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Airmatic is a must, especially when the option is cheaper than the sunroof.
I like the baby S-class look of the luxury trim, but I loathe those wheels. Why did MBUSA stick us with that turbine wheel and why are dealers down-talking airmatic (which they rarely have in stock)?
What we need in the USA are these wheels on the luxury trim (skip to 2:14):
lovely video, jeez it is hard waiting till September to get mine. I actually like the luxury 17" wheels
Originally Posted by in2dwww
Airmatic is a must, especially when the option is cheaper than the sunroof.
I like the baby S-class look of the luxury trim, but I loathe those wheels. Why did MBUSA stick us with that turbine wheel and why are dealers down-talking airmatic (which they rarely have in stock)?
What we need in the USA are these wheels on the luxury trim (skip to 2:14):
lovely video, jeez it is hard waiting till September to get mine. I actually like the luxury 17" wheels
To match the classy S-class style of the Luxury C Class edition....I also love the Luxury 17" wheels.... best of the wheel options for this car. Wouldn't look good on sport grill car IMO, but many of the wheels look too basic and the car starts to look too similar to the CLA, not the S. Either way, wheels are pretty ez to change aftermarket to individual taste.
Okay, road tested both standard on 18's and luxury package on 18's and the ride is definitely smoother and more compliant on the luxo. Liked it very much and cinched the deal for me. Much as I hate staggered wheelsets will likely opt for the split-spoke 18's. Alternatively, would just buy a set of aftermarket wheels for it when the car comes in with the 17's. Yes, I really hate the luxo wheels that much.
Was also nice to see the beige interior with beige carpets and Linden wood trim, espresso dash with stitching super nice and brown steering wheel too. Had a roof as well. Way nice car. It was polar white which I like, but the Diamond white is even nicer and will order that way.
Tomorrow we go drive a 328i with BMW's new luxury package - leather seats with contrast stitching, roof, and 18" non-staggered wheelset. The one I saw today was a really nice car with pearl white paint and oyster off-white leather seats and burlwood trim. The BMW is just as nice, maybe not quite to the C300, but if it drives that much better it could sway us. Price as also at least three grand more. There is no SD card plugin nav for BMW - $2100 nav package or nada, plus backup camera is a package, another $900 includes the sirius radio. BMW does everything in packages.
floridadriver: I will contemplate chrome plating them, not sure right now though, have to see if this new silver is the cheap silver kind or some really refined nicer looking silver. Which kind (luxury or sports) you have? any analysis from your owning c300 on which options you personally find of high value and which ones you now think you might have skipped?
cjbrown: I have so many times in life tried to buy a BMW (due to its brand oomph) though each time after test drive I come out shaking my head off, just wondering how the whole rest of the world likes it. Would love to hear your perception also on the ride quality, smoothness, quiteness etc.
If I could have waited 6 months, I would definitely consider for myself the incoming Cadillac CT6.
In 2004 we traded our two domestic (Chrysler products) in for a CPO 01 325Cic and leased a new C240. Put custom wheels on both - some AMG knock-offs for the baby benz and it transformed the look. That was the 6-cyl model, much smoother than the I4 they were starting to stuff into the C230.
In that vintage the BMW was twice the car. We ended up keeping it for eight years and loved it, just fantastic. Expensive to keep running, but what a wonderful car to drive.
The Benzo not so much. Traded it off in about 30 months for a Volvo T5 sportwagon, and shortly thereafter a Duramax crewcab. Wifey tends to keep her cars longer. Yes, the 'vert was hers, she called it the 'barbie car'. She would drive celebrities in the annual city parade.
Anyway, anxious to see how the beemer compares. Really though, we found a jewel of a car guy at the mercedes store and would like to give him our business.
floridadriver: I will contemplate chrome plating them, not sure right now though, have to see if this new silver is the cheap silver kind or some really refined nicer looking silver. Which kind (luxury or sports) you have? any analysis from your owning c300 on which options you personally find of high value and which ones you now think you might have skipped?
cjbrown: I have so many times in life tried to buy a BMW (due to its brand oomph) though each time after test drive I come out shaking my head off, just wondering how the whole rest of the world likes it. Would love to hear your perception also on the ride quality, smoothness, quiteness etc.
If I could have waited 6 months, I would definitely consider for myself the incoming Cadillac CT6.
Fortunately changing wheels is relatively cheap and easy, and then the options open up more when modifying aftermarket. The Luxury wheels match the car for just that, luxury, and seem to fit the car well to me.
I knew I didn't want the sunroof, especially pano sunroof for the lower ceiling height and sun (in Florida). I didn't want the adaptive headlights as annoyed me in another car I had them, and didn't want another car with the HUD. Again, just my tastes since asked. I'd check out a car with as many options as you can and get what fits you.
Airmatic suspension, leather/ambient lights and the driver assist are my 3 favorites.
....
I didn't want the adaptive headlights as annoyed me in another car I had them, and didn't want another car with the HUD. Again, just my tastes since asked. I'd check out a car with as many options as you can and get what fits you.
Airmatic suspension, leather/ambient lights and the driver assist are my 3 favorites.
My adaptive headlights seem to work just right. They dip exactly where I would dip them, or maybe a little earlier. No car has ever flashed their lights at me. When I approach a car from the rear, I can see that my lights are never shining into the passenger compartment of the car ahead. Being able to set and forget my lights reduces my driving workload. On the suburban roads around where I live, there is otherwise a lot of dipping.
Automatic dipping is not the only advantage of the adaptive headlights. They send light to the side when the wheels are turned, or at low speeds when the turn signal is activated. The first thing that disappointed me on my 2007 C280 was that the headlights sent no light to the side. I had some close calls in unlit parking lots.
My only complaint is that the low beams are unnecessarily low and don't light the road far enough ahead at speeds over 40 mph. I am going to see if they can be adjusted. (Of course, if my car were European spec, I could just use the headlight level control at the driver position. In the U.S., the lights cannot be adjusted from the driver position.)
CJBrown: I think convertibles by their own are twice the cars (it might not have to do with a beamer , the longest I have ever kept a car was my CLK350 convertible. It served me a lot of purposes, it was a companion (I could just when alone jump in it and enjoy the surroundings - you cant quite do that in a sedan), its totally different travelling with a top down on a beautiful highway, it served me as a truck to carry big things, and best of all, its ride quality was ridiculously good - handled as a sports on the curvey Appalachian mountains while silky 'n smooth overall. b/w in your picture there is a Recreational vehicle, which one is that? ... I see you do like white cars, and they are great though curious, is that cause your house exterior is white? (or just some historical memory)
floridadriver: thanks much for sharing the information. You mention the pano roof lowers the ceiling height? Do you know by how much? This worries me, because I don't like coupes for precisely that. I can tolerate lower ceiling height in a cabriolet only but not in a sedan (I have a big Doberman, that rides with me most of the time)
gfmohn: I hope what you are saying proves true for me, after all its a relatively pricey option ... at dealership I didn't see any c300 with it.
Well, we drove the ol' 3-series bimmer which is now a 4-series, so the coupe we drove was a 428i. Also looked at the sedan with oyster leather that was quite heavily optioned. She didn't get a gushy about it like I had. She sure has her own taste. In summary she thought if she went BMW it should be a coupe. Go figure.
Also, they have a really nice coupe that is now a 4-door - Grand Coupe - that is very nice. They are all expensive.
But...and it's a big but...showed her the new 2-series convertible and she got that sparkle in her eye. It has grown up a lot from the original 1-series, now very much like her old 325 'vert in size and feel, but now with a LOT more technology. It's starting to look like we'll order a 228i convertible. Can get it with a brown soft top and oyster leather.
We'll see...I may be bidding adieu here...
BTW, the 428 definitely does drive nicer than the C300. The motor is smoother, the trans works better, it handles better, it goes faster (feels like it anyway), I'm starting to sway that way anyway. The Benz is a little nicer inside, and frankly I think it looks a little nicer, and just a touch more snob-appeal. Unfortunately these are not really critical issues in a car choice for us. BMW has that drive train down pat. OMFG.
Okay, road tested both standard on 18's and luxury package on 18's and the ride is definitely smoother and more compliant on the luxo. Liked it very much and cinched the deal for me. Much as I hate staggered wheelsets will likely opt for the split-spoke 18's. Alternatively, would just buy a set of aftermarket wheels for it when the car comes in with the 17's. Yes, I really hate the luxo wheels that much.
I had a very different reaction to the various suspension and wheel setups. My first C300 was a base with the 18" split spoke wheels; I spent over two weeks driving a C300 Luxury loaner with the 17's, and currently own a C300 Sport with 18's.
The base and Luxury apparently share the same suspension system. They both come with the "Comfort" steel suspension as their standard setup, and both also come standard with the 17" wheel and tire package. There should be no obvious difference between the two. My experience with my own C300 base and the C300 Luxury loaner I had bore that out. Even with the 18's on my base, there was very little difference in ride or handling. My current C300 Sport has a somewhat stiffer ride and a bit less body movement in hard cornering, but even that is not dramatically different than my base car with the 18's on it.
In my experience, and I have spent some time in all the steel suspension variants, they are all hard riding on rough surfaces and do transmit significant "thump" through their run flat tires.
Note: These cars often come with over inflated tires. The correct tire pressures are found on the fuel door cover. For the 18's, pressures of 36 psi all around are indicated for normal loads. The tire label on the door shows maximum allowable pressures, which can go over 40 psi.
I had a very different reaction to the various suspension and wheel setups. My first C300 was a base with the 18" split spoke wheels; I spent over two weeks driving a C300 Luxury loaner with the 17's, and currently own a C300 Sport with 18's.
The base and Luxury apparently share the same suspension system. They both come with the "Comfort" steel suspension as their standard setup, and both also come standard with the 17" wheel and tire package. There should be no obvious difference between the two. My experience with my own C300 base and the C300 Luxury loaner I had bore that out. Even with the 18's on my base, there was very little difference in ride or handling. My current C300 Sport has a somewhat stiffer ride and a bit less body movement in hard cornering, but even that is not dramatically different than my base car with the 18's on it.
In my experience, and I have spent some time in all the steel suspension variants, they are all hard riding on rough surfaces and do transmit significant "thump" through their run flat tires.
So they lied then? Luxury model does not have different suspension tuning?
It felt different to me than the standard, but the difference could easily have been tire pressure - I did not measure them and techs are famous for over inflating.
Ride and handling was good with either though, satisfactory especially compared to the CLA sport and our C-coupe.
Any experiences/feedback on the Airmatics suspension? As a disclosure I like a soft supple ride that can coddle me, and dislike the sporty (honda civic and bmw likes ). I have ordered mine with the Airmatics after reading posts here (albeit against the advice of my dealer). ... maybe I am screwed!
Originally Posted by StanNH
I had a very different reaction to the various suspension and wheel setups.
So they lied then? Luxury model does not have different suspension tuning?
It felt different to me than the standard, but the difference could easily have been tire pressure - I did not measure them and techs are famous for over inflating.
Ride and handling was good with either though, satisfactory especially compared to the CLA sport and our C-coupe.
Well, I guess they didn't lie because no name has ever been assigned to the base variant. There have been several discussions about this and everyone has found the same thing ... the Luxury and base share the same suspension. The 485 and 486, Comfort and Sport, are the two steel suspension options. It is confusing because the Luxury is promoted as having the Comfort suspension while the base is not.
Any experiences/feedback on the Airmatics suspension? As a disclosure I like a soft supple ride that can coddle me, and dislike the sporty (honda civic and bmw likes ). I have ordered mine with the Airmatics after reading posts here (albeit against the advice of my dealer). ... maybe I am screwed!
None of the steel suspensions are soft, so Airmatic would probably be the closest to what you're looking for. I have no personal experience with it, and like the steel suspension, but I wasn't looking for a soft ride.
Well, I guess they didn't lie because no name has ever been assigned to the base variant. There have been several discussions about this and everyone has found the same thing ... the Luxury and base share the same suspension. The 485 and 486, Comfort and Sport, are the two steel suspension options. It is confusing because the Luxury is promoted as having the Comfort suspension while the base is not.
Can someone verify if this is true? Vic?
I thought the standard and sport steel suspension shared parts, but different tuning. The sport then had different parts numbers.
The Luxury I have driven felt more soft than the standard, and different from the sport. Could it have been all from 1" in the tires?
None of the suspensions are super soft. The run flats are part of the blame there. None of the suspensions are very sporty either, but it's a sedan made for comfort cruising.
I find that there is a ride difference from 17" to 18" wheel/tire sets. You only notice the better cornering grip on the 18"'s when pushed, otherwise it's just a harder ride. I think people like the way it looks. And yes, I hate run-flat tires. Didn't buy a BMW last time because of them and now my beloved benzo's have them.
I'm so done with these hard riding cars. It was fun when I was young and drove like a madman. Not so much anymore....approaching 60. LOL
My bimmer test ride hit 90 without even batting an eye. I'm guessing that car would likely be a ticket-getter for me. Good thing it's wife's car. I'll keep to my 4cyl pickup.
I thought the standard and sport steel suspension shared parts, but different tuning. The sport then had different parts numbers.
The Luxury I have driven felt more soft than the standard, and different from the sport. Could it have been all from 1" in the tires?
None of the suspensions are super soft. The run flats are part of the blame there. None of the suspensions are very sporty either, but it's a sedan made for comfort cruising.
I was confused about this and I dug a bit before ordering my car:
Originally Posted by pdp8
I had the bright idea of asking MB USA via the web site, here's the reply:
Thank you for your email to Mercedes-Benz USA.
The 2015 C-Class Sedan is equipped with the standard Comfort Suspension.
The Sport Suspension is available with the Sport Package.
The AIRMATIC Air Suspension is available with the AIRMATIC Package.
06-30-2015, 10:18 PM
(albeit against the advice of my dealer). 
... maybe I am screwed!
