rayscar

Here is the link to the review dated 3-13-03 on the E500.

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadt...4/article.html

etenn

Hmmm...not exactly a "glowing" review. Some nice things said, but an equal or larger number of negatives. If I did not own the car and know that this is mostly lip-flapping, I might lose some interest.

Edmunds seems to always treat MB in this manner. Not exactly a turn off, but "you should check out the competition" type of review.

rayscar

I agree Ed. I was disappointed with this latest review especially after their intial test drive review last year of the new E. That was much more favorable IMO.

rickyfanmdr

Thanks for the link!

rayscar

My Pleasure

NuBenz

Hmmm... they sure seem picky. I feel that they need more intelligent subjects to test the new W211. Their complaint about learning the stalks, especially the cruise control, is ridiculous. Once I learned the location and function of each stalk, I haven't had any problems at all going for the wrong stalk! Heck, the Merc stalks are backwards compared to my other cars.

Regarding the HVAC controls, I think they're beautiful and really easy to use, once you know what all the buttons mean. I don't see what the problem is... This is my first Benz... I've never even seen these controls before.

Now scrolling through all the menus for audio changes is a bit of a hassle... but the awesome sound of the HK system makes all the suffering completely worth it!

I feel that the car handles like a nice touring sedan should. It provides a very controllable and predictable ride. No, it's not a 540 sport, but it manages just fine, especially with the SportContact 2 tires and the airmatic in the stiffest setting.

The engine is a beauty and pulls effortlessly. The brakes are grabby, but now that I've learned the car and the brake modulation, it's really just a matter of learning how to "drive" and "brake" the car properly. It takes so little effort to actuate the brakes... I've actually gotten very used to the modulation and have no trouble driving smoothly.

Merc does offer a split rear folding seat. I have it in my car! :p

Each to his own, but I love my E. It's not perfect, but what car is? Hopefully, I've gotten rid of all my car's freshman bugs...

Thank goodness I didn't order the nav system... I hope everything works out for you guys that did...

CRB

That was a pretty savage review. Edmund's found something to dislike in practically every area.

Well, at least they liked the HK sound system.:p

Dema

Edmunds has advertisement money, and as usually advertisement money paid for promoting cars not selling well. So do not expect that Edmunds will write something good about cars having top sales numbers.

cte430

I mean, how stupid are these people. I've never come close to accidently hitting the curise control instead of the directional. I'm not really sure how you would even do that. This setup is not unique to Mercedes. How many times have you rented a car, or driven someone else's? YOu don't get in and read the manual. I've never been in a car that took me more than a few minutes to figure out the basics. Some of the things these guys pick on is amazing. There's a car reviewer in my local paper who has always trashed MB because on the older E's the wndow controls were on the console. He recently reviewed the new E and I couln't wait to see what he said about the placement of the window controls. OMG, you would have thought he hit lotto. He said he was thrilled that MB finally put the controls in the "right" place. "Right" to who? you, becasue you say so... Oh well, we love the cars, but MB really does seem to garner a lot of backhanded compliments in the auto press. I'm not sure why.