2014 E350 4MATIC 2,000 Mile Review
05-30-2014 | 10:17 AM
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From: Chicago Suburbs, USA
2014 E350 4Matic, 2012 Kia Soul+
2014 E350 4MATIC 2,000 Mile Review
I have my first 2000 miles on my loaded Diamond White and thought I would share my thoughts on the car and the options.
Diamond White: I love the color, but if I did it again, I would just get polar white. It has depth and looks richer, but eh its still white.
Ride and Transmission: I have the luxury suspension and love it. The car is so smooth, so easy to drive. It feels planted. Bumps are muted. It drives like a Benz should. I had a 535xi and looking back, the BMW felt like a truck compared to the silky smooth E. The transmission is very smooth.
ECO Mode: I barely notice anymore, so I'm fine with it. I turn it off at car washes and other stop and go situations. My passengers notice it more than I do and some even complain about it.
HVAC: I never switch off AUTO. The cabin is always quickly made comfortable in hot or cold weather.
Standard Seats: I did not get the upgraded massage seats. I find the seats to be very comfortable. I was worried they might be too firm, but they're fine. I am 6'. If any thing I wish they were a little longer for my legs.
Auto Parking. It takes some practice, but it does work. I live in the suburbs and can neither parallel or back in with any amount of skill so I do rely on it. My problem is trusting it. It will park in tight spaces and will move the car where it seems like it is going to scrape an adjacent car. Of course, it won't but I am so fearful that I only creep at 2mph and in a busy city street that isn't cool. And if I so much as touch the steering wheel it stops auto parking.
Blind Spot Detection: I've had this feature for years, but hands down the Benz implementation is the best. Everyone else lets you know some one IS in your blind spot. But Benz takes it step further, it tells you when some one IS or IS NOT in your blind spot. That's right it has THREE states. Clear, blocked or don't know. This is huge in my book.
Lane Departure: I've had this feature for years and once again, Benz does it best. In the BMW it would go off when you get about 12" from the line. Well for most of us, that happens a lot and often on purpose. The Benz only goes off just before you cross the line. With the BMW, I would disable the feature. With the Benz, I appreciate it.
Laser Cruise and Tracking: I have not had this option before and I love it. I love how you can increase or decrease the speed to the next 5mph bump. I can feel the car making slight course corrections, it is very subtle. I often let go of the wheel and let the car steer. It works and will steer into a curve, but sometimes it will go all the way to the line and then over correct. The result might make it look I was driving drunk.
Pre-Safe: The commercial is true. If the car thinks it is going to hit something, it will take control. I was testing this and it yanked my back in my seat and applied just enough strong braking to not hit the car in front of me. Everytime you get in the car it pulls the seat belt taught and then releases it. That way when this panic system engages, it will pull that slack in instantly. I feel very safe knowing it is there.
360 View. There is nothing better than seeing the ground all around the car when you want to avoid curb rash or line up the wheel in a car wash guide track. And this system splits the screen and shows 360 and your choice of 4 other views. Very sweet.
Voice Rec: This is the weak spot. My KIA does it much better. It works well for navigation. You can enter "1245 Main Street, Beantown". You don't have to say the state which is nice. And it is pretty fast. The sore spot is in the phone. If I speak a first and last name, there is good chance it won't find anyone. For example, "Joe Smith" won't work. I have to say "Joe" and then it will bring up a list of all the Joes. And once we've chosen a name, it says "Dialing Smith, Joe on landline". This made me think if I asked for "Smith, Joe" it would work, but it doesn't.
COMAND: I'm not a fan of touch screens. I don't have any trouble navigating the system. The letters are big. Some functions like bringing up the turn by turn list are not intuitive, but then I haven't seen a system that is.
MB Apps: Worthless. The data connection is too slow to have any useful value.
Roadside Assistance. There are 3 different buttons you can press for emergency, car assistance or information. They take a long time to start ringing and you get an automated system that first asks for a purpose of the all so they can route it to the right group of people. But once connected, they will try to help. Not sure it is worth $600 a year. For me, that probably comes to about $30 a call.
Door Closing: I miss having soft closing doors. Not sure it that is an option. But I can say the doors have a good clunk sound. I use my foot to open the trunk even if I'm not carrying anything. It works great. The Benz lets you open AND CLOSE the trunk from inside the car. Most cars will only open the trunk. You have to be outside to close it. Yes, there is a button. But I like being about to close the trunk when I pick people up that airport who want to slam it.
KEYLESS GO: This works flawlessly. On the BMW, I had to pull twice to get it to unlock. And locking sometimes took an extra try. The remote buttons for locking and unlocking seem to have a very long range. Much longer than I would expect.
Diamond White: I love the color, but if I did it again, I would just get polar white. It has depth and looks richer, but eh its still white.
Ride and Transmission: I have the luxury suspension and love it. The car is so smooth, so easy to drive. It feels planted. Bumps are muted. It drives like a Benz should. I had a 535xi and looking back, the BMW felt like a truck compared to the silky smooth E. The transmission is very smooth.
ECO Mode: I barely notice anymore, so I'm fine with it. I turn it off at car washes and other stop and go situations. My passengers notice it more than I do and some even complain about it.
HVAC: I never switch off AUTO. The cabin is always quickly made comfortable in hot or cold weather.
Standard Seats: I did not get the upgraded massage seats. I find the seats to be very comfortable. I was worried they might be too firm, but they're fine. I am 6'. If any thing I wish they were a little longer for my legs.
Auto Parking. It takes some practice, but it does work. I live in the suburbs and can neither parallel or back in with any amount of skill so I do rely on it. My problem is trusting it. It will park in tight spaces and will move the car where it seems like it is going to scrape an adjacent car. Of course, it won't but I am so fearful that I only creep at 2mph and in a busy city street that isn't cool. And if I so much as touch the steering wheel it stops auto parking.
Blind Spot Detection: I've had this feature for years, but hands down the Benz implementation is the best. Everyone else lets you know some one IS in your blind spot. But Benz takes it step further, it tells you when some one IS or IS NOT in your blind spot. That's right it has THREE states. Clear, blocked or don't know. This is huge in my book.
Lane Departure: I've had this feature for years and once again, Benz does it best. In the BMW it would go off when you get about 12" from the line. Well for most of us, that happens a lot and often on purpose. The Benz only goes off just before you cross the line. With the BMW, I would disable the feature. With the Benz, I appreciate it.
Laser Cruise and Tracking: I have not had this option before and I love it. I love how you can increase or decrease the speed to the next 5mph bump. I can feel the car making slight course corrections, it is very subtle. I often let go of the wheel and let the car steer. It works and will steer into a curve, but sometimes it will go all the way to the line and then over correct. The result might make it look I was driving drunk.
Pre-Safe: The commercial is true. If the car thinks it is going to hit something, it will take control. I was testing this and it yanked my back in my seat and applied just enough strong braking to not hit the car in front of me. Everytime you get in the car it pulls the seat belt taught and then releases it. That way when this panic system engages, it will pull that slack in instantly. I feel very safe knowing it is there.
360 View. There is nothing better than seeing the ground all around the car when you want to avoid curb rash or line up the wheel in a car wash guide track. And this system splits the screen and shows 360 and your choice of 4 other views. Very sweet.
Voice Rec: This is the weak spot. My KIA does it much better. It works well for navigation. You can enter "1245 Main Street, Beantown". You don't have to say the state which is nice. And it is pretty fast. The sore spot is in the phone. If I speak a first and last name, there is good chance it won't find anyone. For example, "Joe Smith" won't work. I have to say "Joe" and then it will bring up a list of all the Joes. And once we've chosen a name, it says "Dialing Smith, Joe on landline". This made me think if I asked for "Smith, Joe" it would work, but it doesn't.
COMAND: I'm not a fan of touch screens. I don't have any trouble navigating the system. The letters are big. Some functions like bringing up the turn by turn list are not intuitive, but then I haven't seen a system that is.
MB Apps: Worthless. The data connection is too slow to have any useful value.
Roadside Assistance. There are 3 different buttons you can press for emergency, car assistance or information. They take a long time to start ringing and you get an automated system that first asks for a purpose of the all so they can route it to the right group of people. But once connected, they will try to help. Not sure it is worth $600 a year. For me, that probably comes to about $30 a call.
Door Closing: I miss having soft closing doors. Not sure it that is an option. But I can say the doors have a good clunk sound. I use my foot to open the trunk even if I'm not carrying anything. It works great. The Benz lets you open AND CLOSE the trunk from inside the car. Most cars will only open the trunk. You have to be outside to close it. Yes, there is a button. But I like being about to close the trunk when I pick people up that airport who want to slam it.
KEYLESS GO: This works flawlessly. On the BMW, I had to pull twice to get it to unlock. And locking sometimes took an extra try. The remote buttons for locking and unlocking seem to have a very long range. Much longer than I would expect.
