jpb5151

Very good point. I'm still paranoid about not having enough power, though. In fact, our 230k seems underpowered (but tolerable). I don't race, but I do want to have plenty of power to spare while getting up to speed.

BenzOwner02

Ok I have read all your comments and some people did agree with me. Let me analyze where I get my opinion from.

1) C240 is a bigger car, has more room and is more comfortable to sit in and cruze in. I have driven the c230 for a couple of days and I can honestly tell you that there is no comfort in that car. Figuring out the seat postion alone is screwed up.

2) I would take fake leather over any cloth any day. Leather of the C240 feels real. I have yet to have anyone complain about my interior nor know it was fake leather.

3) Wood grain beats metallic cheap looking unfriendly to the eye metal look interior Are we driving a Benz or a rusted old car?

4) C240 on the road looks like a 45k car no doubt. Any one who sees my car thinks its that price. Can c230 even come close to the look? NO

5) It is not a powerful car but once you get to know it and drive it for a while and break into the engine it drives nice. If I wanted power don't u think I would skip the c240 and the C230 and for the price get a Japanese car? The sedan feels good on the road, feels safer than the smaller c230 and for sure no one buys it for the power but for the comfort and luxury look and feel

6) The c230 roof looks so fake with that sheet looking material covering the roof. A sun roof is more classy. As if you can fit anyone in the back to take advantage of the back roof on the c230

7) The C240 will always maintain the image of a true Benz, the c230 cannot. It maintains the image of trail for marketing younger buyers.

8) C240 I think should be cheaper a little bit but worth every penny for the look, feel and safety. Besides safety on the c230 you can get a much faster car for 28k. No comparison at all.

9)C320 4 door is nice, but a waste of money. I do not need the speed and get the same look and feel. I6 feels smooth on both cars. But a noisy I4, no thanks. The c230 coupe is louder on the road and not as quite. When in idle you hear more noise.

10) C240, a true luxury entry car, C230 coupe, a trial at getting younger buyers addicted to the Benz product

In conclusion, the true waste of money is the C230 coupe with not much value to show for after owning it for 5 years. C240 will always have its image to sell.

amdeutsch

BMWs have I6s; MBs have V6s.

nevide

mwahahahaha. I just wanna laugh at those comments. C240 keeping its image in 5 years? Listen my friend, your car is going to worth nothing just the same as our coupe in 5 years considering it has no power and way...... overpriced. Just because you can't operate an european manual seat so you say seat is bad. Go back to your civic and ride that comfy seat. Truth is, 240 is an overpriced bottom line MB. Even worse than the coupe.

taylor192

1. I have sat in a C240, C230K, C320 sedans and all seem exactly the same as the C230K and C320 sports coupe - aren't the interiors exactly the same except the seats? With the panorama roof the sports coupe seems a little smaller to the driver and passenger, only the rear passengers notice the size difference. Do you sit in the back seta often?

2. My sports coupe has leather, although its not "full leather" nor is the C240 right?

3. Why does wood == luxury? The Enzo has a carbon fiber interior, and not many would argue against such a beautiful car, so why is some fake aluminum so bad? I think chrome is the most awful thing for luxury interiors, yet so many cars have chrome accents - in particular the C240.

4. The sports coupe chares the distinctive front styling with the CLK and SL, even the CL comes close. Those cars are far superior to a C-sedan and except for the E, are MB's heritage! everyone knows the SL is MB, and its great looking from the front that our sports coupes share so much styling cues.

5. No-one buys for power? if so then you'd be driving the 1.8L without the kompressor. Great gas mileage since you don't need the power :p

6. You obviously get sports coupe loaners with no options. The all black glass roof looks amazing! Ever seen a targo top Porsche? or Corvette? Porsche even has a similar design where the glass roof slides off onto the hatch!

7. See #4

8. My sports coupe has 2 fewer air bags, but all the other features of a C240, for a few $ks less. They are basically the same except for exterior format, sedan vs hatchback - thus the comparison is made! As for sedans for the same price as the C240, hands down it is the loser, the X-type, the 3-series, the A4, the G35 are all better bargains for the same $.

9. You are correct, I4s are noisier, yet the new 1.8L is really quiet, to the point of rivaling the V6.

10. Again, totally correct, aimed at younger buyers, then again, there is a whole A-class not offered here, so you are once again the NA stereotypical person who associates MB with luxury. Lookup the option list for the C240 in Europe, you can get it with a Taxi sign! I may drive a hatchback, yet you drive a taxi!

hokusbenz

Have i not read that the coupe has the same amount of interior room and rear seat legroom as the sedan? Even more because of the hatch?

Buellwinkle

1) C240 is a bigger car, has more room and is more comfortable to sit in and cruze in. I have driven the c230 for a couple of days and I can honestly tell you that there is no comfort in that car. Figuring out the seat postion alone is screwed up.

The C230 actually has the same exact leg room in the front and a little more in the back, so if you want the most room the Coupe is better, obviously not as easy to get to because it's a 2 door. The seat position can be adjusted the same as the c320 if you get the power seats, there is no cheap power seat like the C240 which I find stupid, half power, half manual.

2) I would take fake leather over any cloth any day. Leather of the C240 feels real. I have yet to have anyone complain about my interior nor know it was fake leather.
I go out of my way to buy a car with cloth, not that easy in the 25k+ catagory. To me leather/vinyl is trendy and is not comfortable, slippery and get's very hot in the summer, very cold in the winter. Yes, I admit it looks/smells better but that quickly gives way to comfort for me.


3) Wood grain beats metallic cheap looking unfriendly to the eye metal look interior Are we driving a Benz or a rusted old car?

Funny but until the coupe came out only the most expensive AMG MB's had metal trim. Wood is an option on the coupe, one few take it because it looks cheap and fake.


4) C240 on the road looks like a 45k car no doubt. Any one who sees my car thinks its that price. Can c230 even come close to the look? NO

That's silly, I can say my car looks more like a $50K CLK but it doesn't. The C is the bottom of the line in the U.S.


5) It is not a powerful car but once you get to know it and drive it for a while and break into the engine it drives nice. If I wanted power don't u think I would skip the c240 and the C230 and for the price get a Japanese car? The sedan feels good on the road, feels safer than the smaller c230 and for sure no one buys it for the power but for the comfort and luxury look and feel

IMHO, people buy the C240 because they don't want to pay the extra 4K for the C320. What's funny is the C240 is now considerably cheaper than the C230 sedan because nobody wants it so it's got the biggest incentives, check carsdirect.com if you don't believe me.


6) The c230 roof looks so fake with that sheet looking material covering the roof. A sun roof is more classy. As if you can fit anyone in the back to take advantage of the back roof on the c230

I don't like any sunroofs and look for cars where I can order them without, never use them, not worth the hassle, too much buffeting. I prefer a convertible. So to me they are both bad.

7) The C240 will always maintain the image of a true Benz, the c230 cannot. It maintains the image of trail for marketing younger buyers.

The C240 has always been known as the entry level MB in the U.S. for people that can't afford the C320.

8) C240 I think should be cheaper a little bit but worth every penny for the look, feel and safety. Besides safety on the c230 you can get a much faster car for 28k. No comparison at all.

Big time incentives on the C240 now, they can't sell them. Used values are plummeting.


9)C320 4 door is nice, but a waste of money. I do not need the speed and get the same look and feel. I6 feels smooth on both cars. But a noisy I4, no thanks. The c230 coupe is louder on the road and not as quite. When in idle you hear more noise.

The C230 sedan costs more than the C240 by about $2k because of incentives on the C240.


10) C240, a true luxury entry car, C230 coupe, a trial at getting younger buyers addicted to the Benz product

C240 is a taxi cab in Germany.

In conclusion, all the C-class cars are the bottom of the line, nothing special about c240. Doesn't mean I don't like my car, I just know what it is.

Lynn

Ok I have read all your comments and some people did agree with me. Let me analyze where I get my opinion from.

1) C240 is a bigger car, has more room and is more comfortable to sit in and cruze in. I have driven the c230 for a couple of days and I can honestly tell you that there is no comfort in that car. Figuring out the seat postion alone is screwed up.

The only difference in size is the coupe has 7" of the trunk removed.

The coupe has 0.4" less front head room, 1" less head room in the rear. That is to be expected. It is a coupe. I would expect that a sedan with a sunroof has less headroom.

As for leg room the coupe has just a little more for the front passengers and exactly the same in the rear. Front shoulder room is 0.3" less in the coupe and rear shoulder room is 0.4" less.

Not much difference, huh. On the other hand, MB is not trying to pass off the coupe as a five seater like the sedan. I carry four good sized adult to lunch on a regular basis. I have yet to hear a complaint about the room. There are minor complaints about getting in and out, but that happens with every two door car. Try putting five large adult men into your "five" seat car.

As for the seats, I figured out a comfortable position in about 30 seconds. I am 6'1" with a long torso and 235 lbs. I guess you just have to be smarter than the seat.


2) I would take fake leather over any cloth any day. Leather of the C240 feels real. I have yet to have anyone complain about my interior nor know it was fake leather.

I have the premium leather which means the seating surfaces are leather, but the rest of the seat is MB-Tex. MB-Tex is excellent vinyl, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like leather.

I don't know why people complain about the cloth other than the pattern. The cloth is actually more durable than leather. It is warmer in winter and cooler is summer. It vastly out sells leather in all markets except North America. Even S class cars can be purchased with cloth.

Once again, it is a sports coupe. It is intended to be driven more aggressively than the 240. The cloth keeps you *** in place better than leather when driving is a sporting style.

3) Wood grain beats metallic cheap looking unfriendly to the eye metal look interior Are we driving a Benz or a rusted old car?

I'll take the aluminum trim over the plactic coated cheap wood vineer in the sedans. It is easier to maintain and looks more sporty. It is a sports coupe. Wood may be more appropriate in the 240, but I would still rather have the aluminum.

4) C240 on the road looks like a 45k car no doubt. Any one who sees my car thinks its that price. Can c230 even come close to the look? NO

I have had people guess the price of my car at $50k to $75k. Few people believe me when I tell them the actual price.

The sedans are among the most generic looking cars on the road. The coupe may not be the best car esthetically, but it does stand out. It does get stares. Mine has attracted a crowd in the parking lot at work several times when it was new. The 240 which is often parked near me gets ignored. The M3's, C5's, W210's, S2000, Mini Cooper and even Miatas get more attention.

Sorry sedan owners, your cars do not look like $45k cars, or even $35K cars. They look like most of the other cars on the road which are cheaper.

5) It is not a powerful car but once you get to know it and drive it for a while and break into the engine it drives nice. If I wanted power don't u think I would skip the c240 and the C230 and for the price get a Japanese car? The sedan feels good on the road, feels safer than the smaller c230 and for sure no one buys it for the power but for the comfort and luxury look and feel

Since the coupe is the exact same car as the sedan, how is the sedan safer. They get the same scores in European crash testing. The coupe might even be safer because it is a two door with small openings in the side, and it weighs more than the 240. The sedan has a rather floaty unpleasant feeling on the road.

6) The c230 roof looks so fake with that sheet looking material covering the roof. A sun roof is more classy. As if you can fit anyone in the back to take advantage of the back roof on the c230

You might want to point this out to owners of the new E's and SL's which have similar roof. Please go back and reread my comments about the interior sizes of the two cars. My friends are quite impressed with the roof when they ride in the back.

7) The C240 will always maintain the image of a true Benz, the c230 cannot. It maintains the image of trail for marketing younger buyers.

I really don't know what to say here other than the first sentence makes no sense. If it means what I think it does, the only proper response is bull****. They are the same cars built on the same assenbly lines at the same time by the same people.

8) C240 I think should be cheaper a little bit but worth every penny for the look, feel and safety. Besides safety on the c230 you can get a much faster car for 28k. No comparison at all.

Once again, the sedan is a generic car. Looks like a Hyundai from some angles. The coupe feels better because of the firmer seats, stiffer shocks and more aggressive tires. They are equally safe. They share the second highest score ever given in European crash testine.

9)C320 4 door is nice, but a waste of money. I do not need the speed and get the same look and feel. I6 feels smooth on both cars. But a noisy I4, no thanks. The c230 coupe is louder on the road and not as quite. When in idle you hear more noise.

I6? It is a V6 and a **** poor design at that. A 90 degree V6. That is what GM designed when they wanted a cheap V6. The just left off two cylinders of a V8. MB did the same thing, for the same reasons. MB just likes to call them "modular" engines. 90 degree engines are out of balance and are very rough. MB uses the expedients of a split pin crankshaft and balance shafts. The should have designe a proper 60 degree engine. Then they compound the error with a three valve engine. While theory states than a three valve engine should get more power, better fuel economy and lower emissions, in real life it doesn't work that way. What MB has is a V6 that is less powerful and much thristier than its competitors.

10) C240, a true luxury entry car, C230 coupe, a trial at getting younger buyers addicted to the Benz product

With the advent of the C230 Sport Sedan, which is quicker, more economical, better handling and better looking, not to mention cheaper, the C240 is redundant and importation should be stopped.

In conclusion, the true waste of money is the C230 coupe with not much value to show for after owning it for 5 years. C240 will always have its image to sell.

In conclusion, the C240 is an overpriced, underpowered gas guzzler. All it has is image. Without the star on the hood, no one cares.

Rotty

I still cant believe people are still arguing about this. The original post was just stating he didn't like how the car was. People here act like it was a personal attack on them. The cars are too close to compare. Basically, one has 2 doors, and the other has 4 doors. If you build a C240, and a C230, on MBUSA, with the basic options that are at my dealer for the C230, C1-C4-C5-C7, cd changer and tele-aid, it is only about $3000 cheaper. Both cars are almost identical, neither one is a gas guzzler like posted above. The C230 is 23/32 and the C240 is 20/26. I understand the C230 is a little faster, but I didn't buy my C240 for speed, I needed the 4 doors. I look at it as if you are going to talk bad about a C230 or C240, you are talking about your car also, because they are too similiar. Just my opinion.

nevide

ouch..... And the pros hits with the facts.

tsberkey

I've only had mine for three months, but I can't imagine NOT having the roof! It is my favorite part of the car, also.

Tim

BlackC230Coupe

Obviously you have never sat in a Mercedes with REAL FULL LEATHER, my CLK430's leather looks real and feels real, the C240s looks very very fake. Sit in any S class or SL or CL, and compare the leather with your vinyl. The feeling and smell will amaze you. And if your friends think its real, they have never seen real leather.

I guess all the AMG models have ugly trims in your eyes. I was seriously laughing when i got my c240 loner, the wood trim looks SOOOOO fake its not even funny. Flick it and hear how fake it is. At least when i touch the birds eye maple wood trim on my CLK430 it feels like wood and not plastic. I would rather fake alluminum ANY day.

My c230 gets ALOT more looks and compliments than my CLK430, the c240 is very regular and plain. I cant imagine it doing the same. It also looks far from a 45k car.

BenzOwner02

Man, its funny seeing most of you get pissed off. I mean hey, the C230 was created for people who cannot afford a true Benz after all. Sorry, had to throw that one in. All your points mean nothing. The fact is for me personally I sat in both and the C230 sucked. The C240 feels great and looks better. That's for me. I was expressing my opinion. I made a mistake about the V and I engines. The C230 seat knob on the side had to be the dumbest thing I have ever seen. Picked up my friend in it today and he started laughing at the design. For Lynn who stated people thought the c230 costs 50k, were they high on drugs? NO way on earth that small looking coupe looks near 30 even. Get real please. I can appreciate comments and come backs but not when you tell me something so dumb im sorry. For the person who stated I should have bought the c230 4 door, well when I bought my car that car was not around. Other wise I would have bought the c230 4 door. My issue is not with the engine, its with the body style and comfort. You can try and validate the c230 coupe all you want but the honest fact is a true Benz feels and looks better than a normal hatch back. Again this is my opinion and do not take it personally. By the way, leather is leather for gods sake if u get that so called real leather you are ripping your self off. Save your money please, its not like you are sitting naked in your car to feel the major difference Also Taylor, I would rather drive a stylish taxi cab than a punks hatch back any day

Any way, I did not create this thread to fight with people. I think you all add good knowledge this forum with a lot of experience. But please keep in mind I stated what I felt about the car. Plus, don't get so mad, its not like any of you created it. You just bought it for the star like I did, only difference is mine looks more real though

im messing with you

Matt230K

But then you would have aluminum trim.

BenzOwner02

True Matt, I can not have that metal cheap look, I guess I will have to take it to a place and have it redone in wood

Matt230K

Well, at least get some nicer wood then. Or else you'd be better off keeping the aluminum.

BenzOwner02

True, I am considering buying the C230 sedan. I like it. I just wish it was a supercharged 6 and not 4. But then it would be an AMG

tsberkey

I know you were joking, but for me, it's the truth. There IS no other car in the MB line that I could remotely justify buying at this stage of my life. Maybe when I was young and single, but not now! I am sure this is true for a lot of us C-Class owners.

I will, however, disagree with you on the look of this car. I have never (NEVER) been in a car that draws as many looks as my coupe does. The reason that you don't feel it has the look of a very expensive car is that you are very knowledgeable about MB products, as well as many other car lines. If you ask the average person who sees my coupe what it would cost, their opinion (which is based on what they know about MB and what they see in my car) would be WAY above what you say it is. I know that I did, before I discovered that it stickered at just under $30k. Sometimes, our knowledge of a subject pre-disposes us to believe something that just isn't true.

Either way, we both love our cars and if the worst thing all of us have to worry about in our lives is this issue, MAN ARE WE SPOILED!!!

Tim

c class 279

Benz Owner, if you're a true Benz owner, why do you have the entry level model? Why can't you afford an E or S?

c class 279

Nevermind...

Outland

Gee, I wanted to reply to this guy's utter bull**** opinions, but Lynn and Buellwinkle have already nailed this guy perfectly.

Ban this guy!

taylor192

I have people almost daily ask me how I can afford a $50-60K car, and why? cause the SL is probably the most recognized MB, and if you compare the front facias of the C sports coupe with the current SLs you see a lot of similarities. Parked with only the front half visible, you'd even mistake it for a CLK. You'd never mistake a C sedan for an E sedan.

From the rear, the C sedans look like Mazda Protoges, just IMHO, don't take offense.

I also love how you take leather to be such an indication of luxury, when many SLs are sold in Europe with cloth, and that's a true $100K+ (CND) car, not a $40K (CND) car, as well as the defining car for MB, not as you put it, a "true Benz". I said it before, you are such the stereotypical North American who associates MB with luxury, heaven forbid if MB ever decided to sell the A or V-classes in NA!

I want a MB van!

You bought a "true Benz" cause of the status, its more than obvious in all your comments, glad to know you like driving a taxi cab :p You can pick me up anytime, start the meter when you get here!

BTW. we're not starting a war, we're merely pointing out the flaws in your arguments to point your arguments to the exact one you should be making - you want a status symbol and the hatchback cheapens that for you - sorry to say, the third lowest priced MB, the C240 which was previously the lowest priced, is not a status symbol to many.

vadim

This sounds like SoCal240 with a lower IQ, that one would have figured the seats controls, at the very least.

BlackC230Coupe

When i was buying my C coupe the salesmen was willing to give me a C240 for the exact same price. I chose not. Your C240 is in the same entry level category as the C230 coupe.


Oh and i guess i cant afford a Mercedes so that explains why i have 2.

Buellwinkle

It's just his snobbery, he perceives that the C230 is not good enough for him, we're not worthy

I enjoy driving my $7,900 brand new pickup truck, I'm not embarrassed by it, don't bow or give way to C240's that costs 4 times as much so I certainly don't feel inferior to anybody when I drive my C230, not to my boss in an M5 or his boss in his new S55, certainly not to a C240. Maybe when I was a kid I worried about that stuff but it's certainly not a priority for me now. If you like your C240 and feel like a big shot driving it, enjoy. I bought my car despite the fact that it was an MB, not because of it and dare I say, the free car washes and muffins.