Legacy

An interesting difference with my replacement 2003 E500 compared with my original (pre-COMAND DVD Navi) car is the feel of the Airmatic DC suspension in Comfort, Sport I and Sport II. It is impossible to quantify, but my replacement car seems to ride nearly the same in all three settings. In my original E500 there was a very noticeable difference in the ride when you switched from Comfort to Sport I and again to Sport II. The ride became progressively firmer in Sport I and Sport II. The handling in corners also became much more taut in Sport I & II.

Now the comfort level is nearly the same in all three modes. The tautness in Sport I & II is less evident. It almost seems like they have compromised in all of the modes toward the Comfort setting. I have not yet discussed this with the dealer to see if a software change would restore the settings to what I had in my first E500. That would probably eliminate the nice graphic on the speedo when you press the button to change modes. I think I would rather have the restored feeling of the suspension change than have this graphic.

Anyone else out there with a replacement car that has noticed this change in the suspension?

Can the dealer reprogram the Airmatic system to how it was before, without upsetting or changing anything else? I have no problem with losing the fancy graophics that appear on the cebter dial when you press the Airmatic DC button.