Question about Marco Polo with Airmatic suspension. Lower setting for parking garage?

[Nand0]

Hi @Webbah

I'm in the market for a camper van, and I have literally just discovered that the Marco Polo has a factory option for air suspension.

Like you, I'm in Switzerland, and like in your case, my garage is vertically challenged.

Do you know how low the MP can go with Airmatic purely for parking purposes in an underground garage? In my case it cannot be any higher than 1.95m, but if it can go a bit lower so I can fit a couple of solar panels, then even better.

To anyone, any info would be much appreciated

 

[Webbah]

Hi @Webbah

I'm in the market for a camper van, and I have literally just discovered that the Marco Polo has a factory option for air suspension.

Like you, I'm in Switzerland, and like in your case, my garage is vertically challenged.

Do you know how low the MP can go with Airmatic purely for parking purposes in an underground garage? In my case it cannot be any higher than 1.95m, but if it can go a bit lower so I can fit a couple of solar panels, then even better.

To anyone, any info would be much appreciated

Hi there,

First of all welcome to the forums! Perhaps you are not aware but Mercedes is not taking ANY orders for 2022 Marco Polo's. So the only option you have is to find one in stock which will likely be from late 2021 production. Prices have increased due to this lack of supply for both used and new alike.

As far as AirMatic goes you cannot lower the car at all with the controls. I was really upset about this as it makes no logical sense. Likewise, while you can lift the car it will only stay lifted until you reach 30km/h and then it will drop to it's normal ride height. The normal ride height is the same as the other models so it won't help you with the garage.

Finally, if you do get one with AirMatic you will never be able to change it for VB or Goldschmidt air suspension as there isn't a shop around in Switzerland or Germany that I could find that can do that. No one, not even my local Mercedes Service, has the alignment specs which is pretty crazy! My service center told me it might be a year before their system is updated with this data. Even then it is unlikely you would be able to swap it out as it is connected to other systems in the van.

If I were to do it all over again I would get one without AirMatic and then have Hess upgrade it to VB. They are based in Alpnach close to me. As far as the warranty, Mercedes wouldn't cover the warranty for the suspension (logical) they cannot invalidate the warranty of anything else unless they can prove that the VB suspension caused the fault. This is Swiss law. Hess will provide warranty for the suspension.

My garage has 1.97 meters clearance and I barely fit. In fact I did hit the garage door once by backing in just a bit too quickly and the rear end jumped up a bit as the floor has a small lip to clear where you enter. Fortunately no damage but that was when I called it a day and started parking it outside. The garage is now used for storage.

I hope I haven't discouraged you, but it's really important to know those facts before you take the plunge! If you are around Lucerne ping me and I'd be happy to meet up for a beer/coffee and show you mine and all the mods I've done. My goal with the suspension was to enable me to fit BF Goodrich A/T KO2's as I go "mild" offroad in the mountains and also when I go on surf trips to Portugal, south of France, Spain, etc. I managed to fit those tires without changing suspension even though every shop told me it was impossible. ;-) Looks like an elegant beast now...

A few photos to show you what it looks like in standard height and lifted as well as side view.

 

[Steve B]

Hello and welcome - On a different forum for landrovers, one guy had the same issue and installed a dashboard controlled tyre inflator/deflator, so when putting in the garage he dropped the pressure and a couple of cm's to get under the door. A lot of effort though, but as you say, you will find height issues with most vans.

 

[Nand0]

@Webbah Thanks for the crazy long reply!

No, I was not aware that they are not taking orders. That may explain why the dealer is taking his time to answer my request for information. .

But it sounds like Airmatic is a no go for my purposes. However that's good info about the VB Air and warranty. I did not know about this.

I did consider buying a used van, but checking the prices, they are ridiculous. At those prices I would rather buy new. And if what you say is correct, a Marco Polo is no longer an option.

I'm very hesitant to park it outside because we tend to get crazy hail storms occasionally, and after seeing what kind of damage they do to cars, and given that I do have a garage, I don't want to take the risk. However, I may end up parking it (whatever it finally turns out to be) outside for a while until I figure out how to get it in there (most likely VB Air).

That's a very kind offer. I'm based in Zurich, but as it sounds like a MP is not an option, I won't take you up on it just yet

 

[Nand0]

Hello and welcome - On a different forum for landrovers, one guy had the same issue and installed a dashboard controlled tyre inflator/deflator, so when putting in the garage he dropped the pressure and a couple of cm's to get under the door. A lot of effort though, but as you say, you will find height issues with most vans.

that's actually an option I had not considered... need to do some research, hopefully it is more cost effective than VB Air