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2024 AMG EQE SUV , 2021 E63S Wagon - gone, 2018 E63S Sedan - gone
Originally Posted by drrobertjfrank
Wow... My 1996 S500 sedan, at 70 mph on busy expressway driving tops at 62-75dB! In city driving (45 mph normal Dallas roads, which are not quiet) I get down to 52 dB in traffic. In the garage at idle: 33 dB. (I am a professor of electronic music, and teach acoustics).
I have been considering the new E class with the acoustic package, but those levels suck!!!! (Pardon my French) I think if someone is considering the acoustic package, then any MENTION of "exhaust note" is irrelevant. I don't want to hear a BIT of noise, from car or engine or road!80-90 dB is outrageous for a Benz with "acoustic package"! Even an AMG (which my son owns C63)
Thanks for the info...
I have had the ACP package in my previous 2017 E300. I would say that on smooth roads that the car was almost vault--like in quietness from wind noise and other vehicles. However, the road noise from rough pavements was very loud to the point that I thought that there was something amiss. The dealer blamed the RFT tires, but the inflation psi was only 33. This was with 245/r40 tires. With my E63S I changed out the Pirrelli's to Michelin PS4s to quiet things down. I was measuring 85db on rough pavements before the change out. Things are now 78db on the same road. Smooth pavement is also improved. This is all without having an ACP package installed. The package is good for wind noise reduction, but the car is quiet without any additional insulation. I live in NC and I didn't find the IR shading to be of much value for interior temps in the E300. My other observation is that my previous E550 was much quieter on rough pavements.
I don't have ACP, but part of me wishes I did. I drove on a lot of concrete (read: noisy) roads, and the car is loud - specifically the tire noise is excessive. I do like that I can hear the exhaust note, but this isn't a car I'd take on a cross-country road trip. I'll take the serenity of our Japanese SUV for that type of journey - it's more comfortable, smoother and quieter.
I don't know where the OP lives and whether warmer temps have changed road noise with tire compound becoming softer but my interior noise is no where near that loud and I don't have the ACP. I'm running 41/36 front/rear also (Spec from european chart for the load I'm using). My wife, who drives a facelifted '18 Range Rover full size with the double pane glass, even commented on how surprisingly quiet it was on the drive home from the dealer. Odd.
I notice my car is quieter on most of the New England roads rather than Florida as here it seems like less of that rough style pavement than florida although the roads are smoother in Florida with less cracks and potholes, I'd almost rather take some cracks etc as it is nice not getting all that road noise. Either way it's not much of a factor as driving the car is so great.
Finally reached 1000 miles on my E63S and put it in sport+ mode this morning on my drive to work. I have the acoustic comfort package and I think it mutes the exhaust note too much. I can barely hear it which is a shame. If my radio is on, then I can't hear it at all (I do have the upgraded 3d surround so that might be a little richer than the standard system). My C43 was much louder in the cabin on sport+. I guess the ACP is doing its job in this executive car and I'm sure it's plenty loud outside.
If you like exhaust note, probably not a good idea to get this package.
If you're just bumbling down the highway in Sport+ mode it is fairly quiet. But if you put your foot in it, the noise does pick up nicely.
When winding up a nice mountain road in a spirited manor the exhaust note comes through nicely - but not too loud. You can also increase the level of exhaust noise in the cabin a little by dropping the rear center seat.
Having had some cars in the past with really loud exhaust I can say that after a while the continuous exhaust drone gets tiring.
I think Mercedes did a nice job of balancing things. I can carry on conversations with my passengers without shouting, or take a conference call in the car without outside noise coming through while driving sedately along. But when you put your foot in it the exhaust level does increase a fair bit.
And, after all, this is a luxury sport sedan, not Mustang or Hellcat.
It seems like most of the noise comes through the fender wells. I doubt many of you guys plan on putting this on 120+k cars, but spraying "Lizard Skin" or a similar product in the outside of your plastic wheel well liners would probably help with the road noise.
When I worked in the car business, we would have customers put this on their lifted trucks to help with tire noise.
Here is a review link:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nGi4vLGpUgI
It seems like most of the noise comes through the fender wells. I doubt many of you guys plan on putting this on 120+k cars, but spraying "Lizard Skin" or a similar product in the outside of your plastic wheel well liners would probably help with the road noise.
When I worked in the car business, we would have customers put this on their lifted trucks to help with tire noise.
So earlier in this thread I compared my car with the ACP to one without (driven on different days, different roads, different speeds) and felt there was a difference. A few days ago I drove my car and a friends without the ACP back to back (within minutes of each drive). I took the same exact route and drove relatively close in regards to rpms, speed, over the routes with several WOT sessions. A while sound, tone, noise, etc is very subjective- I really had a tougher time discerning the difference. This was my experience and I tried to make the measurment as consistent as possible vs driving one car one day and the other at a later time on a different route.
ACP makes a good difference on a E300 or E400 but not much on E63. Also keep in mind that E-class is developed in Europe were all the roads are asphalt compared with concrete in US.
I have had the ACP package in my previous 2017 E300. I would say that on smooth roads that the car was almost vault--like in quietness from wind noise and other vehicles. However, the road noise from rough pavements was very loud to the point that I thought that there was something amiss. The dealer blamed the RFT tires, but the inflation psi was only 33. This was with 245/r40 tires. With my E63S I changed out the Pirrelli's to Michelin PS4s to quiet things down. I was measuring 85db on rough pavements before the change out. Things are now 78db on the same road. Smooth pavement is also improved. This is all without having an ACP package installed. The package is good for wind noise reduction, but the car is quiet without any additional insulation. I live in NC and I didn't find the IR shading to be of much value for interior temps in the E300. My other observation is that my previous E550 was much quieter on rough pavements.
My car came with mMichelin and the ACP, package and it seems quiet. In the E400 loaner you didn’t get as much engine noise but you heard other cars more (no ACP)
Get rid of the low profile tires and the noise goes out the door. Low profile tires are no darn good for long distance traveling. They're murder.
I bought two decibel meters from Amazon to test cars I own/owned. I'd suggest the IPHONE AP most likely Sucks compared to a decibel meter. Decibel meters are Cheap.
I had a '14 CL550 tires of the 20" variety. Noisy. I actually bought some 18"rims from Detroit Wheel and Tire. Noise went south.
Noise was (memory here) approx 68 db to 71db at 75 mph (real hwy speeds not the 60 mph that nobody does) with the 20" rims/tires. Fell to 65-68 db with the 18" rims/tires.
That said, I now own a 15 S550 Coupe with ......geez.......runflats with 20" rims/wheels. Mostly and surprisingly quiet. In the 66-70 db range at 75. Acceptable to me.
20" do look better imho and most other opinions here. But, if you drive long distances for ten plus hours a trip, the 18/19" do better for your hearing and you'll be more restful at the end of a ten plus hour trip (like Ft Worth to Rohert Park, CA in 24 hrs plus minus fifteen minutes).
Just an opinion other than noise: black rims suck big time. They look like you put one of those spare wheels on your car. They look flat stupid imho.
Last edited by HAILERS2; Oct 15, 2019 at 02:57 PM.
My experience with acoustic laminated glass on a 2011 CL550. While in Rohnert Park, Ca visiting a cousin, a Thug tried to break into my car. He could not do so using whatever tool he used. All he did was spider crack the right front door glass and the glass directly behind it. Just saying accoustic laminated glass might/can deter Thugs from breaking into the car.
Drove back to Ft Worth with no problems with the cracked glass. Was very costly to repair though. Thank you Hartford Ins. Mercedes evidently was the only seller/maker of said glass. The three star decal on the glass made the price about double what it should be.
Don't know if it helped or not, but here is my windshield after being struck by a large rock during my cross country drive from Euro motorsports to San Diego. Continued to drive from Arkansas to Dallas which was my next stop and to where I was able to get a Mercedes replacement windshield with the right options. Rained along the way but window was still water tight. Wiper got shredded and both wipers were replaced along with the new windshield. Had glass inside all over the passenger seat and even clear back to the rear window deck.
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