mickhoog

It’s been now 3 months in the W213 and i love the car, i have a few little niggles that I think should have been thought out better for a $100k car
> The gloss black centre console should be wood or matched to whatever interior trim you choose
> The door panel should be looked at as there are a number of people including me where the rattle is so annoying
> in RHD models such as Australia, the buttons on the COMAND controller should be swapped so you can see as you’re driving the : Parking Pilot Button, the ECO Start Stop, etc (they are currently on the left hand side and obscured by the COMAND wheel)
> There should be favourite buttons as per my ML and SLK where you can program one or two buttons to say “Your home address”
> In the drivers right hand panel next to the steering wheel, the spare buttons if you have them should be the 360 degree camera like the C class so you can see this straight away instead of having to press the Parking Pilot button in the middle
> I never use Parking pilot: it’s too slow
> The linguatronic update is either here now or coming
> In Australia we don’t have the wifi hotspot - it just uses your phone
> In Australia we don’t have the features with your mobile phone where you can unlock the car with your phone
> In Australia we don’t have remote parking pilot
> We also don’t have the connect me services, or any of those mbrace services either
> the MENU button is the most useless button there is in the world. WTF - I don’t give a toss about the heating controls by using MENU
> Be good to see the temperature (current) without having to change the temperature to see it



What would you improve?

BF3PDZ

As you mentioned, the center console should be in wood, the buttons on the command controller should be rearranged for RHD markets. I also want thicker padding for the door arm rest and use of actual leather for the trim on the door cards.

mickhoog

Thicker padding sounds good.
What are door cards?

froll

A permanent dashboard display of odometer and trip odometer so you don't have to waste a display option just to know your daily and/or trip miles. After all, there is a tone of space for such a small display

BF3PDZ

I mean the inner door panel trim.

ua549

Thicker/softer seat cushions. My heated/ventilated seats are as hard as a wooden bench.

Proeliator2001

Agree with most of the above. Most of the car is spot on for usability but some things are annoying.

Much better sat nav please. Massive screen but it shows half of nothing. No turn after next, no turn by turn routing, no info on where the delay is, just that the route somewhere is delayed, traffic hard to see (bring back amber and red car icons). Oh and get rid of the sluggishness, especially on start up, takes an embarrassingly long time before your can enter an address after turning car on

Fix tail gate locking. With key in pocket 9 times out of ten it thinks the key is in the boot so won't lock, only power close.

Ditch run flats and give me a spare wheel.

Stop creaking and rattles in door and centre console.

Be more honest about radar sensors just getting confused; putting a message to say they are dirty when the car is perfectly clean is bloody annoying. Just say signals degraded or system is inop, don't straight up lie.

Faster demisting rear window. Seems to take ages.

Ditch the grill pattern on top of dash where its not needed. Reflects on windscrwindscreen.

BTW OP, if you have COMAND you do have home and work favourites for sat nav in the favourites menu (click home, pull down for favourites).

nashvilletn

how does the AUS currency translate to USD? you mentioned its a $100k car.. but i only paid 55k for mine.

BF3PDZ

At the moment $100k AUD is about $78.3k USD.. and this is for the lower end 1.9 diesel engine. For something like the E 300. you are looking at $90k USD... Australian taxes on cars are stupidly high.

ua549

AU$100,000 = US$78,345.

Costs are different in each country. In Denmark the E300 sedan Macchiato Beige/Black leather interior costs DKK113,772 (US$17,867). In the US it costs US$1,620. The whole car similar to mine on the road would cost more than US$200,000.

yjchua

You haven't seen Malaysian or Singaporean pricing.

As someone who used to live in Malaysia, my GLC43 and E400 4Matic in Melbourne are considered damn cheap. Back in Malaysia it's easily twice of what it costs in Australia (and far crappier specs too).

Cao Black

How about a touch screen Comand system.

How about the start/stop button NOT being lighted...it reflects in the windshield (or windscreen if you prefer) at night. I had no trouble finding the old keyless go button in the dark.

How about push and release to move the seat...or better yet, do it from the key fob automatically.

I agree with replacing the piano black console with wood or other trim.

Also agree with non-runflat tires and a spare (even a compact style).

Explain why the rear directional was changed from amber to red in USA, even though amber is perfectly legal. Who wastes time making these unnecessary decisions?

nashvilletn

makes sense on why people are buying from US dealers and exporting them to other countries to make a profit

ua549

In Denmark the duties on importing a vehicle and registration raises the cost to what one would pay by buying locally.

In Florida if one imports a car from another state one must pay Florida Use (sales) tax to register it.

US dealers and the end users are limited by a MBNA no-export policy. If a MB is exported within 12 months, there are severe penalties on the dealer, purchaser and subsequent purchasers whether they have knowledge of the restriction or not. Cost to the end user starts at $10,000 as liquidated damages due upon notification.

mickhoog

I find when you have the progressive setting on the digital dash then you can have the ODO, and trip details on the right hand side with the consumption. That right hand side option is a bit useless, there is limited options.

But i find the left side of the speedo is a bit useless.

The best thing i have discovered is that the main display (the one not in front of the driver) can do a split screen with nav and with radio, it’s just a pity when doing this, the radio takes the main part of the screen (3/4) and the Navi (1/4)

mickhoog

I agree that the seats in the ML are more comfortable. Perhaps its because it had thicker tyres and they seemed more comfy?

mickhoog

I like your list mate :-)
The previous gen Navi had information on the exits of the freeway, eg exit is x amount of km away (without having an address in) which was handy - this one doesn’t seem to have that

I haven’t come across the issue with the tail gate - i was mucking around with it the other day, had the key in my pocket, opened the boot, took the key out of my pocket and pressed the button and threw the key in the boot to see if it would lock - and car wouldn’t lock.

I find the kick function to close and open the boot is a bit hit and miss.

I just tried to do something with the car door to stop the rattle and i think i have found it - i did a temporary measure of putting 2 business cards under one of the pieces of loose trim in the door and that silenced it by a lot so that must mean i’m On to the right track - I don’t mind the odd crack or whatever but to have a constant rattle like a pair of maracas is bloody annoying

I had the sensor issue on an ML previously and also thought WTF - i just cleaned the bugger

I think the grille pattern on top of the dash is to let heat escape from the screens? Also its for easy access to remove the screens too.

I do have COMAND and i have the favourites menu but i found that previously i had a favourites button which was a programmable button that had one short cut rather than taking me into a list of favourites was great. For example you could program it to my home address so when i get in the car i would press one button (less “key strokes”) . In the car there are 3 or 4 home buttons, one on the touch pad, two on the wheel, one one next to the COMAND dial - so one of these could easily be a favourite button. I wonder what the config will be when they get rid of the COMAND dial in the next iteration ?

mickhoog

Agreed - costs are different all over the world, Australia is high, Malaysia is extraordinary and even Thailand is eye watering.

Australian cars are highly specced (generally)

I was looking at the MB THailand specs and i was like oh it really has nothing in it

I get why they are cheaper in America - its a numbers game, the market is bigger and LHD

mickhoog

I for one would like on the gear lever (cant think of the Mercedes speak for it)... ah DIRECT SELECT, i would like the P button to be the start stop button and then P moved in the sequence above Reverse. I mean P comes on automatically when you open the door or switch off the engine so you don’t have to worry about P or even the park break. I think it would be ergonomically more efficient.

Do you mean the rear indicator light went from amber to red? I think ours is amber. I remember reading once that in America it was law to be amber?

I’m 6 to one; half dozen to the other on the run flats to be honest. A normal tyre (spare) makes sense in Australia where people do really big distances and there aren’t places to go and just get a tyre. The other half of me appreciates the safety the run flats give.

mickhoog

I think this was the main reason my mum, Mormor and bedstefar moved from Denmark to Australia - taxes

yjchua

I found my seats to be just fine though, but then, I opted for the package which included the Designo nappa leather seats (plus every other option that was available for the Exclusive line trim to make it a maxed-out E400).

yjchua

Malaysia is even worse - you get nothing and you don't get to add what you want (which is the case for locally-assembled models).

The only way to spec it up with the things that you want is to buy a CBU (fully-imported) model and configure it, then pay double/triple the price of what a locally assembled model costs (thanks to taxes).

Yup, Aussie models are generally specced well with the important stuff - for instance, the C/GLC 250 and above all get 23P (Driving Assistance Package Plus) as standard, but not the creature comforts stuff like seats with memory, premium audio, etc. Malaysian models get these stuff as standard, but don't get the important ones like 23P.

yjchua

By previous-generation, do you mean NTG4.7 (like in the W204 and W212), or NTG5.2 in the W222/W205/X253?

My NTG5.2 system in my C-class has it. No destination entered and it still shows the exits.

I don't know whether my NTG5.5 E-class has it though, I usually don't pay attention to the map display to notice whether it shows the exits like my C and GLC do.

BF3PDZ

I mean for places like Singapore and Malaysia I can understand why they place high taxes on cars, but for a country like Australia, we need to drive to get to the shops etc especially when the public transport system is so poor.

yjchua

That's especially true for just about anyone who doesn't live in the CBD.

I live in Carlton (Melbourne) so it's really easy for me to just walk down Lygon Street to get whatever I need, but most of my friends live in places like Templestowe, Keilor, Williamstown...etc and it's impossible to walk to the shops in those places.