I recently drove the C300 with the 6 speed manual transmission for a test drive and I have to say I love the feel of it! The clutch was very easy to learn, and it was very forgiving for the "special spot". Just for S's and G's I stalled it in the lot and it didn't even jolt.

When shifting gears, I have to say it was a very smooth shift from gear to gear and the throws felt like cutting hot butter with a knife. The RWD is nice as well, living in MN I've driven a RWD pickup for 6 years so no issues with that (with all season tires, mind you).


In August I plan on moving to MD because of a job, so can anyone tell me how the winters are there compared to MN? I am sure it is probably nicer

I really like the C300, because it has the same HP (~230) as my pickup which has a 4.7L V8 so I will get better mileage than the pickup for sure (I only avg 12.3 MPG with the pickup).


I plan on ordering sometime in November or December. Tell me your thoughts about it as well!

Welcome aboard! Good see another fellow Minnesotan! The 6spd is certainly smooth. I wanted more power so I picked up a the 350 and got stuck with the 7spd auto.

On a site note, this was my first RWD car in 15+ years and was quite hesitant coming from FWD and AWD vehicles but I must admit the ESP in the car is simply phenomenal. I never felt out of control or like it was going to spin out going around corners and turns. I should mention that I did get a set of of Blizzak snow tires installed from the dealer for winter. But I had them taken off in early March and as you probably recall we got plenty of snow after that this year and it still was easy to drive in the snow.

Good luck with your decision! Which dealer are you working with?

I have the 7 speed auto/4 Matic and love it, I hate a manual in traffic...ugh!

Suucks to know this about the manual only because i oh so much wanted to get the 6 speed manual but of course there were none on dealer's lot and i do not have the patience to wait 4 to 6 months to order soo auto it was Thank you though for the thoughts

I love the manual transmission on this car. I had a 6 speed Nissan Altima before which was nice (2005 SER) but I went to the dealer on a Friday after work just to see the new MB C300 and they had a Red 6spd manual on the lot so I figured lease on Altima was up in 4 months might as well give the C300 a spin.

I drove the car and fell in love, the transmission is so smooth and really makes the car handle very well and made me instantly fall in love with both the 6spd and the RWD.

I wanted a gray one and the dealer said they could get a 6spd manual the next day (saturday) in steel gray which was my only requirement.

They bought out my Altima lease 4 months early and I ended up with a new Benz because of the transmission. That test drove made me fall in love and I couldn't go back to my old Altima...no way.

3 months later I still love the transmission and the way the car drives.

I can also answer your question on winters in MD....I live in North Virginia about 15 minutes from Maryland and the winters here are not bad. I got the 18" AMG wheel upgrade, but have not yet driven in winter but I'm not too worried.

Last winter there were prob 2-3 days where there was over 3" of snow on the ground. Most of the times there were just flurries to 1" the state freaks out, schools get cancelled, and traffic backs up.

The drivers here are the worst part of winter, not the snow...I am from NJ where we don't get crazy winters, but if 6" of snow hit the ground we still have school....here if there is over 2" schools close no questions.

I would not recommend the 18" AMG wheels though if you really need to be able to drive in the snow...with all season tires you will be fine though.

I got the 18" rims with summer tires because in my job I have the flexibility and time off that if there really was a snow storm I could work from home or just take the day off. If I needed to be able to drive in the snow I would have stuck with the standard 17" tires.

Niiiceeeeee 6 speed manual in steel grey ....wow you got the exact car i was looking for uughhhhh luuucky you !! Congrats !!

Love the 6speed esp when down shifting before turns you can feel the car gripping on turns.

Working with Feldmann imports, Don Harvey is the best! I plan on going at the end of the month to order it and if they wont go with my price, I will walk.

they dont sell manual mercedes over here :/
have to settle myself with the 7g autobox
in fact there is good and bads, autobox suits my daily driving traffic jamingness, if i wanna have fun, itll have to be on a proper sports car

Not to poop on everyone's party here, but I don't think the 6MT is that great. I mean, it's not bad. In fact, it's pretty good. But I've had better is all. The shift action could be a bit shorter (purely personal preference) and the shift engagement could be a little smoother.

Having said all that, however, I wouldn't have had it any other way. The MT does help with the pep in this severely underpowered car (for its class and against its main competitors), and I've only owned manual transmission cars thus far, so I wasn't going to start on automatics just because I was going MBZ. Just not as entertaining or... fulfilling?

6MT all the way.

I've driven manual transmissions for about 4 decades now ... getting old, I am.

My C is an auto, and for much of my driving, that's fine. My Jeep is manual, and it's what I enjoy driving. Better said: the C is sedate, gets me where I'm going, works right (mostly); the Jeep engages me because I'm rowing the gears, being involved in the driving. Autos (for me) lead to falling asleep at the wheel. Oh well, good thing the crash protection is great ;-)

There's something here, I think. The C, auto, just isn't a fun car. Sure it looks okay, but with all the spit and polish, the refinement, the good looks, the car doesn't engage. I'm suspecting that the 6-speed would change that considerably. Maybe that's what's been missing so far?

Oh well, maybe on my next car, in about 150K miles, eh?

I still have my W203, but the 6-speed is really great. It really changes the character of the car for the better. I would definitely specify this feature again.

I haven't driven a c300 manual... but I drove my friend's EVO IX five-speed and I told him it was too soft on the clutch pedal. He is a autoX and karting junkie and he loved how my car was very responsive on heel-toe shifting. My brother's Z4 manual also has a clutch that is way too soft. And the throws... they are way too long. There's something about a stiffer clutch pedal that I believe gives better feedback on clutch engagement and drive wheel/road contact.

That said, I love the raw feeling about Nissan's 350Z shifter... it feels like what a true sports (race?) car should feel like.

Manual transmissions in general feel more involving and more rewarding than a slushbox. They also keep you alert more as you have to monitor more things in your car (not in the way fiddling with your Ipod controls on your Nav system while talking on the phone).

Cool, this is all good feedback, and thanks atumn for PM'ing me about MD and congrats on the 09 C300. Tomorrow is another test drive day!

I have the auto and I couldn't be happier. When you have knee problems and my recent right arm shoulder surgeries there is no other option. I bought this car as a Sport Luxury car not a Pure Sport. Having the option to manually select gears gives you that feeling of control when you want it.

So recently I re-test drove the C300 Manual, only this time pushed it to its limits...or so I thought. The car had a rev limiter, and everytime I approached 4-5k RPM in any gear the power to the engine was cut off and the car would stall until it was in the "safe zone". I was wondering if this is something that is put in place by the dealership and then removed, or have any of you run into this issue? Thanks!

I only read OP's post. The 6 spd is very nice. I haven't experienced a rev limiter. On my last trip, with in-town driving, I got 29.8 MPGs.

Yea, maybe something is wrong with the car itself? I mean it was at the dealership, but I mean that can be dangerous when downshifting to another gear if you are climbing a hill, or want to pass someone.

I choose a C300 over a C350 simply to get the 6 speed manual. I don't regret it.

+1

C300/C350... both slow. I'd rather have the MT.

I've never had this problem. My car pulls all the way to redline and THEN hits the rev limiter. Kinda abrupt and jerky there, but definitely not at 4~5k.

I agree....the rev limiter should not kick in before 5k...I am able to push my car to redline without noticing any engine lag or reduction of power

i also went with the c300 over the c350 for the 6 speed