rominl

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a brand new 2012 C Class coupe from Mercedes to test drive for a week. During that week I was able to drive the car under different conditions and think it’s a very interesting car compared to the C sedan, BMW 3, and Lexus IS. Of course, granted it’s a relatively basic C250 coupe it doesn’t carry a lot of power, but I think it’s fair to look at the car for what it is and how it stands its ground against competitors.



Taking Out Two Doors the Right Way

Designing a coupe (on a lineup that’s sedan based) doesn’t seem to be as trivial as it seems. BMW always seems to get it right. Every generation they crank out both the sedan and coupe versions of the car and they all look smooth and sexy. They always have a very strong coupe line and that’s shown clearly in their strong sales.

For Lexus, their first attempt on the IS coupe (IS-C convertible) honestly haven’t been that impressive. It looks like a few Lego pieces put together, breaking the flow and just doesn’t look right. Same with Mercedes on the W203, the C230 Kompressor wasn’t very well received and it never got much traction.

Finally come the W204, Mercedes decide to push out the coupe version again, and they most definitely did their homework. The car carries a lot of the sedan DNA, but the missing 2 doors don’t affect the flow of the car, it still looks very proportional and slick. It catches your eyes right the way. The car also seems to have a wider and lower stance overall, especially when you look from the back, giving it an even more aggressive look.



The 2012 C coupe comes standard with the sport package around the car and I think that looks great. The newly designed headlights flows better on the coupe than the sedan probably because of the slicker hood and roof lines. And of course, with the now signature LED DRL on the bumper, it adds the modern and aggressive touches to the car. The rear roof line looks good, some people don’t like the way it slopes down but I think it has more to do with creating more rear cabin space.

Fitting You In

The doors on the C coupe are very solid and heavy, definitely need to watch out when opening and closing, but the solid feeling when closing the door is never something to forget about in driving a Mercedes.

The very first thing that catches my eyes is the gorgeous sport seats. They are so beautifully designed and executed, immediately give it a very sporty high end feel. The seats are quite comfortable too for what they are. After driving a few hours on long trip we did feel the stiffness due to the nature of the seats, but overall I give them very high grades.



The C250 I had was very basic so there was no navigation system, instead it’s just a small display screen showing radio / phone information. But the overall dash / console layout is very elegant, far better than the pre-facelift layout. The dash center cluster also has a high resolution LCD display that you can easily toggle between different menu screens using buttons on the steering wheel. For what it’s worth, the graphics and details on that are far better than that on my S550!



The steering wheel is a bit on the thin side for me but it does have good ergonomic touches right around the 3 and 9 o’clock position. It also has a flat bottom, so the first few times you do hard lock turns you will run into a funny feeling.

Even though this is a coupe, the cabin space inside is simply impressive, more than that of the 3 series and far more than the IS. The seats can go pretty low giving tons of head and shoulder room. The rear cabin has a 2-seat configuration, but it’s also very spacious! We were able to fit the baby car seat either front or rear facing no problem, with my wife still able to sit in the front with space to spare. That is impressive! The rear seats are also at an angle so you won’t feel cramped or “upright” sitting back there. We traveled 3+ hours in the car to Vegas and we all felt very comfortable.



The trunk size is also very respectable for a coupe. On paper it says only 11.7cu, but it’s the shape (very rectangular) that makes it useful. We were able to pack a lot of baby stuff in there without breaking a sweat.

Another few things I noticed about the front seats. The passenger side is a “hybrid” powered seats. The seat back is powered so you can recline easily, however the seat bottom is controlled through a manual lever. I found that quite surprising. I assume it’s a cost issue, but I would still expect it to be fully powered.

I love the part about pulling the front seat forward to gain access to the rear seats. There is no “latch”, so you simply pull it forward and the seat back will stay that way. On my M3, you have to throw it with some force to latch it, otherwise it will fall right back. And it’s not the best feeling when that heavy seat back falls on your head, trust me…

Powering It Through

There were quite a few things I noticed about driving the car. The car definitely feels underpowered and slower than the C300 (sedan). For daily normal driving it’s probably sufficient, but it does get a bit frustrating when you try to pick up on speed.

And I blame this on the slow transmission response time. In more than a few occasions, I had to switch lanes and immediately picked up on speed. I literally floored the car but it took a good second or two before the transmission down shifted (yeah, I was honked at…). It definitely takes some getting used to so you know how to “prepare”, but that’s not something I was able to adjust to after 1 week of driving.

The car actually handles pretty good for a base model. It doesn’t have the front heavy feeling that most Mercedes have, and I didn’t get a lot of understeer feeling when tossing it around. Whereas the C300 sedan I drove for a while, I felt more understeer and harder to turn (by comparison).

The biggest problem though, is blind spot. The b-pillar is so thick that literally the whole blind spot is blocked. Turning my head around and I simply saw nothing but b-pillar, I had to move my head position back and forth instead. That’s definitely something to be improved on.

The car rides pretty smooth and quiet overall, I have no complaints and I heard nothing from my wife during the 3 hour long trip. The steering is a bit disappointing, I expect it to be tighter especially since this is a coupe. At freeway speed I feel it’s a bit loose compared to BMW 328i.

Another pet peeve I have on the car is what I call the “60-70mph power struggle”. At thosecommon freeway speed, if you want to pick up on speed ever so slightly, the car will down shift. So I found the car shifting very often on my way back and forth to work, which was a bit annoying. Interesting enough, bringing the car up to 75-80mph and that’s the sweet spot. No more down shift, more reasonable power on pick up, and it was a very enjoyable ride.

While lacking on the power, gas mileage makes up for this car to be a great daily commuter. With mix driving I got about 26mpg, and one day I was stuck in stop and go traffic for 2+ hours, I got 21mpg. Given the cars I have been driving those numbers are unheard of! And on our trip to Vegas, we were averaging over 30mpg, that was incredible! The car has a big 17.4 gallon gas tank, giving a driving range north of 500 miles which is very impressive.



Hitting the Details

All C coupes come with panorama roof (glass roof) giving the car that much more cool factor. Operation is very straight forward and my daughter definitely loved staring at the open sky. While closed, there is a perforated screen that you can close. While it works most of the time, if you have a direct sun up top some light can still penetrate through. When the sunroof is open, the front wind deflector is a new design, which doesn’t create as much noise at high speed.

Bluetooth pairing has been improved (compared to my 2007 S550 at least) and it’s a very straight forward 10 second job. Not to mention with the new Bluetooth music streaming, I was able to stream songs from my iPhone very easily and sound quality was pretty good too!!!!

Most people probably won’t notice about this but I think Mercedes put in some good thoughts on the baby car seat latching system. For the bottom secure points, there is a very nice cover which you remove to latch the system. This is important because I notice that on other cars where you simply jam the latches on through the gap between leather pieces, over time it will deform the leather and affect the look when the car seats are removed.

Conclusion

Here’s what I think about the car. The C class audience is mainly younger owners, so emotion and hype are more important. I think Mercedes does a pretty good job in that aspect to create a car that’s “cool” and “exciting”. The panorama roof, the sport seats, standard sport package, iPod connection / Bluetooth streaming, those are all cool features that easily catch attention of younger crowds.

And of course, the fact that the C coupe looks this stylish and smooth helps a lot in boosting the image of the lineup as well. It gives up some of the practicality (cabin space and convenience), but again for the target audience, cool factor comes first.

Yes, performance might not be the focus here, but the C250 does come with impressive gas mileage to make it a good commuter. For those who wants the power, there is still the C350 or even the C63 (if not, go all the way to the C63 Black Series!!). That gives customers a good range of models to choose from.

Bottom line is, the C coupe opens up the door for Mercedes to better compete with BMW. I am not saying it will take over the 3 coupe (in fact I don’t think so), but I think this is the closest Mercedes (or any competitors) have come so far and it’s a great start. Having the C250 helps on the pricing and provides more choices for customers, potentially attracting more sales.

Looking forward, even more importantly is how Mercedes will continue the trend and create new successors down the road. That’s what Mercedes and other competitors need to do in order to make this an even more interesting market.

mikengo

Very well written review. Rarely I could find someone that could still write a proper context like this. "A" for the effort!!

axhoaxho

A nice review. Thanks for sharing, and enjoy your new C Coupe.

Regards,

jctevere

Yeah, great review. I pretty much agree with everything you said about the review. Coming from a w204 c300, I too feel what you are talking about as far as the C250 feeling slower.

However, I have found that by engaging the Sport button in the C250, the driving characteristics change completely (unfortunately, every time you start the car, it annoyingly defaults to E mode). With S mode engage, it really depends on your speed or current RPM range for how "fast the car feels". In some instances, the C250 feels as fast or if not faster than my c300 (low mph rolls, with downshifts putting you right in the 3-4,000 RPM range) which is the sweet spot for these turbo motors.

But if you are moving at faster speeds, it tends to have a much harder time keeping up or showing the speed that the c300 shows. (50-70mph). But like the reviewer said, once you again get into the higher RPM range (75-80mph) puts you right into that 3,000 RPM+ sweet spot and the car pulls VERY nicely.

rominl

appreciate the kind words. always want to be objective and try to cover both the good and bad of everything.

it's actually not my car. mercedes gave me the car to test drive for a week and talk about it. it was quite an experience. i have returned the car 2 weeks ago, but definitely got me thinking back about some of the experience i had with it

very very good point that i didn't mention in the review. changing it from C to S (yes, doing it every time starting the car is very annoying. darn fuel rating) makes quite a noticeable change in the response and timing. definitely drives better in S. but somehow i still feel the c300 drives more naturally, if i can say that. i just felt a bit more "struggle" with the c250

and the whole way to vegas at 75-80 it was a blast to drive, very very smooth

AV1

Interesting review and great write up

I'm assuming you reviewed the C250 CGI ??

In that case, power deficiencies would 'maybe' not have been an issue if testing the C250 CDI, although power and performance results are totally subjective depending on the individual, I've test driven a C180 CGI coupe and although it isn't a power house it is more than adequate in most situations, it actually has less initial lag compared to the more powerful C250 CGI.

For my own comparisons before I purchased a C250 CDI coupe, I test drove (and written up about it in another thread) both the BMW E92 320d and 330d coupes and surprisingly IMHO the 320d was a better overall drive than the 330d, in short the 330d felt overly heavy and was a much slower responding vehicle than the 320d which was smooth, light on its feet and very responsive almost like a petrol engined car, for mine the MB C250 CDI was a clear favourite all things considered

The C250 CDI does have the same issue as the petrol C250 in terms of response differences between E and S modes and I do agree it may become annoying to constantly select S every time you start up

Looks and aesthetics are also a case of each to their own - I certainly don't agree that BMW have got it right 'all the time' some of their model ranges are very awkward looking to say the least IMHO, eg. both current and new 1 series model range and new 3 series sedan is IMO no where near as good looking as the current

As for sales comparisons, here in Australia the C Class out sells the BMW 3 series and you are correct in saying the C coupe is attracting a younger than usual buyer here, alot of buyers I've seen so far for the C coupe here are younger than the usual C sedan or E class buyer

JPMB1

I haven't ordered my C 250 CDi Coupe yet, but I don't think changing from "C" to "S" at every start up will be too annoying.
Just run through the startup checklist:

Atomic Batteries to "Power"
Turbines to "Speed"

AV1

LOL in the case of the CDI 'atomic' does describe the low down instant torque I'm looking forward to it.

I'm it won't be a bother with the S mode and it keeps the vehicle nice and placit for all other would be drivers that may use the car

rominl

yes it's the cgi. of course if it's the cdi it would have been a totally different story with a diesel setup

bullitt

I just got back from the same trip, So Cal to Vegas and back with my brand new C250 Sport Coupe. I was extremely impressed at the overall performance including passing and smoothness at high speeds. Most of the time the cruise was set to 78 MPH and that would remain constant until we had to pass slow moving vehicles. I always drive in "S" and yes it's a minor annoyance to switch from "E" when you start but still minor. Acceleration from 70 to 100 was effortless and felt like a V8. Gas mileage averaged almost 31 driving spirited.

Having the Sunroof open at high speed was still comfortable and we were able to listen to the seemingly unlimited options for music and carry on normal conversation. We also have a 2011 C300 Sedan and the difference in the cars is remarkable. I've done this trip quite often and this was the most enjoyable of them due to comfort of seats and overall smoothness of vehicle. The diference in Nav unit is also night & day.

BodnarMB

Great review you captured almost everything I am feeling about the car after my first month. The B pillar is a little bit of a nuisance and the lag in down shifting even when I am using the paddles and trip are a bit slow and will take some getting used to. I feel even though its a coupe they went more for smoothness than aggression as I dont feel as connected as when I am driving the 328i or A4 S-Line. Love being able to stream the music from my iphone I think it sounds great. But for me what put it past the BMW's fast 0-60 was the interior. I have a white on ash. The Ash is more of a two tone black and light ash grey color. The combination along with the beautifully lines of the interior and seats just makes the BMW interior look boring and the Audi a far off second.

rominl

yes, with the new wind screen design it's a lot quieter and i find that a very surprising (in a good way) feature!

you are absolutely right, the interior of the c coupe blows away the 3 series, far better in terms of details and design

dbtk

Great review. Yes, I found the power lacking as well. But ample for around town driving.

HMilstein8

It appears that many if not all the reviews of this model seem to have been waged WITHOUT the dynamic handling package. Ironically, not much comment is made of it for as an option, it appears to transform this car from an average steering and handling one to a quite exceptional one. (Mind you, this is from the few reviews from the big American magazines that I have read over six months ago). Not having test driven the model myself, I am wondering how many people here who own or have test driven the model can confirm the difference this package makes on the overall steering and handling this option makes with the car?
Howard

bking

I have just got a C250 loaner from the dealer and the navigation system is superb in every respect. I am dumbfounded as to why the C Series would have a more superior navigation system than the far more expensive S550. Both have the latest updates.

AV1

There are quite a few reviews here from Australian journalists who confirm what you say, ie. the new C Class coupe with AMG package (dynamic handling I think it is for you guys in the U.S) is quite exceptional in steering and handling - certainly better than anything in the C Class previously

StuttgartUSA

Just curious on your observations on a lack of power. I just drove on the A6 from Stuttgart to Kaiserslaughtern hitting speeds of 120. The car still had enough in E for safe passing on slower cars. I think everyone expects Maserati power, it has ample power and is a great platform.

Sportstick

When drivers from Europe and the US try to assess power, the differences in driving environment often cause different results. In the US, many drivers measure what is called the "five second distance"...how well the car takes off from a standstill and the immediate sense of response and acceleration in the first few moments off the line. Does it push you into the seatback right now, or more gradually roll forward with the feeling it may gain speed in a few moments? In Europe, response higher in the rpm range is more critical for use on the highway/autobahn/autostrada, etc. The weakness coming off idle identified in several magazine articles is more apparent in the US, where repeated start/stops at red lights along the way have the car spend more time waiting for the turbo to spool up and help overcome the lack of displacement. I've read some C250 owners here say the car is adequate in city driving, very nice on the highway, but I don't recall anyone who finds this small premium/luxury car "delightful" off the line.

StuttgartUSA

Yes off the line no but there is plenty of power through the power band. Also I am from the states

AV1

Definitely no complaints with the C250-CDI variant in this regard, 500nm of torque almost immediately off idle at full throttle definitely shoves you hard back into the seat and provides excellent off the mark acceleration, it certainly feels quicker and the speed builds up seemingly quicker than the quoted 0-100km/h (62mph) in 7.0sec flat

Sportstick

Yes, diesels are renown for high torque at low rpm, but this option does not exist for us in the U.S. where gasoline engines dominate.

StuttgartUSA

Yes my father in law has the diesel version and its quite torquey but I do like the gasoline version better. Just cant stand the sound of diesels.

AV1

That's a pity, we are lucky to have the choice of both fuel types for the C250 variant in Australia, after having driven all the C Coupe variants (disregarding the C63) I personally was left with no doubt all things considered the C250-CDI was the pick of the bunch, even compared to the C350 V6 petrol, I still would take the C250-CDI ! pity there's no C350-CDI Coupe variant otherwise I would've absolutely got one of those !!! I've driven the C350-CDI sedan and it's totally impressive and even quieter and smoother than the C250-CDI.

The C250-CDI is my first 'oiler' and it still has that typical diesel sound especially at idle and I too was a bit worried about it, but believe me after just a short time owning the car, you quickly adjust and get over that part of it

From inside the cabin it actually has a decent thrum or rumble to it at certain speeds and throttle settings and is completely quiet when cruising, combine that with the power and efficiency it offers over the petrol and that's why it totally won out for me

Here in Aust. they are selling at more than 2 to 1 in favour of the diesels, so most other people besides myself who've tried both variants also prefer the diesel