Matt230K

Hopefully it will sell well. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to put this engine into the coupe. I just think it is a bad idea to have so many variants of a car that already doesn't sell too well, at least not in my neck of the woods. The 320 will probably be a great car, I just hope they don't build as many of these as they do 230's. And it doesn't seem like much will be standard. I think the pictures of it from CME4BENZ did not show a climatronic unit. And who knows if Bose will even be standard. I might have to get my magnifying glass and study the pic of the window sticker that he posted.

Matt230K

Looks like no bose and no climatronic. I guess the only difference is the engine and the leather inserts.

tifosiv122

According to the sticker on this thread:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=26873

Leather is optional. It seems to be a $2,xxx upgrade just for the v6.

Erik

Matt230K

I just went back and looked. I was talking about leather inserts, not full leather. I didn't notice that both cars had leather. So then I looked in the standard equpiment list and it says cloth upholstery, so now I guess all you get is the engine for your extra couple thousand.

tifosiv122

The Coupe only offers leather inserts, so leather is leather inserts.

Erik

mctwin2kman

I just think $2000 for an engine upgrade and only adding 25hp and a little over 25ft/lbs. of torque is a ripoff. Now if they at least included the power seats and climatronic and Bose for about $2500 that would have been a deal breaker. I am still going for the C230 SC. As for the C230 Sedan, I think it is a great idea for those that want more power than the C240 but do not want the added cost of the C320, plus the wheels and all for less than a C240. MB's pricing is out of whack on that one. They should just throw a supercharger on the C240 engine and call it a done deal. Now that would have been a nice engine upgrade for the Sport Coupe.

tifosiv122

If they did that they wouldn't sell one C230coupe. Everyone would come up with the extra $2500, especially in a lease it comes out to a few extra $'s. Basically you get what you pay for...you want the 6 you pay $2,500...its really not that unreasonable, I thought it was an amazing deal when the rumor was you get all those things above...but it would have killed their 4cyl sales.

Erik

mctwin2kman

Well for $4000 extra it would hurt there sales less, but at least you would get more than an engine upgrade. That is what I originally thought it was going to be. I just like the supercharged engine and feel that $2000 for the V-6 is a little much for me. I can swing it I just do not think it is worth it for me. That and I even asked the wife and she still wants the C230 SC. We are ordering in the next week or so. C230K SC with C1, C4, C5, C7, heated seats, and CD.

MB-BOB

IMO, here's my take on US, C-Class market segmentation... Does NOT apply to Europe...

C230K Coupe = Young individuals or couples (<30) who want a tunable (S/C) sporty, yet practical 2-door Coupe for 3-4 years purchase or lease. Don't care (never learned) about "hatchback" dogma.
C320 Coupe = Older folks who want a 7-10-year car, want more creature comforts with sporty pretentions without S/C or Turbocharger issues, and were brainwashed to see 4-cyl hatchbacks as "cheap Pintos." They have been waiting to buy til now.
C230 Sedan = Younger individuals, or couples (probably with infant children who must have a sedan) but want to play with chips, wheels, etc. 2-3 year ownership, lease car. Entry level MB sedan. Like all the older C230Ks you see today. Different demographic (older) in Europe.
C240 Sedan = The younger set will migrate to the C230 Sedan, leaving the C240 as entry level MB for it's originally intended demographic (40-49+ $90K/year--figures from MB).
C320 Sedan = Same Demo as C240, but more experienced crowd who learned the buyer's remorse paradigm of buying a lesser car and trying to mod it into something better. Money less an issue, or willing to stretch to buy. Long term (6-10 yr) purchase, interest in operational economy (compared to C32) bridging to 1st E-Class later..
C32 AMG = No-Holds-Barred performance enthusiasts, any age, economic level, prob individual management professional with or without Sig. Other... no kids. Money no object, fuel economy not important. 3-4 year car then on to next hot ticket.

This is just my opinion, based (somewhat) on years in product development jobs (albeit not in automotive). I'm sure others will disagree, and that's fine with me.

Matt230K

No, leather means full leather. It would say leather inserts if it were leather inserts. It better be full leather for an extra $1400 or so.

MB-BOB

My understanding...

Is that inserts mean just the leather inserts, the rest MB-Tex...

"Leather interior" means Leather Inserts, remainder of upper surfaces of seats in leather, side bolsters, etc, (all parts which contact your body when seated) with the seat back and lower seat bottoms, map pockets, etc in MB-Tex.

A previous thread on this subject pointed out that full leather everywhere would become too loose over time. The synthetic parts of a "full leather" interior help maintain a taught, stretched finish across the visible surfaces. That made sense to me.

Someone correct me... I'm no expert.

EmMtEe

here is the equation to figure how much profit is in the car: MSRP * by 5.50% that will tell you how much profit the car has. I have not seen a C320 coupe yet.....

tifosiv122

Matt230K - Full leather is not offered in the Coupe. Only inserts.

MB-BOB - Companies do offer 'full leather', ie. every part you touch is leather.

The sedan has full "leather", the coupe is only inserts.

Erik

KWiK

Look on page 10 of the 2003 C-class brochure and you will see that even on the premium leather seats in the sedan there is still some cloth. Yes, cloth.

CitronC230K_03

was definately the new (W211). i read an article a few months back about it being a first for MB the way they kinda pre-advertised the car thru a movie, like how bmw did with bond, james bond. :p

CitronC230K_03

here in southern california it's hard to have to many variants of a car. just count the number of MB dealerships in southern california alone. there are more in LA County then some have in their entire states. there are so many people with so many different tastes, MB is covering all bases really. i not saying they are focusing on southern california exclusively, as there are other cities and states in the country with people with their own tastes. take a look at choices for engines and other options in the rest fo the world and we (the US) seem not to have the great of a selection after all! just my $.02.

Outland

The C230 sells pretty good around here. Its a steal of deal, and folks know it. I think the C320 Coupe will be well recieved, in light of the smaller standard motor this year in the Coupe. I know that if I were going out to buy coupe now, I'd take the 6 over the 1.8 for the 2000 dollar difference. If it were still the 2.3, I'd get the 2.3L over the 6 and spend that 2K on a pulley and intercooler.

tifosiv122

Yes, I know...look a few posts below, I said i was wrong. I remembered it being a C becuase I knew it wasn't an E (at the time) or an S. Now that the E is out, a second look shows it is an E.

Erik

Matt230K

I still don't think this is right. I agree with Bob that the entire seat cannot be leather as it could lose its fit. But the coupe's leather is just as much full leather as the sedan's full leather. I have never seen or heard anything to make me believe otherwise. Sure there may be some parts that are not leather, but they are more than just leather inserts.

Also, as Kwik said about there being some cloth, even on sedans. This cloth is on the front and sides of the seat bottom, where is wraps around the seat. It is here because past cars have had problems with the leather squeaking against the plastic trim on the sides of the seat. The CLK was notorious for this problem. So this is why they now use cloth on these parts.

tifosiv122

There are 3 seat materials.

1. Cloth
2. Leather
3. Leatherette (plastic)

Look at your seat (coupe). The center ovals are leather. Next to it (hip area) is fake leather. Don't believe me, call the dealership or MBUSA. I threw a fit when they told me that when I ordered the car. I ordered it because I didn't want cloth. The leather seats on the coupe are all leather...

Erik

tifosiv122

Further proof:

http://www.edmunds.com/news/autoshow...1/page010.html

I guess the C230 sedan gets the coupe treatment.

Erik

Matt230K

Isn't this a contradiction of everything else you said? And also, I still am not convinced. I will have to look into this myself.

And that article about the sedan talks about the leather inserts because sedans come standard with leather inserts. Full leather is an option. Just like coupes come standard with cloth. And full leather is an option. I think we need someone else's opinion too. I still believe that it is full leather, just like the sedan, and if it were leather inserts, it would say so.

tifosiv122

Yeah I meant to say sedan is full leather...sorry.

Call your dealer and ask. If they say its full leather let me know, I will write to MBUSA. As far as I have ever heard its inserts in the coupe. You can feel the difference when you touch the seats.

Erik

Matt230K

Well, I work there, so I will try to get some more info. But if you build the cars on MBUSA.com, it is the exact same cost to upgrade to leather on a sedan as it is on a coupe. And it says leather upholstery for both. I can't see them charging $1440 just for leather inserts. I'm sorry, I just have a problem with believing this. I wouldn't really be mad if I found out that I paid this much just for leather inserts, I'm just not willing to accept this since I was always under the impression that it was full leather and everything seems to say that it is.

tifosiv122

I asked 4 dealerships by me and they all told me they were inserts. I had a hard time believing it too. If you find out otherwise please let me know. Personally, i'd rather my leather be full, but I believe what I was told is correct.

Erik