dukester34

is this something you can see at all Membrane on windows etc? has anyone got this and what do you think?

Sunrose305

I included this option on the E300 I just ordered and would also love to hear more about its real-world usefulness. Does it really make the car quieter? I guess the only accurate way to tell would be with a decibel meter test in cars with and without it.

dukester34

yes I ordered to it talks about a membrane is it a tint

Mbracer26

had it on a rental, compared to my car which doesnt have it I dont see a big difference. the E300 is quiet as standard. Just maybe a money grab option....

HBerman

All of the side windows are laminated glass at 30% tint. All of the glass has an infra-red barrier to reduce heat buildup. There is additional sound insulation in the floor and trunk area. What is already a quiet ride becomes even quieter. I have this package on my E300.

Mbracer26

Thanks for clarifying it even more, I have to retest drive it and listen in again...how is the air suspension over bumps with the Run flat tires?

HBerman

The Air Body Control absorbs a lot of the minor road impacts and does not transmit them to the rest of the car. I drove a unit with steel springs and the ride was much noisier and harsh. The air suspension mitigates a considerable amount of the harshness of the Pirelli runflats. By comparison with my former E550 which also had Airmatic suspension, the E300 is much smoother and more composed.

dukester34

nice thanks for all the info I ordered the air ride as well

Mike__S

The acoustic comfort package has a laminated glass with a UV and Infrared fitler film in between. The extra thickness of the glass provides extra sound insulation, while the film membrane helps keep the interior cooler by blocking solar energy effects. UV filtering will also help keep the interior materials from fading or weathers severely over time as well.

In additon to the special glass, the rear seat and rear floorpan get extra sound deadening material. This rear area is the source of much of the noise in modern cars, now that mirror shapes, other aerodynamic tricks and dual rubber door seals have become standard. One used to not notice it. Now that cars are already quiet, the acoustic comfort pack attempt to put the icing on the cake, as it were, with regard to noise, by tacking this remaining noise source.

About the only thing we hear now is tire noise on rough surfaces. This is tire noise issue very difficult problem no one has been able to tune out of cars yet. They may never find a way.

Hope this helps.
-=m=-

HBerman

The information in the DOG only indicates infra-red (option code 596) HEAT-INSULATING AND INFRARED REFLECTING SAFETY GLASS, ALL-AROUND. I wonder why the tire noise can't be tuned out of the vehicle. Perhaps, there is a possibility of using noise cancellation technology to create an offsetting sound to give the audible illusion of silence. I think that will be then next step as MB is already introducing fake engine sounds though the audio system now. One can only speculate at this point.

Mike__S

First, certainly the MB acoustic package description is correct as far as it goes. There is already UV polarization within the side glass and rear glass on all most all cars. The IR part is in the special film. I am assuming the laminated glass it is a good opportunity for additional UV filtration, too.

I test drove an E300 "Luxury" with Airmatic and the acoustic package last month. The tire noise was all one really noticed. That alone was pretty impressive.

But, why tire noise? Tire makers vary the tread block shapes to make "white noise" as much as possible, otherwise we would have huge periods of humming or whining noise at various speeds. The fact remans, the tread blocks make some noise even on a smooth surface, and we have to have the tread blocks incase of rain. This white noise would not be so bad by itself.

However, there is the problem of running on pitted concrete and some crushed rock asphalt surfaces cause tires to make a huge amount of this noise. In addition there are the extra sharp noise tires make when they 'slap' unto bumps, pot holes, seams and other surface irregularities. Inflated tires are perfect resonators of sound, and the stiffer the side walls (high performance, low profile tires) the worse this problem becomes.

The surface irregularities are particularly high energy events in the suspension. It can be dampened down by insulation, but the energy (as both sound and motion) comes into the chassis via the suspension though the bushings.

Bushing of rubber or sometimes a hydraulic design using silicon or other fluid dampens noise, absorbs shock, but they cannot be too soft or the car will not track down the road and the steering and cornering feel will be more than just imprecise. It is impossible to dampen all of this sound energy or keep it from entering the chassis.

NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harmonics) control has come a long way in the last twenty years, but tire noise still gets through. One of the biggest problems is getting governments to build quiet, and at least non-slippery road surfaces. In the era of poor budget planning for road infrastructure maintenance, we are getting huge section of highway either in disrepair or roadway repaired with the lease expensive surface possible irrespective of its sound properties.

This noise source is both tire design and roadway surface dependent. Keeping all that high energy noise out of the cabin at higher vehicle speeds is always very problematic. Within the suspension and the chassis there are a host of design compromises that do not allow complete isolation of all road sound propagation. Why would I say this?-> We would figure someone, somewhere, standing in a warm shower one morning would have already thought how to eliminate it! Alas, we just keep thinking of ways to minimize it.

HBerman

Try wearing a Bose Quiet 35 headset while on a rough concrete/asphalt road at 30mph and flip on the noise cancelling feature. The tire sound almost completely disappears! You can't legally use the headset as a driver, but try it when you are a passenger. The result is amazing.

c4004matic

UV protection is an oxymoron, all safety glass is uv protected since the middle plastic film that makes glass into safety glass UV opaque. Same thing is true for glasses if they are made of polycarbonate no UV coatings are necessary. On the other hand, infrared aka heat requires tinting or some kind of partially reflective treatment. I really dont know wjich mb uses. I ordered the package since I wish for the quietest ride possible particularly since I orderd 20 in rims. I guess Ill have to wait to find out for my self. Tthe extra rear mat material is an obvious solution which is ommuted in the standard car since probably adds another 25 kilos of weight.

ua549

The windshield is UV protected. In most cars the rest of the glass is not UV protected.

There are optically transparent IR coatings for glass. Glass does not have to be tinted to reflect IR radiation.

HBerman

​​​​​​
The IR reflection is built into the membrane for the laminated glass. The windshield has two locations for radar detectors and easy-pass transponders. You can easily see the locations from outside the car. The side glass is marked 30% for light transmission and it is how the glass is formulated. I don't believe that there is a coating or there would be special cleaning instructions to prevent damage.

c4004matic

Tinting is one of the possible ways to reduce IR. So is a reflective coating. Essentially all tints which cut visible light also cut the infrared spectrum. All auto windshields contains a middle layer of plastic (PVB) which is inherently UV absorbent. Thus all windshields are laminated, the mb package may include additional or thicker lamination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_glass. The side windows are simple tempered glass and do not. My guess is that the additional "lamination" they refers to is vinyl instead of pvb in front and the same on the side but they don't specify.

HBerman

The side windows are laminated glass as I previously stated. I can see that on my car.

c4004matic

Are they darker or more reflective?

HBerman

30% light reduction marked on the labeling in the glass

c4004matic

The regular window glass is 70% transmitace so it doesnt seem any additional tinting is involved.

HBerman

[QUOTE=c4004matic;7011385]The regular window glass is 70% transmitace so it doesnt seem any additional tinting is involved.[/QUOTE

It's not clear. It's definitely darker than clear. You'll have to make the determination yourself.

c4004matic

The regular window glass is 70% transmitace so it doesnt seem any additional tinting is involved.

ua549

My statement was about IR coatings in general and not about the MB use of same.
IR coatings can be on the interior side of laminated glass.

HBerman

I think I understand your point. My 2013 E550 did not have side window glass that was marked 70% transmittal, so I assumed that the presence of this notation on the glass was there because of the fact that I ordered the Acoustic Package. I can certainly attest that the interior does not become blazingly hot in the sun like my E550 did.

evanblack00

Does anyone know if we can order acoustic comfort package and night package (tinted rear windows)? Is that tint a "film" that affects acoustic comfort package?