Airmatic Question
hey E.. the car is lower in sporty I or sporty II. the Airmatic DC(Dual Control) its lower about .6in (15mm) which not a lot. also when you drive above 68mph the car is lower too. However, the height adjustments are so small you may not notice it.

It does adjust automatically at high speeds but my E really adjusts also when stationary and changing the Airmatic setting. The W221 appears to be different but it neither has a separate Airmatic button from the tranny program setting, those are combined to one.

Note that Sports I and II should have the same level settings.
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I have an 08 E550.
To add to Abboushi's post .. another alternative to lowering the car is to do it via the SDS/Star Computer. I'm planning on taking that route since I only want the car lower by about 1" at the lower setting.
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The raise vehicle button is a separate adjustment that you use when you want to lift the car to clear snow or you're on a dirt road with wheel tracks & a center hump. Its not a driving mode.
There are several around SoCal.
on this manual it says,
Sports1 - the vehicle level is lowered by 10mm
Sports2 - the vehicle level is lowered by 15mm
I don't know if its gonna lower more you're in Sports2 and travelling more than 70mph.

At least Euro cars lower at higher speed even if the basic setting is selected. I guess this creates confusion. The car sort of automatically goes from basic to sports I mode at high speeds, and returns to normal at lower speed.
On the W221 this is different, the car does not adjust suspension height from the combined tranny/suspension mode setting. It does it only at speed. At low speeds the suspension mode setting only affects shocks operation.
PS: for us cars, if you switch from normal to sport 1 or sport 2, the center guage will display a logo. For Euro cars, you don't see that but you feel it

Hope this help
The US cars do not lower themselves while stationary w/ the sport button. As noted above, the sporty1 and sporty2 mode will alter the ride stiffness. But the car will lower itself in one of the sporty modes at 68mph+

PS: for us cars, if you switch from normal to sport 1 or sport 2, the center guage will display a logo. For Euro cars, you don't see that but you feel it

Hope this help

From the previous posts it should be clear that US cars are set differently, this is the current text from the Euro manual (no speed condition for car lowering at Sports mode):
Comfort or sports tuning
Airmatic DC (dual control) comprises two components: the Adaptive Damping System (ADS) and spring stiffness adjustment.
ADS automatically regulates the suspension as appropriate to particular driving conditions. Parallel to this, the spring stiffness switches between "comfort" and "sports" levels.
- your driving style
- the road surface conditions
- your individual selection
To select the damping program
Indicator lamps
Start the engine.Sports tuning I
Press button
once.One indicator lamp
lights up.The vehicle level is lowered by 10 mm.
Sports tuning II
Press button
twice.Two indicator lamps
light up.The vehicle level is lowered by 15 mm.
Comfort tuning
Press button
repeatedly until indicator lamps
go out.

Last edited by Diesel Benz; Aug 9, 2009 at 09:32 AM.
The US cars do not lower themselves while stationary w/ the sport button. As noted above, the sporty1 and sporty2 mode will alter the ride stiffness. But the car will lower itself in one of the sporty modes at 68mph+
I did test it on mine while parked. I put a masking tape on front and rear of the car (taped on body and wheels). It does lower while stationary. But the weird thing is... once it lowers and when I switch it back to Comfort mode, it doesnt go up. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. I need to get this checked.


