I loved my AMGs. Great cars, great fun, and when I had my first , 2011 C63, black with Sahara beige, 451bhp, this car was a revelation...and a tire shredder. Every 6000kms, my rears were done. Gas galore, eeking out 200miles a tank, but loved every minute. From cold start up, the WTF faces as I would downshift/dcelerate to 6000rpms whenever I spotted a 3 series or A4 with their window down, even a smidge, was priceless. These cars do have their faults, especially as a daily driver. Doing 20000kms a year, winter too, is no cakewalk. The ride is absolutely understandable, but it wears. When my lease was coming up, I was not ready to say good bye to this motor.


Hence my 507, Iridium/black, post facelift with the host of changes, notably the tranny, LSD and all the bells and whistles. This car was always angry, nervous, like a bull snorting before charging. Loud, a more mechanical monster and again, my daily driver through our joyous winters. With winters on, the cars were always driveable, but you have to be on guard at all times.


So, I had an opportunity to switch my wife's R Class with a unique vehicle in our neck of the woods, the 2014 E350 wagon, and whilst doing the paperwork for the wagon, sitting over my shoulder I was eyeballing the new C class, and it just dawned on me...I was ready to move on. Move on from the harshness, the winter challenge, and frankly as beautiful my 507 was...it just looked all of a sudden really old. So I switched both and picked up both cars in a two week span.


So, one was coming in and opted out in a manner that I would not spec fro myself. I wouldn't have got the HUD, the cooled seats, electric trunk, basically every Canadian option but the dealer made it work and here are my thoughts on this car:


Styling


Obviously to any owner, it is a beautiful design, well proportioned and has the appearance of a larger, expensive car. I love the front and the 19" matte black finished wheels, while looking very similar to my 2011 AMG wheels, really fit this vehicle, although the 18" 5 stars look really nice as well. The exterior lighting at night is cool. There is no other word for it! The light doorhandlles, the awakening of the lights in front, cool!


Interior


This was a big selling feature for me. I went from the pop up screen COMAND, to the integrated post-2012, to the tacked on screen. I suppose in this iPad tablet day and age, it works although you would think that it could have risen out but I quite like it, the size of it and the clarity. I am getting used to the mouse/knob feature and while intuitive it does take some getting used to. The seats are not AMG hugging variety but still excellent, especially the thigh extender. I like the quality of the leather as well and the wood , that porous finish is stunning combined with the speaker casings. The HUD is a nice gadget and really handy as I familiarize myself with it.. The interior lighting, the lit up door jams, the air freshener, ionization, etc...makes this car a really comfortable place to be in. The reaction of my friends to the interior is that this car looks and feels expensive. 10/10


Driving


Having the benefit of both cars to hop in and out of, the 2014 E350 wagon, I am amazed at how close these cars are in refinement. There still is something better about the overall feel of the E, but my goodness the refinement of the C compared to the W204 has really closed that gap. The Airmatic is great under most circumstances, 95% of the time, whether in the comfiest or hardest setting and being winter on Blizzaks, haven't really thrown it around much, but it feels supremely capable when I have pushed it. Brakes are strong and the engine has a V8 feel to it, I really like the torque curve, especially between 2-4000 rpm. I have started to redline it and I like the sound of it, Benz V6s generally have a sporty sound to them. Does this feel like a 13.3 second car? I'd say so!


The ride considering a 40 series tire, is overall, outstanding. And the 4Matic makes this vehicle a cakewalk in comparison, especially with the 10+ cm snow we just got.


Negatives


No heated steering wheel. I know that they might be saving it for the E class as a perk, but it does irk me especially in this climate area.


The Burmeester system is generally excellent, but the base is overpowering at low levels, even when I am using my cell. It is definitely better than the HK system I had though.


The parktronic sensors should be higher or on the dash in front of the windscreen. Where I prefer my steering wheel, it is slightly obscured where I have to peek down to check it out.


The Airmatic sometimes crashes over certain potholes, kinda weird. In parking lots over speedbumps, it works well but you can see where the "magic control" coupled with Airmatic would be ideal. To be clear, this is not a runflat issue but it seems to me from reading this forum more an airmatic quirk.


My gap perception. Not the car's fault, but coming from a 12 second car, the gaps that were there before simply does not exist now!


A long post, but I wanted to get it out there how impressive this car is and how the new C63 will be another legend in the making. I can easily see myself in one in a few years time, but right now, to use an analogy, I am enjoying being coddled, , consoled by the super cute girl who comes from a good family and easygoing but, you know, wouldn't cheat on you...the girl guys want to marry compared to after 4 years plus of being with that girl that is super hot, but high maintenance, always causing trouble, makes you jealous and every guy wants her but a lot of times she is worth it in the end. The girl guys just want to, you know...But it wears you out!


This is a well engineered car and a true Benz. Yeah, there are more reliable options out there I guess, but this car has a refined experience that makes up for any shortfalls.

 

Great read. thank you!

Re. potholes, a colleague had a similar issue with his CLS, also with Airmatic. I was driving with him at the time he complained about it, so I told him not to break while going over potholes. This more or less solved it for him.

Not saying this the case for you, but just thought I would mention it.

 

Expecting delivery in 10 days, I can't wait!!!!

 

Nice write-up. We used to have R500 as well as 3 prior W210 wagons along w/ current GL, but when we had svc loaner, she told me how much she enjoyed having a c-class to whip around on a daily basis because of its nimble size. The W204 chassis was fine, but i thought the interior/styling was also getting old, esp when compared w/ the new s-class.

i test drove the CLA, but thought the chassis too small and it was too choppy/jittery, and was looking at this c-class mainly for my in-laws(to replace their 1999 C280 sport).
so after test driving the C300 4matic, i decided to get 2 - one for my wife and one for in-laws. the kicker was that w/ $7k+ off msrp, leasing it was too cheap to pass up...like $10/day, lol...even if just an extra car.

bottom line, even coming from 2007 E63, my wife is delighted w/ the C300(color, size, power, interior - everything)...and now i get my E63 back

PL

 

Nice thoughtful review! Enjoy.

 

No, it is definitely off the brake harshness, I have learned a long time ago the pitfalls of braking for a pothole...like I said, a quirk for sure

 

They really are great examples of Mercedes: over-engineering at its finest! And yeah, the AMG is all yours again!

 

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