway undulations as an S-Type Jaguar I recently drove.
Can anyone provide their thoughts?
An E320 with the base coil spring suspension, and an E500 with standard airmatic both felt a bit floaty/bouncy on undulating expressway at speed (65mph). The word porpoising came to mind. Is this normal, or an indicator of a poorly kept W211?
The E500 stopped once the airmatic was adjusted to the intermediate setting. And the E320 smoothed out once the pavement got more uniform. Each had the base wheel/tire combo, 16s on the E320, 17s on the E500.
I'm assuming that this is out of character, and was caused by incorrect alignment, tire pressure, frame damage or suspension damage.
On the other hand, maybe my expectations are too high - is this just a tradeoff you have to accept to get the smooth E-Class ride? My daily drivers are an E38 BMW and a 4th Gen Camaro on Koni SAs, so I am used to a heavily damped suspension. But these two W211s didn't feel nearly as composed over highway undulations as an S-Type Jaguar I recently drove.
Can anyone provide their thoughts?
11-16-2007, 06:50 PM
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E550
My 01 E320 was definitely a little floating on the freeway. It was nothing like an American car, but it was not quite as tight as I might like. I bought that one pre-owned. So I don't know if it had always been like that (60k miles when I traded it).
My E550 is tighter than the E320 was even at the comfort setting. I tend to like it at the middle (sport1) setting. This seems like a good balance between stiffness and ride comfort. I do not care for the amount of body roll present around turns with the comfort setting... But it is more, er... comfortable... and I turn it on if I am playing chauffeur, etc.
My E550 is tighter than the E320 was even at the comfort setting. I tend to like it at the middle (sport1) setting. This seems like a good balance between stiffness and ride comfort. I do not care for the amount of body roll present around turns with the comfort setting... But it is more, er... comfortable... and I turn it on if I am playing chauffeur, etc.
11-17-2007, 06:15 PM
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Interesting, thanks for the input!
The wobbly ride I felt was only in a straight line on the highway - body roll in hard cornering wasn't bad. I mean, they certainly rolled, but not more than I expected.
They felt wobblyer (sorry, I know that's not a word) than W210s I drove a few years back - an E430 (witout the AMG sport package) and an E55 ( obviously they would be softer than that one).
The wobbly ride I felt was only in a straight line on the highway - body roll in hard cornering wasn't bad. I mean, they certainly rolled, but not more than I expected.
They felt wobblyer (sorry, I know that's not a word) than W210s I drove a few years back - an E430 (witout the AMG sport package) and an E55 ( obviously they would be softer than that one).
11-17-2007, 06:25 PM
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I won't drive my E550 on the highway in the soft setting, it is just too floaty. I find the middle setting perfect for everyday use around town and sport 2 for when you are on the highway or playing around. If I have company in the car I will drop it to sport 1 on the highway.
Ed
Ed
