akbro93704

anyone here have their E350 yet?? to owners that previously had a 320, how are the improvements in power, smoothness, throttle response, etc?thanks

e350

I've had my E350 since 1 March. Great car, but I can't offer a comparasion since this is my first MB. I did have a BMW 740iL and it seems comparable in power. The BMW had a more agressive feel behind the wheel, but that is to be expected. Few on this forum would say that the E class is an agressive ride (E55 excluded). I can say that the engine is strong, but again since it is so new, I haven't really driven it hard yet. Factory Tech recommended that I keep it cool until I get 800 miles on it. I should hit that this weekend!

So far so good. Haven't seen another one anywhere yet (except at the factory)

calum

I wrote this small piece a week or two ago for another forum... (Note this is a UK model).

I've now put 400 or so miles on my new W211 E350 and thought I might jot
down my initial impressions, if anyone is interested.

As background, I "upgraded" from a 2002 W208 (C208?) CLK320, which I
also had from new. Before that I had a W210 and a W124 (are estates
still 'W'?).

There are a few options on the car that are new to me, e.g Parktronic,
COMAND, but they're not new to the W211 in general, so I won't mention
those (although I do like 'em). Some other points I raise are probably
not new to the current W211, but they're new to me coming from the W208
CLK (which I felt was more aligned with the W210 E).

The E350 has the brand-new V6, of course, coupled to the new 7-speed
auto gearbox. The car does feel like it has considerably more torque
than the CLK320, it's definitely noticeable. The engine is almost
inaudible, as is most road noise, at most speeds, which speaks well for
the sound-proofing.

The electronic oil level monitoring is gone from the 350 engine (only),
replaced with the good old dipstick.

The automatic box is just wonderful. I thought the box in the CLK was
good, but this is better. In normal driving, the gear changes are almost
always unnoticeable. Very smooth indeed. I found with the CLK that
easing off, at town speeds, because of a hazard, and then quickly easing
on again, would sometimes confuse it, resulting in a little jerk, but
that doesn't happen now. I don't think I've noticed a single gear
change, yet.

I do have the box set to Comfort mode; I'd done this in the CLK320 too,
but I notice a tendency for the E to be more sluggish in this mode. I
think that perhaps there is more intelligence in this box, and it's much
more likely to change up earlier, on light throttle, than the CLK was.
Of course, I have yet to adjust to it, so it's probably just me.

The "tip-tronic" feature seems much better than in the CLK. I recall the
latter being little more than a way to control the upper shift boundary,
and often not having much effect on the actual gear selected. The E will
immediately really change down, when the lever is moved left, rather
than just changing the upper shift boundary. i.e. it changes from D
(==7) down to to e.g. 4, with one click left. I don't recall the CLK
doing that. Apparently, holding it left will cause it to immediately
change to the "best" gear for acceleration, although I've not fiddled
with this too much.

Externally, the two main things I've noted as different are the
auto-folding mirrors, and the double blade wipers. I had manually
folding mirrors as standard on the W210, but not on the W208 (perhaps
because it's narrower?). Auto-folding mirrors seem very jolly. I do
appreciate that it does protect them a bit, and given the price of
replacement, that's a good thing. On the slight down-side, the noise of
them folding makes people look, which I hate, and I do wonder whether
water can now get into places where it shouldn't. Still, I will leave
them enabled, for now.

The twin wiper blades do seem to have excellent coverage but I can't
help feeling they look very clunky compared to the elegant - and
complicated - single blade eccentric mechanism on the CLK.

[edit: the passenger-side wiper does still have an eccentric mechanism, which provides the greater coverage]

The brakes seem excellent, of course; no better or worse than the CLK.
The SBC pump system makes some odd noises at unexpected times (even
before starting) but I understand this is expected. SBC Hold is a fun
thing. I find it a little difficult to apply without jerking my leg
about; I doubt I will use it in traffic, but it could come in handy for
steep hill-starts. The car does not have SBC Traffic or SBC Stop: these
are no longer available, I believe, although they were on the demo car I
test drove in October.

Build quality overall does seem good. I'd been a little concerned over
reports I'd read, but things are mostly satisfyingly clunky, except
perhaps for the boot lid, which on closing feels and sounds like a thin
piece of tin. The CLK boot sounds very solid.

[edit: I'm told the boot (trunk) is plastic]

I do like the fact that the indicators flash three times when the boot
is closed if the car was previously locked/alarmed, just to confirm it
still is. Also amused that the Nav DVD cannot be eject from the boot
player unless the whole car is unlocked.

I'm very impressed with the external lighting. Automatic lights are
great (shame that you can't then turn on the fogs though). I had Xenon
lights in the CLK, and again in this E, but they seem considerably
brighter in the E, which surprised me. By a long way the best lights
I've had on any car. I also have the ALS (active light system), although
I've not noticed anything so far. Having not driven the W211 with Xenons
but without ALS (which is a possible option) I can't say if there's any
improvement. In fact, I did wonder whether I even received the option,
so I checked the option list on the MB data card in my service book

The dealer also told me that the side fog lights come on during slow
speed manoevuring. I've not noticed this, but then I probably wouldn't,
inside the car. There's nothing about this in the manual.

[edit: because it isn't true. The dealer was confused. This option (619 cornering light assist) is on some new models, but not the W211]

The courtesy *external* lighting, on unlocking and after locking, is
very handy. I've had this on cars in the US for years, but it seems a
newer thing here.

Also amusing that I can choose to emulate Volvo/Saab drivers and have
the headlights on all the time.

Inside, everything seems of good quality, at least comparable to the CLK
- which quality impressed me - if not better. The seats seem firmer,
too. I previously had the multi-contour backrest, but decided not to
this time as I could never get comfortable in it. The standard seats now
seem very comfortable.

Some oddities I've noted so far: the glovebox and rear console box tend
to open by themselves, unless they're closed very firmly (i.e. slammed).
The electrically opening/closing switch panel in front of the CD-changer
space is very jolly; I wonder how long it will take to break? Sadly the
space revealed behind (I don't have the CD changer) isn't big enough to
fit a CD case. The little drawer next to the glovebox is also jolly, and
also a bit small to do anything useful with. Having a shelf dividing the
glovebox is nice; I believe this wasn't always there.

The centre console boxes I'm also struggling with, size-wise. On the CLK
the top section was fairly shallow, with a cavernous section underneath,
very useful. On the E, the top section is deeper, resulting in much less
space underneath.

The internal ambient lighting strips are interesting. I've never had a
car that had interior lights designed to be on all the time (when dark).
I've got them set quite low (2/5), but can't decide whether I like it or
not.

The 4-zone "luxury" climate control (Thermotronic) works at least as
well as in the CLK (which was only 2-zone control). Nice to see
face-level vents in the back (routed through the front doors).
Especially pleased that I can control the rear-zones from the front
panel, to foil the little blighters playing with buttons in the back. I
hear that this system used to offer an extra filtering mode of some
sort, but that is no longer available, apparently.

The climate control panel looked a little clunky; back to LED
technology? Initially I thought the previous LCD panel looked better,
although I've now got used to it, however, and perhaps it does look
better, especially at night.

The dashboard has taken a lot of getting used to. After the classic
design I had in my CLK (which was similar to those even going back to my
W124), the new dash design looked very brash and ugly, I thought. I've
adjusted to it now, and it looks OK. Those sliders left and right for
petrol and coolant temp will never look as nice as proper dials. Take
less space though.

I'm now happier with the look of the dash, but there are a number of
issues that still annoy me a bit:

o Removing the km/h markings from the main analogue speedometer. This
means that the 3rd "status" line in the digital readouts is now locked
on km/h, at least in the UK. Apparently this is to conform with EU law
that requires km/h to be visible at all times. This leads onto...

o Outside temp not always visible. On the CLK, and the W210 I think, and
possibly even the W124, outside temp was always visible, in its
dedicated window. Now, the outside temp is only visible when you're
viewing the main "standard" display. Select any other display, e.g. the
Nav instructions, and you can't see the temp. Outside the UK you can set
the 3rd "status" line to show the outside temp (all the time), but in
the UK (only) this line is locked on km/h (see above).

o Speed limiter settings: I use the Speed-tronic limiter all the time.
In these cars, it's just too easy to waft along way above the speed
limit, totally oblivous to how fast you're really going. With the new
"blobs around the dash" readout, I find it very hard to tell at a glance
what the limiter is set to. Previously it was always visible digitally,
i.e. numerically, in its dedicated area. This is perhaps made worse in
that I generally set the limit to 5mph above the real limit (naughty
me), partly to avoid too much hassle from the ****-head behind trying to
go 20mph above the limit.

It's early days, and I have a lot more miles to do, but initial
impressions are very favourable. I really like this new car.

Fastbuck

Thanks for your detailed review Calum. Interesting to hear that the old fashioned dipstick is making a return. I'm not surprised to hear the demise of SBC Stop though. It was of limited use. It would have been 1000% better if it had been linked to Parktronic though.

calum

nice pic, Fastbuck. In that light your silver looks like my tealite blue

Fastbuck

Thanks. I had not thought about it before, but yes, it does a little.

ruykava

great review, calum! haha, though i've had my car for 2 years now, still feel the "freshness" after reading your comments

i also find it interesting that the dipstick's back: perhaps the electronic monitoring took too long (had to stand the car on level ground, engine off, for 5 minutes, if i'm not mistaken). i personally found the "blob" speed limiter very nice as it seemed very logical to me, but i can see what you mean by not being able to set it exactly.

the glovebox might have been changed in later model cars, but i think the best way to close them is to hold the entire glovebox with two hands, then press it closed gently but firmly -- i remember initially having quite some trouble closing them as well! definitely something for MB to think about.

meanwhile congrats on a great car -- great stuff

calum

yup, I think the blob would be fine if I set an even number of mph, but as I generally set 35, 45, etc, instead of 30, 40, it just seems harder to tell, at a glance.
cheers,
c.

beester

Last Friday I got my E350 (bought it after one test drive from Precision Cars of Atlantic City). I was considering (and had already given a deposit for a BMW 530Xi since I want four wheel drive - living in the snowy Northeast). One test drive and I bought the E350. These are my initial impressions. The car is fantastic. It seems to do everything effortlessly. My car is a 4matic with the appearance package and the cold weather package. My prior car was a 2003 BMW 330Xi, which in itself is a terrific car that is fun to drive. That was my second BMW - I had previously owned a 635CSI (one of the truly beautiful coupes ever made). This car out-shines them all. I couldn't be happier. I'll report back periodically on my impressions as I go along (the car only has about 250 miles on it now).

BudC

How does the throttle response compare to the BMW's? The throttle tip in on my E320 is lousy compared to the 300E.

MB Fanatic

I just got the E350 the other day and I must say that it is a beast for how big the engine is. When compared to my W210 E320 this W211 is a clear winner in my book and I could not be more happy with my decision. I had test driven the 530i, A6, S60R, and a new GS. Needless to say neither of them had the luxuriousness of the E's stone interior nor the features the E had. I am thrilled about this car. So far no problems with 450miles on the odometer already. SBC works great, as does the new center console/armrest. My only gripe is with the REST feature, its no longer there. Oh well.

BTW the new 7spd tranny is silky smooth and accleration is pretty strong.

calum

I've no idea why, but the REST feature *is* still here on mine, so UK models must be different. What do you have in its place?

MB Fanatic

LOL we get nothing in place of the REST feature. I wonder why the hell they took out REST. Oh well the E55 still has it.

calum

shame

I actually meant: what do you have in place of the button?

Kurko

I got my E350 exactly 3weeks ago and I'm really happy with it after 3500km. European/finnish model seems to have rest-funtion in AC, as discussed earlier. Only thing that I'm disappointed is the 5speed gearbox in 4matic and lack of SBC stop so far.

I'll send some pics later on.

e350

If I had to share one disappointment, it would be that the US version of the E350 is electronically limited to 130 MPH, which I must say it handles very well. The Wagon is very solid at high speed. Felt like I was doing 80MPH. My wife had no idea how fast we were going (on the Autobahn) until I told her. When I test drove the European spec E350, I took it to 240 KPH, which is nearly 150 MPH. The test car was a sedan with out appearance package or airmatic. It seemed a bit light up front at that speed. I guess 130 is plenty fast for me but I can't quite figure out why MB limited it at 130, is it the tires? I have Pirelli 245/45's on it (standard), maybe they aren't rated for speeds in excess of 130. All in all a wonderful car, so glad I got it!

calum

That's odd; I do have SBC Stop (UK model).

BudC

Unless it's changed, cars built in Germany must have tires equal to the top speed of the car even if they are exported. BMW's and Mercedes going to the U.S. get H-rated tires, hence the 130 MPH limit. There are some models that come with W-rated tires and they are limited to around 155.

BMW were the first to change to H-Rated tires because they said that Americans are so cheap when it comes to tires that they wouldn't replace V-Rated tires with V-Rated tires. BMW switched to H-Rated and limited top speed to 130. Mercedes have followed suit.

I suspect the real reason BMW did it was to save money but since Americans ARE cheap when it comes to tires and we can't drive even 130 much less 150, the change makes sense.