jahquan3

Over the past two weeks, I've been caught in flash flood 3 times. Oddly 2 of the 3 times I was at the beach area when it started (Point Pleasant and Atlantic City NJ).

Last week the flooding was so bad that a couple of smaller cars (Sentra/Neon) got stuck in the water. I don't know what I would've done if I didn't have airmatic. I assume I could've chanced it an got through the flooded areas but it just seems so risky. So being able to raise the car up puts me at peace, as well as my passengers.

Have you been in a situation where you believe without airmatic you might've been stuck or had to wait a storm out? Or go a totally different way to get to you destination?

ktr

Hmm. Airmatic raises the car about an inch, but the E550 (5.4") is already an inch lower in ground clearance compared to smaller cars like the Nissan Sentra (6.4"). But if it worked for you, that is great!

thefisch

Gosh, I've only used it to avoid scraping the underpanel on a parking spot bumper. I guess I am not cool at all.

jahquan3

The cars that got stuck were being idiots. Literally going thru the deepest part of the flooded area. I kept to the lowest point that I could see.
Idk the exact clearance but I go by the wheel well appearance. Normally I ride in sport which is maybe an inch of space from wheel to car. When it's raised all the way up it appears about 4 inches or there about. Regardless it's helped me several times recently and many other times in the past. So I'll take it for what it is

jahquan3

I've yet to use fully raised button to get over a bump or parking spot bump. Since I'm usually in sport, I will go to comfort to get through pothole infested areas or to park in a mall area with median strips.

thefisch

I used to roll in sport all the time for the first 2 years. But I must have aged significantly or the roads I drive on have gotten worse lately (or both) because now I prefer to ride in comfort mode. +1 has only come in handy for those pesky parking bumpers.

IIRC going from sport to comfort raised the car by 0.5 inch and +1 adds one more inch.

jahquan3

Yeah, definitely a different feel of the ride from Sport to Comfort. Every now and then when I have it in comfort it feels like a completely different vehicle. Almost feels floaty and I haven't had it in comfort on the highway in a long time. I might give it a try one of these days.

Thx for the specs of the lift. I've never really went over the actuals of it but to the eye it looks much larger then 1.5 inches.

LINKBXQ

Being in NYC and driving through places such as Chinatown I used comfort a lot and raising the vehicle. But being able to lift the car up using arimatic has prevent many scrap and bumper rash when going into driveway or to the shop and getting it lifted.

thefisch

At first I didn't notice much of a difference between sport and comfort so I left it in sport thinking that would make me look more 'sporty'. Now I do appreciate how comfort handles speed bumps and rough roads. I don't find it floaty though in comfort. +1 is definitely floaty.

I think I got those specs from my manual but my memory could be off a little. I think I even checked them with a tape measure as I didn't think there was much difference between sport and comfort.

jahquan3

I've had to avoid a few driveways in fear that I still will scrape something regardless.

The G Man

Does anybody what speed the raise mode go up to before it resets itself at a certain speed.

jahquan3

I believe the +1 will automatically lower once you reach 35mph.

Also if you're in comfort the car will automatically go into sports when you reach 93mph I've read somewhere. However it was mentioned that MB changed that number to 70mph in the manual for legal reasons. Someone can probably confirm this.

The G Man

Does the raise button un-lit after 35 MPH? or the sport mode indicator light up at the gauge after 70 MPH. I have been in the above mentioned situation and have never saw either indicators.

thefisch

IIRC the button remain lit for whichever mode you selected even if the speed triggers the car to lower or raise back up to your setting.

jahquan3

I think this is the case as well.

The G Man

Interesting, will the car automatically raise up again once it drop below 35 MPH?

thefisch

It's supposed to. When I first got the car, I recall measuring the wheel well height before and after a highway drive and it was back in the raised position. Of course, I could not verify the drop while driving for obvious reasons

thefisch

Well I finally got out of some 'trouble' thanks to airmatic. Driving to work behind the recycling truck on pickup day and a plastic gallon milk jug fell off the truck. I could not avoid it and hoped it would either glance off the bumper or magically appear in my rear view mirror. Unfortunately it got stuck under my car and I could hear it dragging for a couple of houses. Pressed the +1 button and the clearance was enough to leave the jug behind for them to pick up.
Not quite Bond in the DB5 pressing the oil slick button, but probably the closest I will get and more environmentally friendly

jahquan3

That was impressive. One of the many reasons I love the airmatic. If only it wasn't so pricey to fix and a likely part that goes.