timmys4

Ok so we have established that there are no memory seats, but did we also lose the tilt power steering wheel?

i was at my daeler, confirm no memory seats, but forgot about the wheel.

does anybody know?

livestrongONe

Yup no power tilt . You have to pull it down and adjust it by hand and push it back up to lock it in place. They done away with it I am told to cut costs but it might be back as the New C class goes to many years of upgrades.

bobbyrab

hmmmm -- No memory seats, no power steering wheel and, therefore, I would think, NO automatic seat moving back or forward when you either insert or remove the key. My 2002 C320 Sport has those features as standard and I am really turned off that I could not get those features even as an option on ANY of the 2008's. I think I will keep my 2002.

Guffman

I'm surprised that we get these options like memory seats and power steering wheels in Australia, which is such a small market in comparison with the US. Maybe it's because, like Canada, we pay so much more for cars generally.

MB-JIM

I believe that everywhere, including Canada, buyers can get the memory features but not in the USA. There is something drastically wrong at MBUSA. At least the so called Luxury models should offer "luxury" features and that includes the 350 engines.

livestrongONe

I think its to do with pricing. No one in the USA would buy a C class for the prices that are in other countries because then we might aswell buy a NEW BMW or high end Honda. Its all got to do with the Market share which means we get less options and luxuries to keep the cost down and to compete with BMW IMO.

MB-JIM

I can understand the effort to keep costs down on standard items or even option packages. Things like Memory. Keyless Go, Parktronic and other items could be stand-alone options. If we are willing to pay the price we could have them. I paid nearly $5,000 premium to get the 350 engine on my 06 model. I realize that with that premium not many people bought the 350's. There are those of us who prefer the
C Class over the E Class and don't feel some marketing "experts" should decide we don't deserve certain options that are available in other markets. For many people in the US the C Class is an "entry level" car.
For me it is a "destination" model. Unfortunately, without the memory feature I am at the end of my Mercedes road after owning over 40 MB's with most of them being the premium models.

TEAShea

I agree with Mercedes on these issues. They are not worth the cost to me.

TEAShea

Chi-Benz

MBUSA should give us the OPTION to PURCHASE these stand alone features. They mark the price up and make a margin on it anyway so why wouldn't they give us the option to purchase? They make the money and we spend it. They are not cutting costs because they are not delivered with these features as STANDARD. They're option features. MBUSA is scared to death of failures of these electrical options, which I think they don't want to deal with the first year. They don't want to take ANY hits on their reliability...just my .02

QQQ

As US$ depreciated so much against Euro in the last few years MBUSA either has to jack up the price or decontent the car to make a profit.

QQQ

Gone with memory seats are the electric tilting wheel and easy entry feature. But even with memory seats in Canada it won't store last saved position in the key nor the seats move back in the easy entry feature (steering wheel still moves up). MB decides to take these out to boost initial quality.

bobbyrab

Well, it seems that these business "geniuses" who bought Chrysler only to get pounded by the merger are at it again. De-contenting the C class might boost initial quality but they also run the risk of losing long-term customers such as myself. I will probably now take a serious look at the 2008 Caddy CTS which I had no intention of doing prior to my scrutiny of the new C class.

GDawgC220

Decontenting the cars where they were available previous years for initial launch may be a good idea in the beginning to boost initial quality but when they decide to put them back in a year or two later when things are worked out, they'll be pissing a lot of the first w204 buyers.

Only if they could be confident enough (or just make them work in the first place) in their electronics to put it in the new models instead of taking them out and making it look like they're cost cutting by not even offering them. Common features should continue to stay in next generation cars replacing the older ones, not going backwards.

MB-JIM

It's hard to believe that seat and steering wheel memory would be a reliability problem at this stage of the game. They have had the feature for many years in most every model including the C Class. The electronic control module is probably the same as in the E Class. How can they offer it there if it is a problem?

QQQ

Door control module is a teething problem. The memory seats in my W203 often don't go back to stored position, and even the side mirrors change position while driving. This is especially true when the last saved position is saved in the key. I have my seat module replaced twice and door module once to finally nail the problem.

So in W204 the key no longer stores last saved seat position, radio and AC settings.

Germancar1

I'd have to say it is cost issue, but if enough people walk away or complain they'll be added for 2009 I bet. After finally getting in the car and checking it out, I miss the fold-down rear headrests the most. There is no doubt these things were nipped for the extra standard equipment present now. For 2009 I can see the new engines, keyless go, memory seats all being present, but for a price of course.

M

Dema

Maybe MB decided to step back from competition? Certainly 335 and G37 have more power, keyless go and memory seats. So even if MB had all this features, then less powered engine would turn off buyers anyway. So MB decided if a person is in MB, then he/she will buy it regardless of any features, just to have this badge and design.

stephensong

On my 2005 C230 I paid for this option and it was worth the cost. In the two years that I have owned this car I never had a problem with this option. I am sorry that it is no longer available. However, I have not allowed this to deter me from buying the new model.