In my 2.5L V6 with the 7G transmission, at 75 mph im at about 2500RPM and on a 40 mile trip i get about 30-31mpg

 

That is about correct - nice car. Don't let LILBENZ put you off. Matt is like a dog with a bone - he does not like the little V6's. I love them & he is welcome to his Kompressor Buzz Box. I think the 5 speed 722.6 & chosen axle ratio is a little kinder to the V6's but once you learn to drive them & rev them they are great fun. His Kompressor is probably 15% down on power from new already at his mileage which is the way with the 271 as clearances open up. The V6 will be nicely run in at 200,000Km. I clocked up 57,000Km yesterday & the car just runs better & better - I had a Italian friend in the car that drives a Porsche & he said to me - damn but this car runs well. It's interesting that the European motoring scribes consider the 2.5l 272 & 2.6l 112 to be the pick of the bunch & the 320 to be the worst. A different perspective from people that have the pleasure of driving all the competition.

In ROW many selected the 271, I4's because they were considerably cheaper than a six so it was affordable entry to driving the three pointed star.

 

OP - Cape Town is up amongst the finest & most beautiful coastal cities in the world. Right up there with Sydney Aus & Rio de Janiero. Due to my global job I have been lucky enough to see most of them numerous times & lived in Sydney as well as Dallas (obviously not coastal) & San Francisco Bay Area - Marin County. It's safer than Rio & frankly like any large cosmopolitan city - if you look for trouble you will find it but otherwise it's great. We are hosting the world cup soccer shortly & FIFA would not come here if they thought it that bad.

I had the choice of retiring in many places in the world & chose to come home. The only other places I would even consider are Thailand & Tuscany in Italy.

You should visit!

 

The 271 is certainly a rough little thing, but 15% down on power? That would put me a little below the 2.6L M112? I don't think so. I've driven a 240. I'm just messing with you, Glyn - we all like different things and diversity is what makes the world go 'round. When I bought the C230K, my knowledge about the W203 was pretty limited. I knew that I'd driven a C240 and felt it too slow. I knew that I could get an 04 C320 or the C230K at the place I bought it, they were identical price-wise. But the facelift won me over, again, you dislike the AMG treatment but I don't find the 203 appealing without it. If I had to do over again, I still wouldn't have picked the 04 C320 or the C240, although I probably would've passed on the M271 as well. Ideally a C350 Sport with a 6MT, but hen's teeth are more common. I think, if I could go back, I'd have a 2007 C230 2.5L V6 6MT.

Surprised? It's not the 2.5L V6 I hate. It's the combination of it and the 7G.

About the last part, is it really surprising to you that they felt the 3.2L M112 was the worst? Are they talking about quality? I can't be sure of quality. But I do know 215hp is pathetic from the 3.2L. At least the 2.6L in the 240 meets expectations.

 

LOL, I agree with you Glyn that Matt is pretty hard on the 2.5L M272 and 7G. But, I think Eric (E1000), hit the nail on the head by saying MB force fed the 7G on the 2.5L M272 C230. The final drive and gearing of the 7G on this car is not quite right, and some minor changes would change this combo from good to excellent.

 

John what stopped you from going 6MT on your C230? IIRC you ordered it and could've had it whichever way you liked. As long as you like it, that's all that matters. I really love the 2007 rims/exhaust and the way it feels refined.. the C230Ks cough and sputter a have weird vibrations quite a bit. If something happened to my C230K and I couldn't find a C350 Sport/6MT then I'd probably get a car like your's with a manual.

 

Matt, 3 reasons why I chose the 7G over manual at the time of ordering my 07 C230. 1)My wife refuses to learn how to drive a manual, and since at the time my Jeep was out of commission, I needed a car she could drive. 2)My commute has very heavy stop and go traffic regularly. All my other commuting vehicles were manuals, and I was getting tired of driving them in traffic. 3)I did NOT like MB manual in the C230 I drove. As Glyn points out regularly, MB manual transmissions are far from refined.

With that said, I am still completely satisfied with my C230 with 7G. After having the latest flashes for the TCU and ECU, and learning how to drive the combo, I have no regrets. Once my wife finishes school and gets a job, she will get the C230, and I will be on the lookout for a car for me. The current 3 on my list are a BMW 135i 6MT (Or the upcoming DCT), VW GTI w/ DSG, or 07 C350 6MT/7G. But, based on my reasons for choosing the 7G on my 07, if I did get the C350, I would probably still get the 7G. Only real reason I would get the manual in that car is for the rarity of it, LOL.

 

Obviously my vote is on the 135i with the 6MT. Manuals can be tiring in the city, which I don't live in. Have you driven a 135i yet?

 

Yes, I have driven all 3. They are mentioned in my list in the order of preference

 

You know, another thing I would think would greatly help the 7G is if the ECU/TCU was programmed to hold gears longer before upshifting and downshifting sooner for the first 4 or 5 gears. You'd still run into the huge penalty for trying to accelerate when driving in 7th gear, but in the city I think this would help a lot. Of course, gas mileage in the city would decrease, maybe significantly.

 

Just wanted to show that the 2.5L M272 and 7G is capable of decent MPG. Here is a pic from this morning. This is my daily commute of 38 miles. I drive just short of 6 miles in town and the other ~32 miles is highway. Average highway speed of 60-75 depending on the speed zone. This is in OR and lots of elevation changes along the way.



Sorry for the blurry crappy cell phone pic, but that shows 31.7 MPG, 54 MPH avg speed.

 

that's really good mileage.

 

I just got 29+ mpg from baltimore to atlantic city with plenty of toll stops and cruising at aroung 65-70 mph in a 2.5L, 7G.