JGatsby

Hello everyone, this is my first post on this great site. I wanted to post some pictures of my new C450. I gained some great information from posts on this site prior to ordering my vehicle and wanted to pay it forward. I will be happy to answer any questions (regardless how small) of my short experience with the C450. Check out the stock exhaust note! thanks to all who have posted, hope you enjoy the photos and video.

PeterUbers

Nice ride congrats !

*Knowledge*

Love the color! Congrats!

jpnwdc

How does it ride with the sport suspension?

JGatsby

In sport plus the car is tight, you definitely get a nice feel of the road. I only ride with the car in the sport plus mode, coming on and off exit ramps at speed the car is very composed.

Yeti575

Nice, enjoyed the engine sound. Grats!

angeloxnet

nice color! the rocker panel section is not body color on the C450? i like this!

cleankutazn

Very nice!! No interior shots? Was the exhaust clip from a cold start?

Mike5215

Ive heard this reference to the suspension firming up in Sport modes a couple of times, most recently from my mildly slow but very friendly sales guy. The Agility control on a non-AirMatic car (and I believe AirMatic is not an option on a C450) does not affect the suspension at all. It loads a different map into the transmission control unit, causing it to start in 1st gear (the Comfort mode and Eco mode start from 2nd) and hold upshifts longer. It also changes the firmness and weight of the steering feedback.

Absolutely gorgeous car, BTW. I'll see a ton of what I'd call "homely" C Class and then one like yours gets me interested in the car again.

JGatsby

i took a quick interior shot. I will get some better ones up soon. FYI: This is the MB Tex/ alcantara interior with the black/red and ash open pore wood. I have owned many different cars from multiple BMW, audi, acura and I have to say that I am very impressed with the look and quality of the interior in this car. In fact, I think the quality and feel is reminiscent of my range rover sport. Albeit minus the full leather but the fit and finish is spot on.
BTW: That clip is in fact from a cold start.

JGatsby

Thanks for the information. the car certainly drives great. Honestly, I figured it would be a bit quicker off the line but no slouch by any means. I feel like there is a slight lag when comparing to the BMW 340 that i had drove back to back. I assume it is due to the bulk of the torque coming in at a lower RPM on the BMW then the Mercedes.

ManiacGT

Looks body colour to me!?

cleankutazn

What made you decide on the C instead of the 3?

JGatsby

yes, body color. some contour to it so lighting plays a few tricks in the photos.

JGatsby

I have had a handful of BMW's and I am coming out of a 2012 E 350 which was my first Mercedes. I really liked that car but it lacked the sporty feel that some of my previous cars had, which I missed. I have been following the release of the C450 for over a year after I read a great teaser review in one of the auto magazines. When the car was finally released I went down to the dealership and when I first spotted the car I actually thought it was a C63. Loved the aggressive look and quad pipes as well as the front diamond grill. After the test drive I was very impressed with the power, The interior is really stunning, comfortable and very sporty looking. The exhaust actually brought a smile to my face and I actually like the placement of the nav screen(i know I am in the minority here). I sat down with the dealer after the test drive and figured out the lease price, (lease all my vehicles) the payment was way higher then I expected. there was no incentives as expected for a new model, this is what brought me into the BMW dealership. I test drove the 340 with the M sport and track handling package.The car is very fast with almost no noticeable lag when hitting the gas and handled fantastic as expected, very tight. However, To me, the interior feels much more cramped and dated in comparison to the C450. after looking at a couple different model BMW's I was almost settled on the 435 gran coupe. I happened in to another Mercedes dealership prior to pulling the trigger on the 435 and managed a fantastic lease deal on the C450 that I could not pass on, the rest is history.

My reasons for the C450 over the 340 or 435 Grand Coupe for that matter:

-More than adequate power even if not as quick off the line as the BMW
-Much nicer interior
-Nicer styling on exterior with quad pipes
-beautiful exhaust note on start up and crackling popping sound on downshifts
-panoramic sunroof
-To me more exclusive, you don't see one at every stop light.

I am no car expert, never claimed to be, but these are the reasons i personally chose the C450 over the BMW.

cleankutazn

Cool....glad you got what you wanted. I am also trying to get out of my lease from a 2014 E350 to the C450 too. I just haven't been able to get a good enough deal on the lease. Yeah that exhaust note sold me.

z28lt1

The c450 has electronically controlled shocks, which are controlled as part of the drive mode settings. So while the c450 is not Airmatic as you stated, it still has adjustable ride feel via the shocks. Perhaps a rare case of a sales person being correct.

MASSC450

Very nice...I like the color too. Personally I would have gone with the 19" AMG split 5-spoke wheel to give it that extra "pop".

It's going to be a tough choice for me come Winter of 2016 when I'll be trading in my 2015 C300 Sport. Its either a 2017 C450 or the BMW 340i xDrive as it stands now, and as of lately I'm leaning towards the BMW (better price, better aftermarket parts selection, slightly better performance). Yes I would be giving up the Benz's far better interior, and that's the biggest bullet to bite.

We'll see what the prices are like next year...I'm hoping for bargains since there'll be even more competition in this segment when the new Audi S4 comes out as well.

Good luck with your new 450 !

JGatsby

Thank you! I briefly considered the 19"wheels but was nervous with the roads here in NY. I have taken out way too many tires and damaged too many rims with the pot holes and bad roads here in the winter on previous cars. One nice thing about the rims I have is that they are real easy clean. I am a bit obsessive compulsive with keeping my cars clean so I welcome this.

DapperStyle

What kind of lease deal did you get? Interested to see what kind of deals are starting to pop up. In the C Class Discount Thread I saw someone had gotten an outrageous quote of something like $750 a month which is silly when you can easily get a F Type Coupe for that much money along with a host of other vehicles.

DapperStyle

Correct, electronic dampers from the C63 suspension are on the C450. On the C450 menu there is an option to set the dampers just like you can set the steering and transmission in either C or S or Sport+.

cleankutazn

Is it true you can change exhaust note sound depending on if you're in comfort or sport plus mode?

MJ50

looking good!

z28lt1

Yes the exhaust changes in comfort and sport plus. From test drive memory I believe sport has a different sound as well, but it's possible I'm recalling incorrectly as I wait for my late January build,

Mike5215

I stand corrected. I have to occasionally remind myself that being intimately knowledgeable about one model does not translate into all models. Sadly, my sales guy was talking about Agility modifying the suspension firmness while we were in a base C300 on a steel suspension.

So this makes the 450 a more viable choice for me. I was leaning toward a 300 Sport mainly to get AirMatic and the ability to adjust the ride firmness, although I of course would have preferred the TTV6's power.

One of the rare times I've been happy to be proven wrong.

Now back to the configurator for build #1367