ctsvette

So after waiting almost 8 months my C43 finally came in today. I just picked it up. Seems like a lot to learn. So some of you know I had ordered the amg drive unit but it didn't come with it, what's strange is the steering wheel has the drive unit on it but they do nothing and aren't powered. The dealer doesn't understand either so they're looking into it. I have a few questions. For those with NFC is there something you need to do to get it to work? Doesn't seem to be working for me. The other question is around tire pressure in the 18 inch wheels. The placard in the gas cap has a huge range from 31 to 42 for the rear tires. Really strange but I just carry my little kids so was thinking on seeing it to 34, thoughts? I'll post pics at some point and I do want to make some changes to it as well.

jhpmbusa

i would say 35 - 37 all around is ideal, once the tires heats up around 40 is fine.

gpouliniii

Where are the pics??!!!!

superswiss

Congrats! Just in time for Christmas. Sounds like you do have the AMG Drive Unit, but it's malfunctioning. Hopefully they can properly activate it for you. It does change the driving experience. Regarding the tire pressure, that's normal. There are different tire pressures based on load and intended top speed of the car. The latter is less likely for the C43, but the placard in my C63S has even higher pressure for speeds above 155 mph to 180 mph. But there are basically two main pressures. Normal load and Maximum load. Normal load is when you are just driving around with 2-3 passengers depending on what's indicated on the placard and and little or no cargo. So with little kids you'll be fine with normal load pressure. The normal load is essentially the lowest recommended pressure on the placard. Max load pressure is for when you load up the car full of passengers and cargo and plan to drive up to the top speed. The door placard in the USA only lists the maximum load pressure for safety reasons. This goes back to the Firestone incidents in the 90s, but it leads to a rather stiff ride.

superswiss

Also, you can enter your VIN below and verify that your car was actually configured with the option. The option code may have changed, but it should come up as AMG Steering Wheel Buttons.

https://www.mbdecoder.com/

superswiss

Oh as far as NFC is concerned, that's just for easy Bluetooth pairing with phones that support it. Mostly some Android phones. iPhones don't support NFC Bluetooth pairing. I have it turned off, because it sometimes triggered Apple Pay when I put my phone on the wireless charger or attempted to plug it in for CarPlay.

aftli

Congrats on getting your car! Could you talk a little bit more about the process of getting the it? I'm wondering what's going on with my order, and I know things are probably different with Covid, but I can't make heads or tails of the situation and I hate having no idea what's going on. I ordered in September, and my dealer won't even guess as to when the car will arrive. Did you originally order as a 2020? What was the process like in general? When you knew you had an allocation, did you have a build date? When did you know approximately when the car would be here? Did you get any information about when it was complete? Or did they just call you one day and tell you it was there?

ctsvette

Here you go. Sorry, didn't realize anyone responded till today. I never got any emails saying someone responded.

ctsvette

So the issue with the drive unit was that MB is on constraint for them. The AMG tech at the dealer said this isn't the first he's seen like this. He doesn't know what was on constraint but is going to look more into it. He thinks they should be able to get it working in the future. I'm going to follow up with him at the end of the month.

ctsvette

Yeah, that was a massive mess. I ordered mine in March 2020 and got a build date of mid May. Around May I heard they delayed the build date to September. It was built September 14 and didn't arrive in Baltimore till Nov 9th. Then it sat in Baltimore till Dec 22nd when it finally arrived at the dealer. It was originally a 2020 and then got changed to a 2021. When did you place your order? As far as I know they're not taking any orders anymore on the current generation and everything should have a build date. I know this because I tried changing the order back in October and we tried several times and when they called some lead build guy he said the 2021 C43 was on runout which meant that you couldn't change any orders in the pipeline or place any new orders. Good luck!

aftli

Thanks for the info! Sounds like at least some of your delay was because the car wasn't "released" yet; I think some certification stuff has to happen before they can release them from the port. But they should all be clear now.

I placed my order around mid-September. It makes sense that they are saying they aren't taking any more new orders; I think the 2021 W205s weren't even supposed to be a thing, it's just that the redesign got delayed due to Covid. They didn't even really make any changes, except to unfortunately remove stuff that I wanted (three-zone climate control, sport seats, rear window shade). My order should be in though, my dealer has been saying I have an allocation. It's just that I've been worried that might not actually be true because I don't have a build date, and the guy still won't even guess as to when it will be built. On the other hand, other people have said they also had basically no information until the car was at the dealership. I'm really hoping I hear something this month.

ctsvette

So if the order is in they should definitely be able to go into the system to see where it is. If it has a build date then they can give it to you. Not sure if you're aware but the digital cluster is now standard, which was nice even though I did order it when I bought my car.

aftli

Yeah they say it's in the system, but has no build date, which to me seems weird, especially at this point. He also said the car "has a VIN", which is also weird, because I thought those were only assigned once the car was actually built.

And yeah, digital cluster being standard now is nice; my build I think wound up being a lot cheaper than I originally thought it was going to be because of that plus a few other options no longer being available. Though, I still don't even have final numbers on the car - pricing wasn't available yet when I ordered it.

Your car looks great BTW! Is that the Brilliant Blue or the Lunar Blue? It's hard to tell from the pictures. And what is that on your floor? I love the rims, I really wanted them but I wanted the 19s more.

ctsvette

Yes, that is weird. As far as I know you don't get a VIN till after the car is built or is about to be built, so there's no way they have it before a build date.

Thanks, it's brilliant blue, I like it a lot, especially with the night package. The floor are full coverage floor mats. You get them from https://www.diamondcarmats.com. I really like them and completely protect the carpet. I was really hesitant about getting the 18" rims, but do like them. At some point I may get some 19s but the car rides pretty hard as it is so not sure if 19s will be too much. Good luck, you'll love the car.

aftli

I got the Brilliant Blue too, but I felt like the night package would take away from it. Still not sure if that was the right choice but I'm sure I won't care at the end of the day.

Not a bad price for those mats, will definitely keep it in mind. They look great!

ctsvette

You ever get any clarification on what happened to your order?

aftli

I did, thanks for thinking of me! Apparently I have a build decade sometime in March, and should take delivery sometime in April. I work in the car industry (dealership and leasing adjacent), and work with several former Benz guys, including one who was a GM at a Benz dealership. I asked around, and near as we can figure out, the dealership probably didn't actually have an allocation for me when they said they did, and were stringing me along. It's possible things may have changed, but what I found out is that as soon as there is a purchase order submitted, a build decade is assigned. What my sales guy was telling me (which was that I had an allocation, the order was in, and I even had a VIN assigned, but there was no build decade) seems to have been incompatible with the reality of how things work.

My current C-class was being serviced at the dealership I ordered at, and I was comfortable with them and liked them, and when I was ordering the car the 2021 pricing wasn't even announced, and it's a custom build so basically you're going to just pay MSRP, minus maybe a few percent if you're lucky. So I figured it didn't really matter where I ordered the car, and I had so much fun driving it on the test drive that I placed the order right there and then. What I should have done was shopped around and found a dealer who had an allocation ready to go for me, and I might have had the car by now.

ctsvette

Good luck and let us know when you get it!

aftli

Sure will, and, sorry for not asking before, how's yours doing? Any more pictures of videos? The Brilliant Blue helps me get at least a little satiated hah.

ctsvette

Knock on wood but mine had been bullet proof. No rattles or creaks. I'm at 1400 miles and it felt great breaking it in. I'm averaging just I've 21 and I do a lot of city driving. I just bought some wheels for the summer that I'll put in later. For now I'm dealing with the snow. I'll be doing little mods as the weather warms so I'll post them later.

Hungary

Your car looks AWESOME!! I pre ordered in June got my po # in September and my car was to arrive in January but it’s now pushed back with a mid March build date for a late April early May arrival and I want to make changes but my build is locked so I cannot make changes.

ctsvette

Thanks, I just cleaned it yesterday after being covered with salt. I fell in love again. Since the weather has sucked I haven't had a chance to do much to it but am looking forward to putting my black wheels on it. I'm surprised they're still building them as the new one should be getting ready. You'll love it, and again knock on wood but so far mine had been perfect.