I dropped off my C240 for its A service today and was delighted to see that my ride for the day was going to be a beautiful dark green E320 with a thou miles or so on it. The new car sticker was stuffed unceremoniously into its (tiny) glove compartment. I kept trying to pull out the lower fabric covered bolster beneath it thinking that it was the rest of the compartment but it never did open. The next thing that struck me was man..did that car smell good. Ive reccomended the MB Tex over the Full Leather before..and still would but did i mention how good that interior smelled!! Ok - although i asked the dealer to check some specific issues with my C i didnt bring up some of the things that have been bugging me - noise at idle, whine on acceleration, squeeling brakes, noisy climate control - well guess what - this new E had all those things...it must be a Mercedes Trademark! in fact, it made more of a distinct dieselly sound than my C did, and i felt more vibration thru the steering wheel especially with the climate control on where the wheel shook quite a bit. I guess i can tolerate these items in a $32K car but the MSRP on this thing was $52K. I also noticed that the Laurel wood was mismatched where the wood on the dash was significantlydarker than on the transmission console. The 3.2L engine pushed the E down the road effortlessly once it got moving and i think for its target audience it serves the car quite well. The steering is way overboosted but you can make quick turns without squeeling the tires. The E is also quite a bit bigger inside and out than the C but still feels nimble and tossable. I've sat in a new S class only once but the next step up in size would seem to me to be a van or large SUV that seats 7 - in other words i think the E is all the room you need in a sedan. The packaging on the "C" is very efficient as i didnt feel that huge a difference stepping into the C but then again I don't sit in the back seat where most of the advantage of the E is. The interior is badly due for an upgrade as it looks and feels outdated and the ergonomics are from the 80's (not that the redesigned C doesnt have some problems) but overall it is very comfortable and spacious. While i always thought the E looked like it was built for fifty year old doctors the lines grew on me (im in my early 30's). Overall it was a styling breakthru for MB in 96 and still looks handome now though it doesnt have MB's wedge theme which of course the W211 will get. I would seriously consider buying one of these handsome things used in a few years as an upgrade to my "modern" C as i think it will be considered a classic Benz in years to come.

 

Given that the current E-class is already dated (they are heavilly discounted in Europe right at this moment, E55 excepted), then I would expect it to be even more dated in a couple of years. Of course you could then find a real nice, rock solid and beautiful w210 with an attractive price-tag...

The C is a new construction, with all the up- and down-sides that comes with a new modern, hi tech car. I don't think I would consider trading a modern car (w203), for a less modern one (w210). My next car will probably be a w211 (in 5 years or so....)

Just my .02

 

I got a 2000 E320 as a loaner as well. My findings were that it was a big, heavy, by no means tossable overpriced machine. Yes, the interior was lush and the drivetrain smooth, a few more amenities but I just kept saying to myself I could buy two coupes for this! By the end of day 2 I was anxious to get the baby back so that I could really drive again. Maybe I'm just too young to appreciate it but I found the fun factor to be nearly non existant and driving should be fun to some degree. I think I'll try the ML that I passed on next time (just to check it out.) That is ofcourse assuming they don't have a CLK, I'll just ask for it- can't hurt!