steph280

After wife wrecked the W211, we finally made the move into a 2012 W212. Same color (or as close as we could get), similar options. Mercedes has done a great job maintaining the feel of the car, yet tweaked it in many ways to improve the ergonomics and performance. The body roll seems to be a lot less in the W212, but that could just be due to the sports package. The shifter needs some getting used to, but otherwise the wife felt immediately familiar with the car. Well almost, except for the COMAND which proved to be a little challenging for her.

Not to nitpick but the interior seems to be a lot more plasticky. Previous designs seem to use more rubber or soft plastic to simulate "fake leather" on the dash area, but now it's just plastic. Not sure if there is a "real wood" option we missed, but our wood feels like it's plastic with printed wood grains. We used to pick on Lexus for using these fake woods while Mercedes uses real wood (we know, has the long dash wood piece replaced under warranty and bill shows $1600). But I guess cost saving is now the ultimate goal for all. Kind of disappointed in this but if the car drives awesome, that's all that counts.

jvc300

Congrats on the new car! Yes the wood is real. In earlier models of the W212 there has been some fading. The new finish for the UV protection takes away from the wood a bit and makes it "plastic" looking.

steph280

Thanks!

It's not just the look. When I tap on certain wood pieces on the dash, it felt like hollow plastic. And when I reach under the lower edge of the pieces above glove compartment, it sure was hollow. Maybe they use wood in certain places, but not all?

BenzV12

Sorry to hear aobut your W211
I am sure you will like your car more than anything else
I like the color you picked up , perfect choice
I find plastic areas pretty solid and good quality but I wish we had chrome/ aluminum buttons as CLS models do
Same for the door memory seats buttons lol
I picked up U09 Code which means leather covered dash, I like it a lot
Direct gear selector system is super easy to select , no need to apply too much pressure to engage from P to D . I can shift the gears with my little finger and there is no way I can do it with other shifters lol
Just tap or pull the shifter that's it My fave feature and it goes w/o saying that you can have a vast space in favor of colomn shifter
I do have black ash wood in my car , I normally prefer burl walnut over anything else but ash wood is a great trim if you have black color

BM2BZ

congrats on your wife's new ride ! yes, the column shifter needs to get used to but i'm so used to it now when i'm in other cars, i always activate the wipers or whatever it is on the stalk .

petee1997

Keep in mind the wood is a veneer glued on a metal frame. This may explain the hollow feel.

dfordham

The gap you are feeling under the dashboard wood panels is because the ambient lighting is under there and shines through that gap.

Regards,
Don

K-A

Congrats. I feel you're spot on re: the comparisons of the likeness yet refinements to the W211's drive (i.e maintaining and refining the historic E-Class bloodline/drive), and the more plastic-y interior of the W212.

About the wood, there is NO fake wood whatsoever on the W212. All real. The reason why it appears more plastic-fake than the W211 is because it's A- Larger, and B- Because of the way they designed the ambient lighting under it, it forces the wood to "pop out" and not be flush to the dash, makes it look more plastic-y and you have that hollowness when you tap it (never bothers me 'cause I've never tapped it like that) due to the ambient lighting being recessed underneath it. A worthy trade-off IMO as the ambient lighting is beautiful.

jvc300

+1 .... Love the ambient lighting....

steph280

No wonder it felt hollow when I tapped it. The car is so new we still haven't had the chance to drive at night yet. Didn't even know there's ambient lighting underneath.

Thanks for the info.

WEBSRFR

I agree with your observation about the interior feeling more plasticky. I wish the interior was softer and more organic than it is...

However the wood really is wood. What you are probably noticing though is how absolutely thin they cut the wood... Perhaps cost cutting or perhaps done to avoid wood splinters in an accident.

In any case when they redesign the E class I hope they make it more upscale and nicer than it is and less plasticky. Personally I would not mind a few curves in the interior as they have in the S class... I am sure some have no problem with the interior but the interior design is my biggest gripe with the current E class. I just don't like it and it has not grown on me the way the exterior has. The interior seems C-classish to me...

On the plus side, you are in a better designed vehicle every other conceivable way. The W212 feels more slid to me. The side impact crash rating of the W212 is MUCH better than the W211 and the initial model year of the W212 was not the disaster it was with the W211 and I think it is a testament to build quality. Which likely means with the improvements being made for the facelifted W212 to refine an already good design it is going to be an outstanding Mercedes product.

Congrats again and drive safely!

steph280

Totally agree. We had a C-class loaner car and the interior is very similar to the W212, just smaller. I guess they are trying to standardize the design cue across all platforms. But they could have done better with the W212. I think the W211 interior is more elegant, which I kinda miss (plus the rounded headlights).

I always thought the exterior looked more like the last Lexus GS series, but it does look nice.

SolidGranite

Most of your assessments are dead on except for the wood. What you're experiencing is Mercedes finding a way to lower the E-Class price roughly $5000 from the W211. No such thing as a free lunch unfortunately.

K-A

I think the base price is close to reaching the W211's base price again. Usually they shave several thousand off the first year model cars, then raise the price subtly every year. By 2015, the W212 will probably have a higher base price than the final year W211 (who's price was several thousand more than the 2003 W211).

SolidGranite

Really? I cannot recall Mercedes ever doing this. Especially to the tune of $5000. When the W212 came out the price reduction was a major component of their press releases. For instance, look at the 2013 SL. They raised the price nearly $2000 over the outgoing design.

threeMBs

KA, do not forget that for that W211's last year (2009), MSRP price with options was actually quite a bit lower than identically equipped 2007 and 2008 models.

IMHO, while W212 is a better built car in every respect, there are a number of small things MB compromised on:

Interior: W212's center rear consol plastic s very cheap especially in lighter interior colors, doors trim is nowhere close to W211's with leather option, dashboard plastics are much harder to touch;

Exterior: W212's lower front center grille mesh is made of cheap matte black plastic (mine already has 1.5" diameter whole right in the middle - how it happened I have no clue), W211 has gloss black metal mesh (same metal mesh as on the SL that costs double).

Certainly not a day and night differences, but I do see some costs cutting in some not very important areas.

And yes W212's first year MSRP was quite a bit lower than W211, but they do keep on raising MSRP every year since.

Correction on the above statement: MSRP of my 2009 W211 4matic with P1, Pano and Sports package was just over $58K; while MSRP of my 2010 W212 rwd Sport with P1, Pano and wheels package was right about $55K. By adding AWD 4matic option ($2.5K), MSRPs of last year's W211 and first year's W212, when comparably equipped, are basically the same. To be fair, for 2009 (W211's last model year) MB did reduce prices on options (i.e. Sport package from $5K to $1.5K) and gave free AWD option ($2.5K value). So a $5K reduction is on 2010 W212 as compared to 2008 W211, not 2009. This is not an isolated case. For example, Toyota (for a completely different reasons) reduced prices of fully loaded Supra NA by $10K and Supra TT by $16K, from 2006 model year to 2007.

On SL - there are NO compromises. This is MB's flagship car. For new car buyers in that price range, $2K one way or the other does not matter, as long as their expectations are fullfilled.

SolidGranite

You're right but then take the M-Class for instance. 2012 redesigned M has a base price of more than $2000 over the outgoing 2011.

threeMBs

Please, see my "correction" comment on W211 above - MB has a history of sometimes "giving" freebies for last model year. Same may have applied (just a guess) for MLs, but I think mostly due to new ML is far superior vehicle to outgoing W164 in every respect, inside and out.

SolidGranite

The complete redesigns are "usually" superior to the outgoing models aren't they? C-Class redesign in 2008 also came in $2000 higher than outgoing model.

hyperion667

awsome and congrats....
I never pay that much attention to the feel of the 'wood' in my car,
and my other one is plastic anyway right?? (CF)
so at least I know that one's plastic!!

enjoy man!

threeMBs

Not sure fot argument is about. As I stated above, MSRP of 2010 W212 with options was not much lower than MSRP of equally equipped 2009 W211. The true difference was between 2008 W211 and 2010 W212. The 2009 W211 vs. 2010 W212 difference is a mirage - yes base MSRP of 2010 W212 was much lower, but many things standard on 2009 W211 were optional on 2010 W212. When equally equipped, the difference was within a few hundreds.

K-A

Actually remembering that time very well, mid 2009, the economy was in the tank and the car market was incredibly bad. Cars back then were SO cheap that 1 year old cars back then were going for less than those same cars, 3 years older, today. M-B had no choice really. I'd wager that if they released the W212 as it is, today, they probably would price it at least equivalent to the W211. Also, as ThreeMBs pointed out, a lot of that seemed to be playing with standards/options.

True, also, the W211 used carpeting in little areas that you would rarely touch or notice, while the W212 uses plastic. This is going on in ALL cars, btw. Where they used to put a caring detailed touch to let you know via nuances that these are "premium cars", they don't. Now, in areas that you rarely will look/feel, they put cheap stuff. I've heard VW speak on it via the criticism they've gotten on their cheap new interiors, and they call it "not cost cutting, but redistributing the costs to more important areas", etc.

The W212's interior is much less soft and coddling in the materials dept than the W211 indeed, but of course, there's no contest in the much improved fit/finish, tactile quality, seemingly lasting quality, rigorous quality, etc. I do wish for a softer/warmer material quality in the W212, and my W211's interior always made me happy when I noticed those "little detailed materials" that most might not, that let me know that it was indeed a "Premium Car", so don't get me wrong, but I kind of "get" where M-B was going with it. No nonsense, built to last, to the point, and similar to the W126 in execution (and design).

I LOVED that rich "wool like" material on my W211's A-Pillars, SO rich and premium, but remember, M-B cost cut these areas on the facelift W211, so it started before the W212. They put rougher materials on the A-Pillars, cheaper door pins, and took the standard leather inserts out of the front seats.

Also, my pre-facelift W211 AMG Sport Package had the nice gloss-black bumper mesh, but I believe the facelift W211 got the cheap honeycomb plastic? I know that the W221 S-Class got it, so it was in M-B production lines well before the W212 (and on more expensive models).

I also believe that the R231 (new) SL uses the same matte black honeycomb plastic. I think it's a safety measure for pedestrian impacts as well.

threeMBs

<<Also, my pre-facelift W211 AMG Sport Package had the nice gloss-black bumper mesh, but I believe the facelift W211 got the cheap honeycomb plastic? I know that the W221 S-Class got it, so it was in M-B production lines well before the W212 (and on more expensive models).>>

KA, as I mentioned above, my post facelift W211 2009 E "AMG Sport Package" had the same "nice gloss-black bumper mesh" made of metal as your pre facelift one. Do not know about other models, but for E-class they changed it to a much cheaper feeling and looking plastic starting with W212. Agree on cheaper materials used on pillars. Same holds true for headliner. The Pano roof's "screen/cover" is a joke - completely useless in summer, especially when car is parked.

Do not get me wrong, I'm quite happy to overlook these cost savings on MB's part since they did produce a much better overall vehicle than W211 (W212 does drive unquestionably so much better than W211) for about the same price, but would have gladly paid a few hundred more for those before mentioned little things..

K-A

Same here. What I would give for some less "sandpaper-y" headliner material again. The pre-facelift W211 had such beautiful material A-Pillar/headliner material, and it really added to the sense-of-occasion experience. It was so nice, I didn't think that alcantara was even such an upgrade VS it.

WEBSRFR

The one thing that is definitely a result of cost cutting is that with the W211 you get 4 zone climate control with the E550 and sadly this is not the case with the W212 E550 as you just get 2 air vents with no temperature control. This is a really useful feature when you have cranky passengers who are sensitive to temperature. That and Airmatic not being standard in the E550 is another cost cutting measure.

I wish they had an option package to upgrade the interior One thing that really bothers me is the center stack. Various levels of controls on the center stack are at different depths and seem to randomly jot in and out of the center console and I see no cohesiveness in the design and implementation. This is especially noticeable if you look into the front dashboard from above through the sunroof of a W211 and compare it with a W212. The beautiful organic curves and seamless blending of surfaces of the W211 is all gone...