My new A220
 

I got the A220 4matic this past weekend with:

• Premium package
• Multimedia package
• Blind Spot Assist
• Garage door opener
• Pre Safe System
• Sirius XM
• Heated seats

MSRP was $40,470. The car was on the dealer floor and so had a discount of ~3k. We bargained and got it down to 36k. This seemed like a good deal so we're happy with it.
Ended up getting the extended warranty (10% off) and the 4 year maintenance package. They said the extended warranty is 100% refundable if I cancel before 4 years (or something like that). I figure since this is a first year model and all the tech that an extended warranty may be worth it (plus I can cancel later, if needs be.)

My experience so far:

• Driving.
  • The drive is good although I've been in stop and go traffic a lot (unlike my test drive). Especially when I'm barely tapping the gas to move forward a few feet, the car often seems to lurch forward a bit. Mercedes told me it's related to the double-clutch. I don't know what a double-clutch is (I'm not a car guy) so I'm unsure if that's a reasonable explanation.
• Drive modes.
  • I've mostly driven Comfort or Eco. I've been trying to drive mostly Eco to see what kind of fuel economy that gives. It seems to always default to Comfort so sometimes I forget to switch it right away.
• Start/Stop.
  • I notice the auto-engine stop/start a lot. It seems super sensitive in that it's constantly going off/on as I inch my way home. I've started disabling it when in heavy traffic.
    • It has not worked at least twice (i.e., I stopped at a light and it didn't kick in.) When that happened, I noticed a slight tremor through the steering wheel.
  • I'm sure I'll get used to this but after 4 days I still often am uncertain if I've turned the car off. Meaning, I'll think I did and open the door but sometimes it turns everything off and sometimes the electronics remain on. I think it's a combination of it still feels unusual to hit the gear shift "push to park" and that just throws my whole muscle memory off. I know I can simply push the Start/Stop button but I don't know... something just feels a bit weird still with the gear shift. Hopefully that'll wear off soon.
• Rear fog lights.
  • I didn't know what this was. I assumed the switch was for front fog lights but after reading the manual it said rear. I've never had a car with this so it was new to me. Only the rear driver's side lights lit up so I assumed it was a problem with the passenger side. Mercedes told me it's supposed to only do the driver's side. I'm unsure if/when I'd ever actually use this.
• Windshield wipers.
  • Driver's side windshield wiper bumps up against the frame on occasion, especially when in intermittent mode.
  • The one day it rained, I was trying to get a feel for how the auto-rain sensors would work. They appear to do a good job. Sometimes, they set the speed to "super fast" even though I'd normally have left it "normal" speed. I'm assuming it may be optimized to ensure the cameras remain clear but that's a guess.
• Gear shift.
  • I'm not a fan of the gear shift location. I'm used to this being the windshield wipers and I've hit it twice when my muscle memory wanted the wipers to sweep once. One time, I knocked it into Neutral without my realizing it (I thought I had barely touched the stick before pulling my hand back.) I was in the middle of turning a corner and trying to accelerate into traffic. It was mildly alarming as the engine revved but I didn't move forward. It took me a moment to realize what had happened. I was lucky in that no car was too close to me when this happened. I assume I'll slowly adjust to things but it's still annoying so far.
• MBUX. I'm really enjoying the voice commands and the big screens.
  • Tip: You can say "mercedes <command>" without waiting for the prompt. So just say it all as one sentence and it works fine.
• Navigation. I really like the augmented reality. I've mostly been setting it for my typical routes so I don't actually need it; I just enjoy seeing it in action. I can't imagine going without the AR in future cars. It even shows house numbers, which is a very nice touch.
  • One concern with the nav is the routing logic keeps trying to make me go directions I know aren't best. One time, it kept directing me to drive into a parking lot and go that route instead of staying on the road. I'm guessing it was because of heavy traffic but even then... I'm skeptical that a parking lot should be a good alternative route. Another time, it asked me to drive down a street to get onto the highway even though the entrance was in front of me. It's not a matter where it didn't know of the entrance because as soon as I kept driving forward it rerouted me to take that path. There was no weird traffic or anything like that so it's baffling why it gave me the original guidance. I've only been driving places I know so far so I've been able to ignore the guidance but it makes me worried if I ever really need the instructions on whether it'll make me take unusual routes.
• Rear camera.
  • The view is good but I've noticed after I back out of a parking space the camera often remains on for an extended period of time. I haven't yet figured out if it's based on time or me driving a certain speed. Either way, it seems unusual that it doesn't immediately turn off as soon as I go into Drive.

You got a great deal at that price. Congrats. Mine was quite a bit more with almost all options. It was on the lot so there was little choice.
I haven't had any issues with the gear shifting. Been smooth as silk. The two clutches means that it alternates clutches in a way that it never has to disconnect the transmission as it shifts gears. Quick and smooth gear changing.

I am only using comfort mode. Works fine for me especially as it defaults to this mode anyway.

I don't really like the Start/Stop feature. My last car, BMW allowed me to disable it permanently. That needs to be an option. You'll find it only "works" when the engine is not needed to run the accessories (AC, heat, etc.). So it is unpredictable. Don't think it does do much for the driver but does allow the manufacturer to get better emission ratings...
To stop the car just hit the start/stop button. It will switch to park and shut off the engine. I tried the other way at by putting it into park first but then the engine will turn off on it's own (this darn auto off feature). Now the engine can start on it's own and complain when you open the door.

Don't understand the rear fog light either. It seems to be a European thing. Don't think I will ever use it. One fog light??

The gear shift location is new for me too. I hit it a few times to wipe the windshield. I'll get used to it.

The voice commands are much easier to use if you just hit the button on the steering wheel. No waiting or need to hope it responds.

Only really used the Navigation locally and it works really well. AR is excellent. Every car should have it.

The rear camera shuts off after a short while. My last two cars have done the same thing so I am used to it. I guess it serves a purpose.

I'm sure we will get used to all of the oddities. Enjoy.

I think the rear camera shuts off at 10mph. I haven't tried to specifically test that; it's just my casual observation as I drive around.

A new problem cropped up yesterday where the passenger airbag "malfunction" warning appeared. I was driving and there was someone sitting in that seat but nothing unusual (not a heavy person, not jostling around.) It's remained for the day so I'll add it to my list when I take it in.

Yeah, I decided to disable the "mercedes" voice detection and only use the button.

Do you know what the Traffic Light Display is supposed to do (besides show the intersection on the front camera)? I enabled it and I see the camera show the intersection when I'm the first car waiting. But I don't know what the purpose of this is since it just looks like a regular view of what's in front of me. I looked in the manual and it says it will "show an enlarged traffic lights display" but I don't notice anything "enlarged".

I haven't found this Traffic Light display option and it's not listed in my manual? Not sure where you found it.

Heads Up Display and Driving Mode
 

How do I turn on the HUD?

Also, when I set driving mode I noticed it always reverted back to Comfort after parking.

You can turn it on HUD with the voice command (turn on heads up display). The controls to are a bit difficult to find, but it is done with the buttons on the left side of the steering wheel and explained pretty well in the Driver's Manual (hidden in the trunk).

Comfort Mode is the default mode and it will always revert to that. Just like auto stop mode will always turn on (I hate that one). :(

Thanks, actually I discovered that I don't have HUD (didn't want it anyways). My first impressions:

- Car defaults to Comfort, so you have to set to Sport when you start it. Sport is pretty good, it will consume more gas obviously. One neat thing, the car downshifts when breaking to slow it down, didn't know that automatics did this today.

- Controls are pretty easy to operate, seemed intimidating at first but you catch on quickly. MBUX works fairly well once you get used to it, and having features like opening the sunroof is pretty cool.

- Camera does shut off at 10 mph, I just tested it.

- Steering, handling and acceleration, the first two are great, acceleration isn't amazing but it's good enough to pass a vehicle quickly.

Note: No problem with windshield wipers.
- Start/Stop, used to that after driving in Europe (I think you can disable?), so no issue there.
-

- Doors feel solid, cabin noise is excellent and interior ergonomics are perfect, you feel like the car was built around your body specifications.

All in all, more than happy with my purchase and every day brings new pleasures.

Take it easy. You are supposed to break the engine in (1000 mi.) before you use Sport mode...

The Traffic Light View option is under Navigation options -> Augmented Reality. It's at the bottom of that menu. Based on the description, I wondered if it would show a larger traffic light image to make it easier to know if the lights change...? I'm not sure how useful that'd be (maybe when the sun is in my eyes?).

One pet peeve are the cup holders in the rear; they aren't very one-hand friendly, which is a poor design choice (IMO) given people will normally want to use them when holding a drink. I have kids and while I don't want them eating/drinking a lot in the car, it'll happen. I don't like the idea of them fiddling with the cup holder while holding a big drink. :-

Thanks for that. It was well hidden. I'll see what is does if anything. The rear arm rest seems like an afterthought. Not very well made.

Oh ok, good to know. I wasn't going overboard on accelerating but I'll wait then.