My airmatic is like riding on air. Everyone who rides in the car say it just glides over the road. I also like being able to adjust the stiffness of the shocks according to road conditions.

 

Hi andreholl , thank you for your info, have you ever tried a same w211 without an airmatic?
I'm curious to know the diferences, due to a premium price for the system compare with an ordinary spring system.
Is worth to buy the car with the airmatic or without it?

 

I have the regular springs (e320 cdi) and the car is pretty smooth at highway conditions.

The airmatic system seems to be fine as long as it works, then reach for your wallet..

Either way you get one solid car..

 

I have airmatic and it's fantastic. Some friends saw my car for the first time last night and wanted rides and a few said that they didn't think they'd ever ridden in a more comfortable car. Basically comfort mode absorbs nearly everything, sport 1 is the best of both worlds, I understand that it lowers the car 10cm and you feel the car staying flatter around the bends. Sport 2 lowers the car 5 more cm for a total of 15cm. In this mode it still absorbs the bumps but not like comfort, it's far stiffer and you do feel the road a bit more, however the car stays very flat around the bends.

The roads in Colorado change here and there because of the expanding soil, so we have stamped concrete roads that are uneven which makes for a very bumpy ride. In a car with a conventional suspension you fell your self being jostled forward and backward as you go over the bumps. This isn't the case with Airmatic, you don't really even know they're there, even in sport 2 while you feel them you're not being rocked forward and back. The suspension is kinda deceiving, I found my self not even noticing the potholes because you just didn't feel them. The greatest thing is, as I drive mainly in sport 2, if I start to feel some discomfort, I change to comfort mode and the bumps literally melt away.

With regards to maintaining airmatic. Everything like this has it's issues at some point and you pay for premium features. I still haven't seen a clear answer on what it costs to replace an airmatic strut or other various components. One post said $1,700.00 per strut, which honestly isn't bad as I owned a Nissan Maxima that needed a replacement strut and it cost $1,300.00. If a $400.00 difference gets me such a significantly more comfortable ride, then I'll pay the $400.00 extra bucks. This could be way off and it could be a lot more. Obviously it goes without saying, get the extended warranty regardless of which car you get.

 

the airmatic is nice, when it works, when it doesnt hope u have a big checkbook

my non airmatic is incredibly smooth, yet handles better than i thought it would and is very firm when it needs to be yet lets u feel very little bumps in the road, i overall think i am missing nothing in this area from the airmatics i have been driven in compared to the standard very well engineered shocks and springs



im sure the 1,300 was the strut part and labor to replace

the 1,700 is just the part, plus whatever Mercedes or freelance Indy charges you to install

 

Yeah the $1,300.00 did include labor. No idea about the $1,700.00 for the airmatic if that was just the part or part w/ labor. But I'm betting with you that it's just the part. Either way, I expect I'm fine if I end up needing to replace one at a time, even two. If I ever need to do all 4 at once, God forbid, that's another matter. I'll be grounded for a while, no pun intended. :crybaby2:

 

grounded, ROFL!

they should last a long time i wouldn't worry on your ride but someone looking into a used w211 should know before they get into one...

 

Hey Kool,

I did test drive a non airmatic E320, it was a very good ride from what I remember. Every car that I did a test ride in was very good. The gentle ride is what helped me pick the Benz over Infiniti and Cadillac, the other cars I was considering. I was not looking for airmatic when I bought my car. I am glad to have it since my daily commute to work is 23 miles one way and it is so nice not to feel the bumps or manhole covers that are along the way.

 

I love airmatic, but given an option I would choose one w/o airmatic for $$$ reasons. Not worth it IMO. Either way, ur'e getting a great car. Good luck!

 

When airmatic fails, the car is undriveable.

 

Could you explain more?
I own 37 years bus conversion that rides on airbags.
I never had the situation, but heard that when the suspension bag blows -you can loose your tooth fillings, but the vehicle is still drivable.

 

Still much more fun to drive a car with a broken Airmatic air spring than driving a steel spring suspension car with the spring perch fallen off (both happen).