Well, its the end of an era....traded my LS460L in on a Mercedes S560
12-05-20, 01:18 PM
#287
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Yep, it comes standard with the air suspension, all 4 corners. My 2015 LS460 was standard springs and my 2017 LS460L was air suspension.
12-05-20, 04:03 PM
#290
Or is the air suspension able to give softer rides at all speeds, while conventional coil springs only become soft when a certain speed is reach, and then well above that speed, the conventional coil is too soft?
Moreover, conventional coils, the initial inch is soft, but the next inch becomes progressively firmer, while the third inch is firmer again etc - while air suspension only becomes firm when sensors and processors increase air pressure?
In my experience, S Class, and even E and C all have very long spring travel with lots of roll - however the unequal length double wishbones keep the tires perpendicular to the road surface to grip and grip.
12-05-20, 06:17 PM
#291
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
To me the difference with an air suspension isn’t that it’s “softer” per se, you get less vibrations transmitted up to the cabin through the suspension, and you get less rebound, the suspension settles faster.
The S Class’ airmatic does a better job of keeping the car level than the system on the LS, so you have less roll, less squat and dive and less floatiness.
The suspension in the S is a lot more robust too, you can hear the compressors and it raises and lowers much faster while on the LS You always kinda wondered if it was working.
I would be hard pressed to say any of these cars ride markedly better than the other, the LS on coils or air is a great riding car, S Class is a great riding car.
The S Class’ airmatic does a better job of keeping the car level than the system on the LS, so you have less roll, less squat and dive and less floatiness.
The suspension in the S is a lot more robust too, you can hear the compressors and it raises and lowers much faster while on the LS You always kinda wondered if it was working.
I would be hard pressed to say any of these cars ride markedly better than the other, the LS on coils or air is a great riding car, S Class is a great riding car.
12-05-20, 07:03 PM
#292
To me the difference with an air suspension isn’t that it’s “softer” per se, you get less vibrations transmitted up to the cabin through the suspension, and you get less rebound, the suspension settles faster.
The S Class’ airmatic does a better job of keeping the car level than the system on the LS, so you have less roll, less squat and dive and less floatiness.
The suspension in the S is a lot more robust too, you can hear the compressors and it raises and lowers much faster while on the LS You always kinda wondered if it was working.
I would be hard pressed to say any of these cars ride markedly better than the other, the LS on coils or air is a great riding car, S Class is a great riding car.
The S Class’ airmatic does a better job of keeping the car level than the system on the LS, so you have less roll, less squat and dive and less floatiness.
The suspension in the S is a lot more robust too, you can hear the compressors and it raises and lowers much faster while on the LS You always kinda wondered if it was working.
I would be hard pressed to say any of these cars ride markedly better than the other, the LS on coils or air is a great riding car, S Class is a great riding car.
You summed up: mechanical coils vs air suspension, and S Class air vs LS air - beautifully.
I've only driven on air suspension in S Class, E Class and Tesla Model S a few times.
12-06-20, 08:39 AM
#293
Lexus Fanatic
For sure!
I didnt do any serious paint correction. The paint is pretty good, there were a couple little areas I did polish out but not the whole car. This being my first german car in many many years the paint is HARD. The paint on a Lexus is really soft, its easy to rub pretty much anything out by hand with a hand polish/scratch remover. Not on this!
It had a lot of imbedded paint contaminants and iron spots having sat on the lot all that time, so it needed fallout remover and clay.
First I washed it, then I sprayed it down with CarPro Iron X for chemical decontamination/fallout removal:
I didnt do any serious paint correction. The paint is pretty good, there were a couple little areas I did polish out but not the whole car. This being my first german car in many many years the paint is HARD. The paint on a Lexus is really soft, its easy to rub pretty much anything out by hand with a hand polish/scratch remover. Not on this!
It had a lot of imbedded paint contaminants and iron spots having sat on the lot all that time, so it needed fallout remover and clay.
First I washed it, then I sprayed it down with CarPro Iron X for chemical decontamination/fallout removal:
I guess without a CD/DVD player there is no way to play DVD's in a S class or many new cars which kind of sucks. Is there any workarounds with Mercedes to play video files or mirror your smart phone content?
12-06-20, 09:23 AM
#294
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Yeah I had to break out stuff I hadn't used to polish in a long, long time!
I don't know that without the DVD package in the back theres any way to stream content like video off of a phone... to be honest I still don't know how 2/3rds of the stuff works. its an incredibly complex car! 99% of S Class owners likely never know how to use most of the features...
I don't know that without the DVD package in the back theres any way to stream content like video off of a phone... to be honest I still don't know how 2/3rds of the stuff works. its an incredibly complex car! 99% of S Class owners likely never know how to use most of the features...
12-06-20, 09:18 PM
#295
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
12-07-20, 06:10 AM
#296
Many years back when my parents bought a then new W220 S500, I found that with air suspension not only you feel it less, but you also hear it less. I don't have a full understanding on how it works, but I understand it replaces conventional shock and spring with a shock that has an air bag instead, so it should make less noise.
12-07-20, 06:15 AM
#297
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Many years back when my parents bought a then new W220 S500, I found that with air suspension not only you feel it less, but you also hear it less. I don't have a full understanding on how it works, but I understand it replaces conventional shock and spring with a shock that has an air bag instead, so it should make less noise.
12-07-20, 06:26 AM
#298
I wonder how the 1LS and 2LS with air suspensions ride. These cars mostly came with conventional suspensions, and were often criticized for a lot of body roll and poor handling. I had a 94 LS400 with standard suspension, and I never had an opportunity to drive one with air suspension.
Also, I believe early LS with air suspension only had height adjustment, but no firmness adjustment. The W220 had both height and sport/comfort adjustment.
12-07-20, 07:01 AM
#299
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Yeah I totally agree. My LS430 and LS400 had air suspension, and when I got the second LS460 the air suspension was the piece of the experience that was missing. 2LS on air rode really well, without a ton of body roll, etc. Just height adjustment, you're right.