And I still love this car.

Bought it on July 25, 2016 and have driven the heck out of it. Took it to both coasts as I prefer to drive and its been fantastic.

Since I have driven the car so much since its purchase, I thought I would give a rundown of my likes and dislikes (its a P1, White with Machiacco Beige interior).

Likes:

Quiet ride - Very minimal wind and road noise (despite so so Goodyear run flats).

Good ride quality - definitely more plush/luxury oriented but I also have the sport package, so there is a bit of firmness with the ride, which is nice. I don't want my car to be too soft and too hard. I think the run flats are making it rougher than it should be, but I think I will remedy this in the summer by switching them out.

Good gas mileage - I just completed a round trip from Iowa City to Chicago and back. 470 miles driven and average 32mpg. Not the most impressive numbers, but my last two cars averaged 19mpg and 22mpg (2012 BMW 550ix and 2015 Corvette Stingray and yes, the Vette got the better mileage).

Nice standard stereo - the stock Burmeister system is quite nice, I enjoy it a lot. I would never spend $5k on a stereo upgrade, but some companies offer pretty appalling standard stereos (BMW is the worst, they should be ashamed of themselves).

Good standard tech - I really enjoy the giant infotainment display. The software is easy to use and the graphics are very nice. The high res backup camera is fantastic (my cousin has a new Cadillac CT6 and it has the worst camera I have seen on a modern day car, seriously check it out, its like GM didn't even try. The Vette uses the same POS)

Overall comfort - Seats are comfortable, I did a 1000 miles in one day in them and felt as though I could have sat in them longer.

Adequate engine for the size - I see/hear lots of complaints on this, but I don't feel as though the engine is small. Its good enough to get this car going, merge onto the highway and get up to high speeds and maintain that speed. On paper it looks week, but after all I have driven it, I find it that it compliments the car quite well. More power is welcome though

Dislikes:

Rattles - I think the dealer was able to get them all, but I was surprised by how many I had. Even my Vette didn't rattle as much as this car did. Mercedes service has been great, but rattles take away from the solid feel of the car and Mercedes should have done a better job at containing them.

Run flats - can we just admit that run flats are awful tires? They pretty much don't do anything better than a standard tire, they're louder, ride rougher, are more expensive, weigh more. I'm going to get regular tires, a car of fix a flat and a AAA membership and hope for the best. Anything to get rid of these awful things.

Sluggish infotainment unit - I like everything about it except how sluggish it is. Its slow to respond and gets frustrating at times, like when I start the car and music is playing and I want to turn it down or mute, but its too slow to respond and takes forever to adjust the volume.

Mbrace/Mercedes Me - I'm not even sure which one I am supposed to use because they both suck. Seems like this entire winter went by and I wasn't able to remote start my car. Why couldn't they just put the darn remote start button the key fob? This should really be addressed, its annoying how unreliable this feature is.

This is really it. I still like my car overall, I think Mercedes did a good job with it, and after all this mileage, I haven't had any major issues, so its hard for me to complain. I wish more people would take the time to drive it to see it for what it is, rather than gawk at the specs and brush it off as an unworthy car.

 

Wow - you have driven the heck out of that car. I am about to cross the 1,000 mile mark, and I think your assessment is spot on.

 

I'd need 5 or 6 years to put that many miles on a car. Nice review.
It makes me wonder about why the infotainment system is slow.
Are other Burmester systems slow or is the Command software the culprit?

 

Thank you for spending time for the review. I agree with all mentioned above even with less than 200 miles on it (lol). I have not taken on the freeway and have not heard the rattles yet.

 

The rattles comment is surprising. I have a 2011 e550 with 67,000 miles, driven on the crappy roads of nj/ny and have no rattles! The build quality is one of the things I love about the e class, tight tolerances and fit and finish. Regards. Ned.

 

I switched straight from 2004 e320 right into 2017 e300 and I have to agree that the older e class built better. My 2004 has 131k and interior is rock solid no rattles, smooth power seats, windows, etc. One thing I noticed right away is the power seat on this new e class wasn't as smooth. The damn seat makes a low "click" sound every time I lean the seat back. I'm not really complaining. It is what it is. But the purpose of being on the forums is to share information, knowledge and opinions.

 

I got mine about he same time and the E300 currently has about 12K on the odometer. I concur with most of your observations, some of which would be obscured without those long road trips.


I'd attribute the rattles to the new model's growing pain syndrome. Mine has no rattle but suffered a plethora of cosmetic issues--including misaligned trim pieces, scratched finishes, chattering wipers. The E300 loaners have misaligned doors, rattling dashboards, and COMAND system issues.


For daily driving and leisure touring, the four-banger provides an excellent balance of performance and economy. Its true characters can only be revealed through long road trips and extended seat time in the car. I think the lighter front end makes the E300 feels much more nimble than my E400. For weekend warriors and thrill seekers, there's the E43.

Absolutely. With a 6-cylinders in the engine bay, I'm sure I'd have bent the rim or puncture the tire with the potholes and road dips in CA by now. The lack of a spare tire held me back on empty flat tops and winding back-roads more than the engine.

MBrace sucks a little less. I have no issue with the remote start feature.

 

Glad you are enjoying your vehicle. Its good once in a while to hear satisfaction rather than complaints. As far as remote start, caveat emptor, some FOB based systems work quite well i.e. Fords, some truly suck i.e. Hondas. Personally I like a phone based system since it allows you to start the car from wherever you have phone signal fobs, at best, only work from 100m . In my experience the Verizon network that serves auto systems is full of holes and highly variable, if you are in an area that's well covered you do great, if not, you're screwed. As you, I feel the 300 is amply powered, for boyracers like me the E43 is available. Costwise, the E43 is interesting since it cost about the same as a C63. Obviously the C63 is a faster car and "true"AMG, but its also less car. Its the same proposition as the C43 and the CLA45. I like the idea of having choices.

 

I'm willing to bet its the Command software or the hardware isn't up to the task of handling the software.

I had a 2015 Stingray, and the infotainment system was slow on it as well. But in 2016 they added CarPlay to the Vette, which required better hardware. The result was a faster performing infotainment system that you can notice.

 

I'm willing to bet that if I switched out the run flats with a good set of standard all season tires, not only would the ride quality improve, the rattles would probably disappear as well.

I swapped out the run flats in my 2012 550ix to Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 and it made a huge difference in the way the car rode (improved tremendously).

 

I put almost 600 miles on an E300 loaner in less than a week including two 2 hour drives.

Very much agree with the comments here. Funny, I noticed how sluggish the infotainment system is when you first start the car but it didn't work its way into my review despite my noticing it.

 

I got my car in November and just hit 4,500 miles ... and I would concur with most of what the OP said. Biggest difference is I have not had any rattles to date. Coming out of a CLS 550 I was concerned that I would feel the E300 is underpowered, but the reality it is quick enough for all but the most aggressive driving. And the lighter front end gives it a more nimble feel than my CLS. On a side note ... I also had an E43 on order which came in a week ago. After driving it, I DID NOT experience buyers remorse. It was a great car, but the acceleration did not blow me away, and the exhaust sound was more annoying than I expected. I like the quiet and serenity of my E300 and how refined and balanced the car is. PS ... I let the E43 go ... now an E63 might be a different story!

 

Very hard to believe that the e43 acceleration didn't blow you away compared to the e300, 150 more hp and supposedly 30% faster 0-60! Something's doesn't sound right here. Regards. Ned.

 

Hey Ned... either I'm lying to you or I have a different set of metrics for determining what blows me away. To that end, I was comparing the E43 to my CLS 550 ... no comparison n the feeling of acceleration. I'm more surprised and impressed by what my 4-banger produces than what the bi-turbo six does ... and it has an intrusive and annoying exhaust sound to boot. Frankly, if you don't believe me or don't like the answer, I couldn't care less. I call it as I see it and experience it ... have you driven both cars?

 

I'm not doubting your impression at all but sometimes first impressions can change given more time. You would have to agree that given the differences in the engines one would expect a significant step up in performance in every parameter. As for the noise, I would not be a fan of enhanced engine sounds, seems cheap to me, like the engine sounds in the Lionel model trains my son had 15 years ago. I drove the e300 and actually was shocked at the off the line performance, never took it through its paces on the highway. I had ordered an e43 loaded back in early October but when the dealership refused to negotiate on price off the $91,000 msrp I told them to keep it in January and bought a2016 Audi s8 plus. Now that's fun! This is after being a Mercedes customer for 30 years. Enjoy. Regards. Ned.

 

About acceleration and the 4 cylinder- I just passed 1,000 miles on my E300, so I could finally put it in Sport mode. It's great IMHO. Torque is what makes cars fun, and 273 lb feet is no slouch and very impressive for a turbo 4.

I was used to a 640i previously which was more than a second faster to 60 (5.2 BMW, 6.6 MB). But with my 640, I very rarely took it out of comfort mode. So really, I was driving a slower car nearly all of the time. But I was getting 5 MPG less mileage all the time because of that. And once a month for brief moments I'd open it up.

In the case of the E300- if you compared added fuel consumption plus $20k more in purchase price to the number of times you "stepped on it"- image how much you'd be paying "per time". Not to mention damage to the environment. With CAFE standards, engine size and horsepower will probably be more like off road capabilities of a car like a Hummer. Ask an owner of one of those "... do you need that off road capability? do you use it?" "no, but I could if I wanted to!"

I just wish the 4's sounded a little more like a 6 or 8 (-:

 

With my 2016 GLE at the dealer for service A and windshield replacement. I requested a 2017 E 300 as a loaner. I have to say, the interior definitely wow me the moment I open the door. It was white on cream interior. I love the infotainment screen, and the high resolution rear view camera. I was amazed by the power and quickness from the turbo 4. Feels quicker than my previous car which was an Infiniti Q50. Overall, I am amazed by the quality and the interior completely different than my GLE. Made me want to get the new generation in 2018/2019. If they are following the E class design. The only thing I am. It use to is the overall dashboard height. I think it's a little low, not so use to looking down.