rraisley

Is the optional air suspension (Air Body Control) the only suspension that changes when selecting driving mode (Eco/Comfort/Sport/Sport+)? Does the Lowered Suspension with Selective Damping System adjust the shocks to accommodate cruising as well as sporty driving?

Haag

In some countries also DBC (Dynamic Body Control) is available. That is a system with steel springs and adjustable damping by driving modes.

No not by selecting driving modes, it's a passive system.

mercedes.fan

Air body control and in some markets dynamic control with adjustable shocks. Most has the passive system which work fine, its not really a sporty car and the passive system is more comfort oriented but can handle corners well enough

rraisley

What about ride height? I've seen videos that say the Lowered suspension with selective damping system lowers the car 50 mm (2")!, which sounds excessive. I know the air suspension lowers at high speeds, and raises at low, but don't know how much it moves, if it's controllable or if it's high or low when stopped. Any info on this?

ua549

Air suspension is driver controllable. Steel suspension with selective damping is passive, not driver controllable.

mercedes.fan

Lowered suspension is 15mm only. From what I have seen on the forum the ABC can raise the car nearly and inch only, and probably lower the car not much more. Air body control gives you more driver control as it can be stiffened up in sport+ and made softer in comfort. Supposed to be best of both worlds, some swear by and some dont care for it. If you plan on keeping the car for long take in mind the expense of maintaining the air suspension.

rraisley

I thought air was free? Not so in the ABC? Are you referring to repair after warranty, or is there extensive maintenance expense?

As I understand the operation from the manual (downloaded to "study up")), you can choose to Raise the car using the dash button (didn't know how much, apparently the 1" you are referring to). When driving the car in the Raised position, it will automatically lower to the Normal position when you drive faster than 50 mph (or over 35 mph for 3 minutes). In Comfort mode only, it stays high until speed exceeds 78 mph, at which point it lowers. Then stays there until speed drops below 50 mph, at which point it raises again. What I don't know is if, when speed drops below 35 mph or so, if the car raises back up to the Raised position, or if it just turns off the feature. Perhaps someone can tell me.

Ideally, to me, it would stay high at low speeds and when parking, to help protect doors from harm, then lower at higher speeds, then lower again at low speeds.

Haag

The raised position (level +1) can be controlled by the button. This feature turns off after exceding the speeds you mentioned and the car goes back to level 0. It will not rise again untill you push the button again.

The standard height in comfort mode is level 0. The car will lower itself to level -1 when exceding 78 mph and will rise again to level 0 when speed drops below 50 mph.

rraisley

Yeah, I kinda suspected that. Would prefer it otherwise, but it makes sense this way too.
Good to know, thanks. And I suspect that the Raised position would then be Level +1, would that be right? And of course, the constant height (without the Raise button) is Level -1 with settings other than Comfort, it would seem. And would you estimate that the difference between Level -1 and 0, and 0 to +1, would each be about the 15mm quoted elsewhere? Finally, if in other than Comfort mode, running at a normal -1, would the Raise button increase all the way to +1, or only by 1 to 0?

Sorry for the over-analysis; just trying to determine, height-wise, what advantages there may be with the ABC.

ncdoc

Not sure if helpful, but from the owners manual:

Haag

Yes

Yes

Yes that's my estimate.

Yes I think so, but I'm not 100% sure of this.

ua549

Out of warranty replacement of an air strut will cost several thousand dollars. Thirteen years ago I had to replace a strut on a W211. It cost over $2,500 not counting towing. That's about $3,200 today when adjusted for inflation.

mercedes.fan

The struts themselves costs alot to replace when they fail and the numerous sensors and mechanical components driving the compressors might also fail. This work cant be done at home as very expensive diagnosis software is needed thus making it very expensive in the future. If you are going to own it during warranty you dont have to worry.

rraisley

Thanks mercedes.fan and ua549 on the costs involved. I intend to get a 7 year warranty, but my intention is to keep the car forever (I'm 76 and I figure my forever is about 10 years). I'll only be putting about 8000 miles a year on it, maybe less in the future, but I imagine a lot of this stuff will fail based on time rather than mileage (rubber deterioration, etc.). Sounds like it might not be worth the (ultimate) cost.

Egonvdv

air body control sucks.
i really can't tell the différence between E/C and S/S+
whatever i choose, i feel every little bump in the road.
the only thing i know truly works is when i raise the car, which is sort of handy in underground parkings.

ua549

Don't on a 10 year event horizon. My next door neighbor is 97 and bought a new car last year. There was another neighbor that died last year at a ripe old age of 104. His 102 year old wife died a few days later presumably of a broken heart.

I bought an AMG W211 thinking it would be my "forever car". It turned out to be a maintenance nightmare that lasted a couple of weeks beyond the warranty. Extended warranties don't cover the stuff that typically breaks such as plastic pieces, seat leather, ... I drive my MB less than 5k miles per year.

mercedes.fan

Look into the luxury trim with the slightly raised suspension and better ride. Might be your best choice.

jhpmbusa

i have driven the luxury and sport back to back and didnt notice much difference. Too be honest when changing the mode to sport + i hardly even feel the difference. I doubt anybody would if someone changed it without telling you!

mercedes.fan

Well sport+ onle changes throttle response not suspension as its passive. But the luxury trim has more ground clearance (suspension travel), "comfort oriented chassis" and smaller rims with more tyre sidewall so it should ride more comfortably, even if only slightly.

rraisley

I wouldn't mind the raised ride and comfort suspension of the Luxury, but I really prefer the Sport/AMG grill and body, and the MB star sticking out of the hood just begs for someone to rip it off. But I'm very happy with the 4 model MBs I've driven so far to help me choose my new car.

jhpmbusa

There is a sport + setting for the suspension, throttle and steering. .

rraisley

From the E's manual:

Depending on the drive program, the following
systems change their characteristics:

• Drive

• ESP®
• Vehicles with AIR BODY CONTROL or DYNAMIC BODY CONTROL: suspension
• Electric power steering

I knew that the Air Body Control suspension was adjustable, but what is Dynamic Body Control? It is my understanding that neither Luxury suspension with selective damping or Lowered suspension with selective damping system are adjustable manually (although they do adjust damping based on driving style), but don't see Dynamic Body Control listed anywhere.

Haag

Dynamic Body Control is not available in every country. It's a system with steel springs and adjustable damping.

mercedes.fan

In US if you dont have air body control the suspension is passive and sport+ doesnt make a difference.

jhpmbusa

So your saying the system allows me to change to 4 different suspension settings, but it is absolutely doing nothing? This is very interesting.... according to my owner's manual it should be making the drive more sportier lol. Is this not accurate?