mctwin2kman

I thought we could tell if it was real leather or not by the double-stiching? My 2003 is double-stiched everywhere, even the door panels. I am just curious that is all Lynn. Is there some diference between the 2002 and 2003 leather on the coupe?

TXTiger

This thread is funny and sad. Funny at how worked up people get over opinions - just remember opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one.

It's sad that people are denigrating other Mercedes. People buy cars for a variety of reasons, hence car manufacturers make a variety of cars for those people (gone are they days of Henry Ford's Model T that came in any color you wanted as long as it was black ).

I bought a C240 and don't find it to be underpowered, but it's not a rocket ship either. Faster does not necessarily equate to better. On the other hand the leather and wood do not necessarily equate to better either. I would have loved to have bought a C320, but it didn't come with a manual at the time (one of my requirements), and the C240 was the only sedan that did. If I could have waited for the C230 sedan I'd probably be driving that.

My favorite car to drive isn't my C240 or my fiancee's 3 series (or any other car I've test driven), rather it's my 1968 MGB. It probably doesn't have more than 100 hp, but it's the purest driving experience bar none. If I didn't think I would get run over buy semis and SUV's on the road, or melt in the Houston summer heat - it would be my daily driver.

Lynn

the MBTEX IS real leather. it's clearcoated leather.

You are mistaken, David. MB-Tex is vinyl, just like BMW's leatherette. You are welcome to check the hole in the passenger seat of my car to confirm that. The so-called premium leather in my car is clearcoated.

calling the mb v6's *****(lynn - not your exact words) is fair and its not. mb could have put more research into designing a "proper" 6, but, imho, the 240 is silky smooth, mileage has gotten much better and i don't think (last time i looked) is much worse compared to 3 series, a4, etc.

MB took the cheap route to getting a V6 and got a cheap V6 which is inferior to competing V6's

saying the 240 looks like any other car is not accurate. it has the basic mb design traits. in my mb mag that mb cdn sent me, there was an article outlining how the c is made to be the baby s in looks. not my words, mb's words. i think in some way we can find similarities btwn all cars from a looks perspective.

Yes, the C sedan is a baby S. Both are bland and boring.

I don't think the 230 will kill the 240's sales, not here at least. there is still prestige in owning an mb with a v6, no matter what you think of the engine. some people just don't want a 4 banger, and they could care less how many ponies it has, and whether it has a supercharger. a 4 is a 4, and nothing will ever change that. 240's will appeal to traditional benz buyers, while 230's will grab the younger crowd that want a benz with a bimmer ride.

I never said that the 230 sedan will kill sales of the 240. Some people will buy into the myth that 6 cylinders is some how more luxurious than 4. In a few years it won't matter anyway. MB's will be useing fuel cells. Besides, everyone knows that real luxury cars have I8's or V12's.

and if the 230 is so great and the 240 is a POS huyndai with generic looks, why is mb not bringing the coupe back? i can't remember where i read that, but i did see it somewhere. the current gen is the first and last of the coupe.

I don't where you got the idea that the coupe is being dropped. It isn't. Several people have already ordered their 2004's, including some for Euro delivery. I never said that Hyundai is a piece of ****. A friend owns one and considering the abusive way he drives and the lack of maintenance it get, it is a remarkably reliable car. Don't forget that a substantial portion of Hyundai is owned by DCX. The Elantra is a cousin to the C class.

Lynn

To the best of my knowledge, premium leather on 203's has always meant that just the seating surfaces are leather. The bottom and side are vinyl. The backs of the sedan seats are vinyl and the backs of the coupes seats are hard plastic.

The sides and bottoms of the seats in my car are most definitely MB-Tex. Not only does the hole in the bolster prove it, but it feels and looks different. The texture of the vinyl doesn't match the texture of the leather.

This reminds me. I need to make an appointment with the vinyl repair guy to fix the hole.

Lynn

I don't know why people are *****ing about this thread. This thread is fun

David N.

OK OK, let me clarify. the seating surfaces and middle of the backs are clearcoated leather. clearcoated leather is REAL leather with a thin vinyl coating over top of it. the side bolsters and the sides of the back are 100% vinyl. maybe they changed it in MY03. In MY02, i can tell a substantial difference btwn the middle of the seats and the bolsters. i know people who have even used leatherique on the middle portions of the seat and it absorbed into the leather through the holes in the vinyl clear.

As for styling, I'd take a bland s over a bangled 7 series or imitation mb (aka lexus).

the huyndai reference was pure coincidence. forgot dcx had a piece of that pie. please don't tell me we are all driving hyundai's! not for what i paid!

as for the coupe not coming back, i wasn't referring to my04. i meant when the W203 is replaced with the next iteration of the c, their would be no coupe. like i said, i can't remember where i read it, but it kind of floored me. i didn't think mb would give up on the car so quickly. maybe in the usa (most americans don't like three doors), but not the rest of the world (euros like three doors - very popular there).

as for the engine, i don't know what to say. i'm not technically astute with what is good and not good in an engine. i know what i have, and i like it. i've driven the bmw i6, and i like it allot, but not enough to make me cry about my car.

but the bottom line is, can't we all get along? i love my car, you guys and gals all love yours. let's form a big circle, hold hands, and sing a song.

what do ya think?

Guest0001

Lynn how can you say an S class and C class sedan are generic and boring??? maybe to you. they are the most beautiful cars in the world.

you think a C coupe is not generic????? everytime i see one i want to lower my window and barf. with its "butt"ugly design.

i respect all your comments on this board, except for this one, come on, that just stupid.

Lynn

How can I say that the C sedan and S are generic and boring? Well, it's easy. The C sedan and S are generic and boring. I didn't say they are ugly. That would be any BMW designed by Chris Bangle.

The coupe may not be the best design from the rear, but it is not boring.

truelove

i like all the MB designs. i'm a sucker for MB now. and i really love the back of the coupe. what's wrong with me, guess i'll never know.

the worst design on an MB i think is the front of the current SLK. not that it's ugly, it's just old and outdated, which is why they're changing it i guess.

the SL is definitely the best design.

Guest0001

yep your right, its not boring or generic, its disgusting

Lynn

David, I have read that not only will there be a CL204, but it will be launched almost a year before the W204. And it will be sold in the US. Of course, the media is often wrong.

Why can't we get along? Because there is no fun in that.

Lynn

It's not that bad. It was bungled, not Bangled.:p

Guest0001

im just curious Lynn, but for the people who thought your car was around $50,000, what exactly were they driving? kias, saturns?

Lynn

There are all kinds of cars in the parking lot from an SL to several Foci,even a Prius, but I have yet to see a Kia. Over 3000 people work here. I don't know who drives what except for a few close coworkers. I have twice seen groups of 10 to 15 people standing around my car right after I got it. The comments about how much it cost came from those groups. Also, the guards at the gates made some comments about $50k or more.

trench

I concur with Lynn about most people having no idea of how much the Coupe (or any C-class, really) costs.

You have to remember that 90% of the American public doesn't buy car magazines, doesn't hang out on car-based internet forums and sure as heck don't pay attention to how much most cars cost.

When I first had my car, I remember coming across a guy in a parking lot checking it out. He was driving a brand new Honda Accord V6 Coupe. He liked the Coupe, but told me he could never afford one. When I told him it probably was only a couple of grand more than his Accord, he looked more than a little bummed out. I'm sure it never occured to this guy to even consider a Mercedes.

Most people, when they see a Mercedes, think that it costs more than they can afford, and simply put random price tags on them.

amdeutsch

Kids, Kids, Kids.

Now please repeat after me. These are examples of REAL MBs



and this here is a REPLICA MB

Outland

The company I work for has about 4000 people in my area, and I frequently travel to our other sites, and YES, people DO THINK ITS A VERY EXPENSIVE CAR. The cars in the lots range from lowly Hyundais to riced Hondas, from old Corvettes to new Corvettes, from boring midsize Sedans to equally boring midsize luxury sedans... My boss drives a Taurus...he was shocked, and then impressed afterwards when I drove us to our last meeting in the Benz. His Boss drives an ES300...he asked my boss why I could afford a Benz, and he had a Lexus The head of engineering here has a TT, he was impressed with the C-Coupe...get the picture yet?

Its a sweet ride...and an absolute steal for the money.

Some peoples online opinions about this car have been so soiled by our small ***** automotive media...its just bull****.

Guest0001

definitely agree with you

i remember when the C320 sedan first came out in 2001 and my friends had one of the first ones off the lot.

i absolutely did not know jack **** about any kind of car. i mean nothing at all.

when he came and pick me up to go out, i thought it was $70,000 car.

i also get this all the time from people who dont know the first thing about mercedes or cars in general.

a lot of people think my c320 costs about 60,70 thousand dollars. i love it its a baby S class

thats the great thing about mercedes, people think you have to be a millionaire to own one

tsberkey

I'm a lowly school teacher, and I was told in no uncertain terms that I wasn't helping our negotiations for a new contract by buying such an expensive car. If I look in my parking lot, I can find no less than 5 cars out there that cost more than the $24K that I paid for my coupe, which even includes a Pontiac , but not one person in my building has a clue about that. They all think it's a very expensive car and I must be selling drugs on the side to be able to afford it. :p

Tim

Tai230K

lol... a teacher selling drugs... that would be priceless...

tsberkey

Think about it... it's a perfect racket. I have an unending supply because I have all of my student's locker combinations!

BenzOwner02

Ok everyone I have been away for a couple of days. I had no idea 7 pages would be posted after my last comment funny stuff. tsberkey I agree with you that most people do not know what the true value of the Benz's are and therefore may see our cars being way expensive. But it is interesting on how if someone's opinion differs from yours they are automatically called ignorant. That's a shame that most of you can be so narrow minded. A better question is isn't it more ignorant for someone to call someone else ignorant based on an opinion that was formed on testing the car personally? Figure than one out guys. The bottom line is I drove both cars and that's my opinion. Like it or hate its it's mine.

tsberkey

Please understand two things:

First, ignorance is simply the lack of knowledge on a subject. It is not an insulting term, nor should anyone take it that way. For example, I have never seen a Rolls Royce in person in my entire life, and have no knowledge of what they cost, other than when I read in the newspaper that some celeb bought his new one for $250K, or whatever. This makes me ignorant. Not stupid, not mentally challenged, simply ignorant.

Second, the people of whom I refer to as being ignorant are the people who know nothing of MB cars. By definition, they ARE ignorant. Not because of their opinions, but because of their lack of knowledge. BTW, the people that I was referring to are my co-workers, some of whom I am VERY close to. I would never refer to them in an insulting term.

I am the last person that is going to get online and start blasting people that I have never met and probably will never meet. I have far more important things to do with my life than that.

Tim

MarkL

Lynn, I think we agree, but are using different terms. I agree, the "side" of the seat is MB-Tex. When I said "side bolster", I meant the non-perforated sections of the seat that contact your body when you sit on the seat. I can tell you that if you have double-stitching around the edges, the "total seating surface" is leather. If you have single-stitching (like my C240), only the central perforated sections are leather.

My driver seat cover was replaced due to a faulty seat heater. The first time they replaced it, they ordered the wrong one -- it was full leather. It had the double-stitching, and I could see a slight difference in texture of the "side bolsters" between that new cover and my passenger seat. I pointed this out and they realized the error and ordered the partial leather cover so that it matched my other seats.

Matt230K

We know what ignorance means. You don't have to tell us. What do you think you are, a teacher?