C220cdi Sport Estate

[alfaspiderman2]

Considering a new one of these as my next company car

It'll be used mostly by my wife for hauling children and dogs around and for weekend/holiday jaunts

I've used an E320cdi before and really liked it and wondered how the C220 compares?

Performance doesn't look bad for a 2.2 diesel and 400nm of torques can't be bad.

What Car? lists them as front wheel drive though...surely not?

[niva441]

Wrong as a very wrong thing!

Definitely RWD.

Edited by niva441 on Friday 22 February 15:27

[matc]

I've been running a couple of C220cdi Sports as a demo since the launch in June last year, and unlike any previous Merc in this class it is a awesome car to drive. I've had a go in the estate a few times and must say it drives as well as the saloon. I think you should go for it as IMO there isn't anything else in it's class that looks as aggressive ind as good to drive.

[gazoline]

I've had a new c200k sport form nov 07, handling and ride even with sport springs is much better than mercs of old quite comfortable too.Goes around corners well and is not sore on the eyes in sport form.Auto box is a bit slugish in any other than manual mode (maybe I need to vist kleemann etc to sharpin things up a bit)good effort mercedes 8 out of 10.

[stemll]

I've had both C200k and C220cdi Sport Edition estates over the last year (both old shape so may not be entirely relevant) and I'd pick the petrol every time. Indeed we have a C200k Avantgarde (still old shape) coming in a couple of weeks (guvn'r works for MB).

Fuel economy was almost identical (about 4mpg advantage for the diesel) but the petrol was much much smoother. My personal opinion only and I believe that the new C200k has more power, don't know about the new diesels.

[alfaspiderman2]

from what I've read, the 220cdi is much improved over the previous incarnation and seems to offer better performance than even the 2.5 petrol

I'm coming from a BMW 335i so don't want something too pedestrian!

Any views on options? - I'm thinking 18" wheels, advanced agility, leather, xenons and bluetooth

[matc]

I wouldn't bother with the advanced agility pack on a 220cdi; I've got it on my current C220cdi Sport and it completely messes the gearbox up, it doesn't want to change up from 1st gear until about 25-30 which is bloody annoying and a bit embarrasing when sat in traffic. You also have to turn it on everytime you get in the car as for some reason it is default to turn off whenever you swith the car off, IMO it works well in a car with alrger engine as you can notice the difference in throttle response but it really is money wasted in the C220cdi.

All of the other oprions you've gone for seem about right, it looks so much nicer on the 18" alloys. What colour are you thinking of?

[alfaspiderman2]

thanks good advice re advanced agilty and confirms my doubts over its value

not sure on colour . essentially it'll be my wife's car (to allow me to go for something more 'interesting' ) so she'll have a big say on colour

agree re 18's...the estate is quite a tall car so needs the bigger wheels

my default choice would be black, she wants blue...what do you recommend?

struggling to get a demo at the moment out of Merc corporate...earliest they can give me is end of April.....which is way to long to wait

any ideas on lead times?

btw, just noticed you are in Bournemouth. I'm in Ringwood - which dealer do you work for?

Edited by alfaspiderman2 on Tuesday 4th March 13:39

[gazoline]

Tell her that black is, the new black. Lead times are not good, ordered my c200k sport saloon in end of July 07 and delivery was on the 7th November, not good! Also had to do without advanced agility because mercedes couldn't make it work properly. Yes! Its not good value, mercedes had better sort out those residuals.

[alfaspiderman2]

4 months lead isn't bad I guess

need mine for mid september (family holiday) so guess I need to get ordered by the end of April?

[matc]

I work for MB-Poole, have you been in to see us? How come your using MB corporate for a demo? The current lead times are about 3 months, but if you definately need it for September you would be better off ordering April/May.

[alfaspiderman2]

I've not been into MB Poole.

I've been directed towards MB Corporate as my company lease firm (Hitachi) arranges all demos through them. That's worked fine in the past and I've had E320's for weekend demos but they cannot offer me a 220cdi Sport (Estate or Saloon) to drive until the end of April!

They actually suggested I go into a local showroom and 'pretend' to be a private buyer. Thing is, I'm not interested in a 10 min drive around the block....I want a long unaccompanied drive with chance to let my wife try the car and the kids sit in the back.

Would I be able to arrange a sensible demo through MB Poole?

[matc]

We like most Merc dealerships don't offer unaccompanied demos, we are supposed to be able to sell up to £150k's worth of car on the back of a 20 minute demo!! Something I have always found a bit odd.

We get a lot of customers coming in 'pretending' to be normal retail customers and literally just wasting the SE's time, so it's good to hear your not one of those I can understand that they may not yet have an etstae available to drive but I can't believe they haven't even got a saloon to drive, pretty poor customer service really.

[alfaspiderman2]

after some pushing MB Corporate have agreed to let me have one of their 'new' cars sometime in March

what colour do you recommend for the estate?

have you got some Sport Estates in to have a look at?

[matc]

Sorry about the slow response I've had stupidly busy day!! We haven't got a C-Sport Estate in at the moment, we've sold and delivered both of our showroom cars, we've got a 220cdi SE and a 320cdi Elegance unfortunately. I thik Salisbury (in our group) have got a Sport in their showroom.

I quite like Palladium SIlver, but I am a bit biased as I've got my car in it, it also looks great in the flat colours Red/White but you really need the panoramic roof to break the colour up a bit. Obviously looks nice in the usual silver and black, but these are a bit common; I would also reccomend the Tenorite Grey.

[alfaspiderman2]

thanks - coincidentally, Pallidium (sp?) is the colour that tops my list right now

would like to go for black or white but wife thinks it'll look too hearse or police car like respectively

(mate has dark grey so that's out as well)

[matc]

Keep us up to date with how your demo goes. If you have any questions drop me a mail.

[alfaspiderman2]

Still waiting to get something arranged re demo but hopeful for sometime in March

However, popped into Southampton Merc yesterday and, gotta, say the estate isn't a looker is it? Whoever took the pictures for the brochure is bloody good as it looks rather awkward in the metal. The bluff nose is somehow balanced in the saloon but the estate doesn't do it somehow. Reminded me of a posh Fiat Stilo Estate.

Looked at a Sport Estate in silver, black, and pallidium (admittedly all with 17's) they all looked very average imo

Saw a white saloon which looked cool though...not sure how white would look on the estate

However, looks aren't everything and I will have a drive before making up my mind