jahquan3

I have about 85% highway driving and the rest city driving daily. So I tend to leave it in sports mode for several days and only switch back to comfort on the weekends which is all city driving. I have a friend who says his wife caused his air suspension to go fast (replaced one in the front) because she constantly changed settings daily. Before I heard this story I would change my setting daily depending on where I was driving but now I just leave it on either or for the most part. I even go as far as to just leave it on either (C/S) for a couple weeks then change to the other for a couple weeks. Anyone else have a preference or a feeling about consistent changing of settings having a negative effect?

I like to push my vehicle so I like sport more but the two cities I drive in have horrible potholes etc. so I feel more at ease in comfort.

cc16177

Hmm.. I change mine a minimum of 3-5 times a day if you count the extra "raise/lower" button. I am curious about this as well... although reading about problems with airmatic is a big reason I went for the extra CPO warranty which i'm still under.

jahquan3

I bought mines "as is" and kind of didn't really care about things that may come up along the way. However the air suspension is one of the things I really don't want to have to fix on the fly since they appear to be expensive for a non-motor/trans item. I would change it only when I exchange from the highway to the city but I figure being cautious can't hurt but looking to see what the rest of you guys do daily.

Ed99

I constantly change mines each day. Probably 3-5 per day. And raise the car at least 4 times per day. No issues so knock on wood.

jahquan3

Ok cool. I see both of you guys mentioned the raise up option several times a day. I'm guessing that is the strut/shock symbol to raise it up an inch. I've only used that when I was going through some pretty flooded areas a couple of times. Interested in what makes you guys raise it up daily? Is it potholes or something?

KEY08

speed bumps, steep driveways.
You have Airmatic. Use it. If it breaks, it breaks.
It's a great feature to have IMO.
My wife is always hitting the raise button by mistake with all of her crap she brings into my car. When I see the "car raising" announcement on my dash screen, it is her. LOL

jahquan3

That's they way I felt initially, I guess my friend is just a little too cautious. I'll probably start to change it as I exchange from highway to city and vice versa. It's a very cool feature.

KEY08

I had to replace one rear strut and a compressor in my 2004 E500 over the course of 100,000 miles. I think it was like $1,300 or so. No biggie.
50,000+ on the 2010 and no Airmatic issues. I drive the car every day and I think that is the success to minimal issues in these cars. They need to be exercised often. As long as you are driving it you should use all of the features.

jahquan3

When I got my E550 it already had over 80k in miles. So I figured if I can get 20-30k more with no major repairs, I'll get one brand new or lease next go around. My first luxury vehicle and first car with air suspension so I'm learning on the fly. So far so good. Just needed new tires and that is it so far.

cc16177

I live in FL so potholes really aren't a problem. It's mainly for speed bumps and steep ramps as someone else mentioned.

I'm exceptionally **** about keeping the front end of my car in good shape because it's (To me) the most attractive part of the E class.

This is why I was particularly upset when a valet damaged it recently EVEN AFTER I had raised it up for him etc... but I vented enough in my other thread I don't need to dig up those emotions lol

jahquan3

I saw that topic but don't think I looked into it. That was yours I'll assume, let me stroll over and see the happenings on that post. You're a better man than me is all I can say...I probably would've made a scene over it.

Ed99

I raise mine time to time because I lowered it with links. Airmatic is the best thing ever. I would want this for my future cars.

jahquan3

I have switched it up a little more this week but still really no reason to change several times a day. Does anyone have their tires set on the low end PSI wise? I think that would make the need to change out of sport more often.

thefisch

Mine is in sport mode 99% of the time. I only raise it every now and then to either demo the feature for someone, parking/incline issue as others have stated (which is rare for me), and sometime just for kicks to make sure it still works.

My parents drive a Lexus GS and the first time in my car they said it felt very rough. Keep in mind my luxury trim has the 17 inch wheels. So I changed it to comfort and it still felt too rough for them. I raised it using +1 and then they said it felt fine. However, I don't like driving in that mode. too much roll and float for me. And that extra 1.5 inch wheel gap looks bad IMO when I park it. So now it's only raised out of necessity.

jahquan3

I saw a Youtube video (Car and Driver) or one of the main reviewers that said never drive long raised all the way up. I assume it has something to do with the roll and float of the vehicle especially moving at solid speeds. I have 18 inch low profiles and anyone who comes from a SUV and gets in my car complains about how low it is and that going over any bumpy areas is uncomfortable lol. I give them grief about being a hater but I can understand it though.