complained about how terrible the ride is in my 25 vs a m echinaically identical 26 and was told new hardware and software (that is incompatible with prior model years..

anyone know if true?

 

Would love to know as well!

 

Part numbers appear to be the same on part databases for 2026 and old models. I saw your other thread by the way, and It looks to me that this is just the dealer’s method to tell you (hey, don’t compare yours to the loaner, and that was their excuse to close your case). Drive a 2025 loaner or any car on their inventory and you’ll notice that it also drives the same, and also better than yours since you’ve already determined it has some comfort issues that are very obvious and noticeable.

The GLS, from my experience, is one of the most comfy family haulers on the market today hands down, unless you step up to a Bentayga or Cullinan, which honestly I’ve never driven anyway. Compared to most other manufacturers that I owned or drove, GLS is right among the top, so your experience is more of an outlier compared to most of us. Something is wrong for sure. Get MBUSA involved when the dealer can’t aknowledge what seems to be an obvious issue. That’s what @Streamliner did when he had issues with his car suspension until the dealer agreed with him (see some of his posts about E-ABC comfort level).

 

It’s always nice to be remembered, but that’s not how I remember my E-ABC experience. The dealer, Fletcher Jones in Newport Beach, CA—the largest MB dealer in the country—never agreed with me that the E-ABC suspension was not operating correctly. They blamed everything on under inflated tires—something I did to try to get better ride quality—and always came back with the E-ABC “is operating as designed.”

After having a W221 with ABC and then three W222’s with MBC—which were “THE” best riding cars I have ever driven—I cannot express how absolutely disappointed & disgusted I was with the ride quality of my $6,500 E-ABC equipped 2022 S580. I thank my lucky stars that the electronics in the car basically self destructed, leading to a 45 day stay at Fletcher Jones, which was 15 days more than I needed to exercise—what is virtually the ONLY governmental benefit to living in idiotic California—my rights under the extremely consumer friendly California Lemon Laws. Knowing that they were sunk, MBUSA bought the car back.

 

There’s a “legendary” photo right there, and it’s clear that you’re not the only one who got stranded. Knowing your long history with Mbenz, and your refusal to accept the new lower standards, you made the right decision by returning that S to the Mbenz dumpster, well, at least thanks to CA laws lol.