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Hello everyone.
I have dillema. I was going to order E class All terrain because i like higher ride (in Poland we have rather bad roads...) and i dont like an SUV. I did test drive last week and i was impressed by the ride with Air Body Control and All terrain option.
Unfortunately i love design of S213 estate with AMG body kit.(All terrain design is not for me). Because of that i think it would be better for me to order standard E class estate with AMG body and additional equipment such as Air Body Control and 4matic. Could you give me information about ground clearance for S213 220D 4MATIC equipped with Air Body Control?
I heard that thanks to ABC ground clearance is higher 15mm than in standard suspension not to mention about other ride height option it has.
Last edited by croatia1979; 05-31-2017 at 10:06 AM.
Comfort - standard "0"position, will lower 15mm above 125km/h
Sport/Sport+ lowers 15mm
Raised - +25mm from Comfort mode, will lower to 0 over 80km/h or after 3 minutes
Comfort - standard "0"position, will lower 15mm above 125km/h
Sport/Sport+ lowers 15mm
Raised - +25mm from Comfort mode, will lower to 0 over 80km/h or after 3 minutes
Many thanks for reply.
Three questions yet.
1.How many cm of ground clearance is there in Comfort -standard "0" position ?
2. Does it mean that being in Comfort Mode and riding more than 3 minutes over 80km/h the car will be automatically lowered to position 0 ?(or we can ride with higher ground clearance only 3 minutes even with lower speed?)
3.What is the highest ground clearance available thanks to Air Body Control?
I would be gratefull for information.
Many thanks for reply.
Three questions yet.
1.How many cm of ground clearance is there in Comfort -standard "0" position ?
2. Does it mean that being in Comfort Mode and riding more than 3 minutes over 80km/h the car will be automatically lowered to position 0 ?(or we can ride with higher ground clearance only 3 minutes even with lower speed?)
3.What is the highest ground clearance available thanks to Air Body Control?
I would be gratefull for information.
I m sure you're wondering if the car is a pavement "scrubber". Though I don't know the number off my head, I can assure you its not. The lower lip of the airdam in "normal" position is just enough for it to clear normal parking blocks and curbs. To ease your mind even further, parking pilot radar is excellent at detecting curbs all around the car, furthermore, the cameras provide excellent 360views to avoid anything! A plus of a very short front overhang is the is doesn't scrub on inclined driveways and such either.
Keep in mind that MB designs its cars to be driven in some places with very poor roads, as such, they take those simple things as under side damage into their design from the get go.
I m sure you're wondering if the car is a pavement "scrubber". Though I don't know the number off my head, I can assure you its not. The lower lip of the airdam in "normal" position is just enough for it to clear normal parking blocks and curbs. To ease your mind even further, parking pilot radar is excellent at detecting curbs all around the car, furthermore, the cameras provide excellent 360views to avoid anything! A plus of a very short front overhang is the is doesn't scrub on inclined driveways and such either.
Keep in mind that MB designs its cars to be driven in some places with very poor roads, as such, they take those simple things as under side damage into their design from the get go.
Thanks for advice.
Do you think that choosing S213 4matic with AMG body and steel suspension will be ok too for riding without stress on rough roads? I am afraid of reliability ABC a little and it would be even better for me to give up this option if steel suspension would be comfort enough.
Ps Do you think that AMG body kit can be problematic with normal curbs and similar things
?
Many thanks for reply.
Three questions yet.
1.How many cm of ground clearance is there in Comfort -standard "0" position ?
2. Does it mean that being in Comfort Mode and riding more than 3 minutes over 80km/h the car will be automatically lowered to position 0 ?(or we can ride with higher ground clearance only 3 minutes even with lower speed?)
3.What is the highest ground clearance available thanks to Air Body Control?
I would be gratefull for information.
1. impossible to say, but a 213 with exterior sport package all have the same basic level with or without Airmatic
2. Comfort mode is always 0, zero position, but going over 125/km/h will lower it 15mm
But the "Raised" mode is just a temporary mode, it will raise the car 25mm from zero position and only stay in this mode for three minutes or when exceeding 80km/h
Highest ground clearence possible is Comfort (standard) mode, +25mm
Some recent pictures of my own wagon with Airmatic, modified and lowered approx. 50-60mm from 0 (zero)
Still have no issues at all with curbs or uneven roads, the undercarriage is pretty far from the ground even though my car is very low, the 213 is much more thankful in this matter compared to the old 212 where the undercarriage was way closer to the ground.
Some recent pictures of my own wagon with Airmatic, modified and lowered approx. 50-60mm from 0 (zero)
Still have no issues at all with curbs or uneven roads, the undercarriage is pretty far from the ground even though my car is very low, the 213 is much more thankful in this matter compared to the old 212 where the undercarriage was way closer to the ground.
Beautiful car and colour!
Summing up i have to consider ordering AMG line with ABC or steel suspension. If raised ride with ABC is so limited (only 3 minuts?) I dont know if it is worth paying extra and thinking about reliability.
By the way. What about Air Body Control in your car.Have you had some issues with it?
Thanks for advice.
Do you think that choosing S213 4matic with AMG body and steel suspension will be ok too for riding without stress on rough roads? I am afraid of reliability ABC a little and it would be even better for me to give up this option if steel suspension would be comfort enough.
Ps Do you think that AMG body kit can be problematic with normal curbs and similar things
?
I have an E43 so its as low as it gets this side of a 63. The AMG kit is the same. Dont forget with air suspension you can also raise the car about an inch.
I have a S213 for a service loaner right now. The low point on the car is 5.5 inches at the front wheel well inner fender of 5.5 inches. The car is a E400 with sport body trim, and 245/45/18 runflats,and steel suspension. Sorry for my crass lack of knowledge to convert to mm's.
Last edited by davidjohnbamber; 05-31-2017 at 02:37 PM.
Reason: punct
Beautiful car and colour!
Summing up i have to consider ordering AMG line with ABC or steel suspension. If raised ride with ABC is so limited (only 3 minuts?) I dont know if it is worth paying extra and thinking about reliability.
By the way. What about Air Body Control in your car.Have you had some issues with it?
Raised position is crazy high and is rarely used, there is no need for it to last longer than 3 minutes.
I would still go for Airmatic as you then easily can modify the system to adjust the zero position up or down (using diagnostics) to get the height you want.
Raised position is crazy high and is rarely used, there is no need for it to last longer than 3 minutes.
I would still go for Airmatic as you then easily can modify the system to adjust the zero position up or down (using diagnostics) to get the height you want.
I use it not that infrequently, there are plenty of gravel roads in my area not to mention deep snow.
Raised position is crazy high and is rarely used, there is no need for it to last longer than 3 minutes.
I would still go for Airmatic as you then easily can modify the system to adjust the zero position up or down (using diagnostics) to get the height you want.
I didn't know that there are possibilities to change standard settings. Is it safe for the whole suspension system? What about warranty?
My former S205 with Airmatic was also heavily modified, I had no issues, we have also adjusted several customer vehicles without any problems.
You can only change the zero point, you cannot alter individual programs such as "Raised" or "Sport"
So if you raise Comfort (zero position) by 20mm.s you will also get Sport and Sport+ 20m.s higher and so on.
Dont know how warranty would be affected, that is something you must check in your area.
Summing up i have to consider ordering AMG line with ABC or steel suspension. If raised ride with ABC is so limited (only 3 minuts?) I dont know if it is worth paying extra and thinking about reliability.
According to the W213 manual, the raised Airmatic level behaves like on the previous models (211 and 212). It keeps the raised level "indefinitely" at decent speeds but drops to the normal level if driven faster than 100 km/h or if driven 80 to 100 km/h for three minutes.
Would you be able to send me part of this manual (for W213) describing Air Body Control settings ? I would be very glad.
I read that in W213 are a little different settings than in AIRMATIC w212. Although the article was about E ALL TERRAIN VERSION, in E CLASS ESTATE it works supposedly similarly. In All Terrain you can change ground clearance from 121mm to 156mm.The highest mode you can set manually by pressing button and after that you have 20mm higher ride. But it works only up to 35km/h. I haven't heard about time limitations for this highest mode.
From the driver's perspective the system is identical. What is different is the variable dampening of the dampeners. Compared to the w 205 system I think its quite an improvement, though I only know the AMG tuned version. The 205 system was occasionally floaty in comfort and harsh in sport plus. On the 43 its never floaty and never undully harsh either. The different settings simply seem to glue the car more as you dial it up. Comfort is good even with the 20 inch wheels. The only time you ever notice you're on big rim is on sharp road imperfections. Definitely firm but definitely not punishing at all.
From a clearance standpoint Air Body Control seems nearly useless, giving maybe an extra inch. For all the hoopla it should be 3-4"~!
Its 2 inches total. Of course, its not going replace a Hummer. But for a sedan its a commendably and very useful amount of adaptability. I use it not infrequently for unpaved roads and deep snow.
From a clearance standpoint Air Body Control seems nearly useless, giving maybe an extra inch. For all the hoopla it should be 3-4"~!
Old pic of my former S205 with Airmatic in "Raised" position
Useless?, I think not.
Sounds to me that you are just grumpy for missing out on the option
05-31-2017, 09:39 AM
