Barry45RPM

My car is in for its 1st B service. They gave me a new ML3something... It has a tambour sliding door on it & its tight, & nice to lean on (if I try). Ergonomically speaking, I cant believe that the Motherland would make something non-ergonomic for the W211 E.

As for the rest of the vehicle... I'm not familliar with the truck at all, but it feels like an underpowered throw-back to an earlier day at MB. I don't like it.
...and man do you have to really lean into it to turn the key into the crank position. Wonder what kind of return springs they're using in that lock!

jrthiele

As I said before, I've driven 1000km's with the new armrest and it does function OK as an armrest while driving. My arms are medium length and with the seat and wheel comfortably adjusted my elbow can only reach the edge of the console anyway and that is essentially the same shape and position as the old armrest. The same is true on the door arm rest too. At first I was worried that my elbow would overlap onto the console door but in reality it wasn't a problem. I still find both the old and new armrests to be not very good design. My adjustable Q-45 armrest beats them both by a mile.

cschow

BTW, the 05 E-class brochure I picked up about 1-2 months ago had a footnote which stated that the center console would be redesigned during production. I guess this thread answers what that redesign is all about. Personally, just from the pictures, I like the original styled center console better.

ATS

Haha..

alewifebp

Besides the better cupholder, since I do tend to keep a decent amount of stuff in my center console, including pads, pens, tissues, MP3 player, cell phone charger, this design more or less negates almost all of those options. And does not allow you to use it as a functional arm rest.

Concerning the discussion about why one would use the arm rest, here in the US, let's face it, we are lazy, and I like to have my arms resting while I drive. Overall, the pre 05 design is not that comfortable as it is, and now, having to lean on the edge or on wood doesn't seem very comfortable to me. In the ML, the door is on an extreme slope, and it still includes a high mounted center arm rest, with a good amount of storage space. They of course had to move where the cupholders were to achieve this though.

In either case, it appears that MB has no clue as to how to implement a cupholder in to ANY of their cars. Which is disheartening, considering that even BMW has figured it out (albeit finally). Has anyone seen the cupholder design in the new SLK? It is in a pop out compartment above the vents, meaning that it will be pretty much right below the mirror right in your line of sight.

Two of my previous cars, a Lexus and a Honda, both had a sizable, large, and comfortable center console, plenty of room for the gear shift, and two functional cupholders, that did not get in the way of either your arms or in the way of radio or climate controls. Very frustrating.

Fastbuck

Being from the humble UK we simply don't place as much priority on the presence or otherwise of cup holders. I think if I was as desperate to have my cup held as some of you sound, I'd buy a tart for the night and tell her to hold my drink!

Baby Jocko

Well, after having my car spend 6 hours at the dealership, I drove away with the exact same console (plus a couple of new scratches, which they will resolve by replacing the door). As it turns out, the new and old console are not interchangeable. Apparently, the fiber optic connection and routing is different between the two consoles. They didn't realize this until they had taken it apart and tried to connect the phone and TeleAid wiring. So, unless MB comes out with an adapter (which they no reason to do so), then there will be no swapping.

Oh well, I guess I will have to get used to it.

ATS

Oh well.. At least the dealership tried to go the extra distance for you.

Baby Jocko

Atlanta Classic Cars -- by FAR the best MB dealership in Atlanta. Just make sure you avoid RBM -- horror stories. Ask for Lonnie McNear at Atlanta Classic Cars. He gave me the best car buying experience in my life! I am not exaggerating.

But, regarding this thread, make sure you read post #82.

Baby Jocko

Yes! Another example of the excellent customer service my dealership has. I have come to realize that all MB dealerships are not created equal. I am happy that I ended up buying my car from the one who has exceeded my expectations. I just wish I would have come to them first before going through my ordeals at other dealerships in Atlanta.

Brian_I.

Here's another example of an 05 E320 (CDI) with a build date of 07/04 with the newer armrest.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...492079550&rd=1

Mattar

are all W211 (US and Euro specs) getting the new armrest including E55s? i hope i get the old one

glojo

I don't care what anyone else says, in my own opinion those 'orange' mats will never catch on!!!

Regards
John
A wet morning in Torquay

CALBenzo

I don't know, they are disposable!

Fastbuck

LOL, but they're better looking than the straw ones that someone posted on the W203 forum!

Barry45RPM

The cardboard mats ARE nicer than the straw mats... and if you look carefully, they have an extra flap which nicely covers the dead pedal area on the left. Does anybody know where I can order these? These must be the Designo cardboard mats.

Mattar

Barry45RPM they are quite expensive and takes 3 months to make.

glojo

On a serious note are you saying that your mats do NOT have a 'thingy' that covers the foot rest??? We no longer have the death penalty.




Regards,
John
Sunny Torquay

Gunther

[QUOTE=Baby Jocko]Atlanta Classic Cars -- by FAR the best MB dealership in Atlanta. Just make sure you avoid RBM -- horror stories. Ask for Lonnie McNear at Atlanta Classic Cars. He gave me the best car buying experience in my life! I am not exaggerating.


Totally agree Baby Jocko. We have purchased all of our MBs from ACC as well. We have worked with David Phillips on several deals now - both ours and for other family members. We have been nothing but impressed with the dealership and with David. (The family members were from out of state and did much better with deals through ACC.)

Sorry to hear that the console switch didn't work and that additional issues came up....but do agree that I've heard nothing but horrible things abour RBM. We've referred several friends to drive MB's to the service department at ACC because they were SO unhappy with RBM.

DWP

Let's call the "thingie" a "dogleg." Sure wish I could get that nifty "dogleg" floormat - life in prison without possibility of parole to the nitwit who decided to carpet the foot rest. Since I can't get it, I actually did cut a piece of cardboard to cover the foot rest. The bottom part of the cardboard fits under the non-doglegged floormat and the left side has a Tab A that fits into Slot B between the floor carpet and the kick panel carpet. It doesn't look very elegant, even with my Stone interior, but it stays in place and is better than nothing until something better comes along.

Barry45RPM

My mats absolutely do not have that flap. None that I have seen here (US) do. I thought your cars had the steering on the right hand side... why does your mat look like the gas pedal is on the left side of the transmission tunnel, and fit an American drive car?

Is that a metal plaque attached to the mats that says "Mercedes Benz"? Ours have the logo there too,(much wider & not as tall by a few millimeters, but it is stitched into the mat using light gray(non metalic silver?) thread! Your mat looks like it would fit my American car. I might have to order a set in Stone, from across the pond!

At one time I had searched the net & found a website that said they had made in Germany mats with a metal Mercedes plaque on it, that covered exactly the entire floor, but I never found it again.

Are they OEM?

Oslo

Good observation, Barry! That mat looks like mine (OEM), and I have the wheel on the left (right) side.

Barry45RPM

So let me get this straight... You guys who have the wheel on the right side of the car, are getting a left side footwell mat, cut for us, and we are getting a left side footwell mat cut for you? (Since a passenger would not usually place their feet in a driving position, with the left shoe on a left side dead pedal.) It IS a "front passenger side" style mat since it doesn't have the dark square heel scuff "pad" in it.

Does your right side footwell mat have that flap too? MY right side footwell has no dead pedal raised up, so there is no flap on my right (passenger) side, so obviously you are getting cars built with left side drive floorboards.

This is getting sooooo confusing... but it looks like you have a left side mat that we could use here!

glojo

Boy oh boy, I'm on the morphine and you lot are chuntering (just made that word up)

It does NOT matter what side the steering wheel is on, you silly billies.

You still have the throttle on the right??????? and then the footbrake?????? and then your dead pedal???????

We have these mats cause we deserve them, (we do not get cup holders as standard fitments ) boy I'm having fun.

Seriously though I also have heavy duty rubber mats in our car. If you want I will sort out the numbers for the different mats.

I'm a bit of a zombie at the moment and am feeling tooo drowsy.

Bye for now,
John
Bed time in Torquay

Oslo

Please re-read my post. I have the wheel on the LEFT side, and the mat is exactly like mine. Think glojo must have taken out his passenger mat.....