I test drove an E500 sport today. While I loved the overall refinement and style of the car, I felt that the road and engine noise were a bit high for a car of this caliber. When I took the car on the highway, I heard some wind noise as well. I have been in several 540i Sports that exhibited absolutely no windnoise and road noise was very discrete. The engine road and wind noise levels seemed uncharacteristic for a car that felt so solidly built. Was the design of MB, or was I believe overly sensitive during my test drive? Can E500 Sport owners relay some of their opinions on this matter? Thank you.

 

You might be "a little' over sensitive in your comparision between the 540 Sport and th E500 Sport.

First, I have NO wind noise. Either something was wrong with the test car or something like a window was cracked open.

As far as tire/road noise, mine is very quire. My car came with the Michelin Pilot Primacy which is quieter than the Continantal most come with. Also, I run my front 2psi over manf rec (28psi vs. 26) and back 1psi over (33psi vs. 32).

Two other possibilities that I can think of for the noise, 1) was the E500 set to Sport Suspension 1 or 2? and 2) were you on a rough road surface?

Go test drive another and then test drive a simular BMW onthe same road surface. Good Luck.... Mark

 

thanks for the response. perhaps there was something wrong with the test car, because i thought any windnoise in a car like this is out of place. the highway was a fairly smooth (but not freshly paved) road.

also, the salesperson who came along suggested i turn on the radio to test the sound quality as we were getting on the highway. that made me immediately suspicious (as i know that one should always do a test drive with no radio to test ambient noise), and perhaps that made me extra attentive as well.

 

What kind of deal did he offer you on the E500?

 

ScreaminVQ,
Don't be too hard on the salesperson.... I suspect he/she wasn't trying to hide "nosie". If the car you test drove had the upgraded HK sound system then the sales person had Good reason to get you to listen to it. It's one of the best systems you can get in any auto. It gets very high reviews... even from some very critical reviewers. Take a CD or two with you and crank it up. Don't forget to adjust the bass and treble and insure the system is set in the Logic 7 Digital Surround Mode..... it's a treat. So, sing :o along.... Mark

 

i'm looking to purchase in about six months (i'm in no rush, so i'm waiting for the new S4 comes out - i posted on here before about that - i know they're very different cars, but i'll admit that i'm somewhat enchanted by it), so we didn't get down to the nitty gritty details. we tinkered with options a bit, and he seemed to be saying 800-1000 under MSRP (depending on what options i ended up getting).

again, this isn't really a negotiated cost, but i was somewhat surprised that his starting point was that much below MSRP. happy shopping.

in response to me being harsh to the salesperson: perhaps i mispoke because that wasn't the message i was trying to convey. i DID have an impulse reaction of suspicion, but i wasn't being extra attentive for wind/road/engine noise for the sole reason that i distrusted him. what he said, after my initial reaction, brought the issue of wind/road/engine noise to the forefront of my attention, and perhaps a disproportionate amount of my attention from that point forward was focused on that during my test drive. my apologies.

 

With the suspension set to "plush" :p , my car cruises effortlessly with little drama and no obnoxious wind noise that you describe. The Continental SportContact 2 tires have a little noise, but they're on the sport package for handling purposes. Heck, the SportContact 2 tire is OEM on Porsche coupes.

The Benz sport package on the E is mostly cosmetic with more aggressive tires on sport wheels that are actually more narrow in the front compared to the stock rims by 0.5 inches. The air suspension is the same.

Perhaps your test car's suspension was in one of the two sport modes, lending to a more harsh and noisy ride. Also, did your tester have the Panorama roof? There have been some reports of lots of wind noise on cars equipped with the Pano roof.

You can always get the sport package cosmetics and throw on a touring tire with 26/32 psi pressures to max out your comfort factor in the ride.

I amazed at how quiet my car is...