S500 Man

Is better to drive around with airmatic on in the city, or with it off, by the way if you have it on constantly are you more likely to wear it out quicker?

bamberger_1

I'm driving with Airmatic on 99%. for 60.000 miles and 6 years w/o trouble. The only time I go in level 1 or 2 is, if I'm going "wild" on the German Autobahn with speeds above 125mph. My guess is that the "Airmatic off" increases the pressure to stiffen the suspension, which may be more load on the suspension components.
The differnence driving with "Airmatic on" is just the biggest change against any other car, no matter how good the system may be.

S500 Man

that makes a lot of sense, cause i do too, you dont feel any bumps, i just purchased my 00 s500 with 36k mile/3 yr warranty for 26k, 51k miles, black on black...Im new to the forum.

kenstudios

Correct me if I'm wrong but Airmatic doesn't turn off. It raises up/down or stiffens/loosens the damping rate but not turn OFF. How do you turn your airmatic off?????????

winmaw

Dump Question.
What do you mean by "Airmatic on and off". I think it is always on and press button to increase height. Am I right or wrong?

S500 Man

yea thats what i mean.

mioba

airmatic is always on, its a term used to describe the fact that the suspension is regulated by pressurised air, in laymans terms.

you can increase the height of the car my adjusting airmatic. which i think you mean

when aimatic is off, you will know, your car will be sat on the wheels as the airmatic has failed, with warnings in the dash

Vader55

I always drive in the lowered position (red airmatic indicator light off), why would anybody want to drive in chuckwagon mode ? The ride is the same, it's only function is to raise or lower the airmatic suspension.

newton22

I always drive in the lowered and stiffened position.

koreanpers

even if you press the button to raise your car up, as soon as you hit speeds of somewhere around 60 mph, the car auto lowers itself again...due to the speed. i think ppl are just referring to keeping the car in non sport mode..so that the airmatic isnt working as hard? i usually drive my car in sport 1 just in case there is that dumb@$$ that cuts me off or makes me swerve...

S500 Man

i see what you mean...

02S430

i drive it in regular all the time, but if i driving and i know twistys are coming up i usual turn it on to level two

fkong777

Airmatic is ALWAYS on. To drive it at raised position may not be the best for tire wear. Alignment is set at static height. change of height will always effect alignment to some degree.

I usually drive with static height which is Lowered and soft setting because it is a family hauler.

Aleksandar

Can someone tell me how to switch the car to
"Lowered/stiff" mode? (Sorry, still waiting for my manual from eBay, as I have no clue what the buttons do on the car yet Newb, I know.

Skylaw

Aleksandar,

1) Lower the car (the button with the arrow pointing up should not have the light illuminated).

2) Push the button with a symbol that resembles a strut (shock absorber) so that it has either one or two lights illuminated. No lights is soft ride. One light is somewhat stifffer than the softest ride (and is where I usually kept my 2000 S500); and two lights is a bit stiffer ride yet. I found that the stiffest ride setting helped when driving in strong crosswinds, especially gusty ones.

If you register on the MBUSA website at http://www.mbusa.com you can download an owner's manual as a pdf file. Go to the "Owners Online" section - then click on the"about my MB" tab then on "owner's manual." You may have to register on the site (it's free) to get to the page. You can also get your warranty info and maintenance booklet. On a different tab, you can check your car's service history.

And, you can download the COMAND manual for your car on Paul H. Dick's website at http://home.earthlink.net/~phdwebsite/comand_manual.htm - spending some time with the manuals will help you greatly to enjoy the features of your car.

fusion2007

hey skylaw how did u do the ipod installation? we have no hiddin aux jack in the glove box do we? how did u wire it?

Skylaw

Sorry if my signature is confusing. I added an iPod into my '00 S500 using a Dension Ice>Link Plus. That approach replaced the CD changer with the iPod, and used the D2B fiber optic bus to provide sound. My tech pub on it is at http://www.benzworld.org/tech.html?id=330

I have not done an iPod integration in my '05 S500 because it completely lacks an aux jack either in the glove compartment or on the back of the COMAND (which eliminates the Apple/MB iPod integration); and because the other MOST bus options have so far been either vaporware or problematic in some other fashion. However, I am definitely watching the posts by miroj concerning the MBENZNL unit - http://www.benzworld.org/forums/audi...highlight=iPod

Keyrat

I keep mine on stiff (2 lights on) all the time, I can't stand the soft ride without any road feel, and for such a big, heavy car, it really does handle nicely in stiff setting.

newton22

How come you guys have 2 levels of stiff mode? Is this a S500 thing? I only have one level and one light.

Mark_K

I have a 2002 s430 and it has two lights.

Aleksandar

Gotcha. I had a chance to play around with the settings yesterday, and boy does the car feel different. Of course, you also get 200" of wheel gap, but hey, can't have it all. However, one interesting thing is, when I hit the left switch, it said "ABC active, vehicle rising". Are all S500s equipped with ABC?
Aleksandar

fusion2007

i have 500 and i only have 1 light

about the airmatic thing i only use it whenever im at a drivethrough and i want get a little higher to the window and it makes the car go up slowely and its like...coooolll.... lol thats the only time i turn it on other wise i turn it off after im done

vraa

I don't think so, my aunt has a 2002 W220 S500 and it does NOT have ABC, it has Airmatic.

Aleksandar

Now I'm confused. So I don't have the airmatic, rather the ABC (or do I have the airmatic+ABC)? If so, is ABC considered better (i.e. less problematic than Airmatic)? Sorry about so many questions, I'd like to learn as much as possible about the car.
Thanks for your help
Aleksandar

newton22

Just ABC. It's one or the other.