Mercedes CLS 350cdi shooting brake - pre or post facelift?

[TiminYorkshire]

So we're in the market for an A6 replacement and are keen on the CLS 350cdi shooting brake. I'm trying to decide if the post facelift is worth the extra spend?

Advantages:
Newer
Euro 6 (not that we live near or frequently visit clean air zones)
Curvier aesthetics
More gears?

Disadvantages:
More expensive
Quoted power is a few bhp less than the pre facelift
Euro 6 means Ad blue could go wrong

Have I missed anything else significant?

Has anyone had or driven both?

[MrC986]

I can't help you on the face-lift 350 CLS CDI S/B but I do have a pre-facelift car. Fwiw, I couldn't justify the extra price of a face-lift car, albeit i bought my 2014 car 3 yrs ago when the car market was a lot more buoyant.

A face-lift car will have the updated dash including navigation etc. & for some that will be part of the attraction as well as the revised front end & bumper package. I'm quite happy BTW not to have an ad-blue equipped car.

I had been looking at 5 series BMW Tourers (i then realised the diesel versions I had found were problematic with engine issues) & a dealer happened to have a 250 CLS S/B....in typical PH style my head was turned & i realised I could get a 350 for near enough the same £s, so that's what I did The CLS has impressed me so much I've just bought a used ML 300 CDI for MrsC to use as a towcar for her horse trailer as I couldn't face the stress of owning a similar age Discovery The 350 CDI is a great bit of kit & I've done 350-400 miles in a day with no problem & seen up to 675 miles on a full tank at times on the motorway.

[TiminYorkshire]

Thanks for the above. A similar train of thought to what I'm going through.

[KPB1973]

I have a pre-facelift E350cdi.

I'll restrict my comments to the mechanicals rather than cosmetics, but the 7sp is fine for the daily grind. It's not super-fast and nowhere near as intelligent as a ZF8 or the S-tronic in my S5, but I don't find it obstructive in any way.

In terms of the engine, if you're looking for a lump that's less gruff than the 250 or 220, then the 3.0 still sounds very gravelly at low revs. It's fine when you're up to speed though.

Economy-wise, I see low to mid 30s in local driving, rising to high 30s on a sedate run. I've only seen over 40mpg a couple of times when i've absolutely babied it through long stretches of 50 and 60 zones.

In comparison, both single and twin-turbo BMW 3.0d i've owned have been capable of well over 50 on similar journeys. Truthfully, I keep mine for the ride comfort, practicality and build quality. I think there are some decent petrol-engined estates that would give similar economy!

[MrC986]

My 350 CDI is very smooth on idle and even when I did lots of urban driving/shorter journeys it was still showing 40 mpg. I've only seen sub 40 in very exceptional instances (including when a friend drove it back from Le Mans who was "making progress" with a fully loaded car I agree that the gearbox isn't as good as the BMWs or the later model which is in a GLC we also have in the family...if you want to properly waken the engine you need to put the accelerator down pretty hard or pull the paddle as it uses the plentiful torque it has. Someone suggested a remap to about 300bhp but I question whether it is really necessary!!

[Summit_Detailing]

Facelift for me...if only for the multi-beam LED headlamps which are amazing.

As others have mentioned gearbox ok in isolation but if you've owned a ZF8 you'll be left disappointed.

Ride 'ok' given low profile tyres of the AMG-Line.

The main reason for selling mine - driving position, specifically the fact that the pedals are offset to the right and the steering wheel is slightly offset to the left - my lower back did not appreciate that!

[FarmerJim]

I have a 2015 post face-lift E350 cdi. The engine is a glorious torque fest, with a lovely growl when you welly it. It returns about 7 mpg more than my previous E320. That had the 7G box and my current car has the 9G. The 9G is never in the wrong gear and the engine is only ticking over on the motorway. Lifetime average for the car is around 41 MPG, but a motorway run will give mid to high 40s all day long. A recent run up the M1 with all the 50MPH sections gave me 52 MPG on a 200 mile run. The matrix headlights are amazing, especially for my ageing eyes.

A drawback is the Adblue system which is an unreliable pile of pants. Most will have been fixed or 'worked around' by now.

[Wills2]

Summit_Detailing said:

As others have mentioned gearbox ok in isolation but if you've owned a ZF8 you'll be left disappointed.

I would second that after changing from a ZF8 7 series to a 9g equipped e class cab, the gearbox is really bad spoils the car, also the engine is nowhere near as smooth or responsive, the powertrain as a whole is way behind BMW efforts and doesn't even stack up against the older ZF6.