Problem is it's inherently the chassis that's the issue when it comes to ride comfort and dynamics on this car. That's why neither a steel suspension nor Airmatic that M-B uses on it is enough (or has enough R&D) to give it a truly balanced and composed ride over all surfaces.

I have the steel springs and find it very reasonable -- there is some sway in aggressive cornering, I did test drive an airmatic in comfort and sport modes, and it felt the same as the sport mode on the 2k14 E550. I was pretty impressed with the comfort mode in the airmatic on the 2k14 in terms of completely erasing any bumps felt ...

I'm used to steel springs and always having suspension feedback from the road, so paying for the airmatic with the even remote possibility of huge costs or inconveniences due to malfunctions was a no brainer for me -- didn't opt in for airmatic. I have no regrets, I've only had steel springs on about 10 cars I've driving in my life, and not yet have I personally experienced a steel spring failure, nor have I ever owned a car long enough to need to replace the stock springs or shocks.

More BS from the troll. Where are your facts for that statement. Must be something you made up like the 50% Chinese parts content on the E that you posted on the W222 forum.

Tell the forum K-A how you were proven a fool and a liar when someone posted a picture of the window sticker from the E showing 73% German content.


You write ridiculous statements and try to pass them as facts. In reality you make it up on the fly. You have never owned or driven an E with air suspension.

You are a pathetic little man.

While I certainly don't agree w/ everything that K-A writes, I think that's a low blow, no? If you think someone's a troll, I would suggest not feeding them and not responding to them (although, FWIW, I don't consider K-A a troll....).

To get it back to the subject of the thread, I think a little sway and roll is okay in a luxury car, if the ride is otherwise composed and filters out bumps. The old style MBs from the 1980s and 1990s rolled and pitched quite a bit but, once you got used to that, you learned to appreciate how stable they felt at speed (in a straight line or in gentle curves). We're talking about luxury cars for everyday driving, not weekend track specials, after all....

I seem to recall a comment K-A made suggesting that he is in the 200+ pound club with above average vertical. For sure he doesn't fit in a CLS - but maybe that's because of its Chinese roofline?

Yes, the class level here has diminished as proven above but it doesn't phase me (and BTW I'm not anywhere near 200 lbs however am very tall). Nice to see M-B still has an intelligent clientele as you've shown, however.

Indeed, you're right. My beef with the W212 is how the chassis and suspension don't feel harmonious to each other at all in my book. On smooth roads it drives sublime, and yes on turns an E Class is very much allowed and expected to float, BUT it shouldn't feel so harsh over rough roads if it does so. I've driven every E example and the new CLS (which drives just like the E) however don't have enough experience with the E Airmatic to state how well it does over rough roads. I just know I always found the E's chassis to be a bit of a weak spot (at least the E350 "Sport").

Where is Ned? He loves this topic!

Not sure about the E350 Sport, but the Airmatic in the 2012 E550 4matic works wonders in comfort mode.

MB makes really good comfortable and solid sedans, not sure if I would go sports or try to make it into something it isn't. For the same token, I'm staying away from the E63 as I want my full fledge comfort including heated steering wheel.

In comfort mode my 2011 E550 with the Sport option and Airmatic rolls a bit more than I'd like in a hard turn, but there's no float - it responds directly to steering inputs and tracks accurately. Get a little herky-jerky with throttle and steering and you might see some odd behavior, but float? Not in my experience - and that includes seven years driving a 2004 E500 with Airmatic, including a trip to VIR (full course) where my son and I both drove the car at speeds up to 130mph.