FrankW

the MM sucks too.

kremou

Maybe..... but W203's second edition command APS and similar version of CLC,is still friendly than all for me.
Αlso the basic Audio 20 of W203 vs W204.

kremou

Next month I will be in Turkey for business.
I hope rent a w203 for a new compare.

soldier2304

Honestly, I love my C63, yet i would of never changed my C230 for a C300.

And i love my C230!

ChrisBrown

I'm in line with you Glyn. It has taken me a long while to really warm up to the W204. I agree about buying later in the model generation. Problems get sorted out, and features get added.

I've always liked the exterior styling, but the interior has really been a sore spot for me - as I love flowing, refined designs, not sharp boxy ones. That said, once the two-tone black/gray with wood became available, I started to like the W204 a lot more.

I also agree that you have to get this car almost fully loaded for it to be "complete."

Having driven a number W204's now, 2008 and 2009, sport and lux models, the W203 is definitely a more mature chassis, is quieter, more refined, and just built more like a tank.

If Mercedes can quiet the W204 down, and get the sport and lux suspension to not be so hard and be more compliant, then it's a done deal for me when and if I can get a new Mercedes. Even if the car was used, I'd buy it at that point.

I was a "hater," now I am an appreciator. :-)

kremou

The quieter, more refined, and just built more like a tank you mentioned,are main reason for many people wait facelift Mercedes models,which are always total car.For me fixing cheap interior quality of W204 is need too.

ismeto

Welcome to Turkey !

Try my W203 (CL203)

kremou

Thanks for the invitation
Unfortunately i will be register at all,to a business and travel plan produced by a supervisor of me,so no free time.The car will be sedan carry 4 person around Istanbul or Izmir,not know details yet.

kremou

Your comparison of quality between both cars, except power and AMG improvements ?

akbro93704

I agree. The W203, when it was refreshed in 2005, felt like a significantly more sound, solid, and well built car than the 01-04.

I just think the W204 feels a lot different than the 203. It feels lighter in the chassis, suspension, and in general how the way the car rides and handles. I guess this can be perceived as less "solid" of a car.

Glyn M Ruck

When the W203 was launched it was considered a less tank like car than the W202.

axhoaxho

My wife had a 2006 W203 C230 Sport and now have a 2009 W204 C350 Sport.

The first impression when sitting inside the W204 is that, there is a little more shoulder room. A welcome change.

Another impression of the W204 is its less body-roll when cornering. I think it is due to the new dual-damping suspension. I can corner with more confident, and the car feels more sporty.

May be it is just my feeling, yet it seems Mercedes does improve the chassis ridigity in the W204 -- from the moment closing the doors to driving over parking-entrance in angle with speed.

The Command / Navigation is probably the most welcome change to me personally. In my W203 Navigation, it has a little knob that goes only up, down, left, right to let me input the GPS destination. While in the W204, it has voice control that actually works very well. The bird's view mode and lane-assit in the GPS are also a nice plus.

The styling... it is really a personal choice. The W203 is more elegant, while the W204 design is more bold.

To sum up, which one do I like more? I draw equal on the styling and hardware of both; yet since the W204 offers more modern electronics in the cockpit, I have no regret trading the W203 to W204. That's just me, yet I won't vote against folks keeping their W203, that saves lots of money on a new car and many of the gadgets can be added aftermarket with minor inconvenience.

Regards,

K-A

I gotta say, any W203 owners should be damn proud of their cars. As it seems even a lot of people who have switched to the W204 (from the 203), seem to have been so fond of their ex car that they can't help but note its many strong/er points.

Seems M-B really hit the nail on the head with the design and quality of their later builds during their most recent prior generation, as even in some of the new E-Class reviews, nobody's able to say there's a night and day difference, or major leap in almost any non subjective category (aside from the natural upgraded and latest technology, etc. offerings).

ChrisBrown

I think that any Mercedes model should be able to withstand the test of time. If a model generation didn't earn lasting praise or appreciation, then that's a real shame. You should never have to be so happy to get rid of the old car because that generation was so bad. Instead, you keep the older Mercedes because you love it so much, and get another one to add to the collection.

eminnet

+1

stock05c230

K-A, I'm with you on this one. I shopped the W203's greatly before settling on the 2005 C230SS 6-speed. I'm a fan of lines that age well, and the new-agey, 'Art + Science' designs coming out of MB, Cadillac, Lexus, et al do not have that basic, organic appeal to them. Forgiving my obvious bias toward my own ride, the 2005 M271 is so much more fun to drive than the small sixes with automatics. The 2005 C230 SS brakes are incredible, out of the box, the engine is torquey, easy to cruise, and passes like a freight train at 70+. This particular car will still look/feel stunning ten years from now.

My feeling on W204. Love the new masculine nose... not so much the droopy tail-lights. The door panels seem hollow and brittle, much like a Dodge Charger RT that I rented a while back. You can hear the echo when you knock on it. Cheap feeling. I was shocked at the attention paid to the tactile components throughout the facelifted W203's I've driven. Very nice for an entry-level ride. Not so much on the W204. Tighter gaps in the panels, but more plasticy and hollow. Same things I disliked in cheaper Big 3 offerings and many Japanese offerings. Granted, a recent service trip had me in a C63... my door panel whinings leaked out my ear-to-ear grin once the gas pedal hit the carpet.

So I find myself watching TopGear obsessively to figure out whether or not I add a C63 or B7 RS4 to the stables... I guess I'm still a sucker for smooth lines? The 2005 W203 C230 SS is MB's best marketing mistake in years IMHO. It outclasses many cars 3X the price just sitting there, and is a great experience to boot.

K-A

I'm with you on that indeed. The new designs will be like the 80's designs IMO, reek of last decade when the new generations come out. M-B really found a nice modern groove and did the fancy and organic/smooth thing flawlessly, I personally think they should have stuck to that. These new designs have lost some of the pure elegance and detailed refinement, for a more quick-bang factor with the harder edged designs, which I personally don't think will stand the test of time as well.

Glyn M Ruck

+1 - Our family have both so I have no axe to grind - the w203 styling is classic & ageless. When you consider that it's 10 years old - you don't say to yourself "there goes an old Merc"

The 204 has lost some of the European flair - If you debadged it you would not automatically say that's a Benz.

K-A

I swear, today I was driving behind a W204 with a smashed rear taillight, you COULD NOT tell the difference between this car or a new Accord if you were behind it (the Accord has clear rear lights, and the smashed light on the M-B gave it a clear look). I actually wanted to take a picture, single out that small area, and post it up, asking people to guess what car it was .

I agree, I think some new M-B's are really losing the Euro look. And I also agree that there's NO way anyone would look at a W203 and think "there's a 10 year old car".... That's pretty damn impressive.

ChrisBrown

I've totally forgotten that the W203 is close to 10 years old. I guess only because I have a 2005, I'm forgetting about the 2001 model year.

Wow, it really doesn't look 10 years old at all.

RabbitDad

Perhaps it's my relative lack of experience with Mercedes Benzes (though both my grandfathers drove several ones in their life and I was brought home from the maternity in one), but I don't see how people can feel that the W204 is not 'built like a tank'. Perhaps it because of the US orientation of this forum (and US cars are perhaps more built to a price?) or because people who go online to talk about their car are often early adopters and will have had their cars from the early days when it was launched (which is a guarantuee for minor problems, whatever brand you choose).

However having just taken ownership of my S204, I can only report that the build quality is simply superb. Yes, there are some minor details in terms of the materials that are used, but this is a different thing than build quality! The interior for example simply feels as if it it was hewn from the solid (as a popular car journo has pointed out in the past). There isn't a squeak or rattle anywhere and even though I am extremely critical when it comes to cars, there is not a single thing in the way this car has been built that I can find fault with. Perhaps I will still find faults with it, but at this stage (couple of weeks in) those could only be details.

The only real bugbear I had with the car when testing it was the incredibly cheap finish of the door panels in the non-leather equipped versions, which also demonstrated bad build quality (try knocking on them when you get a chance). The answer for that clearly was to get leather seats, then the doors are in fact really nice and also don't have that hollow sound anymore when you knock on them.

It is true however that the W204/S204 feels very light on its feet, but that's just because it has such a very well sorted chassis in combination with steering and pedal feel that was obviously engineered to have a light touch. Mistaking the way a car drives with the way it is built is a pretty strange way to make such an assessment though.

The other talking point here seems to be design, but that is such a personal one. For me personally, the W203 never did it (or it had to be a bright blue or silver estate Avantgarde with big AMG wheels) and I found the contemporary competitors to be much nicer (especially the E46 BMW 3 series). The W204 on the other hand is, to my eye, currently the best looking car in its class together with the Alfa Romeo 159 (and that's saying a lot). But again, to each his own (when it comes to styling).

ayilar

Agreed.

My C350 does not feel too light, indeed it feels substantial. The C300 Luxury also feels just right, despite its lighter weight.

IMHO, the C300 Sport DOES feel too light -- I therefore wonder whether those who complain about the C300's feeling too light are in fact Sport model owners.

Glyn M Ruck

Chris, remember it launched in May 2000 in Europe - America had to wait 'till 2001 - Design was locked down by late 1999

justthinking

I thought c300 luxury and c300 sport weight the same and only weight about 60lbs less than the c350..

ayilar

Though the weight difference is indeed just under 60 pounds, the C350 does feel heftier than the C300. Perhaps it's because most of the extra weight is up front.

On the Luxury vs. Sport C300s, it's the feel that is different. To me, the Luxury version feels more solid. It's hard to explain or rationalize, as their respective weights are extremely close, but that's my subjective impression. YMMV