marvinlee

I concur that MB has eroded E-class options. My order for a 2014 E550 4matic with air suspension and driving assistance package could not be ordered with a heated steering wheel!!! The US Mercedes branch said that it was only available if the Premium 1 package was also ordered. I now have a car being built in Germany to my specs, but without a heated steering wheel.

marvinlee

Concur. And the turbocharged V6 should have further development potential remaining. Look at what MB accomplished with its 2.0 liter, 355 HP engine.

alsyli

Adding further confusion is the rumors from 1-2 yrs ago that MB had approved a line of inline 6s....

Germancar1

Yeah I can't see this happening either, even though the press says it is done deal for the sedan model. The Coupe and Cabrio models are supposed to keep the V8 for 2015. Doesn't make any sense. This new turbo V6 should be the E350 plain and simple. A6 3.0T and 535, the 2 main competitors make more power for force induction engines, Mercedes would only be matching the competition. IMO the 2015 E550 should be getting the full 429hp version of the 4.7L V8 to match the outgoing S550.

M

J.M.G.

Well, the S550 is currently @ 455PS = 449hp. According to a member of the M 276 / M 278 engineering team, the M 278 is always mechanically the same - independent of its power rating. Therefore it should be very easy for Mercedes to push the power from 402hp to 449hp - if they want to do so.

PeterUbers

I wish they would offer a performance OEM upgrade to the TTV8 in a year or two to upgrade hp/tq -- much like I think BMW did for owners of the 335, 535 (etc) -- didn't they get a performance boost chip that was from the factory and honored the full warranty of the vehicle?

YYZ-E55

For North America, the 400 is being added to the line-up. It is not at the expense of the 550, nor was it intended to replace the 550.

So while the US has apparently opted to delete the 550, Canada may retain the 550 and drop the 300 or 350 instead.

aprevo15

After reading this thread I decided to test drive a 550. Reading all about the night and day difference between the 350 and the 550 got me curious. I must say after test driving the 550, my 350 is too weak and doesn't even feel like a Benz any more. Damn.

marvinlee

I fully agree. The price of the E550 has become very high in just a few short years, due in part to mandatory four wheel drive. The V8 engine power should increase to maintain a comfortable lead over V6 engines, which are now often turbo or super charged. Adding the nine speed automatic, which is apparently a future done deal, will also help maintain parity.

Live Oak

I agree completely. When I get a 350 loaner, I feel like I need a kidney belt and ear plugs, and I dread uphill on-ramps.

ngerstman

Unless you live in an area with pristine roads, I would be careful ordering the air suspension. I have it on my 2011 e550 and don't like it, wish I had a regular suspension. It rides really, really poorly on rough roads, not airy at all. Buyer beware!!! Regards. Ned.

marvinlee

Sadly, the car has already been ordered. We live on rough gravel roads and drive on noisy coarse-aggregate state roads, which is why I ordered air suspension. I can only hope that MB may have softened the ride since 2011. However, I may be disappointed. I wonder if the air suspension allows for smaller suspension travel? Nothing in the captured air itself would appear to require a harsher suspension. Are their any further comments from 2014 E550-4matic with Airmatic owners?

hyperion667

anyone want to buy my 2011 E5504M?

marvinlee

Reference a possible harsher Airmatic ride, this is from a British site, AutoCar: "All models without air suspension get two-stage hydromechanically self-adjusting dampers." Are these better?

K-A

Sad thing is that it still might be better than the bone-jarring harsh ride the E350 "Sport" suspension gives you over rough roads.

Tjdehya

Please do not listen to ngerstman in regards to the air suspension. Either his car is severely defective or something else because he is the one and only human on this entire planet that thinks that airmatic is worse than springs.

J.M.G.

It depends. In Germany we can choose between three suspension setups for the 212 (except E550 (AIRmatic is standard) and E63):

• Comfort (Standard on cars equipped with "Elegance"-Line, optional on cars with "Avantgarde"-Line.
• Sport (Standard on "Avantgarde", optional on "Elegance").
• AIRmatic (Standard on E550, optional for the rest).

I have driven the Comfort and Sport suspension in the E 250 Diesel. While sport suspension can be a little bit on the harsh side, it is also a lot more precise than the comfort suspension. The whole car responds more directly. Everything feels tide.

On the other hand comfort suspension offers you a way softer ride. When driven hard, it might feel a little lose and it can get a bit tail happy. This is especially true for high speed driving.

AIRmatic is a totally different story, as it combines best of both worlds. At low speeds and when driven like my grandma would, the dampers adjust to soft. You will get just the comfort as with the Comfort suspension. However, when driven hard, the dampers adjust to level 4 (which is hard). The car feels just like it would with Sport suspension.

This adaptive suspension is just brilliant. It is very effective when the car is heavily loaded with passengers and cargo - that does not alter the response and feel of the car very much, as AIRmatic adapts for that! And, as already described, one can enjoy the comfort when cruising around town as well as going down the Autobahn at 159mph safely.

The verdict: If one is neither pushing hard on the car nor driving a lot with passengers and cargo, Comfort suspension will just do fine. For those of us, who like both - cruising with comfort and safe "speeding", AIRmatic is the way to go.

ngerstman

Maybe it's not too late to change the order. I would suggest that you test drive the airmatic. My experience is that it firms up way too much when the roads get choppy let alone what happens when you hit a pothole(really jarring). I complained about these issues to the service department but they insist my car is normal. I actually drove another airmatic car and it did feel the same way to me. I personally consider airmatic to be borderline defective as a suspension. Shock absorbsion should be job one not shock transfer. I personally can't imagine how anyone driving on the "diverse" roads of the Northeast would be happy with airmatic performance. Should you test drive one, find some bad roads and some potholes, even small ones hurt. Regards. Ned.

pdjv

Stuff and nonsense. The Airmatic suspension on my 2004 E500 was, and the Airmatic on my 2011 E550 is, comfortably smooth. Comfort mode is not Cadillac soft, but still smooth and comfortable on any road surface. Sport mode is firm but still not uncomfortable. Airmatic is much more comfortable than the spring suspension on any service loaner I've had.

marvinlee

Thank you, J.M.G. Mercedes appears to tailor their cars a bit for various markets. In Germany is sound-insulating acoustic side window glass standard, an option, or not available? It appears to be an extra-cost option in Great Britain and I can find no mention of it as being standard or an option on American-sold E550 cars.

J.M.G.

It has been available as an option since the facelift ("Modellpflege") in march 2013. So all cars from 2009 to the beginning of 2013 in the german market came without that feature.

W210

Agree, I have been extremely happy with the Airmatic.

YYZ-E55

I guess I'm the second! Air suspension rides rougher than steel suspension (assuming similar calibration - comfort vs comfort or sport vs sport) and you get significantly more sway with air.

pdjv

I disagree on sway - I ran my 2004 E500 with Airmatic at VIR (on steet tires) - rock solid with no drama from the suspension - even at 130mph. No drama in even the tightest turns - Oak Tree Bend, Left Bend, Uphill Esses (90+ mph). My 2011 E550 is just as solid. I also disagree on harshness. Could it be that many of the V8 cars equipped with Airmatic also have the sport package with low profile 18" wheels? Low profile tires do add harshness to the ride, but IMHO it's still not objectionably harsh.

Now that Airmatic is an option on the V8 E class I probably wouldn't pay extra for it, but then MBUSA has gutted the packages, reduced individually selectable options, and removed so much content from the E class that it's no longer an attractive option for me. Add direct injection and I'm not inclined to buy any of the newer Mercedes-Benz cars - even with an extended warranty.

petee1997

As stated by OPs, there must be something wrong with your car. My CLS has air suspension and it performs flawlessly. In sport mode it handles like a much lighter car and in comfort mode is smooth as silk even on rough roads.