pamiboy

Hi guys,
I have recently joined this forum. I was on the lookout to find a premium midsize car which is smooth and quiet to drive, has ample power, and good road manners. I have never owned a premium car before and so I have nothing to compare it with. Previous cars being a VW golf. Hyundai accent and a couple of civics.
I started off with Lexus ES 350. It was a snowy day and the salesman asked me if I really wanted to test drive on this day. Inside the car looked neat and it just felt like any new car. When I test drove I felt a lot of vibration in the steering wheel , the ride was firm and felt "unpremium".
I was disappointed since I had done a lot of internet research on this car even configuring the colors, packages and accessories. I also test drove the RX 350 but it felt worse.
So I set off to the nearby Audi dealer reluctantly. I went for an A6. The salesman was grinning and saying that this is the day an Audi is meant to be driven ( snowing). I didn't pay any attention until I drove on actual snow and felt an immediate substantial difference due to AWD. Also the interior was nice and felt upscale.
I was hooked on to the Audi but decided to visit a BMW dealer anyway.
I tested the 535 and felt that it drove and sounded better than Audi A6. But the rear seat felt cramped compared with A6. Both of them had a bit firmer ride than I had thought but I liked them anyway and had decided to buy any one among them who offered me the best deal. But a deal was not forthcoming even though the BMW salesman was very pushy.
Next day I decided to visit the MB dealer. I honestly hadn't given any thought about E350 as it seemed an older model and didn't look cool enough. Also I presumed that MB will be more expensive to buy. My visit to the dealership changed those perceptions. I wasn't aware of the recent refresh. The salesman was friendly and gave me ample time to check out the car. The test drive was a revelation for me. The car felt so sturdy yet smooth and elegant, the back seat was much more spacious than a 535 ( but lesser than A6 I think). The interior materials and general build quality felt much better than the other two cars.
MB also made the best offer for me. I would have preferred the ride of the classic version but the sleek looks of the sport version were totally worth it. Needless to say I bought the car after a couple more test drives on different days.
To be fair to Lexus I should have compared these cars with GS but after my initial disappointment I didn't want to go there. I'm so happy that purchased this MB 350 sport version 4Matic, that I am yet to have any buyers remorse. ( I usually do have with all my car purchases)
My daily commute is pleasure I look forward to.

Airmousam

Nice writeup, enjoy your ride!

KEY08

You will love this car more and more as time goes by. Just be sure to give it the proper maintenance. When I traded out of my 2004 E500 4Matic, it had almost 100K miles and it did not have any rattles or squeaks. These cars are very solid and safe. I am a big fan of the 4Matic and I think you chose well.

pamiboy

Thanks guys.
I think 4 Matic had to play a big part in my purchase, since the region where I currently live has lots of hills and slopes and I got stuck with my rental Passat in snow, a day before I bought my car. I would not want to go back to 2 wheel drive cars any time soon. My wife preferred an SUV actually so I had driven an RX 350 as well during my Lexus visit. It felt worse than ES 350 in test drive. Now I'm a bit skeptical about the buttery creamy ride claim of Lexus reviewers (and would not make any purchase plans based on internet reviews until I actually do a test drive myself).
And about the SUV….well it'll have to wait until we decide to buy our next car .

Long3494Qut

Congrats! Post some pics when you can!

pamiboy

It's a bit chilly out here.

Munich77

Congratulations - you will not be disappointed by your E-class. My wife has had one since 2008 and she loves driving it everyday. I made the switch in November and I also love driving it everyday. I am so much happier with it than my previous ride. I love how solid the car is.

As for the color - great choice - I have the same color on mine and I love it. It hides dirt so well.

martinlarose

Congrats you will truly enjoy your new ride. I have over 21000 kms on mine and it's been trouble free so far...all the best

samkimg

Another happy, new owner ... Welcome to the "team".

Have a great time and enjoy the ride.

BenzV12

Welcome, have fun and safe driving
I love that color , may be dark colors justifies these car's greatness better but very refined cool color

Airmousam

Looks great, make sure you remove the dealer badging

paking

Congratulations..great choice. Love to hear this kind of story.

pamiboy

I would like to know about M'Brace service. I haven't subscribed for it yet. I'm sure many of you would have used it already. Would like to know how much it will cost? Is it practically useful or just another way to spend money?

eNNCity

Don't sign up for MBrace.. it's useless on an everyday basis, sloooooow, and not worth the $28/month.

Congrats on the new eclass!

shashivr4

I'm having the DriveKit Plus installed in my vehicle due to the slow built-in 3G speed (from Verizon). With the DKP, the vehicle would be able to utilize an iPhone's cellular connection (4G LTE in most places for me).

http://drive-kit-plus.com/m/en/

pamiboy

Thanks guys for the encouraging remarks.
For M'Brace shall I not even sign up initially (I thought it was free for first 6 months). If it's not going to be useful for everyday life I may not want it. The website says I can use it to remotely start, stop / unlock the car, send maps/ route info directly to the car GPS, etc..etc. Is it possible to do it frequently (even on a car without "keyless go")?
About the "drive kit". Is it to be installed by MB dealers or aftermarket 3rd party? And how much that costs? If its from 3rd party then I probably won't do it now. The car is too new..isn't it?

2nice4me

Is the drive kit plus only compatible with the 2014's or is it backwards compatible with 2011 as well?

ph350

Congrats, great color choice too.

shashivr4

I would do the initial sign-up as some features are free for 6 months and others are free for 3 months (the apps). At least you'll have a reference when deciding whether to extend or not. I am going to renew the basic Mbarce (for safety) and also the Mbarce Plus (for the send to Benz feature). I doubt I'll renew the apps package since I'll have DKP.

BTW, DKP is a dealer installed option and cost around $1,100 ($500 for the kit and roughly $600 for installation).

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/mbrace/packages

shashivr4

See chart below:


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pamiboy

I just got signed up for M'brace. The sales lady was pushing me to buy a two year package for $360 straightaway, but I insisted on getting the free trial now and said will think about buying the package later.
I tried the send2benz GPS route planner through my cell phone, works beautifully. I still couldn't figure out how to remote start the car? I though it was possible. Do I have to actually call the service to do that?

shashivr4

From my understanding, remote start is not possible. Only, lock/unlock, horn, and flash lights unfortunately.

Yes, the Send2Benz feature works beautifully! Much better than having to use the Comands interface.

pamiboy

Oops…I got carried away by the capabilities of Mbrace.
So far I like only the send2benz. The apps are so slow to load and cumbersome to use. Using a smart phone is much easier and faster.
@ Shashivr4; I saw your new E 350 wagon. Looks awesome. Especially the contrast in colors. Happy driving.

shashivr4

So I was playing around with the MB Mbrace app today (for iPhone). I was able to get all the features to work (Send2Benz, Horn/Light and Lock/Unlock). However, when attempting to "locate the vehicle" or "send vehicle location to comand" , I received a message that stated "Cannot locate vehicle. Please turn on GPS to acquite position" (or somethin very similar to that effect). Has anyone else seen this? If so, how was it resolved?

pamiboy

I have a silly question.
I would like all season floor mats which cover the center hump in rear as well..I mean the ones which fit E350 perfectly. Is it available? If so where? (I bought the MB mats but they come in only 4 pieces)