My dealer picked up my car for its B Service, and left me with a new C300 coupe as a loaner. The car was delivered with 1500 miles on it, and is dark blue with the brown leather interior. Very, very sharp looking car.

It feels different than my 2015 C300 sedan. The steering is tighter, with more weight than my sedan set to Sport steering. Also, the suspension feels more damped although the tires appear to be the same Continental run flats. I'm also hearing less road noise in the car. No wind noise even though the car does not have acoustic glass. I was surprised to see the addition of an overhead view to the rear view camera, and wish I had that on my car.

I'm used to the seats on my Sport sedan, and these seats felt firmer and not quite as comfortable. The view out back is very restricted, with the rear head rests blocking a lot of the rear glass. In spite of the fact that the front seats slide forward when the seat back is released, access to the rear seat is bad. My 5'2" wife had to get something from the back seat and would not want to try it again. I'm 6'3" and wouldn't even try it. The front doors are really wide, and I couldn't open the driver's side door fully in my narrow garage.

So, I'm enjoying driving the coupe ... it feels tighter than my sedan and handles really well. It's quiet inside and looks great. Would I buy one? No. The wide doors, poor visibility to the rear, and difficult rear seat access make it too impractical for me. Great for a single person or couple who rarely need a back seat.

 

The coupe has a lot of emotional appeal to people though, sure it's not practical, but despite my acute awareness of its deficiencies, everytime I see one on the road I wonder aloud to myself whether or not I should've got one of those instead of the sedan.

 

Good assessment on the C300 coupe Stan, my feelings exactly...I wouldn't get one either.

My biggest complaints with the C300 coupe I was given as a loaner was the visibility out back, the long heavy doors, and the ugly "Chiclets" on the rear bumper.

 

One question I had was about the overhead view in the rear view camera. How does it get that view of the car?

 

It's a composite view generated from the vehicles four cameras (front, rear, outside mirrors).

 

Honestly though, most of those are typical problems with coupe's. Sedan always has better functionality. Good analysis!

 

Glad the Coupe is tight and handles well. They completely overhauled the suspension for the Coupe to make it more sporty.

When I sat in one I was surprised by just how bad the rear visibility is, it's as bad as the Camaro (which is like being in a submarine). The *** sits up so high, the window is so small and the head rests in the way you have like 2 inches of visible glass. Definitely need the 360 camera on this car.

Stan how is the engine/exhaust on it? Is there any change in how punchy the motor feels or the sound coming from the exhaust? In the U.K. the Coupe comes with a sport exhaust (standard?) that is supposed to sound a bit better than the stock exhaust on the sedan.

 

The exhaust was louder, with some burble on throttle lift. I noticed the difference in sound immediately. It's still not very aggressive, but does sound more sporty than the standard one.

The engine felt the same, but the transmission started in first gear, even in Comfort mode, and seemed to hold gears longer. The shifts were not abrupt at all. Again, my overall impression is that this car feels really tight compared to my sedan. The suspension is an improvement, with better compliance and less slap over road imperfections. Also, no lean through turns. That, with the heavier steering, makes the car at least feel like it handles better than the sedan. I would be very happy if my C300 Sport felt this buttoned down.

 

Out of curiosity does your C300 sport not start from first gear when moving from a stop? My C300 4MATIC 2016 starts at first gear if I completely stop then drive again.

 

It does, but doesn't hold first gear very long. I think it upshifts at about 2,000 rpm. In Eco, it starts in second. I think it does a little better in the Sport modes. My first, early production, C300 always started in second gear when in Comfort or Eco.

 

Late to this thread, but Stan, do you recall if your loaner had the sport package or not? Apparently there's a base suspension for the coupe and a sport suspension.

 

Got to jump in here with my 2-cents. When I retired, I got a new 2002 325i BMW. Keeping it as my sedan, I also got a new Z4 in 2005. Sold the 325 in 2013 and got a Cadillac ATS 2T Lux. Got the caddy because I wanted a car that would handle like the E46 (new BMWs of the 325-8 models no longer handled like the E46.) The ATS was right on the mark in that it handled and drove as well as or better than my E46, while being more "luxurious". However, as it was getting a little more difficult to get in and out of the Z4, and it was 11 years old, and I couldn't really take advantage of the rag top as I've had to many sun-related skin cancers, I started looking for a replacement.

I like smallish cars and wanted a rear wheel drive with good handling characteristics. My choices were a 2016 BMW 428 coupe or a 2017 MB C300 coupe (way before the MB would be available to test drive.) Although the BMW had a better engine/tranny, it was the total (inside and outside) aesthetics of the MB that got me to lease it (Lunar Blue with brown MBtex vinyl seats.) I knew the MB wouldn't handle like the BMW (had my ATS for that,) but also knew that handling and drive still would be quite good and the overall sporty luxury of the car was so compelling, it was the the car for me. Although the rear window is small, the infotainment screen is a bit of mis-placed item - which I have learned to live with, there are no handles above the door, the back seat is difficult to enter/exit, seat doesn't return to my set position if wife resets the seat, Burmeister system has inadequate fade control, I don't care as I'm really loving this car (don't miss the Z4 at all.) My only disagreement with the above descriptions of the car is that it does lean slightly on turns as compared to my ATS and previous BMWs which don't lean - I don't have the sport suspension. Nonetheless, the car handles very well, is peppy enough, gets good gas mileage (around 23-25mpg with regular driving while in S-mode,) seats are very comfortable and adjustable, car is very road quite, and finally you hardly see another on the road. Oh yeah, one other thing, maybe it is because I've never had a car this expensive and the MB brand is having a psychological effect on me, but when driving it I get the the feeling of driving a car that is extremely well put together and is just as solid as can be.

 

I was one of the luckily ones to get my hand on a sport c300 coupe loaner as-well. Mine was pearl white, with night package. The interior was cranberry sexi with open pure black ash wood and the car came with a few options too. Diamond grill, night package, blind spot asst, parking asst, air matic, burmester, and a pano roof. I am only 27, so handing keys to a $56K car like was a bad idea . I could not stop driving the damn thing. I found reasons to just joy ride; go downtown, ride around my school's campus and take the long way to destinations.
It only had 128 miles when I got it, I had to put over 100 miles on it. Only thing I disliked was the 4 cylinder engine under the hood, I suggest doing it right and opting for a v6 c43 or v8 c63.
If only my parents were rich and paid for my education. I would of sold my lame c300 sedan and traded up for a sporty 17' coupe c43, but these student loans are in my way.

But I can dream, right ?

 

I got the C300 4Matic Coupe recently as a loaner as well. It was sharp - Brilliant Blue Metallic! and sporty. But coming from a 2016 C300 4Matic luxury model it was just wasn't for me. Way low to the ground and terrible visibility through the rear window. And those doors, too heavy and parking spaces in my area too narrow to swing the door out. That, and I kept opening and closing the driver's side door by holding onto the edge of the window glass. I need some metal around the window

 

It was a base suspension, not the Sport.

Regarding my "no lean in turns" comment, I was comparing it to my C300 Sport. It definitely feels much more solid in turns. Of course, comparing it to my Porsche, I would have used a different description.

 

My first benz was the first W203 coupe. I was young, it was cool but I regretted whenever I had to take passengers.

After getting a W204 sedan I would never, ever go back to a coupe. They are just so impractical.