The_Judge

Recently traded in my 2011 Cadillac CTS Premium on a 2018 E400 Coupe with the Premier 2 package and a few other goodies. I love the car, but there are a couple of things that my old car and its predecessor, a 2008 CTS, had that I miss in my E400 and hope to see incorporated in some future version of the car.

1. The Caddy locked itself. It was equipped with keyless remote access. If I got out of the car and walked away, it locked itself. If I forgot and left the electronic key inside, the car sensed it and instead of locking it beeped at me as a reminder. Having a very hard time remembering to lock the new car.
   
2. The Caddy's radio had a "back" button, sort of like on a DVR. Pressing a button would cause it to replay the previous 30 seconds of broadcast, and repeated pressings would go back several minutes (up to half an hour if memory serves). Very handy when half-heartedly listening to the news, especially the traffic updates ("Did he say the wreck is on the 5 or the 405?"). If the E400 can do that, I can't find it.

Of course, aside from those minor quibbles the E400 is superior in every way.

petee1997

I believe the Cadillac was built for a different age group. The E400 will make you feel younger and help exercise your memory. Good luck with the new car.

ua549

+1

Yup, Caddy's are made for my parents generation, i.e., 100+.

The_Judge

I disagree about the CTS. It’s a pretty awesome car in its own right, far different from the larger models. That's especially true of the CTS-V, which I’ve had the privilege of driving at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, at 150 MPH. And I say that having owned 4 previous MBs, including an E55.

BUT, I definitely do agree that the 2018 E400 Coupe is better in every aspect (except the locking feature and the radio-repeat feature). As for making me feel younger, well, I think that ship has sailed. ��

arnsbrae

The replay button would be useful no matter how old you are.

pjw1967

Traded a '13 Dodge Durango R/T hemi for a '14 GL450 CPO. Miss the remote start. Used that feature all the time. Now MB wants you to pay a monthly fee for mBrace to do the same thing. According to this forum, the mBrace remote start is iffy at best. Also miss the touch screen. Otherwise, loving the GL. BTW this is my Durango. Dealer gave me $23k in trade based on KBB. Price started out 2 months ago at $28,480. Now down to $26,230. Garage-kept. Trailer hitch. New tires.
https://www.texasdirectauto.com/for-...SDHCT8DC527578

Eran Levi

I also liked the autolock in my former ATS-V although it could sometimes be annoying. For example, if I wanted to get a back from the passenger door and wasn't fast enough going there from the driver door, it got locked and I needed to reopen the car.
With all due respect to the Caddy, E class is in a completely different league IMHO.
In Israel the Merc is much more expensive and the price of a second hand Caddy goes down really quickly.
I paid for the ATS-V as new 136,500 usd and traded it in a year later for 78,000 usd

petee1997

I'm sure the Cadillac has many great features and is a good car. However my opinion may be dated. My last new Cadillac was a 79 Cadillac Seville. I thought it was a great car. They may have changed since then.

makris0000

With the remote start, its available for free for 5 years via Mercedes Me on all new Mercedes cars from 2016 and on. Also, the E does lock by itself. Mine does that all the time while I'm detailing it.

I agree, Cadillac is more for older people. The new Cadillacs I feel like they are trying to make older people feel somewhat younger and they are trying to appeal to a younger audience as well.

BeachBunny

I believe the '18 might be able to do this. Take a look at this video around the 4 minute mark:

I've not driven an '18 yet and mine's not going to arrive for another couple of weeks, so that video's the only thing I have to go by.


The one thing I'm REALLY not looking forward to is the loss of the telephone keypad. I'm driving ~40,000mi / 64,000km per year, so my car is my office & living room, with much of that time spent on the phone. Entering my Delta SkyPesos # on the W212 keypad can be done without even looking at the buttons. Trying to do that on the W213's touchpad is a nightmare.

ua549

You can speak the number to make a call.

BeachBunny

To place the call, sure... but I don't believe it'll let you speak numbers mid-call. Additionally, most phone systems' IVRs do a terrible job of voice recognition when there's any sort of background noise.

The_Judge

The 2018 E-400 manual indicates that the playback function works only with USB devices (i.e., recorded music), not with the radio function. As for the phone and business, your entire iPhone address book is at your fingertips. The manual also indicates that you can summon the "keyboard" (which I assume means the phone's numeric keypad) to enter DTMF tones, such as when calling your answering machine.

BeachBunny

The video seemed to show that it works with satellite radio, so I'm not sure. I'll know more when my car arrives in a few weeks.

Re: phone, that's precisely the problem -- all of the new 'solutions' require that I look away from the road. The telephone keypad on the W212 & W221 are physical keyboards within the driver's reach. Buttons are clearly marked and have tactile reminders so you don't need to take your eyes off the road to operate the system. It's why Merc has stubbornly stayed away from touchscreens and why they've stuck with the COMAND knob for so long. Sadly, the COMAND knob appears to be going away, which is a real step backwards in safety. Merc's choosing initial satisfaction over safety and muscle memory, which isn't good.

If you're using Apple CarPlay / Android Auto, you can't use the phone's keypad and instead have to use the COMAND wheel to try to push the on-screen buttons. Whilst better than the single line in COMAND's telephone screen, it definitely requires taking your eyes off the road. No bueno.

baadmon

Yuck a Cadillac...

kingscorpian27

FYI, the E class locks itself likewise if you leave the key in the car you receive a visual reminder.

The_Judge

My 2018 E400C does not lock itself.

kingscorpian27

You can also use the Mercedes Me app to lock the car from your phone if you are not certain if you remembered locking it.