AzurSL

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...50-sedan-test/

The new E seems to be a slam dunk. Better quality, great driving dynamics, sports-car-like braking performance (besting the M5 comp with carbon ceramics by two feet) and very solid engine choices with the slowest of the two still achieving a sub 6 second 0-60 and both returning impressive MPGs. Both the 4 and the 6 achieved 35 MPG on the 75 mph freeway loop, equaling over 600 miles of range. It also happens to be quieter and smoother than its competitor from Bavaria. BMW only seems to have the slight edge in acceleration, with that being said both the 5 and the E are downright quick. The king of the mid-size executive sedan is back!

“Interestingly, archrivals BMW and Mercedes share the 21-inch tires the E uses—the sidewalls have both BMW's star and Mercedes's MO markings. Who wore them better? Definitely the Benz, which outcorners and outbrakes the BMW 530i xDrive—it also stops on par with the Nissan Z NISMO—and is quieter at highway cruising speeds. The E-class also steers and rides better, and it exhibits a surprisingly neutral cornering attitude for a large luxury sedan. Whether comparing E350 to 530i or E450 to 540i, the BMWs are slightly quicker and lighter, and yet the Benzes have the edge in chassis performance and driving dynamics.”

marzillo

I've read the article before seeing this post. While they did give the W214 props over BMW 530i and 540i, they also poked a bit of fun at the technology including things like a selfie cam and angry birds. They also don't like the star studded grille or tail lights or the fact that MB went all in on screens over any physical buttons. Much of this I agree with, but still love the look of the new interior. I wish they used physical controls for the climate control.

The comment section of that article is not kind at all. Most who posted seem to genuinely hate the car.

W205C43PFL

The only (well, sort of but the following is a deal break so the only important thing to me I hate) thing I hate about this car are the taillights but it is personal preference after all.

Holtgraver

If I ever need a new car (I now have a W213) I'll be looking for a low mileage high optioned W212 (or some other brand) because:

I like buttons way better - safer and they always work instead of almost always
I like the CD player and the hard drive music - not a fan of thumb drives
I like the extra seat and web storage in the front.
I like the spare tire.
I like the deterministic voice control - the new AI MBUX gets it wrong 1/5 of the time.
It's almost impossible to enter a voice destination.
I like to name and save the destinations I use often.
The destinations submenus are nearly impossible to navigate on the W213.

The W214 has the same disadvantages.

marzillo

I agree that buttons are better, but only in some cases. The W212 had too many IMO. I rarely used the dial pad buttons. Not sure what extra seat you are talking about, but the netting was a useful feature that I miss. Hard drives and CD players are very old school while a thumb drive is far better IMO. I can load thousands of songs using FLAC format that sounds just as good as CD quality and can easily add music. The HD function is clumsy at best and cannot be easily updated with new music. With a thumb drive you can have multiple and load them up from a computer fast. Can't understand how anyone would prefer CDs or hard drive over that versatility. The W214 does an excellent job with voice commands. Navigation, calling, or sending text messages all work flawlessly in my experience. The W212 was not as good and I didn't use it much due that.

dtd

I agree that CD is an old school, but I still have a lot of old CDs with a lot of good songs, so it's easier to put a CD in and you get it plays while driving. By the way, I'm an old guy.LOL

marzillo

I have a lot of CDs as well and still buy them. Then they promptly get ripped using Foobar2000 into both MP3 and FLAC format so they can be used in various devices depending on the sound quality desired. I had a bunch of CDs get damaged due to a water problem in storage that I am in the process of trying to recover since I didn't have all of them ripped. It's a long process. Once they are on a computer, as long as you have some redundancy then you will never lose them or have an issue with damage. Your never too old to learn new tricks.

ua549

I have about 1800 CDs that I converted to flac. They all fit on a 1TB microSD card. I made one for each car and one for my house.

Holtgraver

How long does it take to move CD audio to a thumb drive?

And how do you do it? (I have Windows 11).

I'm assuming it's not a short process to convert 500 CDs?

I asked my dealer to find me a service where I could have them create me the best quality audio, with suitable filing structure (Artist, Category, Album name, Song name (track) for months after I bought my 2021 and got no answer.

ua549

Windows 11 Media Player can do it. The time required depends on the length of the CD as well as the output format and quality.

Holtgraver

Let's say it takes 10 minutes per CD. So I have about 70 CD's to load. I used to just listen and load one to the hard drive as I drove somewhere in my W212. So now I have to put in 700 minutes (about 12 hours) to get this. Very inconvenient, but my son is handling it for me. Also, the damn W213 has 3 USB-C ports and no USB-A, so I have to go and buy electronic crap since I'm setup for USB-A.

ua549

Just buy a $5 female A to male C adapter. There are no electronics; it is all mechanical. Samsung used to include them free with their cell phone chargers. minutes
Most CDs are not full and may take as little as 5 minutes each to convert depending on your methodology and hardware. I converted CDs to SSD first because SD sticks are very slow. Then I can write the music files to an SD while keeping the CD conversion task going.

marzillo

Somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes is a good average. Yes, for a lot of CDs it can take some time but it's only done once per CD for a lifetime of more accessible music. The alternative is to lug around 70 CDs all around and hope they don't get damaged. Then there is the hastle of putting CDs in and out of a player. Even with a multi-CD changer it's a hassle. There really is no comparison between loading music up on a thumb drive verses using CDs. Buying a USB-A to USB-C adapter is all you need. They are small and cheap. I have a 90° adapter so the thumb drive doesn't stick out far with the adapter. I'm also using a low profile USB thumb drive.

mykel79

Just curious - what type of music do you have on CD's that's not available on streaming, say Apple Music in high CD quality or even lossless if you want? Ripping CDs seems a lot of trouble to get your music in your car.

ua549

I don't do any streaming because connections are not too reliable when in a car. My cell service drops out when driving under trees, bridges, etc. In addition I have lots of classic music and international music that is not often broadcast. (I have an strong aversion to anything related to Apple products or services.)

Holtgraver

The W212 (with Premium option I think) had a hard drive. You could copy a CD onto it while you listened to it, and then play it anytime, same as W213 except no minding a PC copy process and keeping track of where the thumb drives are.

Povitica3

I was attending a party last night and I had parked my W213 heading out of the parking lot when I saw this glittering MB (lighted grille surround and the mini MB stars) come driving in. I was mesmerized. It was dark colored and had the 20” multi-spoke rims that shimmered in the reflection of the lights around the lot. And as the car drove past, I realized it was a W214 350. I was like wow wow wow!!! That car is an absolute stunner and I was in love…. I had to go back to do a walk around.. it had the super screen and the entire interior just looked like a super executive sedan. Night time look makes the W214 worth like a million bucks. For you owners, how do u feel about the car? I compared how my W213 looks and its got nothing on the W214… that new design is a home run for MB.

I don’t care for BMW and actually don’t find the new styling much to my likeness and so I don’t need any car rag magazine to tell me what I already knew. I have had my fill of Bimmers and so done with that brand already. Sheesh…

marzillo

Nice to get back on topic. 😉

I think the car is beautiful. I would have preferred some traditional buttons, but I really like the superscreen. I don't have the nappa leather in the E350 I am leasing but the E450 I have on order has them. Still, the interior looks great IMO. You can see it in the unofficial official picture thread. At night, it looks even better. Especially with the ambient light. I've gotten many compliments on the car along with many more looks from people passing by. I loved the looks of my W212 but this one looks even better in many ways.