Kevin Chang

What kind of suspension upgrades can you recommend that can greatly improve the ride comfort on the car? I currently have the Air Suspension and 20" Multi-spoke AMG wheels with Pirelli P Zero tires.

bobblehead

if you have air suspension, then you cannot really do much to change that as far as I know. Your next alternative is to get into a 19" wheel setup (with perhaps all seasons, instead of summer) which would give you a slightly taller sidewall to absorb the impact of the rough roads. Once that is switched, you may want to adjust the tire pressure up or down (from the recommended setting) until you feel the ride is more comfortable to you

elnos

My set up is exactly like yours, I found the pirelli's are extremely noisy compared to others.
One thing I noticed is, after a good 5 hours of driving continuously, the ride feels so much better in terms of road noise and comfort, don't know why, maybe the tires soften up lolll
To my experience, if you don't want to do go down 1" size wheel, go for a different set of tires, Michelin PS4S would be my recommendation.

Kevin Chang

Yeah, I figured and the current rims are great. Would it be possible to go with bigger tires without downsizing the wheels? Like 245/40 20s & 275/35 20s?

kumizi

Nice job. Is there a US dealer for these parts? I'd love to read more about it.

allenjdmb

There's not many options for you. I went thru this with my last 2 e63's, and there's just no alternatives.The German simply do not comprehend the condition of our roads here. Apparently MB engineers don't know any way to get handlng except by too much spring rate and too much damping. About your only alternative is to get off those awful Pirellis, that will make it some better,but not a lot.
Sorry, very frustrating.

MBS E53

Dead on with the tire recommendation.

Maximus91

Has anyone tried retrofitting to aftermarket coilovers for better ride comfort than the air suspensions? I understand this might require ECU tuning and others. Hoping anyone has any background regarding this.

Like these:

https://silvers-na.com/collections/n...-2-awd-l6-2017

https://www.fitmentindustries.com/st...&model=E43+AMG

https://www.kwsuspensions.com/produc...-35225087.html

YYC53

I have the Pirelli run flats and I'm counting the days. I can't imagine that getting carried away and altering the suspension makes sense before getting away from run flats. The sidewall profile on a. '19 vs a '20 in terms of height is not insane, rather the sidewall composition is the issue.

The softest sidewall I've had was on Continental DWS series tires. They were quiet and incredibly compliant on a relatively hard sprung and aggressively dampened car. Michelin Pilot Sport summers have been closer but not as quiet or compliant as Continental DWS (all season).

Then I 'cheaped out' on my Jag XFR with Firestone Indy 500's to find a quiet and compliant tire that is a bit meatier in grip and personality. If I buy dedicated summers it will be them unless they really don't fit. The Firestone sizing won't pop up on a search because you need to run 255 and 285 on a stagger which is supposedly 10mm wider than E53 stagger sizes. The tread is a teenie bit wider but the OD of the tire is closer to correct than the #&+kn Pirelli's. I prefer the tire to the three sets of summer Michelins I ran.

Where the failing point of the Conti's was wear and mushy turn-in due to a round shoulder, the Firestones are aggressive on turn-in from a squarer shoulder profile and a firmer but totally livable sidewall. This gives better feel in the steering.
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​​​​​​I wouldn't spend my enemy's money on Pirellis (aside from Sottozero winters which are great), Toyo's, Bridgestone or Goodyears.

I'm actively contemplating DWS or Michelin A/S Pilots for my E53 vs the route of winters/summers I've done for 12 years on two vehicles.

Constant tire changes and negligible gains are being traded against having to trash partially worn A/S ahead of winter.

YYC53

Also worth noting that Mercedes has worked with manufacturers to build a more decent run flat. They don't meet run flat standards, will have less range when flat but won't be as horrible as run flats.

I am basically sure they'll still be horrible vs normal tires but they aren't out yet, at least in my searches.

Maximus91

I'm currently on 19" with Michelin PS4s. They're definitely a lot better than the old 20"s I used to have, but I'm looking for an alternative solution as I'm keen on keeping the car for very long. I just find the air suspensions too expensive to maintain, but if I need to I also would not mind. I'm just looking into the possibility into converting the car into coil springs and if coil springs would also help with the overall comfort of the car as well.