Airmatic

[oldcro]

I was wondering what advantages/disadvantages does Airmatic give over the standard suspension. Does it give a smoother ride or enable faster cornering or is it another fancy gimmick?

What I mean is, if you travelled in a car with Airmatic, then in the same model without Airmatic would the difference be obvious to a passenger and if so be considered better or worse.

 

[BlackC55]

The ride on Air matic is really good compared to steel suspension.

 

[hawk20]

I have driven E's with and without. And ML with and without. Also owned an S class with airmatic for about 24k miles.

It gives a fabulous ride. Absorbs bumps in a gentle, non jerky way. Yet it adjusts to stop roll when cornering, and pitch. On the S it really is a magic carpet ride. One big advantage is that you can choose 'comfort', 'sport' or 'sport 2' depending on mood and roads. And if you want to go over rough ground you can raise the suspension about 50mm.

I think it is worth the money in many ways. Mainly because I love Mercs to have a genuine comfortable Merc ride and not imitate BMWs or Audis and the comfort setting does that. And yet it controls roll and pitch like normal springs do not. Best of both worlds. Dearer to maintain if it goes wrong.

Money no object: I'd go for it.

 

[st4]

Can you get airmatic on a 204, which oldcro has. Given his previous comments he probably would like it.

 

[Mactech]

Both my vehicles have Airmatic and I consider it to be a real bonus.
In the S class the ride is simply the best available, but with the option to firm things up in 'sport' mode to if you want to drive enthusiastically.
In the M Class it allows the ride to be much more comfortable in most situations but it will automatically firm things up when cornering. If standard suspension was set this soft then any 4x4 would fall around like a drunken camel in the twisties, but the Airmatic allows you the best of both worlds.
The downside is that it costs more and is complex. But hardware and software problems are few and far between. Having read of so many spring breakages with mechanical suspension recently, I would not be put off.

 

[oldcro]

Sounds like those who have Airmatic really like it, that's good to hear. Shall have to add it to my list of options when and if I can afford another Mercedes.

Thanks all.

 

[oldcro]

Can you get airmatic on a 204, which oldcro has. Given his previous comments he probably would like it.

According to the Mercedes web site Airmatic is not and was not an option for the W204, but if it was I would probably have included it when buying my car.

 

[shabba111]

aimatic lowering

i have an E55 AMG with airmatic suspension. i have just purchased some lowering links from a company called lowermyairride in the uk from ebay. i fitted them to the car and it has lowered it by about 2-21/2 inches and loks wicked. All the other fuctions still work and the car can still be raised from inside