K-A

I do remember that now that you said it. Someone here was saying and supporting how the 2012 Sports came with a slightly higher/less aggressive ride-height and stance, which was due to them comfy-ing up the suspension over rough patches, i.e taking away some harshness (different springs for one I'm sure).

I wonder if any 2012+ drivers feel the suspension can get too harsh over rough patches as most complaints I think came from earlier model cars.

T.H.Carrera

i found out 2012 e350 bluetec sport harsh as hell. Hated it every second we had it.

pmb600

Well the Bluetecs all had run-flat tires so that doesn't help.

pmb600

Having been fortunate enough to spend a weekend with both a 2014 Sport and Luxury I can say the following:

Luxury: the ride was comfortable, not floaty and I felt like the car handled well. The only negative is this one had run-flat tires (some of the early production luxury models are fitted with them) so that makes the ride harsher.

Sport: I was incredibly pleasantly surprised with this car. The ride was comfortable, more so than the pre-facelift. It had ContiProContacts which are a pretty comfortable riding tire IMO.

The facelift E-Class does not have a "different" suspension, it is only lowered on the Sport and has 18"s vs. 17"s on the luxury. They definitely made some tweaks to the suspension on the facelift. Haven't had a chance to drive a facelift with airmatic yet.

K-A

Interesting.

I have a feeling it's just something up with the chassis. As 220s here used to say he believed there was something inherently up with the W212 chassis when tried to make into a "sportive" car. It wallows as if it had a luxury suspension but simply gets harsh over rough roads. Suspension dynamics 101 Mercedes: Fail.

I wonder how AMG's handle rough patches. However at least AMG went so thoroughly into modifying the cars geometry the E63 handles like a beast, so it can get away with a harsher ride as it'd make more sense. A floaty car with a harsh suspension is a disaster of a mix.

The W212 if a fundamentally sound car with little objective flaws, reliable, solid, quiet, good drivetrains, comfy cruiser, but the suspension and/or how it relates to the inherent chassis is its big sore spot.

pmb600

Honestly, drive the facelift before saying that. Feels like a completely different car--I wasn't expecting that.

K-A

I wouldn't be surprised if they further tweaked the suspension on 2014 models, but didn't get a chance to test it over rough roads.

I do know that on smooth roads and through turns it felt literally identical to my 2010 and 2011's, no difference in body roll or smoothness. Which is to say it was good as it's appropriate for the E Class ride and character.... however I couldn't tell if rough patches spoiled it.

Also to note, both my W212's felt very tight and smooth over rough patches when *brand new*. I even came here saying how my 2011 felt "way" smoother over rough spots than my 2010 (2011 had Conti's and 2010 had Pirelli P-Zero's) when I first got it, to have members stating that it may be because it was a new car.

Well, low and behold, the harsh suspension must have done some work to the chassis in a short time as the car started feeling as harsh and the chassis as "rattled" as my 2010. Not AS bad as the 2010 as the sporty P-Zero tires were horrible mix with the W212 chassis, but close enough.

I'd love to know if the facelift at least changes how it feels over rough roads after *extended mileage* as I would complain about it to MB Advisors and straight up tell that that the W212 is NOT a Sports Sedan or anything near one and that excuse is simply unacceptable from them.

Interesting. Like I said it felt extremely familiar, but I'd like to drive one over extensively harsh roads now to see how that feels.

W210

Try one out, they may be slightly smoother than the 997, but still far from MB smoothness, at least when compared to the 2012 airmatic on the E550. Not sure about the E350 Sports though.

The 2014 should be better even.

T.H.Carrera

We had the E350 bluetec while simultaneously having 2011 535xi sport and then 2012 s350. After driving either the bmw or S the ride in (late production 2012 E) felt so bad, I felt my inside (guts) shook when going over spotty road patches, mind you I am referring to minor bumps and not really bad roads. I do not know if I felt this because I was driving a more comfortable car as daily driver and then sometimes driving the E sport or what... BUT I absolutely hated that suspension. Sometimes I would feel something must have broken after going over bumps.

TheKandyman

I am really surprised that some folks think the sport's suspension is harsh. Ever owned a 'sporty' Japanese vehicle? I haven't driven a BlueTech, but I have a 2012 sport which came with ContiProContact tires. I think the ride is quite compliant, if not a little soft.

K-A

Yes, I go over some jagged roads which used to rumble through the interior/chassis of my W212's and am astonished of how my new car WITH RFT's AND being Pirelli P-Zero (sporty) tires literally makes it so that you don't even feel the road. When I first got the car I actually kept turning around and going over the same road texture because I couldn't believe how the car completely absorbed them while they made my E feel like it wanted to break apart. And I can take corners like a dynamo in this car while I couldn't in the E as it swayed and floated excessively.

I'm gonna try a facelift over harsher roads and see if it fixes that particular issue, but I really think M-B needs to get the message that they aren't doing these Luxury Sedans justice with how they engineer the suspension.

My friend who took over my 2011 E JUST blew his tire out as the car violently couldn't absorb some road surface that he said wasn't even all that terrible.

T.H.Carrera

KA please do the drive ASAP and report back!

martinlarose

I have 2800 kms on mine now and zero complaints re the suspension on any surface..it does have regular tires. No run flats on this model in Canada. My previous vehicle was a 2011 ml with airmatic but I found that suspension quote harsh but I think it was because the tires were low profile 21 inch vs the e with 18...my e also has airmatic...

GMBZ

After having several C's and E's I've noticed that the 17" vs 18" wheels/tires seems to make quite a bit of difference in the ride comfort, even on the same model car (even with sport suspension). So there are a lot of factors to the relative ride harshness.

If you want smooth, why not just get the luxury model? However, as others have pointed out, even the sport suspension on a MBZ in very tame compared to most other makes.

I do have to agree with KA and others, BMW just seems to do the "performace driving" attributes of the cars much better than Mercedes; while maintaining a high degree of ride comfort.

Currerntly we have a 2013 E350 (sport), and I do not find anything sporty about it at all. While the 302 hp engine is very powerful and a vast impovment over the earlier 268hp mill, the rest of the drive attributes are not sporty at all. The trans upshifts way to early in any mode, no gear shift in center console, suspension not very tight, etc. You really cannot drive the car agressively. I do have do believe this is MBZ design intention with the car.

On the other hand, the car is beautiful, very luxurious, safety features to the max,drives comfortable (sport or luxury) and a bargain at recent pricing.

P.S. It's my wife's car and she loves it!!

K-A

Very well said GMBZ.

To put something else out there.... my BMW has 19's (which you can't even get on an E) AND RFT's (and still as I said majorly outhandles and at the very same time out-smoothes the E "Sport" suspension. M-B really has no excuse here.

Good thing is, as you said, the E is a beautiful car through and through at least! (and drives very smoothly and luxuriously and sublimely on smooth straight roads)

spacesimon

19"s are an option here in the UK at least. Didn't go for them as its £900 option and the 18"s look fine.

Had runflats on the Mini and swapping to non RF makes a huge difference. Glad the E d
oesn't have them.

El Cid

IMO: BMW-the Ultimate Driving Machine
MB-the Ultimate Automobile

Tjdehya

Sorry I just had to pick on thin one statement. What does a center console gear shift have to do with "sportiness?"
You reach down and shift it from P to D and never touch it again.

They are also optional here in the USA. However, I dont think 19" will help the E-Class feel any more sportier because 20's dont seem to help much.
AMG- Ahhh Meeeer Gaawwwwd

ImInPA

My E350 Bluetec greatly exceeded the published mpg on the sticker. I think you will find this supported by other Bluetec owners. I Regularly achieved close to 40 mpg on the highway. I am getting about 37 mpg with my S350. The EPA doesn't seem to have a real handle on diesels yet. Every diesel I have ever owned has exceeded its EPA rating by a minimum of 5 mpg. Every gasoline engine vehicle I have ever owned struggled to even achieve its EPA rating. One should not be so quick to drink the EPA kool-aid.

CEB

When the EPA rating procedure changed a few years back (2008?) they got much closer to real world numbers - but - I think that diesel drivers in the US are a slightly different breed and are enthusiasts in a different way - they take pride in getting the most mileage from a gallon of diesel while still maintaining performance and the ratings don't take that into consideration.

GMBZ

An earlier post asked..."Sorry I just had to pick on thin one statement. What does a center console gear shift have to do with "sportiness?"
You reach down and shift it from P to D and never touch it again."

If you have to ask that question, you do not need a center console gear shifter. Here's a clue fo you.....take a look at the center console of an E63 AMG!

Tjdehya

That is my point. lol
It is not needed, it is just there for you folks. It does absolutely nothing for the car. I was just asking YOU why YOU need it there for a car to feel "sporty", I didn't ask you what an AMG looks like.
If you take the car to the track you touch it twice, P to D, then D to P when you are done.
So what about it makes YOU feel that its necessary?

T.H.Carrera

I am curious, how good is the "sport" mode on the E airmatic setup? Does it feel and perform like a sports suspension?

thenew3

Maybe it makes a car sporty the same way fake hood scoops or 10" exhaust tips make a car sporty?

MCF

I have a 2011 E350 Luxury. Never drove a sport and had buyers remorse with the luxury for a while but have not really come to love the car and the ride. The luxury may be considered boring and bland by some on this forum but I see it as much more dignified looking compared to the sport. In addition, it is much less common to see a luxury trim. With the rough roads in Houston the Luxury is almost a must have. The car does not have a single rattle in it and have never had any wheel/tire issues.