Hi
For those of us with Right Hand Drive Cars, the manual shows on page 8 that the buttons for DYNAMIC SELECT and parking pilot are on the right hand side of the COMAND touch pad and controller, however the delivered car is like overseas models and on the opposite side which is really frustrating and unsafe when you are trying to locate the buttons which are obscured by the touch pad and controller.

Does anyone else in their RHD cars have these buttons on the right (closer to the driver) as per the manual? Or the opposite?

Thanks in advance.

 

Mine won't be delivered until Jan, but you don't really use dynamic select much, and manuals are usually all the same as far as I know (they're from LHD markets and not re-done for RHD). It'd be worse if the volume was on the other side as you use that a lot more than dynamic select.

 

Hi Sal
Thanks for your reply
The manual shows a LHD version and a RHD version and states that some buttons and controls swap for the RHD market.
I use the Dynamic Select quite a lot actually and i use the volume on the steering wheel
My partner uses the volume switch so it would be more practical as per the manual.
I bet you’re itching for your car... not long now :-)

 

ah I didn't know! I know that my W211 manual is for a LHD, and it's for something like an E500 with full bells and whistles like COMAND system etc. When I was test driving I found its just faster to spin the wheel to bring the volume down than to use the steering (same with my W211)

I definitely can't wait. I went with the E200D cause i'm in Ireland. I know theres no difference in MPG figures between the 200D and 220D, but I thought I won't see the extra money back when I sell it, and I can probably get the ECU remapped once out of warranty (which is only 2 years in ireland and no option for extended warranty.... sigh....). How come you went with a diesel in Australia? Diesel (fuel) in Ireland is about 10c/L cheaper than petrol (1.20 vs 1.30) plus the extra mpg. I know I'll definitely be enjoying getting 4L/100Km vs 10L/100Km on my W211 E200K. Diesel car is 3-4k euro more expensive than the petrol equivalent.

 

Hi Sal
In Australia we have the E200 and then the E220D, E350D, E300, E400, 43, 63S, so in Ireland i understand your 200 is a D. I get your point about the selling of it. In Australia big luxury cars like this are the hugest depreciating assets so why not go for the 200 i say. An E Class is about the refinement and the driving style, quality, engineering.
I went with a Diesel because it was a Special Edition that was released called the Night Edition (as opposed to Night Pack) and its fully optioned - wel the standard spec in Australia is already pretty high ie we only have the dual screens (no option of analogue here) . I travel some big distances between Melbourne and Mallacoota about 500km so for me its more a convenience about not having to stop and fill up and the extra torque you get. I was going to get an E400 coupe but i have to sometimes transport a mobility walker so i had to pick the sedan. I did first off think that I wouldn’t be happy with the 220 and that it would be gutless. But it’s not, its surprising. You don’t really NEED anymore engine than this. If they had this special edition in the 300 i would have bought that based on paper specs rather than real world driving, and then again, i prefer the grunt and the convenience of the economy of the diesel.
I’ve just done 8000km in 5 months of ownership and i think the car is averaging 5.something /100 , but at the moment I’m using it as a commuter car doing 20km to work and back a day.
Interestingly i sold my 2014 ML 250 recently to purchase the E and the sticker said that the ML averages 7.4 and over the 3 years of ownership it averaged 7.4 so it was bang on, and i took it right around Australia when i took 5 months off work.
So i’m Looking forward for the economy to get better.

 

Hi Mick,

That's excellent with the options, that means you get COMAND as standard as well. Over here we get absolutely nothing as standard. The standard screen is about 8" here.... options list is very expensive. The base model of my car (exclusive, with the old style grille and nappa leather interior) is around 51-52k. After I added my options (Driving assistance plus package, technology package, metallic paint) the price was coming out to 62400 or so, got it down to 57,600€. I really wanted the panoramic roof but that's an extra 3k, plus if you want the premium package plus (it gives you the burmester sound system and other goodies) thats a whopping 8k (but then the pano roof is included). A fully optioned car will run north of 85-90K€ for a E200D, at that point, the S class is a much better buy.... We didn't have any special editions here, however the Volvo S90 had a special launch edition which was excellent and the S90 is an excellent car.


The diesel engine is excellent I think Merc have out done themselves, but I'd still love a go in the E300 (petrol) that they have in America, and of course the E43!..... Pity we don't live in Germany, I drove an audi A6 quattro couple of years back on the autobhan (3L TDI) and it was an absolute beast (235Km/h -240Km/h I got to, it's limited to 250). You can't sustain that speed for long (2 lanes and trucks overtaking) but I felt like a god overtaking porsches.... but there were also mini-vans and toyota yaris' overtaking me at times.

 

It sounds like you have a lovely optioned car :-) I also like the S90 a lot. I went to go to the Volvo dealer but they were shut so I went next door and ended up at merc. This is now my 4th merc.
The pano roof is good but other people in the car appreciate it more than you can because of the seating position. If you have a black leather interior I find that with the pano roof it really lightens up the cabin.

 

Hey Mick,

I actually went for brown interior, I was looking at the aussie specs yesterday and they're very different, you even get the driving assistance plus as standard! However, the other weird thing was that in Australia you only get MB Tex (artico) as standard if you select exclusive, over here you get Nappa if you go for the exclusive. I've no idea how MB handle all these different specs/trims for different RHD countries specially as they're all made in Stuttgart. Actually in the UK you can't even get exclusive, they only have two trims SE Premium, and AMG, I haven't seen a UK car with a small star/old style grille. Rest of the set-up is similar to Ireland. Out of curiosity, do you know anything about the manufacturing slots you have? Ours are November (mine is going into production now!) and then Feb. Not sure about the other slots, maybe April, July, Sept.

 

Buttons are annoyingly on the left. Blame cost cutting and inventory rationalisation. Means you have to lean over to see if stop start is switched off or to make sure which camera button you're about to press. The dynamic mode switch position is fine, it's tactile and easily falls to hand, it's the other three that are a pain. Volume button position is rubbish for passenger but again, it's a tactile one so isn't too bad once they get used to reaching over.

 

G’day mate
Yes, correct. Artico (artificial cow) on the Exclusive Line with the 200/220 however Nappa with 300 and above. I love the brown interior. What colour is your plastics? Black?
I reckon they handle them really well even though they are made in Stuttgart. It’s all about SKUs really : this serial number should be fitted with this that and that and so on.
In the previous gen we couldn’t get exclusive (star on bonnet, old grille) and with the W213 we finally have it as an option. Of course with the previous you probably could get it as a private order BUT they wouldn’t discount it. At a dealer here at Toorak, they had the brown metallic paint with Exclusive and it looked stunning.
I dont know much about the manufacturing slots however, i believe they happen every month. YOu place an order and say it is slatted for December, Jan, Feb production based on the date of the order. Generally a dealer likes to group these together as much as possible.

 

It pisses me off to no end. Cost cutting on a bloody expensive car. Get real i say.

 

Hi Mick,

I think the steering will still be black and the middle console will be plastic (black), like you, I'm hoping to retrofit it with the wood, but I've gone for the burl walnut, and theres no walnut centre console.... I think the only way not to get a black steering is with the designio interior, or if you go for wood steering (looks stunning but it's an extra grand!) We did have the exlusive option in the W212 but most people here just go for either the base spec or AMG which both have the big star. It looks good in some cars (like CLS and GLC, or the old G wagen and old SLs) but I think the E class looks better with the classic grille. I might have buyer's remorse about not going for the brown! I'd have definitely gone for it if I lived somewhere sunny like Melbourne!

 

I love the brown leather with the brown walnut - its so very tasteful. A friend of mine loves the part wood and part leather steering wheel. I dont really like it personally - its a bit old for me (that doesn’t sound how i want it to). The E class does look good with the traditional grille. I just cant wait for them to bring the bonnet flush with the grille instead of the “nose” sticking out - looks a bit piggy.
You wont have buyers remorse - i wish i went for the brown. If I didn’t get the special edition i would have got the green with the brown leather and walnut.
Melbourne can be sunny, but it is also known as the home with 4 seasons in one day :-)