Hey Mercedes! Are you going backwards?

[StRemy]

I had the chance of taking a MB C220d T-Modell AMG-Line (…) for a short drive on a country road today.

The first impression is of a very flashy interior with the touchscreen dominating the centre console:


Personally I would prefer physical buttons and a rotary knob, but that seems to be the direction where “premium” interiors are going these days. Premium only on the surface, because the car already had rattles with less than 1000 miles on the clock.

Regarding the driving experience I had a S204 C200 as as my only reference with a C-Class. That car had a quite notchy manual gearbox but from my point of view, very good steering and suspension feel. You could drive it and tell the difference compared to a Renault or an Skoda.

Coming back to the new car, the first impression is one of the worst braking pedal feel I’ve experienced in a car. Nothing happens for what feels like inches of travel and then you abruptly brake. Is this the result of some kind of regenerative braking?

Steering seems to have a nice response, there is no delay in the front axle, but then there is also constant inputs coming from the road surface. Small by-pass area on the rebound bleed disc of the front suspension? It seems to be tuned for giving a feel of directness/sportiness.

That would be alright if the rear axle was neither sporty nor confortable. The suspension fails to isolate and also to keep the body movements in check.

The overall impression is of car where a fine balance have not been searched or could not be found.

This does not feel like the car from two previous generations, in fact it feels worse than a Ford Mondeo or a Peugeot 508.

Does any Mercedes client cares to much about this? Or are they mesemerised by all those screens?

Edited by StRemy on Wednesday 17th November 22:40

Edited by StRemy on Wednesday 17th November 22:41

Edited by StRemy on Wednesday 17th November 22:46

[Mr.Grooler]

My experience of recent Mercs is that they seem to vary a lot in terms of character and apparent priorities (I get them through a work scheme).

Current GLC 300d AMG Line is pretty good in most areas, but impact harshness is terrible. We had an A180d Sport which (apart from having a nice interior) was pretty bad - not great to drive and the engine calibration made driving it smoothly at low speeds a challenge.. An E220d estate and E400d estate were both fantastic in pretty much every regard, especially the latter which excelled at pretty much everything. And a C43 AMG was pretty good to drive, albeit not much character and a little inert, but had amazing brakes. So quite varying highs and lows; with Fords and others perhaps you get more consistency. The Hey Mercedes new infotainment seems to work reasonably well though. Haven’t tried one yet with the big screen that you show.

[StRemy]

Thank you for you feedback! It offers a much better picture from the brand’s overall range of models.

There still seems to be cars with that particular Mercedes feel, but the real substance seems to be found higher up on the models’ range.

[sxmwht]

StRemy said:

Thank you for you feedback! It offers a much better picture from the brand’s overall range of models.

There still seems to be cars with that particular Mercedes feel, but the real substance seems to be found higher up on the models’ range.

This is what I suspect. Admittedly I've only been in a handful, but I suspect that while the interiors look the same across all the range, they are not built to the same standards.

I own a Golf GTI, my other half a GLC250d. While I can totally understand why some would think the interior looks nicer, it's not really better built. Plus the handling is worse, the engine is worse, the brakes are awful in comparison, and then there's little things like the reversing camera being way worse. No idea where the premium is justified.

My dad has a GLE350d, and the interior is the new style. It feels much better put together. Interestingly, we test drove an EQA at the weekend, and I quite liked that, although we only had it for half an hour so we were mostly taking in the driving experience

[cerb4.5lee]

sxmwht said:

I own a Golf GTI, my other half a GLC250d. While I can totally understand why some would think the interior looks nicer, it's not really better built. Plus the handling is worse, the engine is worse, the brakes are awful in comparison, and then there's little things like the reversing camera being way worse. No idea where the premium is justified.

I have a GLC350d and I really rate the 360 degree camera on it, and the rear camera is miles better than the surround view/rear camera on my F82 M4 for me. The brakes are decent too(I presume that they are bigger than what is on the GLC250d though).

I've never driven an SUV that does handle well, so I don't hold that against it to be fair.

[AlfaNZ]

I agree wholeheartedly.

My 2018 E63S has travelled just 20k miles and the cheap “piano black” centre console is all scratched up and the dinamica / alcantara steering wheel is worn to a shine. Add to the dynamic seat the only works intermittently, park sensors that randomly beep when you are stationary and the horrific tyre skip when wet…

The high water mark for Mercedes-Benz quality was the W124 and R129 era, but each new model launch sees quality being thrown out the window in favour of chintzy bling and electronics overload. The days when engineers ruled at MB are well and truly gone. Even more so when you go down the range - looked at new A-Class for the Mrs but the quality leaves so much to be desired.

A friend of mine just took delivery of a new BMW M340i and the fit and finish of the interior is far superior to my E.

[Ron240]

AlfaNZ said:

My 2018 E63S has travelled just 20k miles and the cheap “piano black” centre console is all scratched up

I don't know whether it is cheap or not but I am totally against these piano black plastics that are used in modern cars.
They look good when new but are definitely not user friendly, because they scratch is you even look at them the wrong way!
To keep them looking good and unscratched you need to be so very careful with the way you touch/clean then, actually to an unreasonably high level that the vast majority of people will not achieve or even be aware of.
My 2020 CLA has this finish on the full length of the centre console like yours, and the only way it has remained unmarked so far is by me basically not touching it at all.

[swisstoni]

Ron240 said:

AlfaNZ said:

My 2018 E63S has travelled just 20k miles and the cheap “piano black” centre console is all scratched up

I don't know whether it is cheap or not but I am totally against these piano black plastics that are used in modern cars.
They look good when new but are definitely not user friendly, because they scratch is you even look at them the wrong way!
To keep them looking good and unscratched you need to be so very careful with the way you touch/clean then, actually to an unreasonably high level that the vast majority of people will not achieve or even be aware of.
My 2020 CLA has this finish on the full length of the centre console like yours, and the only way it has remained unmarked so far is by me basically not touching it at all.

I don’t know about the new Range Rover, but the L405 has piano black panels on the upper rear quarters.
This is made of the most delicate plastic known to man.

I guessed this and was incredibly careful in washing it and it remained swirl-free.

Right up until the car got washed at the dealership when serviced. Swirled to fk.

[AC43]

StRemy said:

Does any Mercedes client cares to much about this? Or are they mesemerised by all those screens?

They are mesmerised by the badges. Back in the day, the engine was by far the most important aspect and the trim was secondary. No, people introduce themselves as being the proud owner of an AMG Murdered Out Black Edition Premium Plus Plus Plus Sport or something.

(with a stty little diesel 4 pot).

Sigh