bjan33

When I bought my e550 the dealership advised me against changing the suspension mode while moving? Has anyone else heard this advice or have any technical expertise on this matter? I love the comfort mode for cruising but also enjoy putting it into sport mode for cornering.

ttoE550

There has been some earlier discussion of this. The manual also advises against changing modes while moving. I have changed modes while moving, and both the car and I are fine. I would think, though, that changing modes excessively might put unnecessary wear on the parts, potentially leading to early failure. I've heard this might be expensive.

My take is that if it were truly bad to change modes while driving, the engineers would have the mode locked while the car is in motion. IIRC, someone pointed out that the mode is indeed locked above a certain speed. This probably because changing the mode at higher speeds could produce aerodynamic instability and perhaps cause a crash.

ttoE550

Or perhaps the aerodynamic forces on the car could overtax the pumps and cause them to burn out or something.

Edit: or just run-of-the-mill bumps for that matter. Hitting a bump while moving (perhaps not even fast) might not be good for the system.

HOE550

But when you are in a Raise Airmatic comfort level mode once you reaches speed over 50mph for a least 3 minutes or 75mph, it cancel Raise mode to normal Airmatic comfort level mode on the fly automatically. Are those consider unnecessary wear on the Airmatic Suspension? If changing modes on the fly cause damage to the airmatic suspension system then the engineers should have program the system not to activated raise mode when vehicle is in motion like the command navigation system. There are few times at low speed that I had to use Raise Airmatic mode when I encounter rough roads

Arrie

I think that if it causes problems to the system then it should not change between the modes while driving.

My take is that it is some lawyer BS again that someone driving fast would change the mode and loose the control of the car as the springs change. I don't think there really is any danger of that.

And, as HOE550 says, if you leave the car in raised up mode, sports or comfort, it will automatically lower itself when you drive about 63 mph (100 km/h) or faster.

Yosheego

+1.

I don't understand why the book would advise us not to push it during movement, when you can clearly change the suspension mode while in motion. So your limited to enjoying your suspension mode at a instant push of a button. Every time you hit that button during movement, BETTER BE CAREFUL! I would not buy the car then. Maybe I'm wrong, wasn't there an advertisement on how conveniently you can change the suspension mode quickly and easily according to how you like it?

Tjdehya

Where in the manual is this? I am pretty sure that the manual does not state this in any form.

If changing was an issue then the car would not do it on its own.

You can change the suspension however, whenever, wherever, and as often as you want!

ttoE550

Hmmm...I don't find it either. Maybe my salesperson told me it too, and I just remember it wrong. Yep, the manual does not seem to forbid it. Go for it!

bjan33

thanks for the input, I appreciate it. I plan on being a bit more liberal with the suspension changes. Ill let you know if my car spontaneously combusts

Yosheego

oh btw, earlier I did have issues with my right side being lower than my left side about 1/4" (as some of you fellas already know). Solved it by luck. Saw a post about an ECU reset and tried it. BOO ya! One happy fool! My car leveled out and also, call this BS, my low end torque came back. Pulls a lot harder then before. BUT, here the thing. My car was in the dealer before hand for my brake issues and from my understanding nothing was done according to the sheet. I don't know if a fella tech fixed it or did something to it for me or what, your call guys. The reset was done after. I didn't take notice of the drop at the time of the delivery only after I did the reset, but I did notice my vibration issues became a bit worse.

Arrie

Your brake problems have nothing to do with anything else but the crappy brake components MB use. PERIOD!

Yosheego

That seems to be the issue here and for others =( From what i hear, brake jobs are a good money maker.

WEBSRFR

Unless I am mistaken doesn't the car dynamically/actively adjust the suspension? i.e. if you have it in normal and you taken a quick series of turns I thought the suspension stiffens up.

I agree about changing the mode... I think the system is designed so you can switch the suspension on the fly and that's kind of the point of it. In fact I think the rest of the competition has their systems designed to either be able to change the suspension on the fly or have the car dynamically do it for you.

hyperion667

it helps me to sleep better: being stopped when I change it.....but I can be a worry wort sometimes...

BudC

That's supposed to be a feature of normal MB shocks, not AirMatic.

If you are in Comfort mode, it won't change with one exception. If you exceed about 75 MPH, the suspension will lower 1/2" as is normal in Sport mode.

I always raise the suspension when I park with the front over a concrete barrier and then lower it when I resume driving. You can change the suspension anytime you want to.

Tjdehya

It seems that the two of you may be confusing the suspension damping with suspension height/level.

All E classes have automatic suspension damping (Agility Control). Which continually and automatically adjusts the damping... stiffens up when sporty driving etc. Just like WEBSRFR said.
The E550 with Airmatic however gives the driver the option to manually change the damping setting along with changing the ride height.
It lowers in sport mode and above 75mph etc. Just like BudC said.

petee1997

Therefore if the car automatically lowers at 75mph it can do no harm to change the setting to S while in motion.

HOE550

https://mbworld.org/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif Airmatic Suspension= Lowrider's Airbag, compressors and hydraulic switches. A Lowrider will give you the best answer on how continous use airmatic control buttons while a car is moving affect the system longevity. Lowriders are always adjusting their suspension on the fly...LOL

lylesr33

I'm not sure if I'm right on this but it may have something to do with the transmission and the different shift points of the car when in Sport or Comfort.

BudC

The two (transmission/suspension) are completely unrelated.

lylesr33

Didn't know they had seperate buttons