Guys

I have been lurking on this board because I've been getting frustrated waiting for the GLC63S Coupe to replace my wife's C300, and I am now considering the E63S instead. I have a deal negotiated but before pulling trigger I took a couple of test drives and this is where things got complex:

When I test drive the E63S here was my initial observations:

Positives:
1) Love the interior design and the dual displays. This BTW is a key thing swaying me from the GLC63S since the E has a much nicer and more modern interior and technology platform.
2) Power is incredible and unmatched in the segment
3) Nice spacious cabin
4) Handling is very good.
5) Engine response and transmission also very good and have good drivability in all conditions.
6) Sound is pretty good even with exhaust in normal mode.

Negatives:
1) Ride Quality seemed very harsh to me. In Comfort mode, harsher than my old 2014 M5, and on par with my 911 Turbo S with PDCC set to Sport. I was a little surprised by this since for a family sedan you expect good ride quality even in performance line product. BTW during the test drive I noticed the tire pressure was 44 psi so we went back and had them lower it. The service department lowered it to 38 front and 36 rear. We went out again and it was a little better but still pretty harsh and on par with my 911 as mentioned above. I then test drove a new Panamera 4S with 21" wheels to check if this was normal for a modern performance sedan, but surprisingly even with the 21" wheels, the Panamera had excellent ride quality.
2) Lot of plastic in the lower section of the interior whereas in the Panamera it is all leather. Not a deal breaker for me, but a bit disappointing.

Questions:

1) What is the perspective of people who live in a metropolitan (not suburban) environment on the ride quality of this car? Can you live with the harshness over pot holes, broken tarmac, joints, manhole covers, etc. or does it get old?

2) Also do people have issues with the front end scraping when coming out of a parking lot ramp onto a banked road surface? I didn't experience this on the test drive but wondering if it is an issue? My wife isn't used to driving low riding cars so if this is a big problem it could be a risk. The car won't be lowered.

3) The car I am looking at has no performance exhaust and it has the acoustic comfort package. Has anyone bought one of these yet? what do you think of it?

 

Hmm this was a passing mental question of mine as well when I first saw the car in person......Will the front bumper clear normal parking lot curbs stops?

 

 

Going from memory, the Mercedes factory had the car set to 38 psi or maybe 36 psi when I picked it up in Sindelfingen. In the morning on cold days the pressure would show about 32 psi.

The ride we thought was pretty good, better than we'd be expecting given some of the press.

I've seen in some posts that dealers have the pressure up over 42 psi in some cases. As Quckburn7 said, the pressure may account for some of the ride quality differences. The roads in Germany were generally pretty good, but not always so we did get to feel it over some bumps.

I'm not sure what the proper pressure is, but I figured I'd just go with what the factory put in there as they should know best.

 

I had the same experience driving a car delivered from VPC. Very harsh ride indeed just to find out that the fronts were at 49PSI cold. Rears were 43 I believe. Warmed up the pressure was in the low fifties in front!
With normal tire pressure the car is quite compliant. Now have snows on and the car is downright soft...

The car has some cheap bits (plastic) on the lower door panels/dash as mentioned. Our S-Class was Nappa top to bottom; I suppose it's remnants of the E-Class origin. Your GLC will definitely feature more cheap plastic than the E so you'll have to look away
I wonder how quiet the car is without a performance exhaust. Maybe I am used to it now but the car sounds quieter than I remember when driving just with the valves closed.

 

Thanks for the comments. On the tire pressure I did notice the pressure was set at 44 psi. I had them lower it and the service department then set it to 38 front and 36 rear. Even at these levels ride felt harsh - especially at the front. Perhaps they should have gone 35 psi all round.

 

With the last two generation E AMGs I’ve not been able to keep a tire pressure in the 30s without seeing significant premature inner shoulder wear. Are you guys not worried about this on the W213?

 

I have this combo. With valves closed (c or s modes), exhaust can he heard very faintly when cruising. No pops, snaps, etc. Feels luxurious. With valves open (s+ and race mode) exhaust can be heard nicely. Loud enough for me with lots of overrun and pops, etc. Sounds mean, but tasteful and race car.

... depends on what you're looking for I guess. My last e63 had catless downpipes and an agressive tune, so it was loud and nasty (cool). With this car, going for different look/feel. If you want the loudest option, you prob want the perf exhaust. I wouldn't pass on a nice build with all your required options for perf exhaust only....can always retrofit, go aftermarket, or go catless later.

 

The E63S is my wife’s car so she drives it the most. I could not imagine not having the performance exhaust, the first thing I do after startup is push that button to turn it on. We have the added sound insulation package.
Regarding tire pressures, we settled on 45F and 38R. I found lowering the front pressure did not help ride quality but made the steering response feel a little off. Keep in mind we are in SoCal where the temperatures are always warm. We also have Michelin tires if that matters. Lowering the rear tire pressure made a big difference in ride comfort. Usually only one or two of us in the car so there is no extra weight on the rear tires.

 

This is exactly the same dilemma I am having right now...I test drove the E63S and the ride was harsh with the 20" wheels. Then I test drove a Panamera 4S w/ 21's and the ride is still very supple. Maybe the E63 w/ 19's is the optimal choice for people that find the ride too harsh with 20's. M5 F90 is another option which is getting great reviews in terms of ride comfort.

 

Mit, you know where I stand from our PM's here but some extra info:

I used the gas cap tire pressures (lighter load and under 155mph) which is 41/33 cold... but Ive dropped the fronts further down to 39. This weekend I drove up to LA on the 5 and 10 freeways which are notorious for uneven issues and just bad pavement. The ride was absolutely bearable, for me. This is such a subjective measurement with no empirical data to truly measure from. Again, for me, the gain in performance is well worth the loss in comfort as the car can be very taut. It will not be as forgiving as the Porsche. They have their suspensions dialed pretty well but this car still beats it around the track and on great roads its an amazing big porker.

In regards to the height, the car sits higher and so does the front fascia so I dont forsee issues there. Im lowered and have gone over some more intense angles with no rubbing.

So the key will be how much performance are you willing to give up for comfort and vice a versa. In reality the Panny and this car are very close in all regards but the E will be the more rigid machine.

 

what size tires on the E63? It may also have tires with really hard sidewalls.

I replaced the "sport" tires on my mercedes with softer touring tires (and also increased the tire width by 10mm), and wow what a difference that made.


You can go one step further, and downsize to smaller size rims (if possible). You'll have more tire to eat bad roads. In extreme cases, you can swap out your rotors and brake caliper carrier (but usually keep the caliper!), and then you'll still have big brakes but can fit 17 or 18" wheels on the car. I did this on an Audi with a suspension that was way too firm, and the difference was enormous (and it still handled well too!).

 

FWIW, I ended using the tire pressure for the snows and the car feels soft to me. Of course snows are known to be soft tires anyway but the Michelins didn't strike me as a very stiff tire.

Was also offered a nice deal on a Panamera 4S before picking the E63s but after a test drive I didn't feel that they were in the same ballpark. Very competent ride, very well build and decent interior but the car was outright slow IMO. Didn't just feel slow against the E but also slower than our non-AMG SL

 

I went through the same dilemma and felt I would have had to go with a Turbo or Turbo Hybrid to get the same excitement I get out of the E63, and those are 200k cars and at that point there are even better options.

 

Yes I think that at this point I'm convinced however the car I was looking at is now sold. Not surprising given the magnitude of discount they were offering. So have to start again. Park Place has a similar car, but they won't budge from MSRP which won't fly with me.