hummerhealey

I like the "iPad" screen. Also the position is better compared to a screen integrated in the dash. Now you done have to look down to check your direction on the nav.

The disadvantage of a touchscreen is not only the greasy fingers. A touch screen is much harder to operate while driving. Next to having to reach, especially on bad roads, its hard to aim your finger at the right place.

5634MG

I don't mind it when it's the upgraded version with the edge to edge glass; however, with the standard screen like on standard C Class, pre-facelift B and CLA, the plastic bezel is atrocious.

miketc

Disagreed, I have a touchscreen on my 2006 TL and greasy fingers were never an issue nor is ease of use while driving. Matter of facts, touchscreen is much easier than playing with the touch pad. Maybe it's the UI that needs to be worked on the C.

Alf Barnet

In the UK were getting a new *yawn* Honda Jazz, very popular with the almost dead age bracket. Anyway, touch screen - but for heater controls..... Great for a winter defogging with gloves....

http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/comingsoon/jazz/

NYC-Style

I have another vehicle with touch screen...I'm not a fan...you have the obvious finger prints all over it but secondly having to touch the screen to navigate through menu's while driving is a bit difficult...

hummerhealey

A good touch sceen does not get greasy easily. And For text input while standing stil, the touch screen is prefered. But while driving a bumpy road, a touch pad might be better. The interface could be better on the C, especially with so many day tot day functions depending on it.

miketc

Inputting text with a virtual keyboard is a lot easier and quicker than touch pad moving over bumps or not. Maybe it's just me. My experience is the touch pad is on par with the knob for ease of use.

BenzC400

I wouldn't buy a car with a touch screen. I've owned a couple of Lexus' with touch screens and a Lexus with their mouse-joystick like remote controller. Hands down the remote controller was better. It was easier to use and much easier to keep focused on the road while making inputs or selections. I drive a Ford at work with a touch screen. It always has fingerprints especially in the right lighting conditions. It's very distracting to use while driving compared to the Lexus or the MB.

The MB touchpad and wheel offer the same benefits with multiple ways to input or make selections and is much less distracting than a touch screen once you get enough practice.

Croc

I am ok with it. The floating bit doesn't bother me as the rest of the interior is awesome. But I wish the screen has thinner bezel and is touch screen.

JurassicPark

I wouldn't have bought the car if it was touch screen. My wife has a Lexus RX400h with touch-screen sat-nav / heating etc. Always looks dirty and when the sun is at the wrong angle, all you can see is finger prints and not the screen!

Katiecars

I have a 2013 C Class Mercedes which I love. Sadly I am switching brands because the new c-class design is poor. 1) I can't stand the floating screen and I still can't understand why they did that because it blocks visibility, looks awkward and out of place and looks like an after thought. 2) I don't like the new exterior design - both the front and the back. The 2013/2014 model was 100000 better. I would love to upgrade my car to a new car, but Mercedes lost a customer - the car design went backwards not forwards.

MASSC450

IMO the new W205 interior design is a 100% improvement over the W204's older and dated interior with all it's tiny buttons in the center dash, it's cheap looking dash vents, and it's overly large gear selector. All the car magazines still rate the W205 interior best in class compared to Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Cadillac, Volvo, and Infiniti.

I feel the W205's interior is sleek and modern...even it's floating display is very avant-garde to me. The only thing I don't like about the floating display is the unnecessarily wide frame.

Mikey53

This is another one of those "taste" things. I never considered earlier model C Class cars. Fell in love with the looks of the w205, especially the interior. Mercedes gained a customer.

StanNH

Same here. Never even considered the MB brand until I saw the W205 and read the reviews. Personally, I like the LCD stand up screen and its visibility. Other brands are now using similar designs.

Mike5215

Yeah, all of the interiors from that era, including the E, CLS and GLK were pretty dismal. Too squared off and upright, with cheap looking and cheap feeling materials and switchgear. Not Mercedes finest hour.

The 205 is a massive upgrade in terms of design detail and materials but I wonder if they didn't sacrifice something because unlike a 204 the 205's interior squeaks like there's a family of squirrels living in it.

Mikey53

Maybe I just got lucky or 20 years of flying makes me immune to minor noise. My interior is pretty darn quiet as far as squeaks and rattles.

Mike5215

That's great. I think yours may be an exception.

I'm accustomed to zero rattles or creaks, probably from all of the S Classes I've had. Even when they got up in miles, always perfectly quiet. The 205's tolerances aren't tight enough. Maybe it was something that got sacrificed to make the complex interior design manufacturable.

BenzC400

I've had nearly all the early build W205 issues; misaligned bumpers, wind noise, screeching brakes, a couple of recalls and windshield washer pump failure, but no squeaks or rattles. The interior has been very solid.

Mike5215

So far zero mechanical on my late 16 build. Rattles are my only complaint. The rest of the car's minor shortcomings I was aware of when I ordered it (weak audio, jerky shifts, stiff ride).

unr1

I don't hate it but the bezel needs to be much smaller. That's my biggest gripe.

unr1

oh, I did vote hate it. Because that was the closest option for me.

JBMCL

Same here. I was shopping for a F30/F36 3/4series cause I didn't like the W204 C300/C350. The interior looked really dated and old and I was never a fan of the exterior. I'd rather get an older gen E92 than a W204.

I wasn't planning on getting into an MB due to the W204 but after visiting the MB dealership as a formality, I was instantly sold on the W205. The exterior looked even better in person and the interior was a notch or even two notches above the F30's and W204's.

No thanks to the W204