CharlyE500

BTW, W212 Coupe in rear looks very Honda Accord Coupe....

Yacht Master

09s here in Ft Lauderdale are $20K off MSRP, right now. Dealer lots are full, and inventory is not moving. It is a whole new ball game....

CharlyE500

the economic is really bad..... or people are waiting to get 2010 W212 instead of 09 W211.....

russjr

it will be here in november and as someone on this post said, once you actually see this car it is quite a step above the 211, especially in materials, fit and finish, features, etc. it really causes one to rethink a S class other that the "status" that accrues to that. and the new 7 speed will give a very special dimension to the driving experience.

MB_Forever

Not really...... some new models are LOVED before their actual release, as they generate a type of appeal that builds up very strong anticipation and excitement across many car enthusiast forums, but more especially to the owners of the previous generation model, who by the way, end up happily upgrading to the newer models.

One of the things that can save the W212 sales (or at least the AMG version of it) is twin turbos, and since the twin turbos are not coming until 2011, I think many W211 owners will end up waiting 2 years then purchasing the W212 TT version rather than spend $100k now and have the twin turbo come out a year and a half later.

CynCarvin32

10 arrived to the east coast vpc recently. Factory cars.

1stdoublenickel

by who??? perspective 1st time Mercedes Benz buyers or owners of the previous body/chassis?

CWW

In this case, neither

transferred

Merc's new 7-speed is SINGLE clutch people. SINGLE, like SMG...let me guess, you'll like it now MB make it...

1stdoublenickel

A little too big..... But In a weird way I do get your point....

1stdoublenickel

look at the w211 for example, I could start a thread and title it

"W211 E63 AMG & W211 E55 AMG WHICH ONE IS BETTER"

what kind reponses would you expect to get in a thread like that....

"oh I drive a 2005 E55, however the E63 is amazing in every possible way........." I don't think so maybe one or two... but a thread like that would be total chaos(and i can prove it with the search button)... AND WHY????

it the same body-stlye almost same technology so WHY??? its because new is new. we have to deal with it. How would we have viewed the w212 if hyundai never existed?? It would probably be amazing huh??

III II I I AMG

theres gonna be a TTversion of the w212 coming out?!?! is it announced yet? no wayyyyyy

MB_Forever

There you go......

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...70-hp-amg.html

MB_Forever

Big difference here....... most of the arguments that took place between E63 and E55 were about "performance difference" and not how the car looked. At least most owners of both models agreed that the E63 was a little nicer looking with it's minor cosmetic upgrades, but were not happy about having no performance increase what so ever. AMG had a reputation of greatly increasing hp and performance with every new model, but when that didn't happen with the W211 E63, many were wondering why pay so much for a new car and get the same performance if not less. As a result, many E55 owners held on to their cars, which hurt the E63 sales a lot. With the W212, this point is further amplified since on top of the lack of increase in performance, many people don't like the way the car looks (especially the rear-end, which does resemble many other cars on the market being not unique enough). As a result, I believe many W211 E55/E63 owners will hold on to their vehicles for 2 more years and get the upgraded twin turbo version.....

Yacht Master

Well said +1

Remember back in the day when we hoped for a newer, better, faster car?

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...win-turbo.html

PC Valkyrie

Let's get this clear. The W212 E63 will get the AMG Speedshift MCT 7 speed transmission introduced on the facelifted SL63 last year. Overall, it is the same AMG Speedshift 7 speed automatic transmission (with planetary gearsets) found in other AMG cars, except that the torque converter is replaced by a single wet start-up clutch which runs in an oil bath. Fastest shift time is 100 milliseconds in manual mode. In automatic mode, it is pretty smooth and non-jerky. This is very different from SMG from BMW, which truly is a robotized manual gearbox.

The "new" transmission from AMG will make its debut in the upcoming SLS AMG. This is a truly a Dual Clutch design.

Ultimately, I can see all AMG's in the future ditching the conventional torque converter automatic transmission and going to either the 7 speed MCT in the current SL63 (and upcoming E63) or to the Dual clutch gearbox coming in the SLS AMG.

treehugger

Why is it called MULTI Clutch Transmission then? (MCT)
Care to elaborate?

UT_AMG

Say it's so. It'll will be perfect timing. My E should be paid off by then.

transferred

Read the post directly above yours. I'm right but am tired of taking my time to explain why when it's already been explained.

Valkyrie- you know what one I meant by "new" I would hope, good summary though.

kipper215

I saw the new coupe and the sedan at the dealership in person and it made me change my mind. the car is not bad looking in person. I like the seats in the coupe.

LB63

I saw it too and it is better in person but not great. The twin turbo V8 will definitely change my mind but with "only" 525hp it's not persuading me to "upgrade" at this time just as the E55 crew was not persuaded to "upgrade" to the E63.

Fortunately my lease ends in two years so hopefully the V8TT E class will be out by then. I don't want to drive some dinky car in between and I will not get the new E63 for one year just to hold me over if it is not released in 2011 as a 2012 model.

GUT CHECK: When did I get to the point where a 6.2 liter 525 hp car is not enough

K-A

I dunno, I personally disagree on the materials part. I could name a few nit-picky things an **** "interior materials *****" like myself would notice, that are big downgrades from the W211. I think M-B did some cost cutting in the interior with some of the smaller stuff a lot of non-car buffs would never pay attention too, or take the time to care about, allowing the dramatic price drop of it compared to the W211.

Quadcammer

as a fellow interior *****, I would be interesting what you think they cut costs on.

The only thing I really noticed was that the cup holders were uber cheaply made.

Quadcammer

would you buy an 09 car when the new model is coming out? most people will deal with looks they don't love just to have the newest thing.

K-A

Center A/C Vents are a flimsy, cheap feeling substance (painted in silver, not real aluminum). The trim/stripping that goes alongside the interior of A-Piller>door frames>b-pillar is a nice cloth on the W211, it's a harder and rubbery feeling plastic on the W212 (I've always loved how M-B....used to use Cloth in that area where other cars used Plastic/Rubber).

Door arm rests are not nearly as soft and plush as the W211's, they're harder. I notice more plastic in the inside of the car all in all. The lowercenter console area that touches the lower front seats bolsters is all carpet on the 211, minimal use of plastic there, and where there is, it has a nice "stiching" effect, and a chrome piece in the middle (on the side of where your thighs/knees would be) to give a classier look. W212 has all plastic there, none of the mentioned attributes the 211 has (carpeting, chrome, etc.).

The area where the Seat Controls and Window Buttons (on the doors) are, is very plain and cold, not surrounded in wood like the 211 (the wood is on top of it). Maybe it's just the look that's cheap, but it feels pretty hard around there. The door buttons and shapes are not nearly as elegant as the 211's, far more of a simple, mass-produced look of a vibe, but this I don't think has to do with materials as much as design, although I think the 211 does use better/nicer buttons all in all.

The A-Pillar interior material on my W211 is a wool-y/cotton-y looking material, very class (similar look to what you see in some RR's, etc. although they use the real deal), the 212 has the same sandpaper-y, rougher material there as in the uber cheaply appointed C-Class. To note, M-B cheapened this area anyway with the Face-Lifted W211.

The Radio buttons, although not bad, IMO don't have as heavy and thick (i.e quality) a feeling as the W211's buttons in the same area, not to mention not as nice and elegant a design.

The A/C unit I think is more quality all around in the W212's than in the W211's, which I think is actually the weakest link (or only real relatively "weak" link) in the 211's interior.

The little divider piece on the rear door windows in the W212 is a chunkier flat-black plastic piece, IMO not as nice or quality as the glossier material in the W211.

There's more I think but I'm forgetting. Again, it's "nit-picky" stuff. I don't dislike the W212's interior, and think the vibe is more "business", "imposing", "strength" and "quality in durability and solidity", over the W211's "grace", "elegance", "coherent & sweeping design", and "quality in refinement". I personally prefer the latters approach.

Also, I don't know if it was just me, but the M-B Tex in the 212 reminds me of what's used in the W204, i.e a bit harder and less comfy than the 211's version of it (but I'm thinking they should be the same M-B Tex?), and it almost didn't seem to me that the W212 had genuine Leather on the center areas on the front seats (where you sit) like the W211?