C350

Hello . . .
Our new car has been built but we have not yet have taken delivery.
We wanted a C-class (Sport), but wanted something a little less common ...therefore we stepped up to a C-350 Found very few of these available for sale - and frankly NONE with the manual tranmission. So we ordered this car (with a six-speed transmission) almost three months ago.
For quite some time we read about this car with its 268 hp engine and how it is a Mercedes-Benz that can even catch 3-series BMW's unaware.
I know the C-350 is a sleeper for the 203 series ... but that is fine with us.
We live in a small town and am happy to have a car that may have a dated look in just a few months (we don't want to stand out). In fact, that was part of the the appearl when we decided to order the car.
Also, there is no guarantee the new body style would be available with a six-speed transmission.
Anyway, just wanted to post our 1st thread and say hello!
Any C350 owners out there? Also, the same for 6-speed C230's?
Am curious what you think.
Thanks . . .

C43AMG

Welcome to the forum! As always , please post some pics when you get the opportunity !

tee_tz

Wow, C350 Sport 6-Speed, that I respect!!

Had it not been for my BMW, I probably would have gotten the C350 (instead I settled for a C320). Indeed 268 HP (258 lb-ft/torque) is pretty good, and it can compete with the 3-Series.

What color did you get? What options? And when will you be taking delivery? Isn't it annoying that Mercedes-Benz doesn't stock manual cars? It just affirms BMW's are for drivers/performance, whereas Mercedes is for luxury. I heard the W204 may not even have a stick-shift model, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, congrats! Post pictures when you get it.


Tee_Tz.

advans

wow c350 6speed!

e1000

yeah - when I bought mine, there were 50 C350's available (dealerships, VPC, etc) in the entire US.

Congrats on the new car! Regardless of the age of the design, it's still a head turner and you'll get lots of complements. C350's are definitely sleepers. I have yet to race a 330i (E46 or E90), although I did race an S2000 and pulled on him.

C350

Our car is Arctic White - with the Ash interior.

The options are:
** code 287 - Split-Folding Rear Seat
** code 320 - Entertainment Package
** code 324 - Sunroof Package
** code 873 - Heated Seats

Am pleased enough with the current body style as to not wait for the new one. Also, it remains to be seen ... a six-speed manual may not even be available with the new car. Also, since the C55 is my favorite, a couple of AMG touches are real nice. Plus, I feel the wheels are certainly more agressive.

Tee-tz you commented about it being annoying that there are not more six-speeds available. I agree. However, Daimler Chrysler would bring in all we want ... it is just the North American market is not asking for it. Frankly, I am surprised it is even available at all.

e1000, how do you like your C350?

Cheers!

newton22

Wow, never thought the username C350 wasn't taken until now.

I hear those 350 6spds are quick! I want to test drive one.

drexappeal

Congrats on the purchase.

Now as for the term "sleeper," in what sense of the word are you referring? I don't really consider 268hp at the crank a "sleeper" if that is the stock power rating. Considering that the 350 has to compete with the 335i (which is twin turbo; 300hp at the crank, stock), I'd say it's got significantly less power for sure, but still wouldn't consider a C350 a "sleeper."

Now, if you were to take a lower end model C Class (i.e. 230K / 230 / 240) and tuned it to be around 268hp at the crank?...That would be a sleeper in my book.

rlee02135

if you really want a sleeper, you should badge it as c230
a lot of the guys over @ E46Fanatics have supercharged 330's badged as 323I

M230K

Nice colour-combo C350, can't wait to see some pics welcome to the forums

e1000

drex: other than 2 numbers, a C350 is visually identical to a C230, and the number of C230's out there far outnumber C350's. So in my book, most likely people will mistake a C350 for a C230.

C350: I absolutely love my car. It's not only fast, but it has a great ride (stiff but not harsh) and I've always loved the styling. Although it's not a full fledged AMG, it does come with AMG sway bars, 4-Piston Brakes from the C32, AMG styling, and the ride height for the facelifted sport sedans is pretty low. You'll really enjoy your car and you'll wonder why they don't sell more of them.

drexappeal

Yeah, I understand what you mean, but if people are looking at the back of the car and it says C350, that's not a sleeper in my book. If you're rollin' around in a car that has 268hp vs. the 189 in the m271 230, that's not exactly a good comparison.

A 350 surprising a BMW 335i doesn't quite have as much "appeal" or "surprise" as if a 230 surprising a BMW335i. Regardless of people mistaking a 350 for a 230 (because they have bad eyes or a car is debadged), it still doesn't make a 350 a "sleeper." Everybody knows that the 350 is the highest powered C Class behind the C55 in the w203 chassis. A "sleeper", IMO, is a car that people typically know has less power, but when tuned is much faster.

Some other examples of what I would term "sleepers" are a tuned Audi 1.8T (stock hp at the crank 168ish). tuned 328 coupe (e46 chassis). tuned C230K SS/SC (m271) / tuned C230 K coupe (m111). All of these cars are rated below 200hp at the crank from the factory, but if tuned properly, can gain respectable amounts of power.

I don't feel that cars that have a significant amount of power can really be termed "sleepers." Now, if you compare a C350 to the BMW 335i (twin turbo) (which are supposed to be the competing engines), at that point, if you have a tuned C350 that beats a stock BMW 335i, then you might be able to call the C350 a "sleeper".

What rlee said:
I don't consider really being "sleeper." I consider that more like a world champion picking a basement opponent that they know they can beat up on. In fact, if someone in a 330 badged as a 323 rolled up and tried to race a 230 and won, I wouldn't exactly consider that "bragging rights" or a "kill story" either.

TA-9FF

I hear ya Drex. Rebadging a car to represent something other than what it is IMHO, is generally just a bad idea. For some reason, I see if happen most often with BMW E36 owners. Either the M3 owners rebadge their cars to say "325i" or the 325i owners rebadge their cars to M3.

slammedcclass

this is funny cuz yesterday i saw a white m3 with the dual exhaust and the m3 bumper and it was a 330i n i was like wtf?

alboogiee

C350--congrats on the car, it was my first choice but I couldnt find one on a lot either (6spd, sport pack), I am very envious.

my personal favorite is the lancer rebadged as an Evo

drexappeal

That is the worst! I've seen that so many times and every time just shook my head at the driver.

TA-9FF

I got you beat Alboogiee. There's an old 93 Eclipse here in Dallas that has the "turbo" script off a 911 Turbo slapped on the back, and on the sides, it has "GT-R" logos on it, signifying its Skyline heritage.

C350

Hey Guys . . . Thanks for the welcome - and the nice comments.

When I was looking, I was checking the inventory of two "larger" dealers. One dealership had about 25 C-Class cars and just 1-C350. Another dealer (however, this I just checked on-line) had 51 C-Class cars. The break down was as follows . . .

C230 - 31 cars in inventory
C280 - 19 cars in inventory
C350 - 2 cars in inventory

Makes me more pleased with my purchase - and I guess I should since it is costing a bit more. Also, congratulations to those who already have one.

I was told about two weeks ago that C350's are no longer being produced at either plant. Sindelfegen stopped all C-Class (as many here already know). Bremen is still producing ... but no more C350's. This is the location North American cars come from. I suspect ours is one of the very last built

BTW, irregardless of the C230 or C350 (as both are good cars), I would be interested in hearing what owners think of the 6-speed manual transmission. In particular since the 2005 upgrade.

Comments anyone?

e1000

I've heard a lot of good things about the newer 6-speed. Even magazines that traditionally bash MB gave good marks to the 6-speed manual C350 (Motor Trend).

Yeah, I'd really really like to know the total number of W203 C350's that made it to the US. I'm thinking they made less C350's than C55's. Don't get me wrong, I'd take a C55 over a C350 any day, but I'd still like to know the numbers.

drexappeal

I think you made a good purchase for sure. The 350 engine will be around for a little 'bit and I'm sure there will be options for aftermarket power mods at some point soon (because the engine is going to be in the w204 as well). So, you really have the best of both worlds to look forward to. Aesthetics/Exterior/Interior parts are already available for the w203 across the board, so you could concentrate on those mods before the power mods start to be worked on and released by manufacturers.

All-in-all, the w203 is one of the most popular chassis for Mercedes in history. There are so many C Classes on the road that I had let the mod bug hit me and make mine look unique compared to everyone else. I honestly don't think the w204 is going to look as nice as the w203, so I say that you made a great choice going with the 350.

mbny

Used to possible compete power wise. Don't forget the new sedans are 335's now with 300hp. C350 manual should get smoked by a 335 manual considering the new BMW's are hitting 60 in 5 seconds or less off the line and experience virtually no turbo lag.

BKLYN_C

Technically speaking, you should compare apples to apples. MB doesn't build any close match to 335. At my prospective , MB makes the best 1.8 turbo or super charged. But manual C350 is a dream car, my future wife won't let me get one

AndySays

At the time when I bought my C350 a couple months ago, there were no 6spds at all that I wanted. But there was about 5 C350's (7spds) w/ Nav, only 1 in silver color which is now mine

e1000: did you add on the AMG sway bars or do they come stock on the C350's

e1000

all facelifted C-class sport sedans have the AMG sway bars, they just don't advertise it.

The C350's also come with the 4-piston brakes and not the 2-piston brakes found on the C230's.

drexappeal

Well, the swaybars have finally been figured out (by BigJohnny, who just upgraded). It seems the front swaybar is the same size as the AMG, but the rear swaybar was a little smaller than the AMG. Only reason he was able to figure that out was because he upgraded to the AMG swaybars for his 2005 230K SS.

That being said, it's possible that they changed that for 2006-present models, but I haven't seen anyone prove/refute that yet.