digitallust_aus

I am heading for 5 months ownership and 5,000km

Still love my C but has had more and more issues creeping up on me. Luckily for MB I live quite a way from a dealership... but I will be dumping it on their doorstep in a few weeks time to have these issues addressed.

C250 Bluetec AMG Line

Issues to date;

Rattle in centre dash that has got so bad you can hear it over music.
Climate Control display corrupt and inconsistent.
Burmeister Sound System rattling speakers at all volume levels and BASS levels.
iPhone 6 constantly connects and disconnects.
Airmatic ticking
And tonight, the passenger door handle LED has died.

Expected a little better from a Mercedes Benz to be honest.
BMW F30 is now 3 years old 41,000 km and apart from the steering recall a couple of years ago and horn stopped working, is still trouble free.

Anyone experiencing these problems with their W205

BlackjackM

nope

ManiacGT

AirMatic ticking is normal. Rattles, I have one or two in the first few minutes the it settles down. Other than the pano roof which ticks as the car twists but I'll have the dealer sort that.
A few other issues I've had the dealer sort already and I've turned from disliking the car to considering keeping it.

AAN

I feel for you, there is nothing worst than a new car with problems. But, my car is also 5 month old and I drove about 5000 km, and nothing is wrong with it. So far, everything works, it is what I expected from Mercedes. Every manufacturer will have cars with problems, that is what the warranty is for. I don't think we should generalize based on our one personal experience.

whippet007

Mine has been excellent so far !!

Bringing it in for its first service in 90 more days.
No complaints so far

digitallust_aus

I wouldn't say I was generalising at all... I am always the first to buy the first of a new model.. BMW F30. FG G6E etc etc they have had a little nigglely problem here or there. Ive owned a lot of cars in twenty years I have been driving and I am only 36.
I am certainly not picky.. I am only pointing out that the issues I am having are across the board and most people are experiencing similar issues. There are a few more issues that I haven't bothered to mentioned as they don't really worry me... quite as much..

More to the point.. companies like MB, Audi and BMW etc shouldn't still be having as many of these issues on their cars that they command a premium price tag for. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars on research and development on their new cars . Yes, they are mass produced cars.

In Australia, I paid just shy of $100,000 for my C250 Bluetec so we do expect a higher level of quality etc (they aren't used as Taxi's in Oz)

All this said I still absolutely love my W205... I just thought by now they would of ironed these early kinks out which it appears they still haven't, which is disappointing.

StanNH

I've got about 4,000 miles on my C300 Sport now, and the experience with this car has been positive ... unlike my trouble-prone first C300.

My trouble list consisted of a piece of plastic interior trim that came out of its retainer, some difficulty in fuel fills, and unreliable Keyless Go operation.

A recent trip to the dealer remedied all these issues; the trim was reattached, a new fuel shutoff valve was installed, and a Keyless Go software update was performed. That's been it. I have seen no other issues at all, but am also lucky in that I have a very attentive and competent dealer.

AAN

I get your point. The question is how many C-class cars have these minor problems. It was discussed on this forum already, but we do not have an answer. We need a global survey, since this forum represents only a small fraction of the total. We tend to view the reality through our personal filter, but it is very misleading.

l3it3r

Did a few 200+ mile trips recently and I've discovered a few rattles. I'm going to stop in the dealership this week and see if they can't take a look. Other than that, the only other 'issue' I've had is that once in a while (has happened twice in 5 months) my radio screen stays on after I've turned off the car and walked away. Noticed it pretty quickly both times (within an hour or so) luckily, but now I double check every time I get out of the car. I should note that I never use the park button or the parking-brake button. I always use brake hold and just turn off the car and hop out.

pavloPL

I have mine 5 months, 10 000 km and so far:
Engine light, going for diagnostic so don't know if serious, happened around 10 000km
Lane assist inopertative, happend at 3000 km
Rattle dash speaker's grill to be preciacly at higher volumes

So looks like not that great so far...

pavloPL

A

rbrylaw

The reality is, the vast majority of people are out enjoying their cars, without many or any issues. Coming to any forum offers a skewed perspective. It would be like going to a hospital and coming to the conclusion that most people in the world are sick.

digitallust_aus

I will disagree, yes the vast majority may be out there enjoying their W205, as I am and still very much in love with it. However I think most of them will also be experiencing similar issues.. just because a majority of them aren't on these forums doesn't mean they don't have issues and/or frustrations.

Its no different to any other model or manufacturer. I was simply document my experience to date.

StanNH

I think the truth lies somewhere in between. First year W205's have certainly had their share of issues, but few have actually been very serious. The biggest issue was the bad batch of MB-Tex in US built cars, and that affected many cars here. Wind noise issues have bothered some, software issues have shown up, and assorted rattles and squeaks, as well as fit and finish problems, have plagued many posters here and on other forums. Complaints about hard shifting are common, but I'm not sure if that should be called a defect or just the nature of the transmission.

Having had both an early build and a later build C300, my own experience leads me to believe that quality has improved with the later builds. In fact, my March, 2015 is as solid as any car I've ever owned, and I have owned many good cars over the years. My first C300, on the other hand, was quite a mess and had its own set of never ending issues ... although the Burmester sounded great and it never exhibited any wind noise.

Forums do tend to be a sounding board for every problem ever experienced by owners of a particular car. The louder the complaint, the greater the responses. The complaints I've followed here run from quite serious and/or bothersome to simple misunderstanding of features clearly explained in either the printed or online manuals.

I think there is no question that the first year W205 will have garnered enough complaints to be considered below average in reliability, especially when the overly complex user interface ... be it Audio20 or Comand ... is factored in. Still, many owners have not experienced the kinds of issues being reported online, and are enjoying trouble free ownership. The wind noise threads here are typical of this mindset, where those with the problem insist that all W205's are plagued with this issue regardless of what other owners report. Some have gone as far as saying that the problem is there even though the owners and their passengers can't hear it. Not everyone has every problem being brought up online, and some have few or no problems at all.

We have no way of knowing the frequency of issues; we only know that some issues are discussed on forums and occur in more than one car. When MB issues a software update, a TSB, or a recall, then we know that the problem is either serious or widespread enough to merit their intervention. It will be interesting to read the next Consumer Reports car issue. By that time they will have had enough owner reports to rate the car and name its problem areas. I do expect to see a below average rating for the first year.