ccCLS550

OK - First Impressions....dont get me wrong, this is a wonderful and amazing piece of machinery, but here are a few things, in my opinion, that need attention on this $90,000 machine....(yes, some cost more and some cost less, but fully optioned, MSRP pushes right close to $90K)...

1. for this vehicle to not have active "guide lines" for the rear camera is RIDICULOUS and completely unacceptable...

2. the tilt steering wheel does not have enough "down" adjustment..it needs to be able to be lowered more than the maximum low spot. (yes I have adjusted it down as low as it will go)

3. while I understand this is a "4 door sports car" the drivers seat would be somewhat uncomfortable, in my opinion, for a person with a fairly muscular or wide back (or a larger person)...the part of the seat around the lats or upper middle of your back seems pretty narrow - and yes, I have it adjusted out to as wide as it will go.

Love the look and lines of the car - Yes, I have heard and read others' opinions on the lack of room in the rear seats and yes, I too agree that there is not a ton of room in the back seats (leg room/head room) with the driver's and passenger's seat in the "proper" positions, but for me the back seat is simply a place to throw a suit jacket, a briefcase or a spot for my still small children. If I were going to be hauling 4 full size adults around, this would not be the model for me, in my opinion - but you need to know what you're buying it for and be sure it suits your needs - for me the "sports car" desire over runs my need for back seat room at this point.

Horsepower and handling is amazing - like I said, "a 4 door sports car". Looking forward to some more driving of this fine piece of machinery. And yes, I recognize that getting anything perfect is next to impossible - but my items 1, 2 and 3 above are pretty easily overcome, in my novice opinion, with some simple design alterations....dont agree ? -- love to hear your solutions or feedback.

OBP

Congrats on your new bahnstormer ! On your point 1, I hear that for the 2014MY, the guidelines for the reverse camera will be included. But the 2014s will probably also have eco start stop which is a little annoying.

Like you, my kid is still small so I'm fine having him in a smallish back seat - he rides in the back of my convertible sometimes so if we do get a CLS, he will have more space.

Hangin out waiting for the 2014s to hit the market - we will see what happens - maybe we'll pick one up then. In the meantime, learning a lot from reading about the experience of people on this really useful forum.

Congrats again and enjoy. Please post pics !

Adrockinc

Eco Start Stop is terrible...Sad to hear that will be on the 2014s happy I have a 2012...Hopefully that can be disengaged!

OBP

Yes start stop can be switched off but it will re-activate itself the next time you start your car. So everytime you drive, you will need to hit the button to shut it off. Annoying. But I guess it allows MB to claim better city MPGs.

More favorably, I just got home from the evening drive back and I had a black CLS550 trailing me in the fading light most of my drive back. There is something very aggressive yet attractive about the light/bulb pattern used for the LEDs in front. Looks like a solid bar of white light from a distance, yet when it gets closer, the complexity of the multiple LEDs both large and small in the headlamp cluster is very futuristic looking. The other two 4 door coupes ( 640/650 GC and A7/S7 ) are not as unique and futuristic looking in my opinion. The semi halos of the 650 GC don't look that different from most of the other halos that BMW has used while the A7/S7 with full LEDs looks sort of like the CLS550 except it is less intricate once the individual beams from each bulb become visible as the car closes up on you.

I guess most of you are enjoying your CLS's from inside the car so here is one perspective from someone who looks from the outside, for now at least.

kaetamer

May I ask the source of your info? Any other changes for 2014 you are aware of? I ordered my 2014 in late Dec and info about it has been scarce...

Thanks. Scott

hyperion667

congrats on the purchase...
enjoyed reading your review, I can't say I have any of the issues
you mentioned.....I do have the 'seat' in my cls, the one with massage(lol)
and with the side bolstering, which I really like! can't say much about the level
of the steering wheel....
I'm 6'2" around 170, so I'm pretty thin I guess.......
also was thinking there has to be some reason MB didn't include the reverse lines on the rear camera, (not an issue for me), but nothing comes to mind.....maybe it's just a trend consumers really want....weird eh?
I also transport my 4 year old daughter, but I wouldn't want to have to sit back there LOL as it's pretty 'tight' to say the least.......but it's just the three of us, so it suits me well.....
so lets see some pictures!

OBP

Hi Scott, his source of info was me and my source of info was MBUSA. Most of the dealer sales people do not know this stuff but the good folk at MBUSA will help you if you email them.

Some planned changes for 2014:

Standard features:
Eco Start Stop, forward collision warning ( Collision Prevention Assist ), Ipod multi media cable no longer in P1 but now standard, guidelines for reverse camera included.

New colors available: Diamond Silver, Hyacinth Red
Old colors not available: Cuprite Brown, Storm Red

If you hear anything else, please let us know.

nyca

Start/stop adds no mpg credit to the EPA city loop test in the US.

If MBUSA sells this car without a permanent way to defeat this, they are going to have alot of customer complaints about it if you have to re-engage the defeat everytime you use the car.

ccCLS550

Sorry I haven't posted any pics yet - weather hasn't been too great and I haven't been able to get any pics worth posting. Not to mention it still has the 18" AMG wheels on it, but I have the 19" Launch editions sitting in my garage ready to be put on as soon as the weather begins to move more toward spring...Will try and at least get some decent interior pics up soon....on a positive note my Weather Tech Digital Fit Floor liners should be here first of the week so I can take the bath towels off the floor boards - LOL.

kaetamer

Realized after I posted it was to the wrong person.

Thanks for the info. Dealer keeps saying delivery in first week of May. We'll see...

tetra123

Camera guidelines are now being included, I am guessing it was not ready on launch as it may need calibrating correctly for the car. I have checked and they cannot be added to current camera.
If I lower my steering wheel any lower i would not be able to see the speedo etc properly, my seats are also on the lowest setting.
I had the multicontour seats without the dynamic function, I find these really comfortable as when I had the car for the weekend with standard seats I did not seem to be able to get them right.
I find the rear seat space more than enough for adults, although considering this is longer than an e class estate I am surprised there is not more space. I think light coloured seats make it feel roomier.
If I was nitpicking I would add that I find the road noise higher on this than my previous E Class with airmatic suspension. The engine is a little rough too, but amazing in other ways for its size, but I knew this when I chose this over the 6 cylinder diesel.
But overall this car comes closer to ticking all my boxes than any other car I have ever owned or driven.
The damn thing even phones Mercedes if it thinks I have had an accident.

brabus benz

agree with the road noise, it's pretty bad for a $80k plus car.

brabus benz

i disagree about the led's on the headlights. the straight line design seems like an afterthought. it has no coherence with the rest of the headlight. just look at how intricate the led design is cla is. it has unique multiple contours and it follows the shape of the headlight for a clean coherent look.

OBP

Guess you don't like the "squinting" look of the current generation CLS huh ? It took me a while to get used to it and I thought it was ugly at first but I have grown to like it as of now.

kaetamer

Which tire are you running?

Stavs

About this - I just switched the original Pirelli P Zero (19") summer tires with Bridgestone Potenza S-04 pole position only after 7k miles. I couldn't take them anymore. They had some vibration issues that no balancing could correct, road noise etc. etc. etc. Can't understand why Mercedes chose to use these tires - the dealer said that they have had complaints from other customers too.

The car has been transformed! It is exactly how it is supposed to be from the factory - amazingly connected to the road and no vibration at any speed.

emericr

First congrats on the car.
I took delivery of mine about 2 weeks ago and here are my comments related to your post:
1: Guidelines on rear view. I don't know where you live but I do not do much backing up so not a big deal for me. Furthermore, I do not depend on the rear camera and still turn my head around. Call me old school. I know the new 2014 will have 360 camera view. I could have bought the car without the camera at all. Just because other cars costing a lot less have this feature does not mean it should be in ours. I also often drive a QX56 that has a 360 camera system with guidelines and I do not really find it to be a must.
2: Not sure how you drive. Maybe adjust the seat up to compensate it??
3: I think the seats are different on the AMG but I find them to be able to fit anyone and I had a few "big boys" drive the car and they feel the seats are great. I come from a C63 where the seats even hug you more so maybe I am biased.
There are a few cool features in the car like multiple interior light color, adaptive headlights and brake hold. Again, nothing that would make me buy/not buy the car versus the competition but since you were talking about gadgets, I thought I would mention those.
I still feel the car to be really special. The BMW GC is also good looking but like others have mentioned, you have to be close to it to differentiate it from other BMWs.
The RS7 was on my top 3 list and looks sharp and sexy as well and IMHO is the closest competitor of the CLS.