View Poll Results: Do You Like The Redesigned '05 E Center Console?
Yes, I Like It.
35
17.41%
No, I Don't Like It.
139
69.15%
Not Sure Yet, Maybe It Will Grow On Me.
27
13.43%
Voters: 201. You may not vote on this poll
Do We Like The Redesigned '05 E Center Console?
10-03-2004, 02:14 AM
#30
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06 320E CDI, Porsche 911 C2, Pontiac Montana
Originally Posted by atssystems.com
The seam is there to hide the transition from leather to fake leather. Also, your arm rests on the wood door.. I have sat in two now..
As for looks, it's not bad but it get ZERO for practicality.
Why did they do it? TO SAVE MONEY. It's a lot cheaper to do that then all those moving parts and multiple doors of the old one. What's wrong with those Benz designers? Are they idiots or are they trying to destroy their brand name? The ONLY reason I buy a Benz is an expectation of quality and engineering. Once they abandon that to bean counters, I will go and buy something else. After all, it's MY hard earned MONEY.
Anyway.......I am lucky that I did not have to deal with that as a suprise issue when my car came in.
10-03-2004, 03:51 PM
#31
what gets me is this apparent mad desire for cost cutting. take a look at the new 911. much higher interior content and quality, same price. where is this great pressure for cost cutting coming from? Chrysler is doing much better, MB sales are setting records, and still they are knocking $25 and $50 items off a $50K car left and right.
10-04-2004, 10:50 PM
#33
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'05 E320 CDI, ‘10 E63, ‘13 SL63, Sprinter 170
Got here late. Spartan said all my points well. Resting an arm/body on a tambour sliding door is a recipe for warranty repairs/customer sat issues. Do car guys still build cars? I'd get in the business to set 'em straight, but the politics would probably kill me. 
10-05-2004, 08:45 AM
#35
This has nothing to do with cost-cutting... It is to provide better cupholders, because that has been a major sticking point in the JD Power surveys. It cost more to cut the wood and make the beautifully moving cover than it is to pop in an arm rest. Plus they also use more leather to cover that area.
Not sure I like it, but it isn't cost-cutting.
Not sure I like it, but it isn't cost-cutting.
Last edited by PHYBENZ; 10-05-2004 at 08:48 AM.
10-05-2004, 08:54 AM
#36
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Mercedes-Benz
i hate that center console! The 2004 BMW 525i loaner I have has terrible cupholders, infact both of them are jammed in the dash and required forceful punches to release them. Its a great car tho 
Those decision makers should be fired! 
10-08-2004, 06:59 PM
#43
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2004 E500, 2001 BMW X5 4.4
I agree that it isn't as attractive, but it does address one of my issues with my 04, which was the inability for the lower cupholder to hold much of anything. I think I would have to see it in person before totalling dismissing it, but it just doesn't seem as elegant.
10-08-2004, 11:28 PM
#44
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E200 Kompressor (sold 2008), BMW 7 series (2009), now waiting for the E63
The good news (at least for me) is that my incoming E200K, despite it being the "latest production model" for the Singapore market, will have the "old" central console ... which I prefer
The better news is that my car will arrive in less than 10 days' time!!! Wooo Hooo!
The better news is that my car will arrive in less than 10 days' time!!! Wooo Hooo!
10-13-2004, 12:40 AM
#45
New center console
Hi guys,
I stopped by my dealership today and asked to see the new center console. I sat in the car and came to the conclusion: As far as the armrest comfort goes, I don't like it. My salesman jokingly said maybe this was a Mercedes contribution to safety by forcing people to keep their hands on the steering wheel. His take on the whole thing was that US customers were dissatisfied with the existing cupholders (personally I never use them, but I thought the previous cupholder was pretty neat the way it folded out) and this was Mercedes' response. Sure the console does have two bigger, removable cupholders, but the compartment does not seem to be air conditioned anymore. I also poiunted out my dislike of reducing options such as the active charcoal feature and the puddle lights in the outside mirrors and asked if customers were complainig about the ongoing decontenting of options and he said no. He said to complain to MBUSA about the console and other items wanted back. I guess we should make a joint MBworld complaint out of it, judging but the criticism here against quality, decontenting in general and the 68% result against the console in this poll.
I stopped by my dealership today and asked to see the new center console. I sat in the car and came to the conclusion: As far as the armrest comfort goes, I don't like it. My salesman jokingly said maybe this was a Mercedes contribution to safety by forcing people to keep their hands on the steering wheel. His take on the whole thing was that US customers were dissatisfied with the existing cupholders (personally I never use them, but I thought the previous cupholder was pretty neat the way it folded out) and this was Mercedes' response. Sure the console does have two bigger, removable cupholders, but the compartment does not seem to be air conditioned anymore. I also poiunted out my dislike of reducing options such as the active charcoal feature and the puddle lights in the outside mirrors and asked if customers were complainig about the ongoing decontenting of options and he said no. He said to complain to MBUSA about the console and other items wanted back. I guess we should make a joint MBworld complaint out of it, judging but the criticism here against quality, decontenting in general and the 68% result against the console in this poll.
Last edited by Frank Wiesmann; 10-13-2004 at 12:43 AM.
10-13-2004, 04:49 AM
#46
MBWorld Fanatic!
Originally Posted by wobbles
The better news is that my car will arrive in less than 10 days' time!!! Wooo Hooo!
Are you ready?
The question is........ Are you looking forward to getting your new E-class in 'less' than 10 days???
I hope the PDI goes smoothly and you have many trouble free miles.
Take care,
John
An overcast autumn morning in Torquay
10-13-2004, 08:22 AM
#47
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2015 ML 350
I often wonder if someone shouldn't send an e mail to MBUSA telling them to at least look into this site from time to time. They may not even know about it. I found it after searching for weeks on various search engines for one like it, & registered on a couple of others before finding this one. This is the most vibrant alive MB Forum I have seen yet, & I hardly go anywhere else anymore.
10-13-2004, 08:25 AM
#48
Senior Member
My 05 E500 came in yesterday, and I got to see the new center console/arm rest. It is totally worthless as an arm rest, and there is NO storage space in the center console, now that the cup holders are in the arm rest compartment. I told my dealer that I wont be buying this car. Mercedes is cutting too many corners. What a major dissapointment!! 
10-13-2004, 09:26 AM
#49
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2016 G63 ; 981 boxster GTS
i want to change my vote!
Originally Posted by TestnDoc
My 05 E500 came in yesterday, and I got to see the new center console/arm rest. It is totally worthless as an arm rest, and there is NO storage space in the center console, now that the cup holders are in the arm rest compartment. I told my dealer that I wont be buying this car. Mercedes is cutting too many corners. What a major dissapointment!!
hearing about charcoal filter downgrade ticks me off too. and maybe off-topic, i saw another unfortunate example with the sirius antenna drilled into trunk. wait till client sees that on his fresh delivery. are they freakin kidding??!!! its as big as fist. and sits unpainted smack on the trunk.
j.
