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I apologize that I failed to prop my car in front of my mansion and the lighting might not be optimal but I snapped this pic as I was walking out of the gym this morning...I beg for your forgiveness.
I just ordered the C63 and production starts in January. Trying to see how long the process usually takes.
Mine is actually being transferred from another dealership. It should arrive by the end of the week, but I'm out of town at the moment so I'm hoping to pick it up by the end of next week.
Seeking photos of any iridium-silver C300 Luxury models
This is what my C300 will look like: iridium-silver Luxury model, with the standard 17", light-gray wheels. This is the only decent photo (not illustration) I have located. I am looking for other photos that show this combination. I am especially interested in photos that show the wheels clearly, in sunshine. They can be from any source, from the web or from your own photography.
Several commenters on MBWorld have said that they find the standard light-gray wheels unattractive. I think that darker wheels will have an adequate contract with the light car body, but I have doubts. I don't want to pay $1800 for the optional wheels. I also don't want the 18" wheels with lower-profile tires. Each time I test-drove a C300, it was a dull, cloudy day. I also wasn't paying much attention to wheels.
This is what my C300 will look like: iridium-silver Luxury model, with the standard 17", light-gray wheels. This is the only decent photo (not illustration) I have located. I am looking for other photos that show this combination. I am especially interested in photos that show the wheels clearly, in sunshine. They can be from any source, from the web or from your own photography.
Several commenters on MBWorld have said that they find the standard light-gray wheels unattractive. I think that darker wheels will have an adequate contract with the light car body, but I have doubts. I don't want to pay $1800 for the optional wheels. I also don't want the 18" wheels with lower-profile tires. Each time I test-drove a C300, it was a dull, cloudy day. I also wasn't paying much attention to wheels.
Just noticed in my area over the past week that the discounts on Edmunds have been reduced pretty significantly. Whereas many dealer were offering at least $5-$6K off, now it's down to about $4K.
Yes, I saw yours. These wheels apparently change their appearance a lot, depending on the light. In some photos, they appear almost black. Your photos that show the wheels at all show them on a cloudy day or in shadow. That is how I saw them. It was a very cloudy day, almost at twilight. So I am looking for photos that show these standard wheels on a clear, sunny day.
Just noticed in my area over the past week that the discounts on Edmunds have been reduced pretty significantly. Whereas many dealer were offering at least $5-$6K off, now it's down to about $4K.
Anyone notice this too?
"The W205 Discount challenge!" is a very active thread. There have been 353 replies, many since you posted your comment this morning.
Isn't she a beauty? (with the wrong background I know...)
With a computer photo editor, it's not too late. Perhaps this photo-shopped version of your photo will show what I mean. (To download the photo-shopped version, right-click on the thumbnail and then left-click on "Save linked content.")
The easiest way to improve a background is to NOT photograph distracting photo elements in the first place. So those elements do not appear in your viewfinder, get closer or use a telephoto lens to narrow the picture frame. Or else, use a photo editor later (as I have done here) to crop those elements out of the photo.
In spite of the suggestions I made about photographing Mercedes cars in scenic or upscale backgrounds, there is nothing wrong with photographing them in industrial backgrounds. MBUSA.com does it all the time. It is simply more difficult. For example, MBUSA.com illustrations do not show oil stains on pavements. I photo-shopped your photo to show the effect of not showing oil stains. But simply pulling your car ahead by a couple of feet before the photo was taken would have covered the stains.
(The remark I made about photographing Mercedes cars in front of someone else's upscale house was due to concerns for security, in case the owner had an upscale house of his own. It is the same reason that some owners, whose photos appear in this thread, have blurred their license plates, to make them illegible.)
Your car is new only once. The dealership may be a poor location for photography. You may be rushed, and the sales representative has other things to do besides cooperate with your photo plans. But you may still want to preserve that memory of your experience at the dealership. I know that I NEVER want to forget the moment you see in the left-hand photo below! That photo was taken in Sindelfingen, at the Mercedes-Benz factory. Now that C-Class Mercedes sedans are made in the U.S., I will not get to repeat that moment, at least with my present purchase. Even if I could, I can never repeat the moment I first received the keys to a Mercedes or my first sight of the big doors marked "Ausfahrt" sliding open to reveal the streets of Germany outside.
That photo of me receiving the keys to my first Mercedes was made with a camera inferior to most present-day cell-phone cameras. I had to correct the tilt of the photo, crop out distracting photo elements in the background, sharpen the photo, and, most important, correct the weird color tint caused by the fluorescent lighting. We are are so fortunate that we can now correct our mistakes and turn what in the past, would have been bottom-of-the-drawer "snap shots" into decent photos.
(Full disclosure: my father was a professional photographer. I am not a professional, and I know that few others commenting here are professionals. But part of my father's career was as a press photographer for the local paper. When photos of some local disaster were needed for the next day's paper, the fact that when he had taken the photos, it was dark and raining and that the photo technology was of the Speed Graphic era was no excuse. We can not let adverse conditions defeat us.)
Your black Luxury model with the standard wheels is indeed attractive. I too have ordered a Luxury model with the standard wheels, so I am especially interested in your car. The standard wheels seem to change their darkness a lot, depending on the light. The standard wheels on your car look almost black in this light.
Original photo
Background reduced, oil stains removed from in front of car and from in front of the garage bay in the upper left corner
Incidentally, that orange in the headlight housing is a real eyesore. I assume it's a NHTSA requirement as it's not on the European models?
Thank you. Yes, one can't see much of the wheels. Also, I can't tell what color the Luxury model is, but it definitely is not Iridium-silver.
Photographers of the C-Class Luxury seem to be mesmerized by head-on views of the front end. Then they use wide-angle lenses, which exaggerate the proportions of the Luxury model's traditional grill. One commenter said that in photographs, that grill looks like a "tumor." That hurt! But even that commenter conceded that the grill looks much better in person. This occurs because the use of wide-angle lenses (which means all cell-phone cameras) distorts perspective. You have to use at least the equivalent of a 55mm lens (a so-called "normal" lens). This is probably the middle of the 3x zoom range of low-end compact cameras.
The salesman at the dealership sent me these pics! Can't wait to pick it up next week. The only thing different on the car will be the wheels--i'm swapping the chrome/gray wheels for the 19" gloss black wheels. Waiting on them to arrive next week.
I apologize that I failed to prop my car in front of my mansion and the lighting might not be optimal but I snapped this pic as I was walking out of the gym this morning...I beg for your forgiveness.
I was just looking at yours and my partner glanced across and thought it was mine :p
Congratulations. .. that red leather interior looks great.
Alas... yet another AMG optioned car. Has anyone actually bought the W205 without the AMG kit? I think 99% the photos are all AMG.
06-24-2015, 05:13 PM
Cheers
Another blast at wide-angle lenses
