JamesKim

After seeing the face-lifted C class in person, I came to the conclusion that:

I love the inside of the new headlights (The light strip part especially), but not the shape of it. I wish they would've just done something similar with the current shaped headlights. I REALLY don't like the new headlight shape, makes the car look like a pissed off old man instead of sporty. I like the LED strips instead of the fog lights, makes the car look classier.

I like the center button area better than the previous version, but not the new display. Not a fan of the dashboard area for the screen, especially since it looks so much bigger than what it needs to be for the small display. There's too much empty space beside the screen. I love the pop up screen for the pre-face lift model, I wish they would've kept that and just made the button area better. Maybe they could've made it like an iPad style instead with a larger display. I just don't like how it connects to the dashboard with so much empty space between.

The new sport steering wheels completely destroy the old ones without contest. Super jealous about it.

The tail-light LEDs is a nice modest upgrade.

Overall I think it is an okay upgrade, but I seem to be the minority here as everyone seems to love the 2012.

Whats your opinion on the 2012? Do you think its worth the upgrade?

JaCe88

Agreed the headlights look a little less beautiful but then they look very modern which I do like.

My favourite would be the steering wheel and the in-dash screen. Agreed the centre console screen, whilst beautiful and high resolution (at least in my C250/COMAND system), does have that black mesh on the left and right. It doesn't exude the same class that say the iDrive screens had even if you opted for Business rather than the Professional screens (i.e. the smaller ones even though the case area was still the same size).

For me, the facelift W204 is my first Mercedes and C-Class and I liked it. That being said I also liked the old C Class but after sitting in the new one and driving it (in terms of the bits and bobs you actually touch; not counting the actual driving feel) I thought it felt like a step up. It feels alot closer to the E Class in terms of interior now.

pcho

I love all the the improvements about the 2012 car. I use to own the preupdated model.
I love the improve front spoiler, the improved head lights, the improved sports steering, the improved GPS unit and more importantly it now downloads all my contacts from my iPhone and that's is the most important change for me.

Perry

olive1

I love mine...

itsLoonie

I'm in the same boat. I feel the same way. Love my pre-face lifted look better. Interior? I may even like mine better still. Haven't seen the new interior in person so I guess I can't compare.

Sportstick

I'm going to horrify some with this. I just had a 2012 C300 loaner for our E (a B service), which I brought home and parked in the garage next to my 2009. FROM THE EXTERIOR, the differences are minor, unimpressive, and make me think of the expression when dealing with an overly picky person...."picking the fly poop out of the pepper". A little change in a headlamp shape, neither better nor worse, and the recipient of far more attention than it's worth.

Now, the INTERIOR...that was a significant change. The new interior is more luxurious-looking in the instrument panel. The older interior was more typically teutonic German, a bit spartan, but also more sporty/less plush. They did a great job shifting along with their apparent strategy away from BMW sportiness to "small E Class" luxury. That happens not to be my preference, but they did what they seemingly set out to do quite well. Along with the loss of the manual trans, just another reason for me to give up on C Class next time around...it's feeling older and older.

On a dynamic basis, I would be comparing an automatic 4MATIC with OE suspension versus my manual, rear wheel drive, with a year on new antisway bars, so I'll just say I drove it home, parked it, and drove it back when the E was ready...no desire for more than that.

dcjwlee

New headlights look pretty good on the coupe, especially with the lighting package, but they don't seem to stand out as much on the sedan. Maybe because I only see plain jane ones without HIDs

New tail lights are nice.

The new interior dash set up is the biggest drawing point for me.

JamesKim

Agree with most of what you've said, especially the "modern look" of the new headlights. I just personally don't like the shape of it. I wish there was a mod to make the pre-facelift headlights look more modern like the new ones.

I haven't actually sat in the new one, just saw the interior from the outside, but the material seems to be a step up.

Yeah, I like the new instrument panel. Looks much more high quality, the current ones look rather bland. Would be perfect with an IPad style screen instead of the current screen integrated into the dashboard. Is the S class like this too? I don't like the empty space around the display.

JamesKim

Wait, the C class doesn't do this automatically? I don't have my car yet, I still have to wait a week. But even my Hyundai does this automatically.

Also, does anyone know if the 2011 model has the updated GPS software?

Sportstick

I did not say I liked it. I said it looked more luxurious which may be good or not, depending on one's taste. I prefer the sportier, less ornate look, which I guess you consider bland. But, "bland" is not the opposite of high quality. I don't think either one has an advantage in quality, as the fit, gaps, seams are excellent in my 09. Each to their own.

victort

the only thing i wish my 2010 had from the 2012 are the taillights.

Glyn M Ruck

I think the facelift is a vast improvement all round including the headlights as long as you have full BiX.

The interior is night & day better. It should have been this way from day one & with full leather.

MDMercedesGuy

While I didn't think it was that big at first, the facelifted car looks a lot better to me. I say this owning one with Bi-Xenons and 18" wheels - so that throws it off quite a bit from the average C that someone (seemingly leased, at least around here) off of the lot.

Your regular C with 17" wheels and halogens doesn't look bad to me - but the headlights do look a lot less aggressive than the pre-facelift.

My boss has a 2010 C300 with a black MB-Tex interior. The difference is night and day between his and mine - even in things like the shape and feel of buttons on the dashboard.

JamesKim

Really? I didn't realize they used completely different materials for even the interior buttons. I thought the current one was already high quality with pieces of ceramic for feel as well as scratch protection.

alsyli

They don't; at least, they don't in mine (2012 US C250). The radio buttons are a different shape and they might have some high-gloss trim underneath; I assume it's basically the same faceplate they use in the E-class.

The interior plastics covering the top-half of the dash and the doors look to be completely different (and vastly improved), and the ambient lighting (behind the door pulls on all 4 doors) is an elegant touch. The new trip computer display is fancier but reacts much more slowly.

PilotAlan

Agreed.
The interior is MUCH better,
The steering feel in greatly improved,
The steering wheel a much, much better,
The audio/nav screen is vastly improved over 2011
It seems the base model has nearly everything from the Premium in 2011

2012c350

This is my first MB so I have nothing to compare it to. But I will say one thing. Every time I happen to glance over at the door lock I shake my head at how cheap the plastic 'plunger' looks. You can easily see the molding seems. They look cheaper than any car I've ever been in.

acr2001

The interior is night and day for me. I wouldn't buy the pre-facelifted C because of how much I hated that interior.

I think the new headlights are very nice, although I also like the old ones quite a bit.
The non BIX headlights on the 2012 are ... a problem. Going back to standard reflector lights was a bad move for a car in this range.

The tail lights, as simple as they are, are a huuuge improvement to the look of the vehicle. From behind, it takes it to the next level and makes it look like a much more expensive car VS the old lights.

MDMercedesGuy

Buttons for things like heated seats are changed on the 2012 versus the earlier models. They are now the aluminum look buttons versus the flat black plastic ones.

JamesKim

The audio navigation screen looks very similar when it comes to the display, except that one is integrated and one is pop up. Well it looks the same compared to the 2011 model vs 2012 model anyways. I think I heard that the 2011 model got an update to the COMAND system before the face-lift came. Or maybe it is different. I still like the pop up screen better than the dash-one. Too many empty spaces around the display in the new one.

I am a bit curious about the steering feel. How is it better? Is it softer? More sporty?

PilotAlan

The COMAND screen may be similar, but the 2011 Audio 20 has the small, low res screen. My understanding is that Audio 20 in the 2012 has the same screen as COMAND.
Very nice.
The steering has much better on-center feel than the pre-facelift, and just a better overall feel. It also has better feel in cornering (not significantly better, while the on-center is MUCH better).

The wheel feels thicker, looks much better (the switchgear looks great), and the ergonomics at 9 and 3 are better. Closer to the AMG wheel (not as good as the AMG, but about halfway between the 2011 wheel and the C63 wheel).

JamesKim

I'm actually super jealous about the new steering wheels. I wonder why they're so damn expensive.

pcho

James, with the pre-facelift model, at least for the Australian model, you have to get your dealer to upload your contacts from your sim card using a sap module. Alternatively you can manually input the contact details into the car memory. Yes it use to annoy me. However with the new facelift, late 2011 onwards mercedes made a big leap forward and all the phone contacts uploads automatically via Bluetooth.

Perry

MDMercedesGuy

The Audio 20 does not have the same screen as COMAND. It's actually a 5" screen versus the 7" high res screen that COMAND uses. The difference is subtle, but it's there.

That said, it is light years ahead of the old low res screen.

JamesKim

I'm guessing this means the pre face-lifted C class doesn't have caller ID either. Oh well. I'll be getting this car delivered next Wednesday.