Discussion
Test drove one of these a couple of weeks ago and thought it was brilliant for wafting up and down motorways - didn't try to chuck it about as I would have in almost any other car as it was just so effortless to drive, that I just felt like cruising! (good for the licence I feel)
Anyway, I've placed an order for one - has anybody had any niggles with this car? Is there something i should be aware of before I sign on the dotted line? - seemed very well put together and in Avantgarde spec, I really liked the interior!
Anyway, I've placed an order for one - has anybody had any niggles with this car? Is there something i should be aware of before I sign on the dotted line? - seemed very well put together and in Avantgarde spec, I really liked the interior!
Yes, I have a feeling I will... Had an attack of the sensibles re insurance costs etc when putting the order in, and regretted it almost immediately - however it's on a loan scheme so hopefully will get the chance to go for a 320 in 9 months time. Second regret - the Mrs persuaded me to order it in Iridium Silver, and I'm so bored with silver cars. Still, they look good in silver - kind of wish that it was in black though. Maybe for the 320!
Mine's black - thought I'd get 320cdi but then thought - it(E280cdi) is fast enough, and i can get more options for the price, so at least it won't be poverty spec! When I change it though I'll get the 320cdi (should have a bit more cash in 3 years time) ;-)
Edited by j-p on Tuesday 20th March 20:18
feels so solid, shifts pretty well (even considering I'm not booting it for 1k miles or so), and even the Mrs likes it as it has a handy little net by the passenger seat she can put things in...j-p said:
Test drove one of these a couple of weeks ago and thought it was brilliant for wafting up and down motorways - didn't try to chuck it about as I would have in almost any other car as it was just so effortless to drive, that I just felt like cruising! (good for the licence I feel)
Anyway, I've placed an order for one - has anybody had any niggles with this car? Is there something i should be aware of before I sign on the dotted line? - seemed very well put together and in Avantgarde spec, I really liked the interior!
Anyway, I've placed an order for one - has anybody had any niggles with this car? Is there something i should be aware of before I sign on the dotted line? - seemed very well put together and in Avantgarde spec, I really liked the interior!
I have the 220Cdi on an '03 plate so not directly comparable, but it now has 234,000 on the clock, of which 210,000 has been put on in the last 27 months. No major problems, only a few small niggles, Electrics have been good, needs no oil between services and is averaging over 45 m.p.g. It has been serviced on time at a main dealer and driven sensibly.
Don't think you will be disappointed.
Picked up the new car today - it's lurvely - in black, Avantgarde spec. Looks fantastic, goes well and rides beautifully, handling's none too shabby either - it even sounds nice under load - seriously, this is a great car, hugely underrated in my opinion, feels much more special than 5 series!
Edited by j-p on Friday 30th March 10:34
be interest to hear how you get on - especially on the handling side
I'm comparing to BMWs so want to better understand the trade off between superior waftability (Merc) and better handling (BMW)
starting to get concerned with how many BMW M Sports are around as well...don't see anywhere near as many E Class'...especially Sports spec
I'm comparing to BMWs so want to better understand the trade off between superior waftability (Merc) and better handling (BMW)
starting to get concerned with how many BMW M Sports are around as well...don't see anywhere near as many E Class'...especially Sports spec
I have a late E39 530dT Sport and have been looking at options for when the time comes to change. Mercedes have been pushing to get E Class into our fleet and provided an E220CDI Avantgarde estate (7000 miles) for a few days. One of my colleagues has the older model W210 E320CDI estate which is overdue for renewal.
I took the demo home on the first night and was impressed with the latest engine and gearbox, hard to fault in fact. The handling was a different story though; I am not talking about white knuckle rides down country lanes, just moderate progess along B roads. The car seemed unstable and the back end seemed to hop sideways over bumps. The front end seemed to float and almost have a delayed reaction to the steering input. I covered about 150 miles in the car including motorway work and the feeling didn't go away. I thought that perhaps it was just me after driving the BMW for the last 110,000 miles.
However, I handed the keys over to my colleague and he used the car for about 200 miles during the next day. I didn't make any comment about what I felt about the handling but 24 hours later he remarked specifically about the handling and raised exactly the same criticisms.
We passed on the comments when the local dealer came to collect the car but never heard a word back from them. I don't know to this day whether it was a rogue car or if it is a common trait.
I took the demo home on the first night and was impressed with the latest engine and gearbox, hard to fault in fact. The handling was a different story though; I am not talking about white knuckle rides down country lanes, just moderate progess along B roads. The car seemed unstable and the back end seemed to hop sideways over bumps. The front end seemed to float and almost have a delayed reaction to the steering input. I covered about 150 miles in the car including motorway work and the feeling didn't go away. I thought that perhaps it was just me after driving the BMW for the last 110,000 miles.
However, I handed the keys over to my colleague and he used the car for about 200 miles during the next day. I didn't make any comment about what I felt about the handling but 24 hours later he remarked specifically about the handling and raised exactly the same criticisms.
We passed on the comments when the local dealer came to collect the car but never heard a word back from them. I don't know to this day whether it was a rogue car or if it is a common trait.
Alfaspiderman - hope you're well!
I can understand why you don't see the sport spec on Mercs. You just drive it differently to the BM.
I haven't driven the estate, so can't comment on it's driveability. My car though, is excellent - I've been driving a 3 Series (320d) for around 2 years. I thought that it was an excellent car, fast enough, frugal, decent ride and great handling, it certainly felt as good as my colleaugue's 520d (in fact I'd say the ride was better).
The Merc's steering isn't as feelsome as the 320d's was, the seats in the Merc are more comfortable but have less lateral support but apart from that the Merc is defintitely better (for what I want) than the either my old car or the latest 5 series - it's very quiet especially once the engine has warmed up but even on start up it's nowhere near the agricultural diesels of old and actually much quieter than the BM.
I mostly drive around the country's motorways and this car is simply magnificent on the motorway - it's just a relaxing drive. It's got serious grunt too, gearchanges are all but imperceptible under normal driving conditions it's only if you suddenly floor the accelerator in comfort mode that you fox the gearbox for a split second - i.e you feel the gearchange - it's a genuinely great car!
It's refined, it doesn't have i-drive (although once you get used to it I-drive is actually pretty simple to use), the Merc's system is easier to use if you're starting from scratch but when you get used to it i-drive is better IMHO. And the Merc is just so cosseting to drive around in.
Downside to it - it's expensive, not so much at basic level but outrageous when you add a few options - mine has, leather, sat nav, harmon kardon stereo, CD stack (which you must get by the way - it's a great party trick) phone prep, remote closing boot, parktronic, metallic paint and that's about it, which cost an extra £7k plus - the seat options are ludicrous, you can opt for seats that heat your bum, cool your bum, have memory function and give you a massage (I kid you not), add leather into the mix and just the seat options can cost you about £3k plus! The bizzare thing is the seats are electric anyway, only moving backwards and forwards is manual and yet it costs £900 odd quid for the memory function - even parktronic costs £670 and is nowhere near as good the BM system! Ouch!
Having said that I've always thought that Merc drivers looked smug, now I know why, they're driving a great product and everybody else thinks they've made a mistake and bought second best but the reality is akin to the PC or MAC argument - the MAC is clearly better for certain people (muso's and graphic designers), the PC for ease of use and cost - but money no object you know that you want the MAC - and that's precisely what these diesels Mercs offer - they are superb. Have a go in one and let me know what you think.
I can understand why you don't see the sport spec on Mercs. You just drive it differently to the BM.
I haven't driven the estate, so can't comment on it's driveability. My car though, is excellent - I've been driving a 3 Series (320d) for around 2 years. I thought that it was an excellent car, fast enough, frugal, decent ride and great handling, it certainly felt as good as my colleaugue's 520d (in fact I'd say the ride was better).
The Merc's steering isn't as feelsome as the 320d's was, the seats in the Merc are more comfortable but have less lateral support but apart from that the Merc is defintitely better (for what I want) than the either my old car or the latest 5 series - it's very quiet especially once the engine has warmed up but even on start up it's nowhere near the agricultural diesels of old and actually much quieter than the BM.
I mostly drive around the country's motorways and this car is simply magnificent on the motorway - it's just a relaxing drive. It's got serious grunt too, gearchanges are all but imperceptible under normal driving conditions it's only if you suddenly floor the accelerator in comfort mode that you fox the gearbox for a split second - i.e you feel the gearchange - it's a genuinely great car!
It's refined, it doesn't have i-drive (although once you get used to it I-drive is actually pretty simple to use), the Merc's system is easier to use if you're starting from scratch but when you get used to it i-drive is better IMHO. And the Merc is just so cosseting to drive around in.
Downside to it - it's expensive, not so much at basic level but outrageous when you add a few options - mine has, leather, sat nav, harmon kardon stereo, CD stack (which you must get by the way - it's a great party trick) phone prep, remote closing boot, parktronic, metallic paint and that's about it, which cost an extra £7k plus - the seat options are ludicrous, you can opt for seats that heat your bum, cool your bum, have memory function and give you a massage (I kid you not), add leather into the mix and just the seat options can cost you about £3k plus! The bizzare thing is the seats are electric anyway, only moving backwards and forwards is manual and yet it costs £900 odd quid for the memory function - even parktronic costs £670 and is nowhere near as good the BM system! Ouch!
Having said that I've always thought that Merc drivers looked smug, now I know why, they're driving a great product and everybody else thinks they've made a mistake and bought second best but the reality is akin to the PC or MAC argument - the MAC is clearly better for certain people (muso's and graphic designers), the PC for ease of use and cost - but money no object you know that you want the MAC - and that's precisely what these diesels Mercs offer - they are superb. Have a go in one and let me know what you think.
got a 325i M Sport Tourer on demo at the moment
got to say, that the car is superb
tardis like inside, refined on the m'way and superb in the twisties
the E320cdi will have to be amazing to beat it....especially as my budget will run to a 335i
the Merc is coming in mid April for a long weekend so it'll be nice to waft around for the weekend but, as I said, it's gonna have to be one hell of car to persuade me away from a 335i Tourer
got to say, that the car is superb
tardis like inside, refined on the m'way and superb in the twisties
the E320cdi will have to be amazing to beat it....especially as my budget will run to a 335i
the Merc is coming in mid April for a long weekend so it'll be nice to waft around for the weekend but, as I said, it's gonna have to be one hell of car to persuade me away from a 335i Tourer
pentoman said:
I believe the new E280 and E320 CDIs share the same basic engine, so if you feel inferior for having got a 280 I bet with a little investigation you can '320-ize' it...
Funnliy enough I was thinking exactly that last night - don't think I will for the moment though - it's plenty quick enough!
alfaspiderman2 said:
got a 325i M Sport Tourer on demo at the moment
got to say, that the car is superb
tardis like inside, refined on the m'way and superb in the twisties
the E320cdi will have to be amazing to beat it....especially as my budget will run to a 335i
the Merc is coming in mid April for a long weekend so it'll be nice to waft around for the weekend but, as I said, it's gonna have to be one hell of car to persuade me away from a 335i Tourer
got to say, that the car is superb
tardis like inside, refined on the m'way and superb in the twisties
the E320cdi will have to be amazing to beat it....especially as my budget will run to a 335i
the Merc is coming in mid April for a long weekend so it'll be nice to waft around for the weekend but, as I said, it's gonna have to be one hell of car to persuade me away from a 335i Tourer
Alfa if you want a petrol then I'd stick with the BM to be honest - supreme engine noise, grunt and frugality. But the diesel Merc makes a spectacularly good case for itself and feels so much more special than equivalent. Interior is exceptionally well put together!
Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff