93Corrado

My wife's cousin's '08 C350 arrived at the dealership on Tuesday. I've assumed ownership of his '05 C230 Sedan. This a my first experience with a fairly new Mercedes having only owned a '92 190E 2.6 in the past. I'm really a VW guy and bought the Merc so that I could focus on my two VW's.

I had driven the car before but my trip home Tuesday was first opportunity to drive the car for any great distance and at highway speeds. I must say that I was fairly pleased with the car. It is well balanced with a nice tight feel to it. The ride was stiff but compliant. My only dissappointment was the automatic transmission. I really didn't expect too much oomph out of the 1.8 supercharged powerplant. The automatic transmission really seems to steal whatever thunder the 1.8 might have had. It seemed slow to react and slow to kickdown. The tiptronic also functions poorly with a noticeable hesitation between shifts. The car just feels slow to me. The chassis could definitely handle more power and I would imagine that the W203 C350 must be a blast to drive.

Overall the car seems like a comfortable daily driver and you really can't beat the gas mileage. I promised myself I would keep this car stock and not modify it in any way. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep that promise as I haven't been too successful doing so with my other cars.

Shake

Try putting the mode in S instead of C, that might help a little bit. And yes, the self gear changing this reacts slowly.

Anyway, congrats on the purchase.

93Corrado

Thank you. I drove the car with the tranny in C and S modes. I did notice a difference in S mode but it's still no rocket.

aznmode

I wasn't too impressed with acceleration on this car either. The car does have adaptive driving so maybe your wifes cousin drove it slow. Search the thread for resetting throttle. If that doesn't work then you can try investing in a Sprint Booster. It doesn't add horse power but it eliminates the lag in acceleration.

SlvrC230SS

Yup, not too happy about the lag either. Do the throttle reset once awhile, it helps a little.

93Corrado

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll try resetting the throttle tomorrow. My wife's cousin will be stopping by to drop off the maintenance history and to give me a ride in the new C350.

93Corrado

BTW Are there any repair manuals available for the W203?

bumpnzx3

that's something that's bothered me about each and every "autostick", "triptronic", or "paddle shift" car i have ever driven. granted i haven't driven any $40k+ cars with it- but all of the others have been slow to shift. when i hit the button, i want it to shift NOW. the mercedes slushbox doesn't bother me though- as i bought a manual- what a sports car/performance car should have. aside from my purpose built drag cars- everything i own will be a stick- assuming it's available.

ohh- and welcome to the board.

aolsen

+ 1

I searched and searched to find my manual c230. Took a while but I found it, and when I found it, I had to wait for the owner's preordered BMW to arrive. So, I waited a little longer. It was worth the wait. But I agree, I can't do automatic. Love stickshift. Just wish MB made AMG models with stickshift.

tanktube67

congrats!

06c230hwd

Try the brands..
1. Chilton Repair Manuals
2. Haynes Repair Manuals

GL & HF with the new car!