I don't really see why c350 owners - "SirHoward" in particular are trying to **** on someone for cheaping out and getting a c250... I'm 21 and this is my third car. I had a 2008 G37S coupe as my first car and picked it up the day it arrived at the lot. That car was a true rocket ship and a great starting point. Not to mention, it was $4,000 under the MSRP of a C350 at the time, with the same equipment, if not more (bi-xenon standard).

Needless to say, my model had the crappy 5-speed automatic tranny, and not the new 7-speed. So it felt a bit sluggish on the highway. I have test drived a C350 (the only one on Long Island at the time of my purchase, which was bright red). Definitely not even in the same league as a G37 - but decent. I'm sure the difference is even larger now with the G37 having a 7-speed and the option for an IPL tune near the same price as a c350 coupe.

Bottom line is this: I certainly could have afforded a C350 if I wanted to. Besides for the fact that there were none that I liked/wanted (in my color options - let alone even in a broad range, like I said, only one was red on tan). I felt that the C250 really is ample. It feels fast enough, I get well over the estimated 30MPG highway, and average 28mpg historical with near 50/50 city/highway driving. Not to mention that many tunes are now coming up easily providing 260+hp and even more torque, putting it well within the speed of a C350 considering its significant weight savings - and all for around $500...

So when you look at everything from a different perspective. I get to drive around a fully loaded c250 coupe for $5,000 a year, and can pay $500-1000 to get the performance of a C350, with MUCH better fuel economy. Sounds like C350 buyers were the foolish ones...

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. My C250 is getting paid for outright, so it's not like a C350 wasn't in the budget. More that it's highly unnecessary for me, and I'd rather have the boosted 4 cylinder for the sound, less weight over the front end, and more equipment for my money.

 

I hear YA, I can't **** on anyone cuz I don't have one yet & that's not what I do. I'm just trying to pick one, so I'm getting info on the 250 & the 350 that's all man.. so I'll keep reading, NO replying from me.. Sorry!!

 

that is why I got rid of my Mustang GT the C350handles soooooo much better and 300 hp in that small body let's it fly

 

One issue that nobody has mentioned yet is this:... In Canada at least, you can't get all the options on the C250 that you can with the C350. I am pretty sure that in Canada you can't get things like keyless-go, backup camera, 18" wheels with the C250.

Trust me, I wish that companies made something like a C63 body with a C250 engine lol :P

 

I think soon enough the C250 is gona take the C350...dont get me wrong i love my 350 but theyre gona be able to possibly fit bigger turbos, intercooler, ECU, and who knows what else since it has the space under the hood unlike our C350s...

 

SirHoward, please don't propagate your own bitterness and narrow-mindedness online.

 

I wish they make a E Coupe with a smaller engine.

 

Yes, I think this is massively understated benefit. Right now we see C250's getting near C350 territory with early tunes and not much modification. However, the engine bay in my C250 coupe has PLENTY of free room for bigger turbos, intercoolers, etc. Not to mention, that the c250 is much easier to modify than the c350, since it already comes with a turbo setup.

Combine all this with weight savings and a better weight distribution, and things start to seem better :-)

Although, you really can't knock the C350 for what it offers. Great power and fuel economy for a great price. However, I do find this thread a bit unnecessary. Asking why anyone would buy a C250 over a C350 is a bit like asking why anyone would buy a size 30 pair of jeans instead of a size 40...

 

I've seen that on the MB Canada site before - that sucks.

In the states, the only thing you can't get on a 250 that you can on a 350 is Bird's Eye wood trim on the interior.

 

The question was why buy the 250 and then spend $ to make it faster? Why not just buy the 350 in the first place.

 

This is starting to sound like the sensible European market. Buy a fully loaded CLK, E or whatever suits your needs with a 4 cylinder petrol or diesel engine. Best of both worlds.
Enjoy!

 

That certainly was the obvious question, but your original post implied other questions that lead to other arguments. Such as "I don't see value in buying a 4 banger" or something along the lines of 200hp - come on.

The fact is, the C250 with around 200hp and around 230 lb/torque is definitely "ample enough" for many buyers.

Heck, back in the day in muscle cars and sports cars, 200hp was a number v8's would dream of. We are now getting this in a 4-cylinder with fuel sipping efficiency.

To directly answer your stated question. It makes sense to buy a 250 and spend the money to make it faster because it is easier to modify than a C350.

Put it this way, the C350 is not enough of a performance monger to buy it and be happy with it at those levels (if performance was your main concern - as you suggest with your question). It is easier and much more cost-effective to get a c250 and modify it to get 0-60 numbers at 5 seconds than it would be to get a c350 and modify it to get to 5 seconds.

As stated before, the c350 has no engine bay real estate available for turbo applications, and is really limited in its modifications or upgrades. A c250 on the other hand can easily make room for a second turbo, and albeit, even two larger turbos - not even talking about increasing PSI, intercoolers, or any other modifications you can do on a C350 that you can also do on a C250.

There are mercedes oem twin turbo designs of the c250 engine with the power output of a c350 - stock! All of this with greater fuel efficiency and lower weight. Not to mention, it is much easier to modify.

I guess one can sum it up with the statement - bigger is not always better.

 

I agree with your reply. When I want to let it all out I drive my XK8. The C250 is perfect for everyday driving and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

 

I hate 4-Bangers and wouldn't want one in my Benz, but that's more of a sound/feel as well as prejudice against 4-cylinders thing.

This whole "power c*ckfest* is annoyingly unrealistic. Everybody who drives with regard to themselves and those around them go the same speed, sit in the same traffic, regardless of whether they have 140 or 400 HP. In the vast majority of cases, those who seek higher HP do so for some over-compensation reasons, i.e to boast about it. Yes, many do Track their cars which justifies the performance capabilities (rare), and many do drive illegally and recklessly (they have bigger problems than psychologically delusional superiority-factor of having more HP), but the vast majority of those I know who have even ridiculously powered cars, drive just as conservatively as I do my car.

Moral of the story is, in real life, you're getting as fast to where you're going whether in a C250 or C350. I personally would pick the 350 simply due to the engine sound, feel, refinement and dual exhaust much more than the extra power that I'd rarely tap into. HP is relative, for every person tooting their horns about their "HP advantage", there are tons of others who think their cars are dogs, and so on and so on.

 

In my opinion, and perhaps this is just a psychological thing I've built up from having a faster car and then going to a much slower one; I think its much more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow. Personally, I don't like being restricted when I'm driving a fast car and I've driven a lot of fast cars including a Bentley, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferrari, and a few high end BMW's. It's really uncomfortable to drive fast cars in NY, not only do we have a REALLY REALLY oppressive police presence in the form of the NYPD highway patrol but we also get stopped for every little violation if our cars are modded. I had a 306+ HP car with full catback, intake, rims, drop, tint's etc; and I've been stopped probably for each and every time a cop took an interest to my car. Towards the end of my lease I drove the speed limit every time I got on the highway because I couldn't afford to have anymore speeding tickets. I enjoy the C250 more in a way because granted it's slow but I get to drive a little faster because it doesnt sound or look like an obnoxious sports car. If I would get a C350 I would get Meisterschaft GT exhaust, intakes, tune, x-pipe etc. It would have been a loud obnoxious sports car lol.

Do I like having an inline 4 with 201 hp? NO. But I do like not getting into trouble, having better gas mileage and saving over $100 per month on lease payments. That was my reasoning.

 

This is a good point. It's hard to tell just how fast you're going when in a car, and the sound and aggressiveness of a motor has more say in that than your actual speed outside. When you get to such high HP levels, you can't really utilize and experience your car going ***** to the wall without being in, and putting others in incredibly dangerous positions.

 

a Jag man, you'll enjoy (and since Glyn is on this thread as well) what I test drove this weekend:

 

Well if you're looking for advice: if you can afford the c350 and don't mind losing ~3mpg then get it over the c250. Period.

Bottom line not everyone has an extra $4000+ to spend. Some of you make it sound like you can come up with that extra cash easily, then why don't you save up and get the c63 or e350 instead? (See what I just did there?)

 

Actually, here's some more food for thought for those in the US market. The C350 has the Premium package standard, which is an ~$1800 option on the C250. If you're planning on getting that anyways (I had to have the H/K sound), it really does make a bit of sense to get the C350 (I half-regret it now).

After 10k miles, my only real complaint is the initial lag from acceleration that the C250 is notorious for. It's really dangerous in traffic when I need instant acceleration and I don't get it. S mode helps the throttle response part of the lag, but the turbo lag is still atrocious. I hope the JB+ will help too.

Another issue is availability of the C350. At my time of purchase (October), my dealer had mostly C250's and very very few C350's, so I really had no choice.

 

Agreed, turbo lag sucks on c250.

Good observation on Premium I being standard on c350. It's when you add options that the base c350 is still missing (HID, Navi, keyless go, backup cam, etc) is when a fully loaded c250 starts to have better value when comparing side to side.

But yeah, if you're torn between a base c250 (with Premium I) and base c350 then I agree the c350 makes sense if you're going to get the Premium I.

 

Its rated maybe 3MPG better but in reality we all know that theres a bigger difference in MPG between an inline 4 and a V6. Especially considering it has over 100 HP more than the 250. Aside from that, the difference in negotiated MSRP is actually more like 2K difference. The payments are over $100 more to lease and the residual is lower, not to mention the MF is higher. Also theres the difference in tax. So, its not so cut and dry unless you're paying cash upfront.

 

A: Just because you have the money doesn't mean you need to spend it.

B:Where exactly in the US can one legally exploit what the C63 has to offer other than on a track? The E350 is not as entertaining as the C to drive, but is more comfortable.

To me, a car that goes superlegal in a couple of seconds isn't nearly as fun as something you can wring out without being completely stupid.

Not that I have anything against fast cars - I would like to own an S600 in the relative near future... but practicality kind of wins out in the sub $50K segment.

 

Nice!

 

Yes I'm aware that just because you have the money it doesn't mean you have to spend it.

I was trying to make an exaggerated point to those posters that keep on insisting that c250 owners should of shelled out a few extra grand and get the c350.