Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Rolls have far better interior design as it relates to screens and controls. Laptop glued to the center stack in future MBs does not look good to me.
Audi is following suit in the tablet design, even having the hood-less gauge cluster screen similar to the S-Class. This is the design trend we are heading in. As for Rolls and Bentley, not sure most Benz shoppers would be cross-shopping the two except for maybe Maybach which represents a small number of MB customers.
Not too crazy about the new HVAC controls going to touch screen. Drove an Audi A6 with touch screen HVAC controls and they were hard to operate while driving. I like the tactile feel of the mechanical switches, one click, one degree up, finding controls without looking, etc. That touch screen is definitely cheaper to make bigger than those mechanical switches it replaced.
Not too crazy about the new HVAC controls going to touch screen. Drove an Audi A6 with touch screen HVAC controls and they were hard to operate while driving. I like the tactical feel of the mechanical switches, one click, one degree up, finding controls without looking, etc. That touch screen is definitely cheaper to make bigger than those mechanical switches it replaced.
Let's face it: It is much, much cheaper to have everything controlled through a touch screen rather than buttons and knobs. That is the primary reason for the elimination of the tactile controls.
Like you, I love the rotary knob on the center console of my E450: without every taking my eyes off the road I can change radio stations, a tactile "click", and also on the pads on my steering wheel - again another tactile "click". When I am using Waze Maps, I can easily change my radio stations pressing the radio button on the dash and then use the rotary knob. If I want to go back to Waze I just press the home button on my steering wheel and then us the pad to scroll up to Apple play and then press the pad - never having to take my eyes off the road. To change temperature settings, use the up/down tabs on the dash. What could be easier!
Try doing all that while you are driving on a touch screen! :YEKS you can't! These touch screens will be causing accidents. I know that the argument in their favor is "voice controls" but unless it is Siri on my iPhone or Alexa where voice commands actually work, I find Mercedes voice commands at times maddening. Sometimes change for the sake of change is not better. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel!
Let's face it: It is much, much cheaper to have everything controlled through a touch screen rather than buttons and knobs. That is the primary reason for the elimination of the tactile controls.
Like you, I love the rotary knob on the center console of my E450: without every taking my eyes off the road I can change radio stations, a tactile "click", and also on the pads on my steering wheel - again another tactile "click". When I am using Waze Maps, I can easily change my radio stations pressing the radio button on the dash and then use the rotary knob. If I want to go back to Waze I just press the home button on my steering wheel and then us the pad to scroll up to Apple play and then press the pad - never having to take my eyes off the road. To change temperature settings, use the up/down tabs on the dash. What could be easier!
Try doing all that while you are driving on a touch screen! :YEKS you can't! These touch screens will be causing accidents. I know that the argument in their favor is "voice controls" but unless it is Siri on my iPhone or Alexa where voice commands actually work, I find Mercedes voice commands at times maddening. Sometimes change for the sake of change is not better. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel!
Excuse the rant: Just my $.02.
Big screens are getting cheaper and cheaper but they are not always a better operating system than knobs and dials. On some applications such as the speedo or the dash, digital works well. In the center console, functions such as HVAC or radio adjustments should be separated from the touch screen. These are the functions the driver use the most and the driver should be able to operate those by feel and memory.
Similar to the S-Class and EQS, the MBUX 2.0 infotainment can still be controlled by the right pad on the steering wheel as well. Having lived with MBUX 2.0 I have mainly gotten along with the system well, most new cars are likely to adopt touch only systems in the next few years.
Audi is following suit in the tablet design, even having the hood-less gauge cluster screen similar to the S-Class. This is the design trend we are heading in. As for Rolls and Bentley, not sure most Benz shoppers would be cross-shopping the two except for maybe Maybach which represents a small number of MB customers.
Too bad to see Audi go this way. Rolls and Bentley are examples used to illustrate what good looks like, not to suggest which models are being cross-shopped against each other.
Audi is following suit in the tablet design, even having the hood-less gauge cluster screen similar to the S-Class. This is the design trend we are heading in. As for Rolls and Bentley, not sure most Benz shoppers would be cross-shopping the two except for maybe Maybach which represents a small number of MB customers.
Screens schmeens. I want the can't-miss red panic buttons.
Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Rolls have far better interior design as it relates to screens and controls. Laptop glued to the center stack in future MBs does not look good to me.
That's your opinion...and...Opinions make the world go 'round, LOL. If they go in this direction, I am sure when MB gets done with it, it will not look cheap, unfinished, etc. -- at least not to most. That was my point. You don't like it, you won't buy it. Remember it isn't being built for you. It's being built for the masses. MB looks at client acquisition. There is no way that major competitors will go in the same direction and MB will as well and theirs will look exponentially worse. It will be style over form, and again, if you don't like it, you won't buy it.
That's your opinion...and...Opinions make the world go 'round, LOL. If they do in this direction, I am sure when MB gets done with it, it will not look cheap, unfinished, etc. -- at least not to most. That was my point. You don't like it, you won't buy it. Remember it isn't being built for you. It's being built for the masses. MB looks at client acquisition. There is no way that major competitors will go in the same direction and MB will as well and theirs will look exponentially worse. It will be style over form, and again, if you don't like it, you won't buy it.
Just my $.02:
I think the point you are missing is that having everything controlled by a screen vs. buttons and is a huge savings. Once you commit to the screen you fall into the trap that "bigger is better" until you get to the new Cadillac Celestiq with a 55 inch screen!
I think the point you are missing is that having everything controlled by a screen vs. buttons and is a huge savings. Once you commit to the screen you fall into the trap that "bigger is better" until you get to the new Cadillac Celestiq with a 55 inch screen!
I get the point. There's no doubt MB is going to do what is most cost-effective, profit-driven, FOR THEM, while balancing what the masses want. I do think whatever they do will look "good" relative to their competition. I don't see Audi, BMW, etc., all doing something, and MB doing the same thing, yet everyone does it well, right, quality, etc. -- and MB does it wrong, cheap, not well, etc. I just don't see it. Will some people not like it? Of course! You can't please everyone, LOL. However, if it's profitable, and they think that most customers will accept it, they'll do it. Thanks.
Hopefully the W214 is revealed soon, the timeframe seems like it is going to be happening this year but why does it still have so much camo if they plan to reveal it this year : (
Hopefully the W214 is revealed soon, the timeframe seems like it is going to be happening this year but why does it still have so much camo if they plan to reveal it this year : (
They are retractable, at least in this photo. The 223 has had them for a while. Some have had issues irrespective of climate, many others not. I would assume cold climates have been taken into account.
They are retractable, at least in this photo. The 223 has had them for a while. Some have had issues irrespective of climate, many others not. I would assume cold climates have been taken into account.
Unless the retractable door handle is heated, I do not see how they can design around the problem with icing. Many tesla owners have problems with those retractable door handles in the winter, they are as bad as those frameless car windows where it has to come down a inch or so before you could open the doors, they always get stuck in the winter. In this case, the benefit of these retractable door handles does not outweigh problems.
Unless the retractable door handle is heated, I do not see how they can design around the problem with icing. Many tesla owners have problems with those retractable door handles in the winter, they are as bad as those frameless car windows where it has to come down a inch or so before you could open the doors, they always get stuck in the winter. In this case, the benefit of these retractable door handles does not outweigh problems.
Tesla fixed issue with an update that allows people to pop open the driver's door via the app, bypassing the frozen handle problem
Unless the retractable door handle is heated, I do not see how they can design around the problem with icing. Many tesla owners have problems with those retractable door handles in the winter, they are as bad as those frameless car windows where it has to come down a inch or so before you could open the doors, they always get stuck in the winter. In this case, the benefit of these retractable door handles does not outweigh problems.
Exactly, agree! I really hope the retractable ones are optional and standard door handles are offered.
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
