sam9187

Don't you think it's little too early to form an opinion.

K-A

Considering that it's called "Magic" and advertised in a way that makes people believe that it performs a certain way, based on all magazine reviews I've read and now from an individual driver (not to mention the "fine print" in MB's own material), it doesn't really do anything where it would count (i.e aside from simply man made speed bumps in clear daylight).

IMO it's more so for advertising proposes at this early stage of its development to simply sell the suspension upgrade more easily. Of course you do get ABC albeit now at an even higher cost so there are fundamental upgrades to it being the nature of hydraulic suspension, as with previous S Classes.

sam9187

I agree with you that's it's more marketing than anything else. I will wait for mine and see how the ride differs from the one that does not have MBC.

nehalzaveri

Got the test drive last week. Dealer mentioned me that the car is equipped with magic body control and he showed me the paper. The car looks great with top notch interior. During the test drive, i was driving over the speed bump and I felt it. The suspension was in comfort mode...But as LETO mentioned earlier it has to have ABC letters between sport and comfort. However in my demo car the letters were missing. ( they only had suspension symbol). So I figured that MBC is missing. So sometimes even though the dealer says and show you the paper I recommend to check the ABC letter and if its present then make sure it's in comfort mode.

Other than MBC, I was very impressed with the intelligent drive. Distronic plus with steering assist was working very nicely on a freeway!

BadMojo

I managed to get some time to go back to the dealer and got an actual test drive. The demo at my dealership (MB of Georgetown) most definitely did have MBC since it had ABC in between Sport/Comfort on the button. Also, body roll was virtually gone when I had Comfort engaged. Clearly, some dealers are receiving cars with MBC, contrary to what I and others on this board had heard.

I will say that the car was very nice overall to drive. The oft-commented sound proofing of the interior delivered exactly that. The transmission was actually very smooth, much smoother than my previous cars. The Distronic Plus with Steering Assist made the drive so easy to the point where it felt like the steering wheel was moving my hand as opposed to the other way around (note: I had an incredibly light grip so it's not as if it was pushing against me). With the MBC engaged in Comfort mode, it did not eliminate vibrations/bumps as much as I had been hoping for. So the OP's initial impressions, along with the reviews, do have validity.

Anyways, those are all my initial impressions of the S-Class. The entire test drive was for about 5 minutes. Overall, I was definitely impressed but do agree that MBC is gimmicky. Frankly, my conjecture is that for MBC to work properly, they'll need a better mapping solution of the road like LIDAR. There are just too many issues with using stereo cameras to do the road scanning (cameras getting dirty, no visibility at night, scanning resolution, etc). However, the ABC part still works as wonderfully as ever.

BadMojo

MBC does carry a higher price but it's pretty marginal, no? What did ABC cost, like $4K? So $500 more, while nothing to sneeze at, isn't all that much more on a car with an MSRP of $90K+.

Still, from my initial impressions along with others on this board, it does seem gimmicky.

LETO

Sometimes your salesman is not the most informed person. So I guess if people are out trying out the new S for a demo check the appearance of the suspension selection button & you will know if the car is equipped with MBC or not.

K-A

Agreed. The option is still worth it for ABC anyway. My W220 had ABC and aside from reliability issues it rode superbly even then.

I agree. You can even chalk it up to inflation. If you ask me, the "Magic" portion at this point is a marketing maneuver to sell more ABC, however with the basis of what in the future could be a big tangible upgrade on its own.

cookstar

You mean most of the time, On my GL the sales rep which had been at MB sales for nearly a decade knew 10% of the info I knew about the vehicle.

LETO

Agreed.

However, I have worked with my salesman for over 15 years as he is quite well informed. He even runs a blog/website that I find quite informative that I have posted links on the forum from.

you have to be pretty passionate about the brand to have information especially about upcoming models. I do agree that it is very rare.

For example the whole confusion of if a car really has MBC or not could easily be clarified via the appearance of the button. the salesman should have had to sit through the training for the car

interiormagic

You are 100% right, when I was there the guys were in the car still trying to figure things out. The model I was in did not have MBC, did not see the button for it.

LETO

There really isn't that much to figure out. Sure there is some new stuff but everything is laid out pretty close to the last car.

In fact the sales people should be able to use the car's wifi to google stuff!

marvinlee

Concur. The nine speed automatic is a very sound advancement. The extra year also gives factory personnel time to work on production fit and finish refinements.

Quadcammer

the sales people are full of ****. one guy swore the standard car had a leather dash. I told him it was mbtex and he argued with me.

sinistersurge

Even if sales people are full of crap [my guy is not], Netstar isn't going to be wrong along with a wrong window sticker.

fabbrisd1

Okay - I get the conversation:

1) yes there are Executive Demo's out there with MBC - please understand MBC will be "rarer" feature until Spring - very production limited.

2) Correct - MBC only is active in suspension Comfort mode - you can have engine management in either Economy (highway) or S (real meaning Standard, not Sport).

3) MBC "effect" felt on road surface is soemwhat compromised by Sport+1 package - it's the nature of the beast that you can't make lower profile wheels/tires road masters even with MBC

4) That said, with Sport+1 package MBC an be felt effectively on body control "feel" comparing highway/road performance especially with freeway/highway curves covering same track with and without MBC

5) as I have saif MBC will be production limited and "rarer" feature availability wise - rarer means uniquer

6) the new cabin/driving experience in my opinion is a new benchmark in this segment - for those fortunate to have driven Maybach you can appreciate the genetics of the new S

Mopst exec demo's with MBC are at/about $120K - and there is a lot to love for this price level - in my opinion a new benchmark in driving experience with refreshing added sophistication - definitely a new level for MB

ScottCLS55

Another fault with the Magic system, the radar camera's do not have the ability to see a pot hole. They only can see a raise in elevation.. or a bump. So the system won't help on potholes.

Tjdehya

you mean "limitation".
The only "fault" with the system is the name.
Because you guys are literally expecting magic.

Anyway, I actually worked on designing a system like this in college. It was a dream of mine, as an EE student I wanted to enter the automotive industry.
We installed the cameras in the bumper looking out to about 2m in front of each wheel. I won't bore you with all the issues we ran into that prevented us from being successful but we didn't have the tech, knowledge, or tools that these guys have today.

From our experiments there is not much you can do about a pothole. So I am not sure if it can't see it or it just doesn't look for potholes because there is nothing that it can do apart from steer the driver around it. If you soften the suspension the car will dip further into the hole and possibly bottom out, if you firm the suspension it will hit the hole even harder. The only thing that could make a car feel as if it floated over the pot hole is to transfer the weight of the car to the other three wheels or articulate that wheel in and out of the pothole.

Obviously suspension technology has come a long way since I was in school and I am sure the Germans will eventually make the MRC actually feel like "Magic"...

One day...

Wolfman

Agreed. Expecting to compensate for potholes is pretty unrealistic to say the least. I can't think of any technology that could accurately do that. Neither Radar or Laser has the ability to do that. Even if a pothole could be identified, the depth of the pothole could not be measured at at distance.

Second, even if the the suspension could be adjusted, the pothole could still bend the rim as it does today.

If anything, I could see the car to try to steer around it or slow down, depending on the traffic situation around the car, but that would require significantly more complexity, more akin to actual autonomous driving.

At the end of the day, if MBC recognizes uneven roads due to countless quick-fix patches (rather than the often cited speed bumps) and compensates for that, it'll be worth every penny as this is the most common occurrence.

Benzbias

Try any AMG at either the sport or comfort setting nothing beats the difference, compared to other vehicles, including other MB vehicles.
Have CL550 always on sport and car like a bucking bronco over the "calming bumps" in Toronto. Nothing like my CL55 AMG suspension whereby the car at speed glides over the bumps - CL550 rides more like a BUICK with golf clubs bouncing around in the trunk.!

ScottCLS55

Remember, Its magic..lol Potholes<Magic

newyorktoLA

My dealer demo didn't have the MBC listed on the sticker...