K-A

Agreed. I think if the 203 is a sign of anything, then the 204 should get a nice interior make-over, and the tails will definitely be addressed too. I'm sure something a bit more jazzy, and of course following in the L.E.D craze, will be bestowed upon its ****.

Yeah the interior noise and lack of dampening is something that bugs me with the 204. I took it on a 600 Mile round trip, and the wind seeping in through the rear windows was driving me crazy, as well, bumps, etc. aren't absorbed all so greatly, I'm sure much in the name of the Sporty characteristics the car goes for.

YANKYFN

Lol,cut me some slack.... no press pics of 203 available! But MORE than curious to see this post FL 203. If you have pics, please post one. The one I posted looked like my friends that I mentioned I hated. MAYBE this face lift your talking about brought it to another level that I didn't see. I was saying the same thing about the 203 that your girlfriend said about the 204! It's so funny how different people looking at the same thing have completely opposite impressions. keep in mind, I'm coming from a 335i coupe, so maybe that's why my eye is geared more for sporty looking interiors. I'm so bored of the bimmer. I'm excited to pick my 204 up next week ( Monday or Tuesday ) does anyone know when MB plans on the 204 face lift? I'll be pissed if it's only a year away........

Glyn M Ruck

Here is the Avantgarde interior. I prefer the birds eye maple Elegance interior but the more sport minded would not agree.

Glyn M Ruck

Here's the bottom of the line Elegance with Laurel & no Command. What went in a C180.

YANKYFN

I have to admit, not bad at all. Much nicer than the one my friend had. The 204 black on black is definitely more sport than polish but I am the demographic they were trying to attract. They succeeded, and so now they have us both! Lol........

K-A

. Agreed.

Glyn: Great pics and thanks for those Press pics, the Face-Lifted 203 really has an elegant interior for a car at its price point.

Yankyfn: Yeah you're spot on about your friends 203, the pre F.L was pretty cheap, the F.L was a huge huge improvement. True, you are the target demo, your eyes being trained to a Bimmer's inside will find a 204's more austere and hard/sporty feeling more at home. After all, the 3-Series is king of the segment, and I think M-B is gearing more toward "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".

I think the Face-Lifted C-Class should come in 2011 if I'm not mistaken.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes - 2011/2012 depending on market. They are already endurance testing the FL here & Namibia. The things have big black plastic mouldings bolted all over the body to hide changes & interiors covered up. I understand final spec is not decided though so I guess they are just trying things. The East London plant is going through another expensive upgrade & BMW announced this week that they are about to spend a small fortune upgrading their plant here as well.

C300Sport

Thanks for the pics Glyn. I think what always turned me off about the 203 was the horizontal line formed across the dash by the air vents. I never liked how it tapered off at each end....kinda like it got squished in there....
Anyhow, I guess if I don't like tapering edges, I am a natural for the 204 interior....

vcruiser

I couldn't stand the w203 without the amg sports package or the AMG version.

elegance models were dull to drive and looked like crap.

c32 was fun but didnt drive as well as my c350


w204 > w203

FrankW

sure....

RLE

My October 8 edition of Auto Motor und Sport arrived the other day and has a five page picture article of the 2011 models including the W204. Without getting into it too deeply, it says the updated C will be shown at the 2010 Paris Auto show next September as a 2011 model. Looking at a 3/4 front view of a wagon, I can see that the headlights are the same shape with the lamps inside rearranged a bit to accommodate the fog lights since a row of eight LEDs occupies the former fog light slots. Two things stand out, the first is that the outside mirrors have been changed again and are a bit lower at the inside end and there is a fairing between the door and mirror, looking a bit like the ones on the first version C mirrors. Still allowing the folding feature where offered.
The odd thing about the car is that it's a Sport model (grille, rocker moldings, rear bumper shape) but the lower half of the front bumper is from the Lux, without the protruding lip and with the two chromed strips. A restyled R-Class is also shown.

The big news is the new CLS which is astonishing. It looks like every panel below the window line is new, closely resembling the new E-Class with slightly different tail lights but is completely new, forward of the windshield. If this nose were on the new E, it would look vastly better.

Every model now will have the look, including grille, lights and front bumper of none other than a W204 Sport. Including the S-Class coupe.

Not the grocery-getter A-Class, thankfully.

There are long descriptions of some new DI engines with horsepowers (well, DIN) of up to 612hp. Looks like the C350 will be 306hp with the 3-liter at 252hp. There will be a twin-turbo 4.6 V-8 with 435PS, probably in the E-Class.

All of the cars shown have Stuttgart plates and the pix have some airbrushing, I believe.

BMW will have some catching up to do in another year or so, looks like.

RLE

Yes, indeed. Plenty of room for my cane and walker plus a case each of Depends and colostomy bags.

RLE

The W203's looks are very color dependent. And the stock 16" wheels were way too small. A white or silver car on the stockers has all the visual impact of a Corolla.

That's why I chose the high maintenance Obsidian Black with the Java leather interior and added 17" C36 wheels. Which paid off at trade-in time.

Glyn M Ruck

Yeah - that sounds correct, I must grab a copy of Auto Motor - and I'll bet that the US gets it early this time. You might remember that the US was late at the time of the 203 launch - 2001 versus 2000 in markets like SA & the UK. US is such an important market for Benz - especially with the volume seller 204.

I can't believe how here & Namibia are concealing the endurance test cars & this is only a facelift. They usually don't go to so much trouble. Maybe they have a surprise in store for us.

Out of interest is the mirror integration like our present CLC? These also fold. I like this treatment - I think it is very neat. See pic I clicked at the dealer the other day. Sorry for Nokia cell phone camera quality.

Glyn M Ruck

+1 - and you think the 16" were too small. All C180 & C200s came with 15" wheels - same pattern by model (Classic, Avantgarde, Ellegance) just smaller. Only V6 models got 16" wheels. Sport Pack cars got 15mm lower suspension & 17" wheels. Benz SA fortunately allowed some mixing & matching but standard wheels on all 4 Cylinder models were 15" with 60 profile tyres yugh!

I think the ideal compromise wheel for the 203 was 17" in 8 or 8.5J with 45/40 profile tyres dependent on size, for looks & comfort.

tivoboy

and don't forget the new convertible E coupe!

Glyn M Ruck

What tyre sizes were you running on the C320? It looks good.

RLE

No, nothing like that, thankfully.

RLE

..What tyre sizes were you running on the C320? It looks good....

225/45 & 245/40-17 on 7.5 & 8.5 AMG monoblocks. Same sizes as C36/C43/C32 used on the same dimension wheels. The W202 C36 wheels were interchangeable with the W203 (all models) although at one end the offset was 2mm different. Of no consequence.

Glyn M Ruck

You mean you prefer the non integrated look? Hmm

Glyn M Ruck

Thanks - pic makes them look wider than the standard C32 etc.

RLE

The C32 didn't use the monoblocks and so it's wheels didn't look as wide as they were.

The wheels were chromed because they were warranty throwaways and I got them for nothing. No one would refinish them in the original partly painted and clearcoated design so I had them chromed in Los Angeles. I also used them on my W202 C280.

RLE

Is that a South Africa joke?

As to the mirrors, they remind me of a forearm sticking out with a swollen hand. The thick black gasket is unsightly.

Glyn M Ruck

Only the pompous & arrogant would consider it a joke. I don't know anyone that does not prefer the integrated look & it generates zero wind noise.

kremou

Here there are all improvements of W203 facelift
http://www.mercedestechstore.com/pdfs/331_0405update/07-203faceliftprint.pdf

I think it's not right compare these changes, with pre lift W203 models against W204 models.

For my compare for W203 FL vs my W204 see my previous post.

Similar big changes will be in W204 facelift at end 2010.
Very known car magazine Auto bild had some internal and external photos and report,few weeks ago.
(Also new basic petrol Euro5 engines which reported too,are already available for order in Germany with cars with lite lift with LED front lights )