Agree on both points.

 

While the turn signal stalk seems to be in just the right position to me, the cruise lever could be in a handier position. I also wish they offered the Europen version of the cruise system here in the States. The Euro version allows you to set a maximum speed as well as a cruise setting. So if you are driving around town, you won't exceed a posted speed limit no matter how much accelerator you give it.

My Audi had a nice feature that returned the volume on the stereo system to a preset level when you shut the car off. So, if you had the sound system cranked up on the way home from work, it wouldn't blow you out in the morning when you first started the car. Not a big deal but is was a feature you could add if you wanted it in some configuration menu.

 

My nitpicks:

1. When going over a bump at a bias, such as a speed bump or railroad track, I sometimes hear what I refer to as a "clunk from the trunk" from the right rear. It is sporadic. When I took my car in for service "A," the SA asked if I had any issues, concerns, noises, etc. I wanted to address while there. This noise, when it happens, sounds like a "boing/clunk" combo. I mentioned this and they immediately called this to the attention of the service manager who went for a thorough test ride. Of course, I could not get the car to make the noise while the service manager was with me. I mentioned what I read here on the forum in other posts, that the dealer for another member (PhillyBenz) discovered a loose weld joint for the right rear fender and that once addressed his similar noise was resolved. I believe they took my "complaint" seriously, but since they couldn't replicate the noise, they were unable to fix this. Again, it is infrequent and it could be as simple as the cover to the spare tire area shifting over these bumps on the bias. When my wife rides with me, she says she can't hear it, so I'll wait until something else happens to deal with this again.
2. I hear kind of a buzz/rattle from the rear and I suspect it is coming from the package tray area. Minor, but sometimes annoying if the sound system is off and it occurs most when going over the raised traffic markers embedded in the pavement. The service manager asked me if I had this noise before I reported it, and he said it typically comes from the tether hook assembly and that sometimes there is play in either the cover or where the anchor point meets the surrounding package tray assembly. I had a similar buzz/rattle from where the I/C meets the dash in the upper left corner (I could touch where the two parts meet and the noise would stop). The dealer rectified this right away.

The two issues I mentioned are rather minor nuisances and the car is otherwise silent at bumps in the road. I'd be pressing to find a third, but if I had to come up with one, it would be how easily the windshield suffers little pecks in the glass.

Overall, I enjoy the car. This was an add-on car for me and not a replacement and I knew what I was getting into when I bought it. I find the power to be more than sufficient for the intended purpose as a sedan and "all around" performer (I refer to it as my sport utility sedan). My wife and I both have sports cars to drive on great days, and a Cayenne S to drive on the really bad weather days yet I find myself reaching for the keys to this one more often than not.

 

Regarding the CC/Blinker stalk setup, M-B has apparently "fixed" the issue with ergonomics between them, and changed their positions on the new ML (probably expected to become like that with all new M-B models).

I have to drive a new ML to see if the new setup really is superior, because the historic setup has always been a little "off" to me as well.

 

The MB doesn't have that? Every car I've owned since 2000 had some variant of that feature (Audi, VW and BMW.)

 

I'm very pleased with my 2012 E350 Luxury Model except for the front seats. They are too hard. My seats have the venting feature and I wonder if the fans have required removal of some of the seat padding? My 2006 C350 seats are more comfortable.
By the way, I have never had a more satisfying engine than the new 302 hp cgi version and the ride is great.

 

I've gotten quite used to the left hand stalk controls and really like both of them there...works well for me....

 

Not that I can tell. Audio volume stays at the same setting as when you shut the car off. So if you are rocking out when you shut down, you be rocking when you start up again. I also don't notice much, if any, increase in volume as the speed of the vehicle changes. Another reason why I tend to have the volume turned up. My motorcycle has speed sensitive volume.

I wonder if there is a setting somewhere for this. I will study up.

This just a nitpick. I otherwise love the car.

 

I agree with your nit about the hardness of the seats. I was beginning to think that it was just me. I also have the ventilated driver dynamic seats and they could use some more cushioning. I am leanly built with less natural cushioning so maybe that's the reason. I use a leather throw pillow that I removed some of the filling from on the drivers seat for longer trips. Helps a lot. Regards. Ned.

 

Man,
After reading through these 3 pages, i am getting depressed. The only real nit-pick that i think i read that i find to be an issue would be the tranny delay on 3 point turns, etc.

The idea that someone would be upset that all the E's have a sport pkg because it will "devalue" the cars or make them look like fleet cars makes no sense to me. Yes, it used to be very expensive to get the AMG styling packages on all MB's, and it would prevent most people from ordering that pkg. The fact is, Mercedes-Benz really needed to start competing on an even playing field with BMW and Audi, especially when it comes to the E-Class. When the W212 came out, it was priced $8-$10,000 less than the outgoing W211 (except for the 2009, which was already deeply discounted), yet had more equipment i.e. AMG styling as standard equipment. Needless to say, the W212 E is now a vehicle that we have trouble keeping in stock, as opposed to a car we would sell small numbers of, & mainly to people over 50.

In Canada, we can't even order a "luxury" edition anymore, and i certainly don't get any complaints about that. Who doesn't want to own a better looking car for less money?

When people say "the car is too low in the front", it makes my eyes glaze over & i start thinking about sports or women. If you want to be able to clear a curb with your front bumper, why don't you buy an ML? How many cars are there on the market that will actually clear a curb in the front? Even if you could clear one by an inch or so, why would you get that close in a $70,000 vehicle.

The seat heaters go from 3 to 2, etc so that they don't burn themselves out over time. They will last longer the way they have them wired, period. On older MB's, it wasn't uncommon to need a seat heater replaced because it burned out. I haven't seen one replaced in any of our models in the past 5 years.

I agree that the door pins suck. They really do.

Plastic seats? Come on. MB-Tex or Artico is a very durable and reliable product. If you want the leather, it is available. Using man-made product is cheaper, which is part of the MSRP drop. The seats are meant to be stiff. Remember, you didn't buy a Lexus for a reason.

Power plugs...why would you want to have anything draining your battery while the car is turned off?


My biggest nit-pick is that the truck hasn't shown up with my new one yet. The W212 is the best E-Class i've ever owned, hands down.

Congratulations to all of you for buying one too!

 

Dear Busta,

I wouldn't get too depressed. I think just about everyone prefaced their comments with how much they liked the car. I know that I would not swap mine for the equivalent Audi or BMW. For pretty much for all of the reasons you state and many more already said in many other posts. However there are always minor things, or major, depending on ones view point, that can be improved upon. I don't think that the perfect automobile has been built yet. I'm just glad these guys keep trying.

 

PS.

The "cool useful features I did not know about", thread is even longer.

 

Just imagine how much better a driving experience these cars would be if they fixed all of these nits, which in general are low cost fixes!!! Regards. Ned.

 

Good points, Busta,

Regarding door lock stems, when do you use these? After a year of ownership, I haven't touched mine yet.

Regarding MB-Tex: The BMW 528 is equipped with leatherette as standard and the 535 is equipped with leather as standard. The base price for the 535 is $1,760 higher than the E350 in the US. Leather, an option for the E350, is only $1,620. Add leather to the E350 and still save $140 from the base price of the 535. Sure, MB-Tex is standard yet MB gives you the choice for a very modest uplift in price. MB has been offering cars with MB-Tex since I was a kid, maybe even before, and that included cars such as the SL, with leather as an option.

Seat heaters. I noticed a burny odor in one of my past Audi's. Also noticed the driver seat would get very, very warm - almost hot. Took the car in and they said the heat seater was melting the material under the leather and had to replace both the seat and heater.

 

The M-B Tex argument annoys me as well. First off, M-B Tex is as "Mercedes" as the Star on the hood, far more M-B than most any other materials applied to the cars these days.

Also, M-B Tex, as a material, is a far more impressive actual material than the standard Leather that these cars come with. Also, M-B Tex will give much better resale.... why, you ask? Because 99.9% of people have no idea that it's not "real leather", and most will not ask (I've sold a couple Used M-B's, never was even near a question from a shopper), and because M-B Tex will always look brand new, while normally-maintained Leather will look nasty and wrinkly, giving the car an old and worn out look.

Leathers differ by manufacturer, and I'm sure M-B's leather is more durable than most.... but the tradeoff is that the E-Classes "real Leather" feels crude and fake for Leather. BMW's leather is notorious to wear prematurely, wrinkle and crack up, nothing nice about that.

Also, S-Classes in Europe come standard with Cloth!

About the door pins, I can definitely respect anyone with attention to detail, especially toward interior materials, and who expect the best of the best from M-B. I guess they just don't bother me since I never really look at, and absolutely never touch them (except for when I'm cleaning my car and wiping the area up there down).

Seat Heaters: It's obvious that this is a method they engineered to prolong the life of the heaters, whether or not that's considered a good thing or bad.

 

Not True! As soon as MB fixes the NitPiks listed here someone will go on this board and create a new list of NitPiks:
1. The seats are to soft!
2. The GPS Screen is too d@mn Big!
3. Why does MB use metal Door Pins when they could use recycled plastic from soda bottles?
4. The front of the car is too high!
5. Why don't the heat seats temp change their own?
6. A V8!? Why a v8 when a V6 is more practical!

I Love the W212! However the door pins are better suited for a "reasonably priced car" and not a MB.

Ciao'

 

The Hell with the door pins ! Give me a GPS I can read !

 

I only wish the door pins went all the way down when locked. They poke me in the arm. I don't think my Avalon even had them.

 

I have owned many MB's over the years and some of them had the real
MB Tex. If you want to see what MB Tex should be just look at a W124 car. The material feels soft like leather and really is nearly impossible to tell from leather. I personally feel the the current MB Tex interiors aren't even close to the quality they used to be. That is one of the reasons, in recent years, I have always ordered leather. Even the leather doesn't seem to be the same quality. I have a 1999 E430 with like new leather that feels much finer than that in my 2012 E350.

 

In my 2005 Avalon the pins went all the way down.

In all other respects, the car was a disaster.

 

Once again, this "nitpick" is picking at something M-B does very much on purpose/by design.

Remember, M-B stands for Safety above all else. They would never have a locking system that can lock you inside of the car, were the electronics to fail. The purpose for the pull-up pins are in the case that electronics fail, you still have a manual way to unlock the door and get yourself out.

The pre-facelift W211 had the proper looking pins though, and were the classic M-B style ("Golf Tee" style with a sprouted top, filled with a chrome insert, nice and functional).

 

I'm a very reasonable person and appreciate that most of us live in a world of trade-offs. But those door lock pins are beyond cheap looking. It was as if someone tried to go out of their way to cheapen the look of the interior. These things stand out like a sore thumb. Ugly and unworthy. This is a $5 fix, if that. You don't need to be cheap plastic to be functional. A small nit, but a nit none the less. Mercedes, fix it. Regards. Ned.

 

Cruise Control and Turn Signal positioning is annoying. I switch between driving the W212 and E60 a lot. when i drive the 212 i have to remind my self that the TS is on the bottom.

No full control over head lights. I'd like to be able to run the LED DRL's and the 2 inside lights(Single lights on each side of grill??) Not sure the name of them but when i turn them on the DRL's automatically turn off. I think it would look pretty sweet to run those lights when its not completely dark out

No power source in the armrest compartment. Such a nice big compartment should have a 12v power source.

No designated steering wheel button for next radio station/track. Kind of annoying always having to keep the center display on audio to switch songs from steering wheel.

No BT Audio function(at least for the 2010's)

 

While my Avalon wasn't a disaster, there really is no comparison between it and the Benz IMO. My only point was that I wish they were flush with the door when down.

Toyota does not use pins, they have a mechanical knob by the door so you could unlock in an emergency.

However, even after reading all the strong opinion here on these door pins it hasn't even bothered me enough to go look at them to see what all of the fuss is about.

 

Do you sell MB's and tell people over 50 and women to go somewhere else?
Regardless, if the Luxury version with 17" wheels/all season tires and comfort suspension had not been available, I would not be in an MB at all.
Furthermore, the lines of the Luxury version, especially the front bumper cover flow much better. The grill also looks better, IMO.
Add to this the leather and wood steering wheel, which was only available in Luxury when I purchased my car. One problem with the wood/leather S/W is that one spoke completely covers wiper arm-cannot see it at all. Move cruise controls to steering wheel.
MB offers a "luxury" version because people expect MB to sell luxury cars! Lexus displaced MB in US sales because it offered more luxury and comfort, as well as higher reliability.
Thanks for the info on why seat heater cuts off automatically. Guess this is another area where Asian cars are superior to MB. They do not appear to have this burn out problem.
I am real happy that my car clears curbs, sidewalks and other obstructions. Sometimes just don't have a choice of where to park.
The seats are hard; professional reviewers have noted this. Even in Luxury version with regular seats. The MB Tex doesn't bother me as three previous cars had durability issues with leather.
Nitpicking makes the cars better. That's where the manufacturers get most of their ideas for improvements.