Airmatic suspension very rough over potholes
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2024 E450
Airmatic suspension very rough over potholes
I have a 2025 E450.
Since day one when I go over a pothole that I didn’t see at normal speed, the front suspension makes a sound as if the whole front end is going to break.I’m wondering if anybody else has that problem.On any other road surface, the suspension is fine and the car is smooth.I would love to hear from other people if they have the same problem.
Since day one when I go over a pothole that I didn’t see at normal speed, the front suspension makes a sound as if the whole front end is going to break.I’m wondering if anybody else has that problem.On any other road surface, the suspension is fine and the car is smooth.I would love to hear from other people if they have the same problem.
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From: Ontario,Canada
...24 GLE53
My wife has airmatic on her car and it is quite smooth with 19” run flats. Check your tire pressure. We use the guide on the gas door, not the driver’s door. Mind you large potholes cannot avoid the laws of physics.
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W214 E450
Clearly it depends on the pothole and the speed you hit it at. I find the airmatic suspension very smooth but hitting something like a pothole at speeds will cause it to bottom out the suspension or at least it feels like it does. I run about 37psi cold on 20" non-runflats. I usually avoid most potholes but yes, the air suspension is not great at sudden impacts.
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2019 C63CS
As said above, this entirely depends on what size pothole we are talking about. Potholes are not gentle on cars with short sidewall tires and limited suspension travel. Your suspension is likely bottoming out as said above, so the suspension crashes into the bump stops and at that point you've run out of suspension, so the impact is transferred to the chassis at full force. If you keep doing it, you will likely bend a wheel if you haven't already, or worse, bend the control arms and other parts of the suspension.
Last edited by superswiss; Apr 24, 2026 at 04:23 PM.
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2024 E450
I run on 19 inch run Flats.I just lowered the air pressure to 36 psi and hopefully it will be better.I usually avoid the potholes but once in a while, there’s no choice and I would say that I’m going probably at 30 to 40 miles per hour and hit a medium size pothole.I never had a car with air suspension before but my wife’s GLC 300 that also runs on run flats never sounded like this car going into a pothole which unfortunately in the New York area you cannot avoid
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2019 C63CS
I run on 19 inch run Flats.I just lowered the air pressure to 36 psi and hopefully it will be better.I usually avoid the potholes but once in a while, there’s no choice and I would say that I’m going probably at 30 to 40 miles per hour and hit a medium size pothole.I never had a car with air suspension before but my wife’s GLC 300 that also runs on run flats never sounded like this car going into a pothole which unfortunately in the New York area you cannot avoid
I have to be careful where I drive with my C63 as potholes can end very badly compared to my wife's hatchback with 16" wheels where I also don't really have to worry about hitting a pothole.
Last edited by superswiss; Apr 24, 2026 at 07:25 PM.
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From: Suburban Maryland
2023 E 450 Sedan. 2018 GLC 300. 2013 E 350 Coupe (retired)
I have a 2023 E 450. I briefly had runflats, which I replaced to avoid the harsh ride and annoying crash sound when hitting a pothole. In search of more smoothness I reluctantly went to 18 inch wheels to get the larger aspect ratio tires. Noticeable but not dramatic improvement. I also run a couple of psi low, especially over the winter. I am always scanning ahead to avoid bumpy pavement. Lots we have to sacrifice to drive a mb sedan!
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06 E55 Black
Double check that the shipping blocks that Mercedes installs in the suspension in order to limit suspension travel during shipping have been removed since this issue has led to the exact report you are making
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GL450, E450, Porsche 718 GTS
Luckily, where I live in DFW, there’s a lot of Mercedes running around and I’ve been able to avoid most bad potholes as someone else has already crashed into it and I get a heads up warning from the lady that lives inside the car somewhere. When she speaks, I start looking.
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Luckily, where I live in DFW, there’s a lot of Mercedes running around and I’ve been able to avoid most bad potholes as someone else has already crashed into it and I get a heads up warning from the lady that lives inside the car somewhere. When she speaks, I start looking.
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Last edited by W205C43PFL; Apr 26, 2026 at 05:47 AM.
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From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
It is pretty bad here in Canada especially after winter salt created a void underneath that led to the potholes forming after trucks alike drive over it. That said, the pothole warning doesn't really work as effective in Canada, barely any warning which is strange because there are many late model MBs here on the road each day.
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From: Tennessee
W214 E450
It amazes me to see people driving their cars right through large potholes without a care in the world. I see the whole vehicle leave the road from some of the impacts to where they could easily lose control. I have a main country road near my house that is two lanes each way and for about a 5 mile stretch the right lane is riddled with potholes and ripples likely due to the large trucks. The road dept tries to patch them and makes them worse. I once saw a nice Corvette driving about 60mph in the right lane just bouncing all over for quite a while. I thought, what's wrong with person driving a nice sports car through that when they didn't have to. As I passed him in the smooth left lane I found out why. He was on his cell phone and oblivious to it. Even if you have the best suspension and tires in the world that make a road like that seem like glass, underneath you your suspension is working overtime and will surely need early maintenance with prolonged abusive driving like that.
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Perhaps I am not surprised given that we are pretty much trained to notice the potholes forming right after the snow melts due to brine.
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That would be my guess. I have hit them myself, but rarely as I am always on the lookout and drive 99% on familiar roads and know where they are. Some are unavoidable such as the ones that stretch across the entire road. For those, I slow down and experiment to see what the best location and angle are for minimum impact. Once I find it, I set myself up to hit it at the proper angle which to other vehicles may look like I'm distracted or drunk at times. 🤔
It amazes me to see people driving their cars right through large potholes without a care in the world. I see the whole vehicle leave the road from some of the impacts to where they could easily lose control. I have a main country road near my house that is two lanes each way and for about a 5 mile stretch the right lane is riddled with potholes and ripples likely due to the large trucks. The road dept tries to patch them and makes them worse. I once saw a nice Corvette driving about 60mph in the right lane just bouncing all over for quite a while. I thought, what's wrong with person driving a nice sports car through that when they didn't have to. As I passed him in the smooth left lane I found out why. He was on his cell phone and oblivious to it. Even if you have the best suspension and tires in the world that make a road like that seem like glass, underneath you your suspension is working overtime and will surely need early maintenance with prolonged abusive driving like that.
It amazes me to see people driving their cars right through large potholes without a care in the world. I see the whole vehicle leave the road from some of the impacts to where they could easily lose control. I have a main country road near my house that is two lanes each way and for about a 5 mile stretch the right lane is riddled with potholes and ripples likely due to the large trucks. The road dept tries to patch them and makes them worse. I once saw a nice Corvette driving about 60mph in the right lane just bouncing all over for quite a while. I thought, what's wrong with person driving a nice sports car through that when they didn't have to. As I passed him in the smooth left lane I found out why. He was on his cell phone and oblivious to it. Even if you have the best suspension and tires in the world that make a road like that seem like glass, underneath you your suspension is working overtime and will surely need early maintenance with prolonged abusive driving like that.
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W214 E450
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W124
Possible to enable in Head Unit more advanced control of Airmatic suspension, similar to W213 All-Terrain moving it slightly up or slightly lower..
Not sure if W214 has this by default if contains SA code for Airmatic
Not sure if W214 has this by default if contains SA code for Airmatic
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From: Tennessee
W214 E450
In the W214 with Airmatic, you can raise it +1 under a specific speed limit (10mph I think) but you cannot do anything else. It will auto lower to 0 once you pass the set speed and -1 at highway speeds. The All-Terrain might have more options, but I am referring to the sedan.
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You need something like a Bose suspension such as Porsche active ride control which will keep the tire from going into the pothole. I haven't experienced it myself, but it sounds pretty cool. That type of suspension needs a large battery, so it will require a hybrid or full EV. Mercedes doesn't have a Bose-like suspension as far as I know, but I expect that they will develop one in the future.
