WEBSRFR

I'm not sure if you've been following the W212 discussions but apparently Mercedes has decided to eliminate Airmatic on the 2012 model year with no substitute adaptive/dynamic dampening system.

I realize this does not affect the W211 owners directly but at some point when we upgrade it seems we will not have the option of a W211-sized vehicle with an adaptive suspension.

I realize the Airmatic system is very expensive to maintain and I am afraid of the day I have to replace on or more of my shocks but IMO it's a feature that I especially appreciate and the lack of it might lead me to potentially consider a BMW 550i for my next car.

I really appreciate the following Airmatic benefits and a car lacking these features in the price and market segment that the E class competes in would probably be not good for its sales. It's also disappointing that Mercedes would decontent the E class with this feature with no substitution offered.

~ I like the floaty comfort setting for normal relaxed driving or when I'm on a date or just want to take things easy.

~ In the winter I like to be able to raise the car when driving on snow packed roads.

~ For spirited driving it's nice to be able to tighten the suspension and then switch back.

~ Most importantly if I throw the car at a sharp turn or make a series of fun twisty maneuvers I like how the car hunkers down.

With Airmatic being removed, future E550s will lack all the above benefits. What are your thoughts on this? For those who have Airmatic would you consider this a mandatory feature for your next daily driver?

Airmatic is not perfect and I wish they'd improve and make more reliable what we have rather than eliminate it.

220S

I'm shopping for a truck (my Toyota pickup is finally dead.) The Porsche Cayenne offers air suspension (also with PASM) as an option in the V6 and V8 and is standard in the Turbo. From what everybody says, the air suspension is a worthwhile option and they highly recommend it (the BMW X series of SUVs also offers it.)

It's still available in the S Class (along with the ABC option.) And the SUVs. Plus the W212 E63 still uses rear Airmatic. I don't see why it can't be an option in the E Class. My guess is that it's a non-ROW issue that simplifies the import versions. VW is also doing this (i.e., cutting options and selling as "packages.") So is Audi (they've cut stand alone options for the past few years now.)

They did change it with the current W212 and now only have two settings instead of three. But the current W212 ROW cars have a slightly different control set up. Have you checked the ROW websites? Is Airmatic (and an E550 in RWD) still offered elsewhere? I think the AWD E550 only option is just the USA market.

If this is a MBUSA only thing then it may change if they feel sales will be affected. The E63 wagon was available in the ROW and only now in the 2012 model for the US market. We get a lot less choice here. But a lot is due to DOT and EPA regulations.

And yes, I appreciate Airmatic. Like you say when I feel lazy it's super comfortable. And I have the AMG tuned version which is even stiffer. Plus I've needed to raise the car often due to steep driveways, esp in some parking facilities.

I used to have an E350 without it and thought is was crappy on city streets (but not too bad on the freeway.) An E Class with steel suspension is an odd bird. The chassis is not even close to a sports sedan like a BMW 3 series, so you don't get that hardcore handling benefit. And yet it's not really that comfortable either. Overall, it's sort of sloppy feeling, imho.

Barry45RPM

If they do in fact discontinue Airmatic, I'm sure they will come up with a compromise tweak to whatever suspension will be in the cars for the 550's. I can't see them using the same exact suspension as the 350.

But... with The US Government's deliberate plans to make this country a more expensive place in which to live and causing a chain reaction of price increases across the board on everything, there comes a point where business have to either raise prices or cut what's included in order not to have to price the product so expensive, people either pass on it or keep their current ride a couple of extra years. Either way they will be selling less of them... and that's not good for brand viability.

Not to mention the complexity and cost to repair these things.

WEBSRFR

Your comments usually make a lot of sense but I am completely perplexed by this remark. What does the US government have anything to do with Mercedes discontinuing Airmatic?

Mercedes is free to include whatever they chose to include in their vehicles and charge whatever they want to. I don't see any other vehicles in this market segment removing dynamic suspension systems from their cars, if anything more manufacturers are adding this feature.

You do realize that this is not a political forum -- right? Living in Washington DC I am sick of the political BS of both parties that it is nice to have a forum to discuss cars without all the political BS...

Would be nice if we can keep this topic to the merits of Airmatic and why Mercedes would decide the US spec E class models should not have this feature because it seems after 2012 if any of us want to replace our cars and want a dynamic suspension system, we have to shop elsewhere...

220S

It seems like a lot of brands are offering newer "dynamic" suspensions now. The market isn't as one sided as it used to be. There are a lot of good choices out there. MBUSA dropped the Airmatic on the E550 4Matic and dropped the RWD E550 altogether for the the US market. I know that they wrote up a business plan to bring the W212 E63 wagon here and it was a hard push to get it approved. But apparently there was a vocal group of customers that wanted it (this was discussed by the MBUSA AMG product managers on the AMG Private Lounge forums.) Plus they probably wanted to grab some potential buyers who were considering the Cadillac CTV-S sport wagon with the 556 hp S/C V8. Maybe there will be enough call later next year to get the E550 RWD back and option the Airmatic in the 4Matic......

But with only the E550 4Matic available for 2012, it seems like the E Class V8 has dropped off the radar. In the E Class, the E350 sells 80% of the platform's total portfolio in the US. And the diesel version is doing pretty good esp in the Northeast US.

I think dropping the Airmatic option in the 4matic just made economical sense. It's not that Daimler is stepping away from air suspension, far from that. But there are a lot of American MB consumers that actually don't even know their cars have a pneumatic suspension. Maybe the majority don't even care.

DubVBenz

This is great news. It's getting harder and harder to find premium cars without it. It's one of the reasons I wanted my bluetec.

WEBSRFR

The thing I find interesting is decontenting the E550 so much and removing Airmatic, which next to the V8 is my favorite feature in the E550, is not going to help them increase any market share in the mid-size luxury V8 segment... Basically they are just telling people, buy the E350, it is good enough because we've made the E550 less appealing than it used to be... Oh and if you really want a V8 you might want to shop around...

You are probably correct about the typical American consumer though but I think that's a pretty low and dangerous bar to set if that's what's what Mercedes is aiming for. When you buy a Mercedes vehicle in this price segment, it has to be the best of what the present automotive technology has to offer.

You are also right about a lot of other manufacturers offering dynamic suspensions... What I find really insulting and pathetic is that in 2012 you will be able to buy a Hyundai with Electronic Damping Control but not a Mercedes E Class. A Hyundai.

GT-ER

Good riddance...airmatic isn't all bad though. It's pretty darn comfortable but I'm waiting for the day my shocks blow and I'm swapping to regular springs. Airmatic should have never been invented honestly. Long live the magnetorheological shock absorber!

gaazmon

This is very interesting. I mean we already see the CL550 in 09 got 4MATIC standard and then it lost ABC and got airmatic because of that (bad move imo: i liked ABC and wouldn't want 4matic especially on a CL)

but ya i mean ur forcing 4matic and no airmatic too. hmmm, seems like MBs saying "hi. u want a faster E class than the 350? well u can have the 63? Oh you live in snow regions? well we have the 550 with 4matic. Idk, the 350 will get faster just like the SLK did and the 550 would have to get the CL TT V8 but idk. i'm actually really confused for once

Versus a i4 turbo C is coming out and a C class coupe with AMG variant is coming and there will be a convertible S class and no more CL.

Idk seriously

skiahh

Point of order... the Cayenne is not a truck.

Crossover, station wagon... but NOT a truck in any form of the word!

220S

Porsche owners (I'm one of them) who own both the Cayenne and the 911 (I own two, a 993 and a 997.2), call them "trucks." It's kind of a form of endearment. They are also known as the "Pig."

If you were a Porsche owner you'd understand it all.

skiahh

Ahhh, OK. When you put it in that context, it makes sense!

e500rmz

i am happy to hear about airmatic being discontinued on as many models as possible... it's the one thing i don't like about my e500.

in fact, when choosing between a benz and a bimmer for my current car, the one main problem i had with the e-classes i was looking at was the air suspension. i found an amazing black/black e500 and fell in love, despite the air suspension... but in less than a month my front right air strut/shock blew out.

i think the airmatic system is great in theory and kind of cool for that one time a year you think of changing the settings... but i think it is pretty useless and impractical in the long run. of the many e-classes i test drove i could tell that the air suspension very quickly doesn't feel as good as it does when the car is new, it is ridiculously expensive to maintain, and the ability to change the settings is not that big a deal. all just my opinion, of course. plus, the system saps horsepower and fuel economy and from a performance standpoint it will just never feel as good as traditional sport shocks.

at just 52k miles my air suspension rides relatively crappy, and i never adjust the settings on it. the one thing that is nice is being able to raise the car a few inches when necessary, but even that is not that big of a deal to me because i have an SUV for when i want to drive in the snow...

just my two cents.

Sportstick

Actually, it is a truck, per the following from NHTSA. Note paragraph 2, S4, based on second row seats folding down in an SUV:

Authority to establish vehicle classifications for the purposes of calculating CAFE was delegated to NHTSA. Specifically, the definitions are as follows:

1) Passenger Car – any 4-wheel vehicle not designed for off-road use that is manufactured primarily for use in transporting 10 people or less.

2) Truck – a 4-wheel vehicle which is designed for off-road operation (has 4-wheel drive or is more than 6,000 lbs. GVWR and has physical features consistent with those of a truck); or which is designed to perform at least one of the following functions: (1) transport more than 10 people; (2) provide temporary living quarters; (3) transport property in an open bed; (4) permit greater cargo-carrying capacity than passenger-carrying volume; or (5) can be converted to an open bed vehicle by removal of rear seats to form a flat continuous floor with the use of simple tools.

220S

Sorry to disappoint you but it's not being discontinued. Only in the USA and only with the E Class E550 model. Everything else remains the same. And in the rest of the world, you can still get Airmatic on the E550 (and also the RWD model, too.) It's a MB signature suspension along with ABC.

You have an older car and made when MB was at it's lowest point in respect to build quality and reliability. With each passing model and year, the components do get better. But one thing that residents of certain parts of the world experience (like in the US) is extremely poorly maintained roads. I lived in Europe and the roads are night and day compared to here. Most are glass smooth. Severe potholes and patched up roads are not a good combo for Airmatic longevity, or any suspension and steering components for that matter. This may have to do with MBUSA's decision to bring in an Airmatic-free E550, but I'm sure there are bigger reasons since the S Class and other models will continue with an air suspension, even in the US.

WEBSRFR

I hate to disagree with you but the lack of Airmatic with the E550 will ensure that I will not consider another V8 E class when I decide to move onto another car. I am frankly shocked Mercedes is competing in the $65K+ price segment without offering a dynamic suspension at least as an oprtion.

I absolutely love the floaty comfortable ride of the Airmatic suspension in the comfort setting.

I do agree with you about the settings though as I hardly ever change the suspension settings but I still find the button to raise the car quite handy when pulling into steep parking lots/ramps and driving in snow.

But the one aspect you fail to account for in your post (that to me is the most important aspect of Airmatic) is the fact that it is a dynamic suspension. It automatically adjusts itself based on your prevailing driving situation. If I toss the car into a quick series of maneuvers I love how the car hunkers down and the suspension tightens up automatically... as if to say, "you want to play?" This dynamic aspect can't be duplicated with a static mechanical suspension and this is what I like the best about Airmatic.

What Mercedes should have done was to make the system more reliable and less prone to failure and perhaps bring down the cost of the replacement parts. IMHO it is a great system.

What has made the Airmatic suspension so distateful to many is the $1K replacement cost for each shock. A bt ridiculous when these cars are eventually going to be worth only $10-$15K or less. Who wants to spend 30-40% of the entire value of their car in shocks?

lkchris

This is probably for USA only. It's called "decontenting."