K-A

Of course, I do, and I bring it up all the time. I feel that it's just another big factor as to how the W212 will go down in history as probably my most "passionate" car. That did happen, and I admit, and am more than happy about how things turned out, but ThreeMB's is off his rocker, stating that I am claiming "positions" that I very well am not. This is the same person who went into my Thread of pictures of my now-old car, and stated that they weren't valid, because "the car looks too normal".

Obviously, a valuable member of this Board.

Thanks brotha-mayn.

It's funny, 'cause I was impulsive, to get practically the same car! I guess it just shows how happy I was/am with this car, as it would have been a perfect chance to get into something else.

In the past 3 years, I've Bought/Leased 5 cars, 4 of them Benzes! And I honestly don't consider myself someone who likes to jump around from car to car, I just put myself in these positions.

threeMBs

Well, I did read what you wrote in this thread. Maybe you just forgot what you wrote in other threads (not that long ago) before this one. I'll leave it at that as there's no point repeating myself and its clear you will defend your current position.

My original post was addressed to you as much as (if not more) to others. It seams that a great majority are in your "camp" here and its fine, but there are enough of those who actually do see inconsistencies. And that was the whole point.

And what's with "my thread"? I was not aware that OP automatically has sensorship rights here. What's next? My MB board, my internet...? If there is a way to put users on "ignore" here, please by all means do so, I would not be offended.

K-A

For anyone interested in my perceptions of my 2010 VS 2011, here are some things I've noticed:

Having no alarm chirp SUCKS. I turned my Alarm notifications off, so I have no "honk", just the sound of the locks when I engage or disengage the alarm. It loses some "expensive car" aura without the alarm chrip (it was almost reason alone for me to not get into the '11).

The new Xenons ROCK. The new 5000K bulbs are extremely bright and crisp, a perfect hue of white with blue accents, but not cheesy over-blue.

My last car was immaculate, and with only 9300 miles, not very "worn in". I feel like, in the new car, some of the switches, transmission stalk, etc. feel a little more solid and screwed-in-tightly to the touch. Maybe it's all in my head, but certain things feel ever so slightly more refined.

The cabin of this car seems a tad quieter from the motor, I also feel NO engine shake in this car when I start it up, as with my last car, I felt a tiny bit. Also, it seems to start up slightly quicker. The motor feels incredibly detached from the cabin in this car.

I had a very annoying "squeak/chatter" sound when in gear (but sitting still), in "idle-load" on the last car, something no tech could figure out. Finally, one said that it was the "fuel line" and that it was how the car was. Fortunately, I don't hear it in this car yet.

Overall, if I gave the initial quality aspect of my last car an A, I so far give this one an A+, as it seems to mend some of my slight complaints with the last one. I'm taking it on a 600 mile journey today, so I'll be paying attention to it.

My only complaint VS my last car is the wood thing that I mentioned. It seems like my last car got a slightly darker hue of the burl tree.

K-A

I have no problem with critiques, or anything in "my Threads" here. It is a public Board, and I give critiques in other peoples Threads, all the time. My issue is when I detect criticism just for the sake of blowing off steam. Someone saying that I made a stupid decision here is more than fine, as long as it's genuine, as I am always open to "living and learning".

If I said something like: "OMG you guys! Pano actually sucks! I like the look of the white plain roof better! And the 4-Spoke steering wheel is for old geezers, this new 3-Spoke is sooooo kewwwllll! And the old boring rims suck! The twin spokes are so rad, 'cause they're AMG's and look like E63 wheels! Oh, and I take back what I said about roof spoilers, it makes the car look 100x better than the cars without it!"

.... Then you'd have a big point.

But me pointing out that I still miss those things in my old car that I loved, yet understand that the new options in this car have values over them as well, is just me saying that it's different, but I can see the benefits as well. I'm sure I'll grow to be partial to them, and (hopefully) find this E-Class to be the ultimate and most well balanced E-Class out there, as I did my last one.

Nobody's perfect, and I will never state that I'm no hypocrite at times, or don't live and learn, or change my opinions. However, you seem to claim that I'm acting as I did in that example above ^^, which is a big misrepresentation of how I have been describing this process of mine.

threeMBs

There are 16 members (from W212, W211, C207 and C219 boards) who PMed me on number of occasions sicking my opinions and advice. In turn, I provided very detailed responses. So I would say yes I'm, at least for those members.

You sound like a self imposed God of these boards: "how dare you (mortal) talk about inconsistencies in what I said before, which I do not admit I ever did". Please... I've seen it before and am sure will again. Amen, I'm done here.

K-A

Whatever, you've been of no value to my Threads. Who goes into another Members Thread and says "I don't see why you're posting pics of a car you're obviously proud of, since it looks too stock"? Is that a valuable Member? You can say "it looks too stock for my tastes, you should mod it", but that's a bit different than your approach.

Please, critique and criticize my action if you feel that I should be aware of a bad decision, but what your whole nonsense on my positions is BS, and holds no grounds or truth.

hyperion667

I'm no paragon by any means........but DAMN, lighten up fella's..............

it's just life......

K-A

"It's just life".

Love that.

BTW, I'm thinking of tinting the white portion of the taillights "smoke" on this car, instead of doing what I did before, which is tinting the red part and leaving the white open.

park423

At least someone is reading all your threads/rants...lol

I've seen alot of the white tinted but a) i think it looks better on a black car and b) doesn't the white reverse light provide lighting for the back-up camera at night? I cut out the whites on my tail tints because I thought so, maybe i'm wrong but when backing up at night, the camera vision is nice and bright.

As for the new car's better ride/quality, ALL new cars feel better than your old one (in your case a still new one).

K-A

Lol.

Yeah, I think that setup is really only ideal for a black car. Just was thinking of trying something different. The tints seem to really "tint" up the red brake and night lights, so I was thinking maybe it would be smart to let them shine as bright as possible, but the 212's LED's back there make it really a non issue. Good point on the back up camera thing, that pretty much ensures that I will not tint just the whites.

I should have told the Dealer to swap out my taillights before I did the deal, dammit!! What an idiot. Now I find that there's slight condensation building up already in one of the new cars taillights, so I gotta deal with that.

Your last part is true, and it could very well be the case, however I am 100% certain that the same bumpy roads that I took with my old car, are being handled a bit more composed with the new car. Not night and day, of course, but I dunno. We'll see once I get some more seat time in this car.

kingofire

Congrats K-A, Enjoy the car. I understand everyone loves to play monday morning quarterback but looking at yourself in the rear view mirror showing your pearly whites is priceless.
You are an asset to this board.

K-A

Thank you very much sir!

For anyone interested:

Just drove the car 300 miles (a drive I've taken my last one on, many times).

And it's just sublime. Just like my last car, but even a bit more perfect. Being the person who started the Thread about being dissapointed in the cars suspension over rough roads, I feel that something about this car fixes a large portion of that criticism. It's still the same car, but it doesn't get as messy over rough patches. I don't know if it's the lack of Pano, or the tires (the Conti's are definitely smoother than the P-Zero's), or the possibly lighter wheels, or if M-B did some refinements to the 2011 (they did some to the '09 C-Class, so it's not unheard of, but probably unlikely), but this car feels a tad bit more solid. I mean, it actually drives absolutely perfectly, and is SO granite solid, quiet and smooth. Hopefully it stays that way.

On the other hand, there are some little annoyances that my last one didn't have. For one, there's conensation building up in one rear taillight. I'm hoping it's not an issue to get the Dealer to replace it, as it's barely noticeable (is to me), also the alignment seems possibly off, and the center "wishbone" console is kind of "loose" on one side (i.e, it doesn't grasp closed as tightly as the other side), so you can see a slit of light peeking from the inside of the console at night, since it doesn't close tight enough to block it out. It actually could kind of be a ghetto version of a "Ambient Light" there, on the other hand.

On a personal note, for some reason, this car isn't striking that emotional/inspired chord, like my last one did. With my last car, after driving it even a block, I'd scan the whole car, and clean off anything on the paint. This car is currently covered in bug splatter, and I am not even gonna clean it (until later)! That would NEVER have happened before! I do know that this car is PAINFULLY stock. I need to get some tints, and get rid of those HIDEOUS amber markers asap, as the car needs to get "tied together" like my last one was. The White roof with the moonroof just plunked down on there, is also constantly painful to look at.

This car might be the best thing that ever happened to me, however. It might be the indication that I will now use my E-Class as it was intended, to be driven and used and abused. I might just buy the 15K Miles a year plan, and drive this on all my long distance work trips. Not worry about the front getting pitted by highway debris, and utilize the worlds safest and most comfortable car (or close enough). Maybe I'll even park it outside on the street (ghasp!) and use the garage space for some Classic car that I don't require to be anything else but noisy and crazy. It would be a better investment than the Stocks that are losing me money in the last couple of weeks!

Stay tuned....

hyperion667

KA, have you driven a 550 yet?
I want to go drive a 350 just to see the difference..........

Tjdehya

Where are the pics?
I cant believe you downgraded your car!
Are you gonna mod it the same as the last or are you planning a new look?
I think you should go for a new look.
Next year go for a 2012 and get your Pano back.

K-A

Hyp: Yeah, I've driven some 550's. They feel great, but during my Test Drives, I usually didn't notice a big difference over the 350's, only because I drove them like I usually do in the real world, i.e really conservatively. But you definitely notice the extra horses when you step on it. I did ask the guy to work me some numbers on 550's, but he said that they had no more in stock, and Leases on them aren't "supported" by M-B so much, so payments would be like $900 or something.

I will say that this 350 wants me to drive it faster than my last one did. I find myself driving this one more aggressively for some reason. Maybe it's the steering wheel playing games with my mind, or maybe it's because the tranny hasn't adapted to my 'laxed driving style yet. Regardless, this car further confirms that the 270 HP in the E350 is more than adequate for my needs.... Not that I'd protest more.

TJ: Hehe. Technically it's an upgrade (Higher MSRP & More Options, newer), but I know, without Pano, it pretty much is an automatic downgrade. Lol.

I'm going back and forth as to whether I want to pour $500 into this car to get it up to par with my last one (tails, wrap the roof, etc.), or just forget about all of that, and just Tint it and black out the ambers, call it a day, and drive the car to the ground.

If I do go the more "extensive" route of the two, I might go with a different look, but then again, I had that car right where I wanted it.

Yeah, that's another thing, it seems that if a Dealer is aggressive, it's not unheard of to swap out of Leases. However, I did have a lot of equity in my last car (large downpayment and one years worth of payments put into it, and a low $32K Residual factor), hence me getting this E (58K MSRP) for just $510 a month, before Taxes.

RJC

Must be from the look with those AMG rims...

hyperion667

didn't notice a big difference??????

K-A

Not with my driving style. Keeping it under 2500 RPM's 99% of the time doesn't yeild such a difference.

hyperion667

jesus Grandpa......oh, and you spelled yield wrong.......

it's I before E.........most times

golfster

except after "c" or when sounding like "a" as in neighbor and weigh...

K-A

Aright, so Hype got on my case for not posting pics. I haven't yet since I want to do some little mods to make the car look more "me", but here it is:

P.S, another weird little thing I noticed, and this isn't the first time. My 2010's White seemed to have a more yellow-cream hue to it then my 2011. I actually first noticed this when I had my 2010 parked next to a 2011 E Cabriolet in Arctic White (it was a bit whiter than my car, very noticeable, but I know that it was Arctic). I have a pic of my 2010 next to the 2011 that I'll find and post, that also shows what I'm talking about.

hyperion667

wow, I have not even used my other floor matts....haha....just the all weather ones....seems like a no brainer......
the inside color looks nice, I'll bet the ambient lighting looks good up in there....

nice KA

K-A

Thanks man. Yeah, the ambient lighting looks ridiculously awesome in there with that color combo. I'm so stuck on this interior color combo (Almond-Black/Burl) that I told them the biggest deal breaker would be them not having a car with an identical combo as my last car.

park423

Very nice... is it more white now? I always thought my AW was a little creamy, especially compared to BMW and Audi, I wish it was more crisp white

220S

You were concerned about mpg with your last car. You do know that trunk spoiler won't help, right? The spoiler is to create down force when above speeds of 100+ mph. It can help keep the rear wheels down onto the pavement. But ONLY at high speeds when there can be lift.

Otherwise you're just creating an "air dam" that will kinda diminish air flow and increase the mpg. They're functionally worthless for a street car and diminish efficiency.

It just reminded me of all that since you photographed the car at a gas station