w211_500

I have a 2003 W211 E500 with airmatic suspension, and I am considering lowering the car .7-1 inches through the STAR tool but my only concern is ride quality. Will ride quality it suffer, or even be noticeable?

kajtek1

We just play with my rear airbags yesterday.
Even we lowered one side, to make car perfectly level, it come back to previous setup after driving.
Suppose individual adjustment on full airmatic is possible, but did not work on my rear bags.
The advantage of air bags is that they offer the same ride quality no matter the level. The bags have shape of reversing sleeve and the air pressure stays +- constant no matter the height. That assuming you will not bottom-up the suspension.
What I measure yesterday, the full drop in rear gives 3", what is pretty long travel.

Plutoe

wada wada

2MERKS

My questing I why would anyone want to mess with the air support?? Not in the mood to give away $$$. Just my opinion.

cetialpha5

For some reason, people think it looks cool to have a car lowered. There are sold engineering reasons why the manufacturers don't do this. There are probably a few advantages to having a lowered car like quicker handling response. But unless you're on a track, these probably don't really matter that much in day to day driving. You basically lower the car for looks, but you pay for a harsher ride, probably premature tire wear as the alignment will be off, not sure how much getting an alignment will help. Plus more likely to bottom out and pop a tire/rim. That's the price you will pay for the look.

Rob P.

You have mentioned your uneven height problem many time. Have you replaced the ride height sensors? Those are the lever arms that have linkages to the suspension. If you have and your ride is still not level, then you can adjust the linkage, by lengthening/shortening it, to "trick" the computer into thinking that sensor is showing a low/high ride height and to adjust it to level.

kajtek1

Thanks for concerns Rob.
Rear air has only single leveling sensor that is on center of differential.
I was hoping the software would allow charging the sides with slightly different pressure but that did not turn to be the case.
So looks to me that whole suspension works on principal of front springs adjusting side to side level and rear bags raise with equal pressure
Also the news are that MB allows for 21 mm difference, when mine is about 13 mm.
So unless I want to play with shimming with front pads under springs, I will have to live with it.

pinebaron

Don't know much about airmatics but a good, lasting and troublefree setup is possible. Not everyones cup of tea due to expense; check equipment in my signature.

Looks good for sure though not extreme, but definitely helps the car drive (including my crazy but safe driving) as if on rails especially around bends and turns with virtually no roll, plus totally configurable for different driving styles even in real time for road conditions, tire hardness etc.

The only negative is I need to excercise care while driving over speed bumps or humps and while pulling into steep driveways or entrances; it just scrapes bottom of the front right bumper if I have passengers in the car.

cmriv

I'll speak from experience. I've been lowered for 8 months or so now. Handling improved drastically. Body roll and braking improved greatly. Gas mileage on highway through the roof improved, less drag on entire vehicle. Ride quality is fine with me-it is stiffer-but i can't stand the feeling of driving a Cadillac or boat for that sense. Rear camber wear is noticeable, however if you wan't to play like a boss you need to get you a appointment with a MB alignment shop and have ride height adjusted with romus-this and rotating tires will deviate any premature tire/uneven tire wear. My tire wear is dead even. had my wheels straightened before i lowered because previous owner clearly didn't avoid pot holes-with that said the tire/rim popping analogy is false-rims are straight as a arrow and i have zero bubbles in my sidewalls. Bottoming out isn't a issue either if you know a thing or two about driving a lowered vehicle.....

Over all it is a looks thing-however the way the vehicle drives lower is 100 times better IMO-it just feels more stable to me, city or highway driving.

At the end of the day, it's your car do what you want to it-try lowering it, if you don't like it bring it back to where it was and keep it moving.

funkle

I'm considering it for a couple reasons:
1. The W211 is a bit of a chameleon in that it can be very cushy, but rises to the occasion when you push it. My driving style is sporty. I regularly take the car on mountain roads with fast sweepers, and prefer a more controlled character in any situation. With each successive sports setting, I appreciate the car more, and I'm hoping lowering it conservatively will bring out more of the magic, which from what I've gathered here, It will. It is particularly attractive to be able to go between stock and lowered, which you can do with a lowering module.
2. I'm typically not a big fan of purely aesthetic modifications, am not egotistical, (and I'm older), but the soccer mom vibe of the wagon really does not suit me, and would feel more comfortable in the car if it was a bit more aggressive. I just feel it needs a few little touches.

kajtek1

What wheels you have funkle?
When cmriv experience sounds exiting, I am skeptic about the enthusiasm.
Those thing suppose to improve, but not to the degree driver should notice. Meaning I would suspect lot of placebo effect.
Would lowering vehicle 1" drastically improve mpg, everybody would do it.
The only thing I did on our MB was changing the wheels. For last few years I put 18" on E class and at some point had 2 of W210. One was on factory 16", the other on 18" with high performance sport tires.
Occasionally I drove both on the same day and body sway difference was obvious on the first corner, but having the bumpy roads we do, head shaking difference was also noticeable.
Than I meet some MB owners who don't mind to carry set of wood boards in the trunk, for those occasion they can't make it up the driveway with their lowered cars.

funkle

I have 17" wheels, but intend to install 18" with Michelin PSS after ski season. I'm sure that will be an improvement. Not sure if I believe drastic increase in milage, but it does stand to reason that lowering would stiffen things up. The beauty of airmatic is it would be possible to lower the car (using star) and see for myself with little cost, and the ability to easily put it back.

kajtek1

That is the thing.
Air springs don't stiffens with level change.
The only difference in this aspect will be bottoming up.
Than having airmatic you do have lowering switch?
You list SF in your location, so I will scratch my head how you drive lowered car on those streets?

funkle

I drive the other cars in my signature around SF. Both have considerably stiffer, shorter suspensions. I'm talking about less than 1", pretty conservative. I would try lowering through Star, then if I like it, add a lowering module with which I could alter the setting at any time.
Thanks for clarifying about the air springs. Good to know.

cmriv

when i first purchased my 550 i was getting 24.5 mpg on highway. after lowering link install 28.5-29.5 mpg on highway-call it enthusiasm all you want-aside from looks the vehicle handles/maneuvers way better. And if that wasnt the case then airmatic would be a option for the 211-it has it pros and cons. I would rather be "static" then have airmatic. but sense i am not static lowering links was the move. Coil on bag is the way to go-sporty/soft/cadillac/drift you name it-on the fly adjustability is awesome and super convenient it just costs money.

cmriv

and the dampening does change when level sensor values changes on airmatic vehicles-it isnt the same rebound stiffness throughout the whole height travel-itll change but you cant manually adjust it like you can with ride height...

kajtek1

I am not questioning your observation cmiriv.
But going from 24.5 to 29 mpg is 18% increase.
You did not disclosure how much you lower your car, but don't you think 18% is a bit unrealistic?
There is lot of factors to mpg. I drive in the mountains and in crazy traffic.
I can drive much faster on flat highway and still get 20% better mpg than I do daily.
(our wagon 4M averages 16 mpg on short commute, or 8 mpg on grocery run)
So maybe you did more to the car, than just lowering, maybe you start driving slower, maybe you start filling up at different gas station?

kajtek1

That is another aspect that would be interesting to investigate if you have the tools.
Straight air spring does not stiffens with level change.
But MB has dual-chamber bags, what is adjusting stiffenes dependent on the conditions.
The problem is that MB did not disclosure the program and whatever adjustment you do, you are doing blindfolded.
Did you feel lucky or did you investigate it further?

mishar

You stated this few times so I must correct you. It is not true. With less air (lower ride) air bag gets stiffer. That's physics, but also experience. Check other replies in this tread.

Plutoe

Post 13, 17 and 18 are from a known bozo benz spammer who provides gross mis understanding of the AirMatic system and many other MB systems---be watchful.

cmriv

There are alot of variables that go into why my gas mileage increased I'm sure-however the change was drastic otherwise i wouldn't be stating such things. My mouth would be shut. My car has no wheel gap if that helps explaining anything. Also tire pressures play a role in mpg's as well. I adjust them accordingly to the driving i'll be doing but i was referring to highway miles only. Not driving slower-I don't have a lead foot by any means but if i'm driving 77mph for 4.5 hours and see 28.5mpg in comparison to the same trip when i first purchased the vehicle at 24.5-25.5 mpg i would like to believe it would be the only modification i've done to the vehicle to be the culprit as to why mpg's increased, lowering links. I also do not daily this vehicle-it strictly sees highway speeds unless for some reason i need to city drive it, and in that case i could care less about mpg's. That goes out the window, v8's in the city are the worse. I'm going out of town this weekend and i'll snap a pic of what my mpg's are looking like on the way down there if traffic isn't horrendous. The only other thing i could think of is where i fill up. Besides that the vehicle is totally stock.

Travel-rebound stiffness-ride stiffness-and dampening all change drastically when airmatic is lowered. Hence the sport dc1/sport dc2/comfort/raise settings. It is noticeably different otherwise you wouldn't have four ride height options to choose from....

mishar

funkle

Sorry, but can someone clarify this for me? After searching, I'm still unclear on exactly how the suspension settings affect ride height. Do sport dc1/sport dc2 progressively lower the vehicle? And if so, is it only at speed? I can perceive no change in height when at a standstill.

kajtek1

The laws of physic says that lifting force is multiplying bag cross section by inside pressure.
On straight springs the cross section is constant and without changing the car weight the pressure must be constant regardless the height.
Note that I am talking about straight bags, while rear of W211 does have dual chambers that by playing with inflating one or the other can deliver different cross section and resulting pressure.
That would be partial answer to funkle question. To date nobody was able to post how the inflating is program on different setting and most of replies are base on personal observation.
I am always skeptic about personal observations, especialy people who don't understand physics as with human senses placebo effect plays huge role and unless you have data that can be measured, you have to take it with grain of salt. Than you will find trolls like member above.
My standard joke is that I always get higher mpg and better handling after vacuuming carpets in the car. It "is" true

kajtek1

Now that is solid information, but is it one-time record or average from several trips?
The reason I ask is simply becouse I observe mpg at each fill up as older cars did not have the mpg displays and even with W211 I recheck the computer. '
My mpg are always jumping up and down with each fill up.
Typical going south to LA on our I-5 ALWAYS delivers 5-10% better mpg than going back on the same road with the same speed.
Took me a while to consider strong winds that on desert usually go the same direction.
Same single fill up can be very misleading. Minimal slope at the pump can change the air bubble in tank from 3 to 5 gallons quite fast.
Thanks for giving food for toughs.