K-A

Same here. The W212 Sport has the best ride over smooth roads that I've ever personally experienced, but it can't handle rough stuff. The Mazda 6 loaner I have right now is MUCH smoother over rough roads, but doesn't handle nearly as well and doesn't feel nearly as poised, balanced and substantial.

Damn, I wonder what you'd think about my 8,600 Miles in 1 year on this car!

About the M-B Tex, I am a fan of it, and am glad it is standard on this car. It is LEAGUES better than BMW Leatherette, and IMO has many perks over leather, especially the not-so-great Leather that comes at a premium on the W212.

It's funny because I checked out an F10 (again) today, while waiting for my car to be serviced. The interior is really nice, and IMO the exterior is as well, but I don't think the outside really compares to the dynamism the W212 provides. Inside, I gotta say it's a toss up, with each having perks over the other. However, the F10 did have some shoddy fit and finish in areas (an embarrassing fitment issue with the plastic piece that covers the back of the front seats), and on another note, I was surprised to find the BMW to have better rear headroom for a 6'4 person like myself (a non issue to me at all, but found it interesting).

Reliability wise, no doubt the W212 in general is a considerably more reliable car, and M-B as a whole, especially their newest products, are proving to be of a higher reliability-quality than BMW's.

pwidjaja

Here is a good review by someone over at bimmerpost, not sure if you have read it, but I think is a good point of view with "less" fanboy's effects.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=545416

220S

That was a good review, and without all the usual fanboy stuff (K-A are you listening? LOL.)

It reminded me of one big thing that I personally really liked with the BMW: the driver's cockpit. The F10 has a great seating position with a really nice ergonomic cockpit feel. At least it fit me very well.

Add the multi-contour seats and it was perfect. With the W212, I felt like I was "sitting on top" of things, whereas in the F10 I felt a bit lower and nicely surrounded by the cabin. The W212 just didn't feel snug and nearly as ergonomic. For me, there's a much better designed driver's position in the F10.

Buying a car is a personal and very subjective thing. Do your research, sure. But also use your "gut feeling" and get what works for you and you alone. There are a lot of great choices these days. You can't really go wrong with any of them.

BenzMan369

Would you or someone be able to post this same info either here or in the C207 forum for the 2012 E Class Coupe and Cabrio? My dealer claims to not have it yet.

Thank you.

BenzMan369

My apologies for resurrecting this, but I had the same experience driving the sport (18") and non-sport (17") versions of the C207 Coupe in April, 2010. Well, the 17" standard package on the coupe did not provide "the best ride I've ever experienced," but it was signficantly better than the sport ("Appearance") package.

I've noticed that MB is now shipping the 18" rims on this model with Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires, instead of the original Pirelli P Zero Nero tires.

Curious if they have also made this change on the 2011 W212, if Pirellis were originally supplied in 2010. If so, I wonder if this change would improve the ride. I haven't had a chance to test drive a 2011 C207 with the Michelins.

I am a coupe kinda' guy and aesthetically the C207 cries out for the larger rims, but the ride IMHO was subpar.

Any info or opinions on the Pirelli's vs. Michelins would be appreciated.

csquared

That's exactly what I did. First time ordering a new car. Man was the wait long around 4 months. It has 8500Kms on it and still has the new leather smell. My X5's leather smell didn't last very long.

csquared

My 2011 E550 4matic came with Pirelli Nero Zero All-Seasons and 18" star-spoke rims. My X5 has Michelins All-Seasons, but the Pirellis are much better in snow, ice, and rain. The E550 grips onto snow and ice much better than the Michelins. The X5 would slide and even oversteer a lot in snow, but the E550 shows little to no slipping or sliding. Also, the Pirellis stop quicker than the Michelins and grips the road firmly even on a icy slope. The Pirellis make winter tires unnecessary in snowy conditions. I live in Calgary, and it snows crazy out here!

El Cid

Have had my E350 with P1 package for about a year and a half. Everything is doing fine on it. Has MB Tex, but everybody thinks it is leather. Two previous cars had leather and after a while, wear on driver's seat began to show. Had leather on car several years ago and it cracked pretty bad on the bolsters and would have cost a fortune to repair it.
Have read that many "leather" seats actually have plastic film over the leather to protect it.
I use Vinylx every 3-4 months on all my vinyl/plastic and seems to work well.
In case you are not aware, there is a difference between the Luxury and Sport versions of the E350. Ride is different so test drive the car carefully.
May not be accurate, but I always think of MB as being between a BMW (performance) and Lexus (comfort and luxury).

220S

Just download the pdf file that I attached to the post and then you can upload it yourself in a post to the C207 forum (you may need to change the title of the file since MBWorld stores the attachment and sometimes you can't upload duplicates.)

It's not the actual order sheets but a MBUSA power point presentation in pdf format. But all the info is exactly the same as the order sheets which should be available soon.

BenzMan369

Thank you. Very interesting. Seems to run counter to some (admittedly limited) reading I've done regarding these tires.

Your opinion is certainly valuable, given your driving environment!

K-A

I don't think that stating that the W212 being "much more reliable/quality than the F10" is "fanboy'ing" at all. I have data and anecdotal (Forums, etc.) info to back me up.

ESIX3POWER

Completely agree with you on the seating position of the BMW. It's no contest. I feel like the front end of my seat in the Benz should rise alittle higher, I almost feel like im sitting on a flat seat. I sat in the new 5er and thought the seat position was simply perfect. How ever the most comfortable/perfect seat that I have ever sat on was with out question my 2008 E63. Man do I miss that car.

E550Shopper

The cushioning on the leather seats feels softer to me than the MB Tex -- I've heard others make the same comment. Sit in both and see if you feel a difference.

You might also want to consider going with designo if seating options are important to you, but it'll drive the cost up by $4K or so for interior and $3K for exterior, and you'll have to special order as well. Search for designo in the forum for links.

220S

I keep going back and forth about selling my 2009 E63. But I just got back from a 5 hour run up the coast to Morro Bay and back and the car was indeed comfortable. Plus I got 19 mpg all on back roads doing 50 to 80 plus some traffic through a couple of small towns. And that included a few "dropping down three gears and mashing it to pass" maneuvers.

The thing that concerns me is that I might regret dumping the car. It's not perfect (but nothing is) and I'm not sure I want to risk making a mistake and end up wanting it back. Also this NA motor is smooth as silk and everything out there is pretty much FI now.

K-A, I was making a joke (and it wasn't specific to the F10.) Some of your posts about Mercedes get a bit gushy Like I said earlier, you need to send them your vitae and some MB love letter samples. I'm sure Daimler media can find a job for you

K-A

Yes, I know you were.

Fact is, I'm just a passionate enthusiast, with logic mixed in (if you want to see enthusiasm sans logic, go to the BMW boards, they have plenty of that, although the F10 community is one of the best I've seen).

Benz Boards tend to me a bit overly logical, conservative, etc. If you look at about any other Message Board, you'd find goofy Threads like "When did your car become a part of you"? With tons of passionate Replies. The E-Class is one of the best cars on the road, so I have no problem gushing about it!

K-A

What's funny is the O/P in that BMW Forum Thread posted here, stated that he felt that the M-B Tex seats were more cushioned than the Leather optioned E-Class seats.

pwidjaja

+1, it also kind of feel safer inside F10 cockpit. But on E's credit, it gives better visibility due to lower dashboard and surrounding panels.

K-A

I'm not a car-tech freak so the Command is fine to me, but iDrive is REALLY that much better. I mean, it's not even better, it's on another level entirely. Only problem with it is that it's too overwhelming and complicated, whilst the Command is very simple and straightforward.

BenzMan369

My apologies; I didn't make myself clear.

I am looking for a document similar to what you posted for the W212, but for the 2012 E Class Coupe/Cabrio, if it exists. There are some differences in available new options between the sedan and the coupe/cab.

For example, I am interested in actually seeing a picture, even a small one, of the new U.S. version red/black leather option for the C207's. Can't be certain it will be rendered exactly the same as the Euro version red/black leather that's been available for some time and I don't want to buy blind.

If any help obtaining this info is possible, it would be appreciated.

I'll get out of the way now, since this is off topic.