CLS 550 4matic - New Owner Review ( Caution: longish post )
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E63 S AMG, CLS550 4matic, C63 Ed 507, Volvo XC90 T8s
CLS 550 4matic - New Owner Review ( Caution: longish post )
CLS 550 4matic Impressions ( after one week of ownership,driven in the Swiss Alps, German Autobahn, Austrian regular roads )
Seating: The seats are pretty comfortable but also quitesupportive. They hug me pretty well despite me not ordering the multi contourseat feature. Among the cars I have test driven recently ( Jag F-Type, Lexus ISF-sport, Audi S7, S6, BMW 650GC, Caddy ATS 3.6 ) the seats are on the upper end of supportive. Only the Lexus ISF-sport has more supportive seats.
Headliner: not sure if the 2013s and 2012s got a full black headliner with the black sportleather option – I do not remember seeing it in the 2013 CLS’s I test drove.But I got a full black headliner and I quite like it.
Instruments/Nav/Driver interface:
I quite like the central multi function display inside thespeedo. Takes some time to get used to the steering wheel controls for thecentral MFD but I like the ability to display different things there in colorwith different compartments to it. Favorite display for now on the central MFDis the Distronic radar display showing me what it sees ahead.
HUD: no HUD unlike the S7 and 650GC fully optioned out so MBloses out here but considering I paid less than a similarly equipped S7 and650GC, I am OK with this. I view the HUD as cool to have but not strictlynecessary anyway.
Regarding the Nav screen, had some concerns before purchasethat it was too small compared with the S7 and 650GC. But after driving aroundfor a week, I am totally OK with it – screen resolution is nice and the factthat the top and bottom bars disappear when not required mean the smallish7-inch size does not actually limit me as I glance at the nav screen whendriving. Better screen resolution than any of my currently owned cars helps thepositive impression.
Comand via the main Nav screen: a little adaptation neededcompared with older systems that I am used to from Lexus/Acura. The upper barand lower bar skip is not the most user friendly but is workable after youunderstand the logic behind it. Had no trouble entering addresses, easy tofollow instructions come through on screen and through the audio. I’d call itequal with Lexus/Acura nav interfaces.
Handling/Tranny/Suspension:
No problem negotiating narrow winding Swiss/Austrian alpineroads at regular speeds – even when cornering sharply ( including hairpin turns), I felt the car had a lot more grip left in it. And this was with 3passengers and a trunk load of luggage. At highway speeds, the car iseverything I expected – solid, secure, very moderate road noise, nearly no windnoise, feels like it could do 180 mph easily if need be. Just today I had tofloor it for a few seconds to pass someone when there was only a limited amountof passing lane space left for me, unfortunately had the tranny and engine inEco mode rather than Sport. But acceleration response was still very strong soit was pretty easy to slip by the other car on a curving Austrian alpine road.
Switching between Sport and Comfort Airmatic settings makesa real difference. On straight highways at high speeds, Comfort works fine. Buton winding roads, I like the Sport setting better – everything just feels waytighter.
Switching between Eco and Sport setting for thetranny/throttle also makes a real difference. I’ll be advising the wife to useEco all the way when she drives and I will alternate between Eco and Sporttranny/throttle settings. In flowing but heavy traffic, Sport is better cos thethrottle responds waaay faster if you need to switch lanes quickly. But the onecriticism of the tranny mapping that I heard about before is true: sometimes,the tranny has a hard time deciding which gear to use when on an uphill climband accelerating. You then get slight jerkiness as you switch down into a lowergear, then switch back up as the tranny decides what to do. The solution iseasy for those of us who have the wheel packages – just get into manual andshift yourself with the paddles. And I guess this is still a little better thanthe Audi clunk when you slow to a stop while driving in dynamic settings andthe Audi DCT shifts down for you. I experienced that clunk in both an S7 and S6and it can be pretty harsh.
Power/Acceleration
Straight line highway passing punch is solid as expected.Hearing that V8 rumble is a real pleasure and the power delivery is effortless.Of course it’s better in the Sport throttle/tranny setting mode but no sloucheven in Eco mode. The few times I had to step on it to get past someone on thehighway was real easy. ( And remember, full trunk of luggage, 3 passengers )
Safety Systems
Distronic is much more than I expected: the car can totallystop itself in cruise control mode and handling slow and heavy traffic is realeasy cos the radar and computers do everything for you. The capability of thefront looking radar is impressive: it can detect even a bicycle some distanceahead. The thing is sometimes on winding roads, depending on the angle ofapproach for oncoming traffic, Distronic thinks for a brief period that therecould be a head on collision risk so you get a momentary collision warning beepand the red triangle flashes in your instrument cluster. But the systemcorrects itself in a second once the oncoming traffic is no longer in theradar’s direct forward field of view. A couple of impressive discoveries
istronic can maintain a radar lock on the vehicle in front even on windingroads when the car in front may be off your central boresight. I suspect theradar might have a tilting feature that looks a little left or right dependingon where your steering wheel is directed. The only time Distronic breaks radarlock is when the car in front is about 40+ degrees angle off your nose, e.g.following someone through a hairpin corner. I cannot complain about this radarbreak lock – this is an MB, not an F22 stealth fighter. So I am good with this.Lane Tracking: Another interesting discovery – the lanetracking stick shaking feature seems to alert you to which side of the road youare drifting towards. When you cross to the left, the left side of yoursteering wheel shakes and when you drift right, the right side of your wheelshakes. Quite a nice surprise !
Parktronic: generally as expected when the object is a wallor something large like that. But when you get close to shrubs or a small plant( parking adjacent to a flower bed ), the system jumps from no warning to the red alert mode very quickly.Might be a technology limitation in detecting plants but whatever, I am notgoing to make an issue of inability to detect plants well.
Rear view cam/guidelines: Man I am glad I got a 2014 – therear view guidelines work as I expected and there could be a new feature that Idid not know about before: like Audi and BMW ( and Porsche ), MB now providesyou a little pic of the car in your nav screen and highlights the part of thecar where the Parktronic sensors detect an object. Either I totally missed thiswhen test driving the 2013 CLSs over the last year, or it is a nice new featurefor 2014. I like it.
Complaints:
I still would like to get folding mirrors – I parked rightby a CLS350 CDI Shooting Brake in exactly the same color and it just irritatedme that his mirrors folded and mine were not.
Why can we not get rear seat A/c controls in the US ? Andthe rest of the world can ?
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E63 S AMG, CLS550 4matic, C63 Ed 507, Volvo XC90 T8s
For any of your Distronic gurus out there: funny thing happened to me this morning. After starting the car, I had to make my way through a crowded parking lot with only inches to spare between ourselves and other cars parked in the lot. Also had to get real close to some shrubs and plants. My parking sensors were going crazy every 2 seconds. Then once I get clear of all the obstacles, I get a "Distronic radar not available, consult owners manual" message and a symbol which shows my forward collision warning system had shut down. Got real worried, then after 1 mile of driving, the Distronic system revived. Any one know why this could have happened ?
And BTW, did an all highway run from Innsbruck Austria to Munich Germany and I did get past 25 mpg per the cars on board computer calculations. Remember, 3 passengers and full load of luggage.
And BTW, did an all highway run from Innsbruck Austria to Munich Germany and I did get past 25 mpg per the cars on board computer calculations. Remember, 3 passengers and full load of luggage.
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Nice review! I haven't had the ability to test mine out on the highway too much yet so your points about the cars performance under those conditions are encouraging. I will post back here once I've completed a week with mine...
One thing I wanted to add is about the car's pre-safe brake - the 2nd day of ownership I was trying to show off the distronic, and didnt realize that I hadn't engaged it. I obviously took my foot away from the pedal well for the added effect and was about to crash into a stopped car, but the car warned me and together we were able to prevent the accident calmly. For better or worse, the technology works!
One thing I wanted to add is about the car's pre-safe brake - the 2nd day of ownership I was trying to show off the distronic, and didnt realize that I hadn't engaged it. I obviously took my foot away from the pedal well for the added effect and was about to crash into a stopped car, but the car warned me and together we were able to prevent the accident calmly. For better or worse, the technology works!
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E63 S AMG, CLS550 4matic, C63 Ed 507, Volvo XC90 T8s
So just an update on highway performance. Was up at 115 mph for a bit on the Munich to Stuttgart highway and it was totally serene. A few BMW and Audi wagons flew by me at what must have been 140+ mph but I was not going to push this new car much more than 100 mph. Looks like she will not see the upper limits of her speed capability in her lifetime cos she gets shipped to the US tomorrow.
And parktronic saved me from bumping into an Audi yesterday night. Was not looking at the rear mirror while reversing into a spot and the sensors screamed, I got a red alert from the rear and looking into the camera showed the A4s Audi logo filling up my screen.
Overall, after nearly 800 miles in all kinds of conditions over the last 10 days, I think we will be happy with this car for quite some time.
And parktronic saved me from bumping into an Audi yesterday night. Was not looking at the rear mirror while reversing into a spot and the sensors screamed, I got a red alert from the rear and looking into the camera showed the A4s Audi logo filling up my screen.
Overall, after nearly 800 miles in all kinds of conditions over the last 10 days, I think we will be happy with this car for quite some time.
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E63 S AMG, CLS550 4matic, C63 Ed 507, Volvo XC90 T8s
So it finally arrived at the dealership today. Looking as good as when we left it in Germany. Check out the German registration and "Deutschland" on the rear windshield. Waiting for rear ent and clear bra install.
