I wanted to pass on a few more miscellaneous observations and discoveries about the car, now that I have more time behind the wheel.

For about 2 months, I had a chance to drive my 2007 E63 back to back with my 2010 E63. The difference in handling and steering feel became much more pronounced to me over time. Switching back and forth between the two cars, there is a huge difference. I love the 2010 car and do not miss the 2007 now that it is sold. The W212s minor disadvantages are greatly outweighed by its improvements.

General Observations:
Seats: The seats are really excellent and very comfortable.

Navigation: It is very irritating that the car must be stopped in order to enter in a new destination.

Mysterious Rising Headrests: I don’t know why, but when you move the front seats forward the headrests rise. If you move the front seats backwards, the headrests rise. This makes no sense. The net result is, if the seats get moved regularly, you will constantly have tall headrests.

Mysterious Bottle Holder: What is the deal with that feature at the top of the net in the front passenger footwell? Is that to hold a bottle of wine? Tequila? Water? I don’t get it.

Front End Scraping: So far, I have not scraped the front end of the W212, even over the same spots where my W211 would scrape. The new car might not have a “lift” button, but it does not need one.

Insights/Tricks for Current Owners:
HOLD: I am sure I would have discovered this if I read the manual, but instead I discovered it by accident. When stopped in Drive, you can press the brake hard, and the word “HOLD” appears in your dash. You can take your foot off the brake and rest. When you are ready to go, just touch the gas and off you go. Its not a big feature, but I kinda like it. I wanted to make sure all of you were aware of it.

Hood Gap: In my previous review, I mentioned a large gap in the body panels where the hood meets the body. It turns out I had fully latched the hood down on both sides. You should make sure you have pressed firmly down on the hood to engage both sides.

Keyless Go: I love this feature but had difficultly getting the car to lock when I pushed the "button" on the exterior door handle. I discovered that the trick to getting it to lock is not to push on a point, but to drag you finger or hand along the outer edge of the handle. This is different that the system on the W211. Once you know this trick, its much easier to lock it.

Are there any tricks or insights that other owners can share?

 

Thanks for the tips, I just put down a deposit for an 63 and hopefully I can share some more tricks in the future!

Can you post a picture of this? I didn't notice this holder at the dealer.

 

Good things to know, thanks for the post. As this car spends more time out in the public, we'll all get a much better feel and understanding.

My 2009 COMAND is the same as the W212 (but without the wheel) I can still put in addresses in motion (like your 2007 W211.) But both the 2009 and the W212 have great VC. Have you used VC much yet for the Nav? I'm guessing MB wants W212 owners to input via VC and be less distracted(?)

What about comfort in the suspension? (Handling has been improved, yes.) Do you notice a difference of steel up front and air in the back on crappy roads? And I know the steering rack has been changed out but how does it compare the steering preciseness to a say, a 550i or M5? I personally felt it was still a tad numb at lower speeds on the street. It's all a compromise somewhere between all out stiffness and real world ride comfort; I trust MB is trying to find the sweet spot.

It's good to know that the lift isn't needed so much. The problem I had (I've since bought another house) was my house in Malibu had a steep driveway that made me scrape my exhaust tips (not my front lip so much.) I had to have it raised or park on the street. But obviously they can't engineer lift into it anymore. It'll just be a forgotten feature eventually, anyway.

The headrests rise on my W211, too. But they rise and lower, depending on the seat location. I'm guessing it should be the same for the W212. Maybe there's a software glitch(?)

The hold feature was on MBs in the past, but for some reason it went away with some of the later cars for a while (maybe SBC related?) I wish it was on my car, it's kind of nice.

A lot of people complained about hood gaps at first, but yeah, it's no issue whatsoever.

 

WOW that sounds like a great feature for the DRAG STRIP

 

That reminds me....I forgot to comment on the Race Start (RS) feature. Someone posted a couple months ago that I would be disappointed in this feature. He was right.

It is very hard to get it to work each time. If I wanted to leave a stoplight fast, I would not use RS. 4 out of 5 times, I flub it. Perhaps RS is a tick faster on a dragstrip, once you get it to work. I really dont know. I have not tested it with a data logger. However, what you might gain in having a computer-modulated launch, you more than lose with its unreliability in the real world.

Juicee63, I dont think the HOLD feature is of any benefit on the dragstrip. As soon as you give it any gas, it releases. Its not like you can rev it up, then get it to let go.

 

You raise a great point. I have not tried the voice control at all with the Nav. Maybe you can do it from there while in motion.

I think the suspension comfort level is the same as in the old car, while they are both in Comfort mode. I think they are both very comfortable...not too stiff...great daily drivers.


My buddy's W212 does the same thing as mine.

 

Ty for the feedback... a couple of things i noticed...

same thing with the seats. the only thing i could imagine it's for is a for rear end collision safety. so when the seat is pushed farther back, the car automatically adjusts the height of the head rest, using assumptions of how the tall the person in the seat is given where he's moving the seat, so as to optimize head restraint protection. who knows though.

also, i hit the red line a while back. and the entire dash lit up red. was actually pretty cool. so if you can achieve it without detonating the engine, i say go for it.

 

Any new pics of the two cars together? I saved all the ones you posted when you first got the car, really cool seeing them side by side.

That makes no sense that they rise no matter what you do (Headrests). Mine rise and lower, i.e I guess to try and help out in regards to gauging how tall you are. I hate that they move at all, so just raising and raising would indeed be annoying. Must have been a lazy mess-up or something by M-B.

 

Sorry, but I don' have any new pics, and I just sold the old car. I am glad you liked them.

 

Would you mind offering more detail on why the Race Start feature isn't reliable and is difficult to use? I've yet to try a 212 w/Race Start, and it's one feature I was looking forward to using (if it worked properly).

What are the problems exactly? Thanks.

 

I'm not sure about OP, but for me, I could never get into RS mode until I read the manual (p159-160), and its still complicated. You cannot switch into RS like how you'd switch to C S or S+. Many requirements have to be met before activating it. First the oil temp have to reach 80 (which will be shown in AMG menu); ESP has to be set to sport, and brake pedal has to be pressed all the way down (with left foot). Then you turn the knob to RS mode, and click the right shift pedal to accept (a msg will show up asking if you want to RS or not)
While the brake is depressed and the RS mode is turned on, you need to wot in 2 secs or rs mode will be turned off.
After all these steps, you then let go the brake (and of course, within 7 secs after you wot, or else RS will be off) and you'll get your 0-100 in 4.5 secs.

I guess it'll be a lot easier if im used to it. As for now, im sticking with C or S before my engine/ tranny are properly broken in.

 

The reason it did not work for you is that you forgot to rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time you click the right shift lever.

The complexity of steps needed engage RS make it pretty much worthless in real world driving.

 

Test drove a 2010 E63 today to compare with a 2008 CL600.

IMO the car didnt feel that fast compared with the 600 engine. Also the interior was kind of a disappointment. They removed the alcantara headliner and theres no leather on the dash now...not to mention about an increase in MSRP. I though the W211 E55 had more value.

BUT, love the LEDs and the body on the 2010 E63. The overall exterior was very nice and better than the CL600.

 

I bought a 2010 E63 a week ago. I sold my 2009 C2S Porsche and decided on this AMG car. After owning several Porsches and BMW "M" cars, this was a nice change. Thanks for the info on the car. I wanted to share a conversation I had yesterday at the dealership. You can turn off all the traction control and various computer help by switching the car into the "Dyno" mode. The tech showed me how to do it and said it helps all the power go to the rear wheels without any hinderance from the computer safety controls. He said it was something people were using for the track. You guys might already know about that mode, but it is not in the owner's manual.

 

Headrest moving probably have to do with preventing whiplash maybe?