ghaffar23

I've been trying to find out whether or not 4Matic suspensions feature any type of air suspension, i.e. Airmatic. However, I wasn't able to come up with anything. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to know whether or not I'd be dealing with any headaches if I were to buy an S550 4Matic or E550 4Matic.

hstmercedes

4Matic includes the Airmatic suspension. This is not to be confused with ABC suspension which is NOT available with 4matic.

Airmatic allows you to select comfort or sport (Not that big a difference for me between the two) and allows you to increase ground clearance approx. 1" to better clear snow drifts. Gives a nice and quiet ride overall.

This is my 3rd 4matic and I have not had any issues with the suspension or the drive train.

ghaffar23

I've had so much trouble with ABC ('04 CL600) and I've heard similar stories with the AIRMATIC suspension as well. Nothing is built to last; I wanted to minimize my maintenance costs over a number of years if I decide to order a brand new 2011 S550 4Matic at the end of this year.

Kar don

Don't buy an S-class if you want minimal maintenance costs. ALL S-class 4matic cars have AIRMATIC suspension (in the USA at least). Reliability has increased over the years on airmatic suspension but I still hear of people having issues with them and the "dead body in trunk" noise over speed bumps/larger bumps.

ghaffar23

It's one thing to pay for maintenance costs, it's another to pay for maintenance costs on a W220 or W215. We've paid more than $13K in maintenance in the past two years. Most of it had to do with the hydraulic lines and ABC/PS tandem pump. It's a crying shame to have to fork out that much money on a car that is barely 6 years old. But hey, I guess we didn't have the luck of the draw. I understand that nothing lasts forever, but you've gotta draw the line somewhere.