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This thread has been extremely useful! As a prospective buyer, who just took a C300 4Matic for a weekend test drive, here are things that are making me choose MB (this would be my first MB ever):
Love the interior more than any other interior in the same class. The smooth sloping console w/ open pore ash is gorgeous.
Love the shifter on the column! Huge selling point, as it creates a non-obtrusive look to the console and contributes to smooth lines and aesthetics.
Drove incredibly smooth (for me anyway, coming from 12 years of driving a Lexus SUV). Not sure what people are complaining about with the run flats. What should I be noticing here that I'm not seeing/feeling? The test drive was with 18" wheels.
Premium 2 and Multimedia were superb, as was the map display on the larger screen. Again, I'm coming from 12 year old technology in my current car, so all this a quantum leap forward.
Burmester was great and no issues with using two different iPods in each of the usb inputs and switching between.
After 1.5 years, I agree with most of what you said. I still find myself trying to come up with reasons to go on a drive. Two of my irritants (stop start on by default and video not playing while car is in motion) I managed to fix. I have 18" wheels with RF and Sport Suspension, and I still find the ride terrible, but I have learned to live with it. On the whole, I really love the car. Also, no repairs yet!
I think ride quality is always relative to the nicest riding car you've owned. If the car on 18" RF isn't too firm for you, perfect. If not, swapping to non RF will buy you a little more compliance. They're also less expensive and last longer.
A couple of minor beefs with the interior. Design is great. Materials are so so. Fit between elements creates squeaks. Grab the top of the soft dash at the peak of the gauge binnacle and rock it back and forth. If it squeaks a little, with time (especially on RFs) it'll squeak a lot. Not hard to fix (cram some foam tape or felt in there) but kind of a drag.
If also recommend against the crystal gray leather. I have 7k miles and this weekend noticed a spot on the outside bolster of the driver's seat where the color has already worn thru and is showing black. I'll address it with the dealer or fix it myself but again, a drag for a new car.
The Burmester is okay relative to the standard system (which is terrible) but not great. I think 80% of the budget went to the speaker grilles. It's fine at low volume but beyond that the bass gets loose and the mids are overpowering.
Good car overall but for me it took about $5k to get it where I wanted it.
First, thanks for your write up on the sound system! I too am a formal professional musician and have spent the better part of my lifetime immersed in high-end (and far too loud) music. My basement is Gibson and Marshall heaven. That being said, I'm really interested in giving the Burmester system a really good scrutinizing listen to see what could improve. I remember liking it just fine playing my iPod, but my focus on the weekend test drive I just had was more on the drive/feel of the car. I did note that the low frequencies were OK, but lacking in the low-mids (perhaps close 800 Hz to 1K, if there were a graphic EQ). The highs sounded OK, but again, if I could dial down some of the brightness on the top end, that would be nice. The Volvo S60 I recently test drove had a graphic EQ on the Harman Kardan premium system. Curious why MB didn't add a simple EQ beyond T/M/B on the Burmester. I'm going to study up on what you wrote, trusting your judgement as a fellow musician and audiophile.
You've got 4 4" mid range speakers (one per door) 4 4" silk dome tweets in each door (passive) and two 7"-ish woofers in the footwells ported to the firewall. 3 more 4" (dash and rear shelf) as center/surrounds. So lots of mids and highs but it's really too much to ask the footwell subs to handle the low end and also play up into the mid bass. If your music is on an IOS device there's a $5 app that will cure about 80% of the woes. EQu by Elephant Candy lets you create custom EQ curves and doesn't add artifact like a lot of software based EQs can.
Just getting used to shift lever on steering column. For some reason its hard to remember to press the PARK button.
I definitely don't like the position of the on-off button for the multimedia screen. Since either the nav or radio is always on , the switch should be in a more prominent position.
the eco-off feature is not obtrusive in normal driving, but how much gas does it really save?
I think the Burmester radio is overrated. Just how bad was the original sound system? Reminds me of the day when M-B was married to the Becker radio which really sucked.
I think the Burmester radio is overrated. Just how bad was the original sound system? Reminds me of the day when M-B was married to the Becker radio which really sucked.
Same here. Which brings me to my new thing I hate about my car. Three trips to the dealer (45 miles away) to fix the speaker grill buzz (they seem to only fix the one that is obviously buzzing on that particular test drive) and now the center channel in the dash is going all fuzzy and static'y with certain tones and sounds.
Literally cannot listen to anything "spoken word" (phone calls, stand up comics, etc) above the very lowest volume or my center speaker sounds like a screaming, hissing cat and now the drivers door speaker grill...the last one not to be replaced, is buzzing on every phone call.
Touch pad flakes out once in a while and now the center console lids are rattling and this car is starting to remind me of my 3 series.
I know these things can happen, but there should not be so many when the car stickers at close to $70k.
Car drives phenomenally, but these interior build issues are annoying as f***!!!!
-touchpad. i stopped using this. the only button i use from it is the middle button to bring up current track to go back or skip. i only use the rotary knob. i hate accidentally hitting the touchpad while resting my arm on center console.
-while being on the subject of the touchpad, anyone ever experience the frustration of trying to hand write something while driving? absolutely useless.
I think the Burmester radio is overrated. Just how bad was the original sound system? Reminds me of the day when M-B was married to the Becker radio which really sucked.
Not only is it over-rated, it's non existent. No Burmester sourced components in the 205. Just a bunch of inexpensive off-the-shelf stuff that apparently has been "tuned" by Burmester. My 205 is in the shop following a collision and I've had a crappy Lincoln MKZ rental with the standard audio. It blows away anything I've heard in a modern Benz, and I think it sounds better than my Focal/Audison upgrade as well. It's mainly because they didn't get cute with "Frontbass" or anything else. Each door has a 2-way with a conventional woofer, there's a sub in the trunk, and plenty of power. How hard is that?
Not only is it over-rated, it's non existent. No Burmester sourced components in the 205. Just a bunch of inexpensive off-the-shelf stuff that apparently has been "tuned" by Burmester. My 205 is in the shop following a collision and I've had a crappy Lincoln MKZ rental with the standard audio. It blows away anything I've heard in a modern Benz, and I think it sounds better than my Focal/Audison upgrade as well. It's mainly because they didn't get cute with "Frontbass" or anything else. Each door has a 2-way with a conventional woofer, there's a sub in the trunk, and plenty of power. How hard is that?
Speaking of the sound system, how do you like this:
Not only is it over-rated, it's non existent. No Burmester sourced components in the 205. Just a bunch of inexpensive off-the-shelf stuff that apparently has been "tuned" by Burmester. My 205 is in the shop following a collision and I've had a crappy Lincoln MKZ rental with the standard audio. It blows away anything I've heard in a modern Benz, and I think it sounds better than my Focal/Audison upgrade as well. It's mainly because they didn't get cute with "Frontbass" or anything else. Each door has a 2-way with a conventional woofer, there's a sub in the trunk, and plenty of power. How hard is that?
Not to mention that while I was wiping down the panels I accidentally scraped my knuckles against the speaker covers. Those things are like cheese graters.
Poor reliability of 2015 C-Class compared with 2015 Lexus IS
I hate the Consumer Reports reliability statistics for the 2015 C-Class. It's that big red dot in the first line indicating overall reliability that bothers me most. My wants are simple; I want to see nothing but green dots for reliability for all Mercedes models (indicating best quality). (I would compromise on COMAND systems and audio systems.)
If you're referring to engineering quality, and presuming the sole measurement of that is longevity of components before failure, I don't disagree with you, but clearly iron-clad reliability at the expense of everything else is not MB's thing. It's Subaru, Honda and Toyota's thing. The easiest way to make something reliable is to keep it very simple and over-build it. MB many years ago used to do exactly that. No more.
MB's idea of quality now is a superior driving experience for the three or four years it's target buyer typically keeps their cars, with free repairs and loaner cars when things break.
On the 221 board you'll see these first time owners who wrongly presumed a $100,000 Mercedes must be twice as reliable as a $50,000 Mercedes. Actually, a $25,000 Hyundai is twice as reliable than any of them.
Some interesting points concerning the CR ratings. The first is that the 2016 has risen to an above average rating. Another point is that the 2015 wrist pin issue was apparently not common enough to have affected the reliability rating of the engine, which is still better than average. Wind noise, which would be body integrity, was not a commonly reported issue; while suspension issues ... not a big issue here ... were. The other 2015 problem areas were the audio and electronics, both areas having been discussed here at length.
I hate that the audio volume stays at the same level as when it was last powered down. I drive home with the music loud and forget the next morning on startup, it's straight to loud again!
1) The stupid mouse type device. All you need is the rotary knop. The mouse type device gets so hot in the summer it can (and will) burn your hand or someone else's if you are not careful.
2) Key fobs not sync'd to a driver
3) Stupid tire pressures. No one normally looks in the fuel filler cap area for tire pressures. Then try to figure out why they would put normal pressure then below it say -4psi if driving less then 100 mph for the C300 made in the USA
4) Oil weights. Good luck to figure that out easily. Most people just put the weight on the oil cap. Why not keep it simple
I've had my C for a year now, so the novelty has worn off. That said, the things that attracted me to it in the first place haven't changed. It drives beautifully, and the design still makes me look back a couple of times walking away from it. I've also discovered how it handles a crash, which it turns out is quite good for a small car.
Gripes would be, in order of severity;
Burmester (should have been the standard audio, with a premium option available.)
Interior rattles
Run flats
Leather (a bit stiff for the price point, shows wear)
I fixed everything but the leather, but it was time consuming and, in the case of the audio, not cheap.
Option wise I have 'em all except power shades and 19" wheels. I've discovered that there's something in each package that I use often, while the rest I could live without:
The seat heat/ventilation controls (both driver and passenger) should be on the center console. When I want my wife to have seat heat/ventilation, I have to lean across and push the buttons myself. It's a long stretch for me, and it's unsafe when she asks to have the heat turned off while the car is in motion. Never mind why she can't do it herself; the issue arises for every owner whenever they have a passenger who is not familiar with those controls.
The seat heat/ventilation controls (both driver and passenger) should be on the center console. When I want my wife to have seat heat/ventilation, I have to lean across and push the buttons myself. It's a long stretch for me, and it's unsafe when she asks to have the heat turned off while the car is in motion. Never mind why she can't do it herself; the issue arises for every owner whenever they have a passenger who is not familiar with those controls.
Should the door handle be in the center console too? Not sure I understand the "why" portion of this one.
The seat heat/ventilation controls (both driver and passenger) should be on the center console. When I want my wife to have seat heat/ventilation, I have to lean across and push the buttons myself. It's a long stretch for me, and it's unsafe when she asks to have the heat turned off while the car is in motion. Never mind why she can't do it herself; the issue arises for every owner whenever they have a passenger who is not familiar with those controls.
The W221 S Class had an ingenious solution for this. A little extra button by the drivers side seat controls that, when toggled, switched the entire seat button array to control the passenger seat, including heat and ventilation. The beauty of a car with a CAN bus is that any control can be assigned or reassigned to anything.
It's the upper far right button with the R on it (for Right Seat).
Last edited by Mike5215; Feb 26, 2017 at 10:14 PM.
Love the cars look and driving feel. However my biggest gripe is the stereo and entire infotainment system. It's absolutely horrible sounding and the navigation of the system is really time consuming and overly difficult.
Just getting used to shift lever on steering column. For some reason its hard to remember to press the PARK button.
I just open the door, puts it in park, saves a step. I really like the column shifter, it saves a lot of space on the center console, and all the automakers are shifting (pun intended) to gimmicks, the rotary knob being the worst offender.
Originally Posted by ajb723
the eco-off feature is not obtrusive in normal driving, but how much gas does it eally save?
It doesn't save any material amount of fuel, it gets MB a higher MPG rating which they need for federal regulations (it's a box to check).
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
