There seems to be an issue with the C350e. I have been informed that there are none currently being built in Germany. Trying to find out more. My delivery date of September (2015) pushed back to end of the year and is now on hold with no indication of when this might be delivered. I lease and my current car is going back this week. Shamefully, unlike previous cars my last car was not Mercedes, so I'm currently stuck without a car, which is inconvenient. I'll update as I get more information, but wondered if anyone else has heard anything recently?

 

There were rumours about this a few weeks ago, but then they went quiet.
at that time I asked our lease company who still confirmed 2nd week of December.
I hope this is the case as I don't have a lease car, but can hand back my own car to the finance company at the same time as my c350 is due. If it is delayed it will cost me over £400.00.


On a side note, which charger did you opt for???

 

Cable? I haven't yet - apparently that's one to confirm later, even though I did request for the longer regular plug cable and the shorter charging box cable.

 

Finally I am taking delivery tomorrow. I will ask the dealer when I see him about future orders and see if I can squeeze some info out of him.

 

Thank you and enjoy the car! Apparently there is a meeting today with MB to understand what the issue has been and why production has been put on hold.

 

Placed my order today. Saloon with just about every option added, my dealer has suggested that March would be the approx. delivery date.

Looking forward to it ... it's going to be along wait !

Would be interested to read reviews from people who have their cars .. as there's so little out there about these cars.

 

Finally picked it up from Milton Keynes this morning. What a nice and diligent bloke our sales guy is. I asked him about the delay and he said GLC is getting built in Bremen instead of Stuttgart. He said there is a very small allocation now for any new buyers and estimated wait time of between 6-8 months. Similar to my wait time.

He doesn't know exactly why but did mention there was an issue getting the batteries from Tesla.

Other than that still getting used to the car. There are so many little gadgets and the drive quite smooth. Very happy with it so far. The only thing I can see is that the electric range is quite short but the batteries charge up quite quickly as well.

 

Am curious as to what distance you are getting on the electric only.
I have a 13 mile commute in the morning. I hope that this can be done one way on electric as that alone should save me about £10 a week in Petrol.
Then there are all the other short stop starts.


Would also be curious if anyone has a realistic figure of what it costs to charge from the mains.


Thanks.

 

Just joining the forum as I now have finally a C350e on order! Have been trying for months to get some sense out of the MB Corporate team but they remained very tight lipped. No orders were being accepted with the £5k grant against them until recently as MB could not guarantee delivery within the 9 months limit.

I don't need delivery until July next year which my lease company says is no problem.

Got a polar white C350e sport saloon with standard black artico leather interior, premium plus pack, privacy glass and intelligent lighting system. Delighted with the spec but this is the first car ever which I have not test driven before ordering! I have a test drive later this month, date yet TBC. I can always cancel I suppose but with the BMW 330e, Audi A4 eTron a long way off what is my choice other than a Passat/Golf GTE?

Now trying to make sense of the wall box grant and look at whats available for my area. Has anybody got their wall box installed for their C350e yet? I would be interested to hear what they chose, who installed and how much they paid for their 25% contribution.

I understand a non tethered version is best - I have upgraded my cable lengths to 8m for both cable types on my car order, seemed a no brainer for a no cost option.

Thanks for any replies and good luck to all you who are overdue, I hope you take delivery soon.

 

I have ordered my wall box from Chargemaster and it is being installed in a couple of weeks. I am paying £199.00


I have gone for the lower rating charger as they told me that unless I was getting a fully electric car there was no point in having the higher rating.


At first I ordered a non tethered charger, but then I thought about the practicalities of having to remove AND store the cable every time I unplugged it. I have a friend who has the tethered version, and even chargemaster have said that it is that most manufacturers have the type 2 charging cable, it is only the Japanese that don't. It is highly unlikely I will chose a Japanese car, and I am sure that as the cars become more popular somebody will make a converter.


Still 8 weeks to wait, but I will be keeping an eye on this forum as it looks like the cars are coming through now.

 

Just got updated from the supplying garage via the lease company. Production of all C350e's has stopped. I am told that there is a technical issue, though exactly what is unclear. There is no confirmed date for production to restart and the current assumption is that delivery is unlikely to recommence until Q1 2016 at the very earliest on the assumption that they can fix the problem. Bearing in mind I have been waiting several months already, my delivery date would not be earlier than Q2 2016. My dealer has suggested I order something else so I'm looking at options

 

Just had a response from our lease company who have checked with the supplying dealer, and they have not been made aware of any delays.


I need to know by next middle of next week as I have a charger being installed and cant have it if the car is delayed.

 

My dealer informed me last week that my C350e was built last week but today he's told me that it will be a week before it leaves Germany as there are vehicles on the production line before mine which are awaiting parts.

 

When were you expecting Delivery??
(How long from Germany to the dealer??)


Not got a problem with a weeks delay, just want to make sure a week doesn't turn into months.

 

Ordered mine in May, got lucky as my dealer had a build slot that wasn't allocated so delivery was originally promised for August, that has slipped three times but I draw comfort in the fact I am told my vehicle is built, it's just a question of it getting of the production line and over here.

Dealer has given me a CLS until my vehicle is actually here which is rather cool, I'm collecting the CLS on Friday.

 

Spoke to Merc Customer service this morning and they are not aware of any delays.
They said I would have to speak to my dealer to find out if they have been told anything.
Cust Service couldn't even tell me how long it takes for a car to get from Germany to the UK as each dealer has different times dependant on slots and how many cars they order.
As this is a lease car, I don't want to drive the lease company mad, but will need further clarification on Tuesday or Wednesday next week to make sure I don't get a charger installed that I cant use.


Has anyone else spoken to their dealer since 6th when this was first posted???

 

I'm off to see my dealer tomorrow so will try and find out more as to when my vehicle is ready, the other forum, (not sure if it's correct protocol to name it), contains the lucky individuals who have recently taken delivery.

 

Woah, which dealer do you work with? That's insanely nice.

 

Did you manage to get any info from your dealer???

 

Hi Mardeman, he confirmed my vehicle was built, (showed me on their system), but wasn't due to leave the factory till next week, two weeks after production due to vehicles in front of mine needing parts.

Seems a lame excuse given most peoples understanding of a production line, even the dealer thought it was a bit rich.

But then he's given me a CLS until mine arrives so I'm quite happy to wait now.

 

So after about 1 week of ownership and driving it around, here are the early observation. Would love to hear from the others who have managed to pick it up.

- The car is very smooth and the electric to petrol engine is seamless
- The battery for me driving around is enough. Oddly full charge for me kept saying 11 miles until I filled up the first time which then it said 18 mile range.
- This car has a lot of little toys. It has taken me a while to really get the hang of the modes but here it is.
- Hybrid - supposed to be the intelligent mode but the battery drains so so fast on this mode it was not funny. It said I had 11 miles left and could do barely 5 miles. I think I know why and see below for my thoughts.
- E-mode - the pure battery mode and the only mode you want to be in to use the battery efficiently. To get the most out of the battery you have do a lot of lifting and coasting along with gentle acceleration. There are 5 white bars for E-drive and if you go above 3 the battery drains faster than you would like
- E-save - Saves the battery. The accelerator is much more sensitive and the engine will kick in very early.
- Charge - no battery use. purely engine.

I think the reason why the Hybrid drains the battery so much is because the accelerator is too sensitive (like in e-save mode) and uses up a lot of battery quickly. I find this kind of stupid, but it is what it is. It also does not regenerate as much as in e-mode. So if you want to get the 13 mile range, you can. You just have to drive it gently.

Oh and I couldn't resist. When you floor it in Sport+ mode, this car is quick. Too bad the handling is you know C-class handling, but the horsepower and torque is huge. A lot of fun there.

 

What is wrong with C-class handling? I drove an Alfa Giulietta before this and that handled very well. But my current C220d has much more feel in the corners. Is also faster than the Alfa around the corners. My C220d has the lowered agility control suspension. Maybe the airmatic or the extra pounds on the C350e is the problem?

 

The majority of my 13 miles to work is slow and side roads, so I really hope I get this mileage.


It seems that our building could be getting a charger which means that although I might have to move the car during the day, I could get to charge before I go home which will save me even more.


Hopefully once your battery gets a bit more conditioned it will give you a better distance.


I am looking forward to the first time I do an all electric flooring of the car as I have never driven anything that will do a 0-60 in under 6 seconds.

 

Had chargemaster install my charger today.


car not due for another six weeks, but it was easier to have it installed during half term. Took about 3 hours, and I have been told the engineer cleaned up nicely.


I went for the tethered version as I didn't want to have to rummage for the cable in the boot every night when I got home.


Was told that it is only japanese cars that have a different charger cable.

 

Have been driving my 350e for 10 days now. Overall the best car I have driven. Extremely smooth and the transition between electric and petrol is seem less. Petrol engine is as quite as electric. Lot of gaggets to play as I have a premium plus with upgraded 18 inch alloys. Got a larger screen which looks really good. The ash brown trim looks very classy with ambiance lighting friends love it. It looks really smart in looks. Electric drive is just a joy. The best part is the electric performance is no less then petrol. In electric mode the car drives pretty fast too. I have certain issues similar to mentioned by others on the electric range. On a full charge it shows a14 mile range and the first mile is gone as I move the car. I have used the electric range on hybrid mode and most of time in the night as it gets dark early. I feel in the night electric range gets shorter due to the led head lamps on. I will try tommorow to use it in electric mode only n see if the range extends.
one important thing I need to ask is that has anyone try to register and get the remote services activated. I have registered for the remote service and have been told that will have to take the car to nearby Mercedes to get it activated. They need to assign my registery to the car. I'm try to book in for activation this week. Over all is such a pleasure driving it. I hope this electric range issue is sorted. Any other advise to get more out of the range please let me know. Thanks