Steinhart

My '18 S 560 has magic body control, it works very well and I believe the overall ride is significantly improved. However, I don't know when it's on or off, except the noticeable ride difference. I realize that using the brakes turns it off, but for how long? What else turns it off?

It seems to be inconsistent, it's on/off on the same road and same driving.

Anyone know how one knows if it's on or off and why?

Many thanks!

konigstiger

Steinhart

thank you

the CURVE function is one of the settings available, however I'm inquiring about MBC, which recognizes bumps in advance and better absorbs them. My understanding is MBC is separate from the CURVE function.

konigstiger

Actually I was referring to Dynamic Select apparently road surface scan is not available in Sport mode in effect turning it off. Check it out.

Steinhart

yes, thank you

I'm always in comfort mode and I never touch the Dynamic Select switch, except initially to select the curve function

however, the MBC works on/off without me doing anything different, driving on the same road, sometimes it absorbs the speed bumps, other times it doesn't and is jarring

I don't understand why its on or off, and there is no light or signal that alerts me when it's on/off

QuadBenz

If I remember correctly, for it to be enabled, your foot has to remain on the gas. If you lift off the gas or press the brakes it is disabled. So for example, when approaching a speed bump/table, you need to keep your foot pressed on the accelerator pedal for it to function.

Chucky3000

I had MBC on my 2014 S Class. It worked well eventhough it was first generation. The speedbump in the road makes you want to slow down and put your foot on the brake or at the very least - off the gas. MB should have known that 99.999% of drivers would never continue to accelerate into a speedbump.

I thought that was very bad product engineering on their part.

Quadrobenz

I live in a community with 6 speed bumps between me and the exit gate. Two are on about a 3% slope and four are on a 12% grade, so I have experience with level, uphill and downhill. I use the 2015 S65 about 200 times per year so over the 3 years with the car I have traveled over the same 6 speed bumps 1,200 times each! This gives me a pretty good data base of what the MBC in my S65 actually does. If I drive over the speed bumps (uphill) at anywhere between 10 and 25mph with constant throttle the system rarely activates. Going downhill if I brake to reduce the speed to 10 to 15 mph and release the brake 5 to 15 feet before the speed bump, do not touch the throttle the system works about 90% of the time. We have 2 different shaped speed bumps, 5 have what looks like a gentle ramp up and down but still feels like a bump. One looks more like half a log laying on the road. The system really struggles with that one, no matter what approach I use the best success is about 25%. I get that with braking down to about 5mph and releasing the brake. If I reapply the throttle it never works, but that is a harsh speed bump.
I have to date driven over 7,200 speed bumps entering and leaving our street. reapplying the throttle after braking does not help and usually assures the MBC will not work. The newer systems may be programmed differently. It also likely works differently at highway speeds for normal surface variations.

Steinhart

so my '18 560 MBC must be programmed differently than older models, it works even if I apply the brake before the bump, it works almost all the time and in fact really makes the overall ride much more refined compared to the '15 550 I had without MBC

there is a street near me that badly needs to be repaved, it is very uneven, has pumps and cracks everywhere, the '18 560 MBC smoothes out the road incredibly well, while the '15 550 had a very harsh ride on that road

I love MBC, in fact I would not buy another S class without it, the overall suspension and ride is significantly improved

however, I wish there was a dash light when MBC was on, so I would know when the system is activated

rain definitely deactivates the system, but other than that, I really don't know, sometimes it's off and I wonder why...

superangrypenguin

Because the camera struggles to figure out the depth of an object on a perfectly clear day, let alone when it rains.