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We all have our own vehicle choices, and some of you still have the 204, some of you are getting rid of it soon, and/or some of you plan to keep it indefinitely, and if so, the question is:
What would you/will you miss the most?
1) Legendary reliability - the thing has been bulletproof for me.
2) Easy to fix stuff. I'm no mechanic, but I just replaced the front brakes and I could do it myself! E.g. cheap maintenance
3) The damn thing just does so well in the salt/snow. It won't rust. My post FL 204 has no subframe cracking issues that happen on the pre-FL. It seems all post FL vehicles are fine. The ONLY thing I am now starting to get as I exit the 7th winter is surface corrosion on the exhaust components, but that's normal.
4) Port fuel injection (sigh, I will miss this).
5) Very easy to maintain interior. Coming up to 7 years now and hardly any wear and tear on the vehicle! (exterior AND interior - and I have that MBTex stuff too).
#1 to #5 have made the 204 a joy for me to own, and a vehicle that I will miss, that's for sure!
The 204 is probably the last very well designed MB and after, what was it like 5 or 10 years of development, I can clearly tell the folks at Stuttgart did a hell of a job on this car!
1-Reliability
2-HOLD feature
3-easy to fix/ DIY
4-zero rust and easy to keep clean
5-I like the interior design it still looks like a new car and when the car is cleaned it looks better than most new cars.
5 things i hate? its hard to name one but
I wish it came in a Wagon here in canada!!! lol thats it i just wish i had that little extra space.
I echo everything you guys mentioned already and would like to stress on the HOLD feature in traffic/traffic light and the hill assist feature which is also so simple yet so useful and comfortable.
I had the chance to try the 4MATIC system on snow/ice twice now and on both occasions things went without a hitch. It felt like driving on dry asphalt. Very impressed by 4MATIC.
I echo everything you guys mentioned already and would like to stress on the HOLD feature in traffic/traffic light and the hill assist feature which is also so simple yet so useful and comfortable.
I had the chance to try the 4MATIC system on snow/ice twice now and on both occasions things went without a hitch. It felt like driving on dry asphalt. Very impressed by 4MATIC.
Ah yes you reminded me of a hidden feature that I have come to adore!
Dyno mode!! Unlike what is publicly mentioned in the forums, power steering indeed does still work but abs and Esp are both completely off. Oh man it's a hell of a lot of fun in the winter!!!
The only downside is the lack of ground clearance though. That's a serious pain in my neck o the woods 😭
Pretty much everything you guys mentioned and especially the driveability. Without it, all the others are useless imo. You can hop into many cars and just not feel the need to drive, not enjoy the manueverability, the lightness of the rpms. Our car certainly is no supercar; however it's really easy to turn it into a very sporty vehicle. This car handles 200km/h weekly like a champ (summer) and requires almost no effort to drive so well (although the wider wheels/tires are the best upgrade).
It's no wonder that combining this, with the 6.2 engine, has owners keeping them long term.
I will keep mine all the way...
Bought it new and felt it was too firm compared to my other Japanese cars. More I drive it more I feel it is nearly perfect. I'd describe it is very comfortably firm, super stable... I am out of words.
Things I don't quite like are minor for the 2011:
a) Flip up/down 7" display, rather have a fixed one;
b) Rear door pockets are too small and the door armrest could be a bit higher;
c) Not showing which gear it is at when driving; have to manually shift down to know what gear I was at;
d) trying to find what else...
During the recent cold spell here last week when it was -20F for a couple days made me appreciate how well the car seems to be put together. Mine is 2012 and it have 91K miles. Even in that extreme cold it still rode and drove fine with no squeaks or rattles. Started right up the whole time too,
Something that I would miss when I sell the car would be how if you just tap the accelerator lightly and quickly you can get the car to downshift, kind of like heel and toe shifting. Much more satisfying when trying to pass a car, for example, than mashing the throttle and having to wait until the transmission catches up. If you get good at it you can do it pretty seamlessly.
What I won't miss is how this car does not have gridlines for the back up camera. That to me is beyond inexcusable. That and the lack of parking sensors being standard.
During the recent cold spell here last week when it was -20F for a couple days made me appreciate how well the car seems to be put together. Mine is 2012 and it have 91K miles. Even in that extreme cold it still rode and drove fine with no squeaks or rattles. Started right up the whole time too,
Something that I would miss when I sell the car would be how if you just tap the accelerator lightly and quickly you can get the car to downshift, kind of like heel and toe shifting. Much more satisfying when trying to pass a car, for example, than mashing the throttle and having to wait until the transmission catches up. If you get good at it you can do it pretty seamlessly.
What I won't miss is how this car does not have gridlines for the back up camera. That to me is beyond inexcusable. That and the lack of parking sensors being standard.
Only the Canadians get those standard! Ha!
I installed aftermarket camera and have fake lines (not on OEM screen, but mirror). I also agree about the pedal tapping.
My car battery died at work (it's non OEM but very good overall) but it came back a few days later. Bought a duralast at AutoZone but returned it.
In fact, I may have just hit the speed I mentioned about 10 minutes ago lol.
I love how when it's cold the heater doesn't blow cold air. It waits for the temperature to come up before it will start to blow.
I would miss how the car wants to carve the corners as well. The 4-matic is also pretty sweet.
Also, when I say it's cold, we had -39 degrees C today. I took the Focus to work so I didn't abuse the benz. -39 C
Last edited by Kelvin Bellrose; Feb 5, 2019 at 09:24 PM.
What would make this car more perfect is a classic grille that is compatible with Distronic Plus (along with the hood star). Anyone know if this is possible and if so, have the part numbers. I hate this sports grille.
None. Similar to how this W204 is better than my previous car in every way, the next car will simply continue the pattern. FWIW, I currently have around 116k miles (187k kilometers) on the odometer, so 39k more miles (or roughly 2 years) before I can claim the 1st-tier Mercedes high-mileage award. Only after I achieve that will I pull the trigger on the next one, since that was the original plan when I first placed my build order.
Last edited by edgalang; Feb 10, 2019 at 12:24 PM.
What would make this car more perfect is a classic grille that is compatible with Distronic Plus (along with the hood star). Anyone know if this is possible and if so, have the part numbers. I hate this sports grille.
I don't have part #s, but I bought an OEM hood star for my W204 on Ebay for $30. I have also seen the Lux grille on there for around $150 (not sure if they are OEM though). I also prefer the look of the Lux grille and standing star. I am going to be replacing my sport grille with a lux grille soon.
My car wears a hood emblem and luxury grille as well. Both sourced on EBay at net cost of 0 after selling my sport grill.
Drove an S class the other day and interesting to think, that's about the only MBZ model you see any more with a hood emblem. Nice to have the top of the line look ;-)
Last edited by Tom in Austin; Apr 28, 2019 at 08:45 AM.
The looks, inside and out. This is subjective, but this is my favorite period of MB styling.
Reliability. I've had the ESL/EIS issue once and had it fixed at the dealer, but now there's a cheaper aftermarket solution. Other issues are small and well-documented on this forum (i.e. brake light connectors melting, parking lights on when car is off, roof rail covers' clear coat peeling, entertainment system dial doing nothing when turned).
DIY. I do just about everything on this thing. Very simple.
Daily drivability. It's quick enough, comfy enough, and effortless and relaxing to drive.
Durability. My car hasn't been garaged since 2011, and it still looks amazing. No rust, paint is in great shape, and headlights are still clear.
Now, if only I could transplant a 3.5L M272 and a 6MT into my car...
Bothers me that the garage door thing only works when the key is in the slot and turned....
Also the buttons shouldn't be on the mirror, because you can move the mirror on accident....
My favorite thing are the buttery-smooth 302 horses from the M276 engine! And despite all the plastic parts, the car's fundamental structural solidity and beautiful paint finish.
I had two Lexuses before this car, and wonder if I'll go back or maybe try an E or S for my next car. I live in a very congested inner-city location, but sure do look forward to someday having a big spacious luxury car!
1-Main body strenght-Excellent
2-Paintjob-Super Excellent-I will miss this.
3-Interior=Excellent and uncluttered dash in black, road stands out in front of you.
4-How you limit the speed & view on speedometer of it-Excellent. All vehicles should have this mandotory.
5-Spares availabilty is good.
6-I doubt I miss the engine. I realise the M272 is not the worse one. No excuses after 25Million Km tests.
7-Won't mis the dealership concept.The immaculate clothed assistants and their ignorance not a match.
8-Won't miss the EIS & outsourced steering lock functions, uncalled for.(Dangerous engineering failure-It could leave me stranded and get us killed where I live)
9-Sort of like the dynamic suspension on good tar roads, but won't miss it for gravel roads(Engineering-Failure-Munroe Shocks & electronic controlling it).
10-This 25Million Km tested car made we walk without warning, and thats not on. I keep it paid cash for it, but back to the Japanese for reliability.
Last edited by Moto_Guzzi; Apr 30, 2019 at 11:32 PM.
Bothers me that the garage door thing only works when the key is in the slot and turned....
I actually like this feature just on the off chance that my car needs to stay in the driveway overnight. People with blatant disregard for other people's property would love to break a window on the car to be able to open the garage and then they are in your house. Mirror placement of the buttons onthe bottom of the mirror has taken some getting used to but I have yet to accidentally "adjust" the mirror when pressing the button. But, that is just me and my own opinion.
That's a good point; but, the handhelds for garage door openers that sit in cars carry the same risk.
You just have to put your fingers both on the top and bottom of the mirror, but not used to that lol.
With my previous car, if I had to park in the driveway I’d take the garage door opener with me. And that is a risk you run by parking in the driveway and leaving the garage door opener on the visor.
I haven’t tried the top/bottom technique to push the button. I programmed the middle button to open my garage. I just push it and no troubles. I could see the accidentally mirror move if you were to use the outer buttons. In any case, only minor gripes.
I have owned and loved many cars. But none as much as my W204! Good and bad, this car is hands down my favorite so far.
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