anonymousmoose

I'm a big fan of the new C coupe. I drive a runout w203 Sports on lease and need to wait at least 2.5 years...


...but it doesn't stop me from admiring the C coupe.

Is there anyone from Australia who owns one here?

AV1

AFAIK besides yourself, there are 3 of us (Aussies) on this C204 forum board, but only one of those 3 is a confirmed future owner of the C Class coupe.

That one is a C250 CDI on order with a January delivery date (tharsis) and the other 2 (myself AV1 and DL250) are looking into buying soon after the new year and we are both also interested in the C250 CDI variant

TheTechnician

Hi guys.

I have been driving my new C350 Coupe for a week now. Love it.
Upgraded from a 325i Coupe.

AV1

Congrats - that's 4 now on this board

May I ask what is the spec/features on your C350

TheTechnician

The options on the car are the AMG pack, Sunroof (Rest of vision pack is std), Comfort pack

anonymousmoose

What's our review now that you have as both? Was the BMW and E92?

tharsis

As AV1 said, for me i'll have mine in 6 weeks (getting really impatient waiting for it! keep trolling youtube for more videos!) Only test drove it here, enough for a feel for the car but no real experience. I've made a few posts on the drive here and in short really loved it.
Hopefully the technician can give us an AU owners perspective

TheTechnician

Drove the C350 to Newcastle a few days after taking delivery and it was an absolute pleasure to drive on the freeway. Nice and smooth, power when required.

In comparison to my E92 325i I would make the following comments:
- C350 slightly smaller cabin space
- C350 has a hell of a lot more power (325i 160kw compared to 225kw)
- I thought the 325i had better shaped seats (had sports seats, however after the drive to Newcastle I now much prefer the seats in the C350
- C350 is unbelievable quiet whilst driving, accept when you put your foot down and enjoy the grunty growl of the engine
- I did prefer the pillarless doors on the BMW
- USB interface in the BMW was able to read my 64gb usb stick, which was at capacity. However I am having an issue in the C350 where only 1/4 of the albums show up. I have posted in another thread about this and am trying to work out if it is a restriction on the Comand Online system.
- Miss the side dipping passenger side mirror on the BMW - always good to prevent guttering the wheels.

AV1

Nice, sounds like everything much like what I want, ie. full house on the bells and whistles

Interesting comparisons.

I've so far had short back to back test drives of the C204 C250CDI, vs E92 320d and 330d oilers.

Can't comment on the C204 C Class petrols just yet as I will be test driving those also in the near future, but from driving those oilers above the BMW 320d was the most quiet under throttle, the 330d and 250CDI emitted about the same noise, the Merc was a little quiter than the BMW's when rolling along.

Surprisingly the 330d had very noticeable lag from standstill, whereas the 320d was lively right from the get go, it felt and drove much like a responsive turbo 4 petrol, it also felt much lighter and more responsive 'on its feet' compared with the 330d.

The 250CDI was in between those 2 with responsiveness 'on its feet' when driven in sport mode, but closer to the 320d than the 330d, there was no decernable lag from the get go on the 250CDI in sport mode and the power felt very similar to the much more powerful 330d and definitely more than the 320d, just the 320d seemed to respond a little quicker to inputs, Im certain that the lighter petrol variants of the C204 will be as good or better in all round responsiveness compared with the BMW E92.

In eco mode the 250CDI was very noticeably sluggish, especially on the throttle, but certainly no complaints with ride quality, it's noticeably better than the BMW's, I'd say people with the 250CDI will just put it in sport mode all of the time

Agree with the interior review, the C204 Merc is way ahead of the E92 BMW's, but the new 3 series coupes are just around the corner and they're sure to have stepped up the interior quality.

Technician post up some pics when you get the chance

anonymousmoose

Thanks for this. When its time for me to look at my next car, 2.5 years time, I'll probably look at the C180, C250 or an E coupe, if I the pre-owned models fall into my budget. I wont be after power so much as comfort and style. Hopefully I'll find one which has the AMG kit like my w203 has.

Sounds like you make the right choice. Plus a C coupe is less common than an E92... they are everywhere these days (but that also shows they are good cars).

Marzwest

Hi all,

Just put my order in today for a Black C250 CDI Coupe.

Options:
Obsidian Black
Flamenco Red Interior
Piano Black Trim
AMG Sports Pack - With 5 Spoke Wheels
Vision Pack
Lane Keeping Pack
Reverse Camera

Unfortunately the delivery date is 31st March 2012!


-Mario

tharsis

Congrats Marz! welcome to the waiting club... what's your delivery date been given as?

AV1

Congrats Mario, the Melbourne Aust. numbers are building up

anonymousmoose

Sounds like the type of car I'm hoping to pickup pre-owned in 2 1/2 years time . I really like the AMG pack on the W204's, coupe or sedan.

Congratulations!

Nuxi

Hi All!

This is my first post here. I personally don't drive a Mercedes, but we have had quite a few in the family. My mum takes delivery of her C250 Coupe around Xmas time. The options include:

Obsidian Black metallic paint
Sahara Beige Leather
Vision Package - Xenon's, Sunroof, HK Sound System, Navigation
Reverse Camera.

I will post photos once it arrives. As for me, I currently drive a Nissan 370z after driving 2 BMW Coupes before that. The 370z was purchased purely to try something different. It's a fantastic car with awesome power and kit. I am keen to look at purchasing a C63 Coupe later in the new year, but I am also keen on the upcoming M3 also, will have to wait and see. I look forward to hearing from other Aussie members and possibly organise a nice cruise some time.

Cheers,

Michael.

yukikaze203

I'm a C350 Coupe owner as well, but over at Canada.
If you press the mirror button that changes the passenger mirror's side (as if you were to position the mirror setting) while in reverse gear, the passenger side mirror dips down.

AV1

Congrats to your mum Michael

Agree about the 370Z, it is an all round excellent coupe.

If I wasn't specifically wanting a turbo diesel prestige coupe, I'd seriously consider a 370Z.

Nuxi

Thanks! While the Zed is great, I do miss the quiet, refined and luxury drive of a German marque. The road noise in the 370z is quite bad but you learn to live with it. Now that I got it "out of my system" I shall weigh up my options in the new year.

AV1

Actually that's an interesting point, ie the noise component part of a vehicles NVH.

Not actually owned/owning a turbo diesel yet, but really wanting one for many other reasons, despite the nice quiet cruising along scenarios I hope I get used to the diesel noise which is quite noticeable when under acceleration even within the cabin of these new Mercs

Nuxi

When looking at the C250 Coupe, we looked at the Diesel as well, pulling.power was tremendous thanks to a ridiculous 500nm, but as mum put it "I don't like the truck sound" haha and seeing as it will be her car, who was I to disagree with her. The C250 petrol was also brilliant. Same kw power but personally just sounded a lot nicer, especially during spirited driving. I tested it as well in the sport mode and was blown away, the paddle shifting is really quick and precise, and the exhaust makes a certain burble/crackle sound on the gear change, it was addictive!!!

tharsis

Seems 7 out of 11 judges at drive.com.au think diesel is the way to go, the C250 CDI won car of the year... http://news.drive.com.au/drive/car-o...123-1nuph.html

Technically awarded to the sedan but they're very similar, as the diesel has more power, and frankly I've had a diesel golf for 3 years and the merc is quieter than that one, you really do get used to it and barely notice after a month, i'll go for the bigger power, less fuel

Nuxi

Certainly does have bigger power with the torque, it's a cracker of a car.

AV1

That above are the main reasons I'm opting for the diesel as well, power/torque vs fuel consumption and engine longevity are hard to pass up vs the 250CGI and especially also considering they're priced exactly the same, whereas diesels are usually dearer for the same vehicle model

I do see exactly where Nuxi is coming from with the noise, as with my 1st impressions after test driving the 250CDI I was a little concerned about the noise, I also own another vehicle which is an IL4 cylinder turbo petrol and it sounds so sweet by comparison, if other diesels out there are even noisier I'd be really concerned about acquiring any of those - hopefully as many other have pointed out I'll get used to it and it won't be so bad after some time

I'm due to be test driving the 250CDI and 250CGI back to back sometime next month and see what my impressions are.

Nuxi

Also, I forgot to mention, the other reason we decided against diesel is because we only keep our cars for 2-3 years max. Not that it would make a huge difference, but anyway.. lol

AV1

Certainly personal reasons all affect vehicle spec choice

A couple more reasons why I'm leaning towards the oiler is I do high k's (around 30-35,000km per annum) and intend on keeping this vehicle long term, at least 6 or 7 years maybe more, hence AFAIK the CDI would be the way to go