TRauppius

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just got back from taking delivery of my 2009 C350W at the Sindelfingen plant near Stuttgart, Germany.

In the delivery hall a very well informed technican spent about an hour explaining the car features and operation prior to our leaving on the Black Forest/Alps Rally trip. During this time I asked him what other changes or improvements have been made between the 2008 and 2009 model year runs. I will try and recall what he said (please be aware that this is for a USA specification car and some changes may not apply to vehicles destined for Canada or elsewhere). The changes are in resonse to owner feedback from the 2007 and 2008 models plus addressing some chronic minor problem areas.

1. The moonroof headliner is now fully opaque with a small section of diffuser slots near the forward edge. Formerly, the material was a semi-transparent black fabric. The glass now has a low emissivity coating on the inside surface.

2. Sound insulation, tuning, damping improvements to further reduce the already quiet interior. It is now quiter than a Lexus than the Lexus LS430 I drove a few years ago.

3. Door lock pins more securely attached.

4. Revised rear license plate mounting plate. Looks chromed now?

5. Upped recording/ripping space from 4GB to 6GB on Multi-Media hard disk drive. I think one was already well known. Ditto the "hooded" gauges.

6. Standard 17" AMG 6-spoke staggered wheels now have the new OEM all-season + snow approved tires changed from Continental ContiSport Pro 3 to Michelin Pilot HX on Germany build vehicles. No explanation why this was done was provided.

7. Improvements to moonroof and door window motor auto-synchronization.

8. Slight change to sideview mirror size, shape and LED positioning (for non-folding USA style mirrors).

That's about it.

khearon

Good to read about the moonroof adjustment. I had to take the wifes ride back after an episode of skipping while closing. She's all better now.

angeloxnet

i'm curious about #7
u know when the sunroof is slightly open upwards,
I use to be able to just "pull back" in the W203 and it would then close and open fully

but in the W204, I have to close it "down" THEN pull back to have it open fully.

drevil2k2

Thanks for the update, it's nice to take delivery 'at the source' along with the one hour rundown. Will see if my car (Canada) will have similar revisions.

wblynch

My next Mercedes will be a European delivery. It's always sounded like a fun experience.

maninblack

i think it should be

chilledbenz

Speaking of differences, those with 2008 C300 Luxury models or C350's take a look at the rear door trim and tell me if there is a spot in front of the door lever pull that looks like a speaker location (fake tweeter grill) I ask this because on 2008 C300 Sport models there is a fake grill, but while looking at the 2009 brochure it shows a Luxury model with wood trim there instead, looks much cleaner. I realize there isn't a speaker there on 08's and appears to be a short cut MB took, they decided at some point to fore go a real speaker in this location and went with the placement in the bottom of the door, then instead of making a new trim part they simple just filled in the speaker holes and left the fake grill. Its annoying I always seem to get someone telling me there isn't any sound coming from there, then I have to explain why my almost $40k car doesn't have tweeters where tweeters were obviously meant to be lol.

joshg1001

did anybody else notice that the 2009 C63 gets to keep its power folding mirrors? MB is so frustrating...just another cost cutting technique

nyca

Based on what 2008 owners have posted about mirrors that "trembled" and otherwise seemed loose while driving, plus issues of squeaking when retracting, etc - maybe its better the 2009 doesn't have them.