2007 Mercedes S-Class Owner's Manual - Page 402

Controls in detail Driving systems Airmatic (S 550 only) Airmatic automatically selects the optimum suspension tuning and ride height for your vehicle. Airmatic consists of two components: Level control system Adaptive Damping System (ADS) The ADS automatically selects the optimum damping for the respective driving conditions. At the same time the suspension is set to either sporty or regular. Vehicle level control with Airmatic Your vehicle automatically adjusts its ride height to: reduce fuel consumption increase vehicle stability The vehicle chassis ride height is raised or lowered according to the selected level setting and to the vehicle speed: With increasing speed, ride height is reduced by up to approximately 0.8 in (20 mm). With decreasing speed, the ride height is again raised to the selected vehicle level. Raised The following vehicle level settings can be selected when the vehicle is stationary: Level Normal For driving on normal roads. The indicator lamp is off. For driving on rough roads or with snow chains. The indicator lamp is on. Select the "Raised" level setting only when required by current driving conditions. Otherwise: Fuel consumption may increase. Handling may be impaired. i These height adjustments are so small that you may not notice any change. 401