RandyG

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...t_drive_review

mwaldron

I should have waited - the interior redesign looks STELLAR! Guess I'm with "the trolls"

Sportstick

How does C&D let MBUSA get away without even mentioning the loss of the manual transmission? Poseur auto enthusiasts!

SCguy08

I want want want want want that steering wheel.

Acapulco Bill

Steering wheel? Get one now out of the current Honda Accord, see photos. Cant believe how similar, I thought I was looking at the interior of my daughter's Honda.

Tjdehya

lol, I feel the same way.
If you think those wheels look the same I guees you should have just bought a Civic instead of a C300.

SCguy08

Okay, Bill..to ME...those don't look alike at all. The 2012 c350 steering wheel is totally different than my sailboat steering device that my 350' has. The new one is extreeeeemly c63'ish. Contoured..flat bottom..smaller..ect ect.

mwaldron

I don't think an E would even fit in my garage.

Besides I don't need the space as I don't have "5 kids to feed"

victort

is it just me or does the car look like it's sitting a lot higher now? the wheel gap looks bigger than ours right now too

Acapulco Bill

@Tjdehya: Similar. Just the wheel. The driving experience between the W204 and the Honda Accord are worlds different of course. Two days ago my wife preferred I drive a 400 mile round-trip with a hundred winding hair-pin turn roads through the Sierra Madres not in the C300 Sport, but in the Accord.
Twelve hours later, (six driving hours) when we got home, she admitted that the W204 was more comfortable and quiet "but maybe not at twice the price", as the Honda's MPG is 30% better for instance. On some stretches got the Honda up to 120 MPH, however to drive the same road with the C300 it feels like the proper speed, comfortable, spirited. The Honda was nervous and required concentration, besides the huge NOISE. So very different vehicles for sure.
But the new 2012 steering wheel? Really very similar to the Honda.

victort

i agree with you Bill regarding the steering wheel, but it looks much nicer with the silver arrow on it lol

Acapulco Bill

As for the rest of the 2012 W204...
PROS - the whole look of the inside is truly a step up. The review states the seats are more comfortable. However my current (2010) Euro2 spec Sport has the wide-bolster seats that may be offered in the US. Although the current Luxury model seats in the US Luxury model are comfortable than the new Sport seats.
Also says the 2012 drives better, we will see.
The real clincher is the C250 1.8L twin turbo that produces 210 torques. With 30% better MPG, its tempting.
CONS - One would wish that Mercedes went their own way on the headlamps, now MB is trying to integrate the BMW Cats-eye ring with the Audi LEDs. I dont think it works, the non-LED (pre 2011) W204 integrate their design better.
The chrome strip on the rear bumper looks cheesy, like a Jetta a few years ago. VW has since eliminated the rear chrome strip.
The front bumper-air dam looks very 3-series, the AMG trim Sport bumper has more beauty. IMO. I am sure most will prefer the new 2012 look, and thats OK with me.
And WHERE IS THE TWIN TURBO 300 or 350? The W204 always fails against the BMW on this count.

Tjdehya

I was not talking about the E did you read the article... I guess not. Here is some context for you.
Perhaps you need to tale a better look at the 2012 wheel. Flat bottom, notches for grip, I am not even going to mention the material. You are generalizing the wheel so much that I generalized your car and compared it to a Civic. We all know that it is a 10x better car but 2012 wheels is 10x better than what you posted so if you think they are the same maybe you should be driving a Civic.

Here are two blonde chicks... they are the same... they are both blonde.

mwaldron

Geez - didn't mean to berate you! Too me it sounded like:

It’s so much nicer inside that we actually feel a little bad for customers who already bought a C-class.

lol, I feel the same way.

Meaning you feel bad for anyone who bought a C-Class.... since you own an E-class? Anyone who buys a Honda (I've owned quite a few) must be a poor hobo retard with this logic... E-Class owners: WINNING, C-Class owners: TROLLS living under a bridge

Hence my snarky reply.

And yes I did reading the f$%*#ing article!

Acapulco Bill

There you go, Tjdehya. Is one NOT a chic, or was it just a trick question?
Anyway I understand some gut-wrenching reactions as I sat in an E550 and wondered if I made a mistake not paying TWICE as much for an E than I paid for the C?
Going a step backwards to the Accord, perhaps the W204 is not TWICE the car for twice the price, somehow I felt the E550 WAS twice the car... Congrats on your ride.
By the way, the Accord (not Civic) wheel is as nice as the wheel in my C Sport, feel-wise.

K-A

Get a bigger garage.

I gotta say, M-B should be chastised by W204 owners here. We all know that a WELL DONE car only gets little tidbits here and there done to the facelifted models. Enough to make it look fresh, enough to get some people to want to trade into it, but not so much that the pre-facelift looks old and tired, and not so much that it's a slap in the face to the people who bought the car just 1-3 years ago. I mean, in Mercedes terms, 1-3 years old is BRAND NEW, right?

I've always said it, but the W204's interior is an embarrassment and joke. I've had lots of seat time in them, and I don't think I ever left without leaving my stomach on the passenger side floor (....vomit). It's just not fit for a Benz, even an entry level, at all, and it especially doesn't match up to the beautiful exterior.

Now they've fixed it, and it looks appropriate for what it is, its finally gone from practically worst-in-class to best, which is where a Benz should be when it comes to interiors. I've NEVER seen such an extensive interior redo, especially not from a Premium brand, which is basically M-B admitting fault.

That's my rant and I'm sticking to it. Really unbecoming of M-B to put something out there that was so "broke", it had to be fixed. Not fair and kind to the owners who buy into said brand.

mwaldron

I would definitely like to get a bigger garage!

I do enjoy my crappy W204 MM interior compared to my previous 335i without iDrive. It was like looking at a ****ing wall of orange LCD lights.

To each his own I suppose. No regrets here... Guess I'm just a troll-hobo with a C

Acapulco Bill

A poem:
"Again I agree
With a man with an 'E'."

4maticbenz

Well, at least the C class looks cool on the outside, looks better than the E in my opinion, C class looks youthful , purposeful; I personally do not like the E class interior either, or the S class sedans. I think the best interior is in the SL model. Mercedes should model the interiors around the SL model for all it's cars, and keep the look of the C class and S class on exterior.


http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...:1&um=1&itbs=1

4maticbenz

And WHERE IS THE TWIN TURBO 300 or 350? The W204 always fails against the BMW on this count.[/quote]

I agree, but then there would be no need for the C63

MBnewby

I agree with you 100% on the interior, I cannot believe they spent 7 *** years developing the new C class and they couldn't come up with that 2012 interior until now!!! I've always thought my C's interior had kind of a rental car feel with the plastics and just wasn't very exciting. Over time I had convinced myself that it was just typical Germanic no-nonsense styling...whatever makes u feel better right? Guess I was right all along, the interior sucked and MB even agrees so now they completely redesigned it...yea... Now I have to wait till about 2014 to afford a used 2012 C350.

The new turbo 4 is intriguing though and 7.0sec 0-60mph isn't too bad since turbos always feel faster than they are. With $4-5 gas on the horizon maybe I'll go for a new turbo four in a year.

4maticbenz

Now THIS is a Benz!!!!! I wouldnt care if the interior was sh*t, give me the street appeal baby!!!

K-A

I agree. Fortunately, the plus points on the C outweigh the negatives, and the interior is the only real weak point to me (performance is more or less not an issue to me with a car like this, so I don't get hard on it in that aspect).

I think you do have a point with German no-nonsense styling, as the interior quality in a DURABILITY and tactile/lasting/fit & finish sense is superb. It feels like you can beat the crap out of it, and it'll never look worse than it does (doesn't seem possible anyway ). So in that sense, it is a "Classic M-B". On the other hand, M-B interiors have always had some sense of Luxury, and pizzaz thrown into their "no nonsense/teutonic/rigid/secure" theme, and the C is lacking in that in a major way. I find it to have no refinement, or plush/premium/luxurious qualities, which is where the facelift comes in. The facelift draws better on the classic-to-modern M-B theme, or solid nonsensical teutonic themes, with some classic blended with modern, stylish elements.

What's disturbing is that this isn't M-B going above and beyond, to show how serious they are about the C. Rather, it's M-B admitting fault, and doing the unthinkable: Putting a WHOLE NEW interior in a mere facelift, an interior that is simply very much appropriate (if not much better than appropriate, taking to waay to the top of its Class), which is how they should have done it in the first place.

4maticbenz

I think Mercedes kidnapped the BMW 3 designer and told him, give us a new dash!!! LOL!!!! I see simularities, styling ques.

4maticbenz

Also, lets not forget about Mercedes fake *** Tex leather, what the hell is that, in a $40k plus car??? Use real leather, shouldnt be an option, most C classes are over $40k if you add anything to them, Mine was $48k and still has the fake leather, lmao!!! I couldnt find one with real leather in it, though it is optional. But for a $40k plus car, should be standard.