gfmohn

I always wondered what happened to the Bose electromagnetic car suspension system (Project Sound). There is a brief discussion at "Bose's amazing 'jumping' car suspension system still blows minds," on Cnet "Car Tech by David Carnoy," February 10, 2016. Bottom line was the bottom line: "The suspension system was too heavy and too expensive for automakers to incorporate into their vehicles without a radical redesign (the extra weight also didn't help gas mileage [at a time when gas mileage was becoming all important]). ... Jaguar, MERCEDES [emphasis mine], Honda and Ferrari were all interested. But once they crunched the numbers, they always left Bose at the altar."

ezshift5

I don't think i have run-flat tires................

I just know I can't rotate them...................



Holidays best, ez............

WEBSRFR

Yeah I too have been wondering what happened to this technology. With time I don't see any reason why the weight and complexity of this system could not be reduced to be on par with an AirMatic system.

That video is surreal in how smooth that car drives. That last jump remind me of Knight Rider's Turbo Boost

hyperion667

How about making cars that don't lose half their value in the first three and a half years?

Streamliner

OK, I'll chime in here.
My S Class "dream" wish list is as follows and it is in order of importance to me:
1. Panorama Roof goes back to being optional. I hate that frigging thing!
2. Full size spare in a proper storage area under the trunk floor.
2A. Based on #2, run flat tires become optional.
3. Another twenty or so "premium" exterior colors available for special order at some reasonable cost, perhaps in the $2,500.00 range, to include a non-metallic, non-pearl WHITE.
4. Same as #3, but for the interior colors and to include having the ability to mix & match colors. For example, you could have a full saddle tan interior, with a darker dash & carpets. Maybe charge up to $5,000.00 for this.
5. MANY other factory wheel choices in all diameters from 18" on up. I would KILL for a set of the Maybach sedan exclusive wheels in 18", unpolished. I'd pay $3K for them as an option.
6. I, too, would love any system that would make the car ride smoother. I have MBC, which sort of works some of the time, but I'd love something that worked like that Bose system.
7. The availability of a normally aspirated V8 or V12, that puts out maybe 350 to 400hp, with tons of torque, and absolutely silent, silky smooth, you-can't-hear-it-or-feel-it, effortless power. I hate turbos.

You know, that's about it. My 2015 S550 is a wonderful car. I liked the looks of my 2013 W221 better, but this new one is a pretty nice ride. The problem, is that there isn't anything better, until you get into Bentley/Rolls territory and then the price spirals out of control and it is questionable if those cars are actually, well, "better." Bottom line? I'd love a $175K S Class sedan, built the way I WANT it. Oh well, we are only dreaming, right?

WEBSRFR

Um. Talk to me. I have a recommendation for you for just such a thing -- as long as you don't mind twice the HP/torque numbers you requested

Streamliner

Actually, I DO mind. What I'm trying to say, is that I want old fashioned, unbelievably smooth power. An engine that when idling, cannot be heard or felt. When accelerating, cannot be heard and the only feeling you get is of boundless torque moving you forward. Lastly, since this is my wish list, I want this to come from the MB factory like this, not modified by some tuner. Think Cadillac V16 or Packard Twin-Six.

C280 Sport

My friend had a Maybach 57S. I was amazed on how silent the engine was. Such a soft and near quite car. For a car with a huge V12 under the hood it was not even loud under full acceleration....But it had Twin Turbos. Might want to go back to a W140 S600 with the M120 V12. I had that engine in my SL600. Great solid engine.



Keep in mind NO car in the world is 100% silent unless it is not turned on or in park...

RJC

I agree about the noise. Since the late 90's when MB went to the modular SOHC design for their mainstay V8's, valve-trains started to become noisy. Now the newer generation engines with DFI have even more noise. Some marques engines (even those with DFI) have remained relatively quiet however (like my Jag's), and I'm told that the new generation of MB 4.0's are relatively quiet. With respect to smoothness at idle, I've found both of the cars with M278's I've owned are super smooth.

On another note, I'd like to see a nice console mounted shifter on the W222's and especially on the C217's vs the flimsy column mounted one. The shifter on our '17 Q7 is a prime example, very functional and very nice to look at with a great feel/build quality.

gfmohn

The windshield visors on my C-Class are too short to keep the sun out my eyes when the sun is on the side. My wife's 2008 Hyundai Elantra has a sliding extension on the visor to block the sun. I have seen it on other cars, going back decades. This feature would be really inexpensive.
(Please, no comments about why don't I get my wife a nicer car. She mostly uses it to carry her tools to the community garden, which is less than a quarter mile.)

gfmohn

(If a reader can provide a link to a discussion of this elsewhere in the W205 forum, that should be the end of discussion here.) I would like to see a memory center mirror.

amir1

Just purchased my first Mercedes Benz, A nicely optioned 2017 S-550.
Coming from Lexus (20 years) here are a few suggestions.
1. Add a spare tire (Not a fan of run flats)
2. Door panel does not have water bottle holder, so it flops around in there.
3. Larger glove compartment.
4. Loose change compartment
5. Accessing Speed Dials takes 8 Steps. How about a speed dial button, that when pushed brings up the speed dial list.
6. Separate volume control for Nav vs. Radio. When both are on, if radio is loud, Nav volume is loud. If I lower the volume, both go lower. In Lexus, when the nav speaks, the radio volume goes way down. Then resumes, once nav instructions are completed.
7. Buttons for AM, FM, CD, SAT. Changing between them takes too many steps and is not intuitive.
8. In comfort mode, engine shuts off at stop signs. Ability to turn this feature off completely. (right now, I need to turn it off every time I start the car).
9. More speed dials. Right now it's limited to 10.
10. Display street names of major streets/BLVDs on nav screen when zoom level only shows the major streets. Right now the names of the cities are big and bold, but the street names are hardly visible (if listed at all)
11. Living in Southern California, regarding the umbrella holder.... What's an umbrella?

Love the car, By the way!

steveb9771

We finally had some rain in Southern California over the last couple of days, but it did not last long enough to really need an umbrella.

axhoaxho

Talking about rain, I hope to have intermittent wipers that I can manually set the speed myself.

The slowest (rain sensing automatic) wiper speed was too fast for light rain...

The wipers dried the windshield before it got wet again, and made noise. End up, I often had to turn On-and-Off the wipers manually, to compensate the light rain situation.

amir1

My new 2017 S-550 has only 2 intermittent speeds. Annoying. My 2010 LX570 has 4 speeds so you can adjust the sensitivity perfectly.

Streamliner

The Lexus LS has had this for years.

dpm7471

Ok, I guess I'll chime in as well....

1) I wish that I could just press the phone button on the steering wheel and it would go right to the phone. As it is now, you have to go to the telephone menu and go through too many steps...Maybe it's possible, I just haven't been able to figure it out. Frustrating.

2) I wish the Lane change assist/blind spot warning would alert you BEFORE someone is in your blind spot (ie, as they are approaching). I had this in my Porsche panamera, and it worked great, and I trusted it. If the light was not on, I knew I could change lanes. Not in this car, as it does not seem to warn you until someone is actually in your blind spot. Not as helpful, as you still have to look hard to change lanes. I didn't have to do this with the Porsche.

3) I agree about the rear view mirror.

4) I wish parktronic/park assist would actually work right. It hardly ever works for me, and when it did, my rear wheel would hit the curb almost scratching it. Poor technology.....I think this kind of poor, inconsistent technology actually makes MB look bad. Don't put technology on a car that does not work well..especially in your flagship car that you are so proud of.

5) I wish the entire steering wheel would heat, not just the lower half.

Let me add , that I really enjoy my 2014 S550. These really are some minor things, but would be really nice if they were different. Happy Holidays!