Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedans

Presta

sandiegotom,

I received the same SOS VISIT WORKSHOP message on 12/30. I called TeleAid while on the road and they explained to me that it was a software update. I called the dealer, and yes, they told me it would be about two hours. It's funny, but the day after this incident, my display went back to reading "NO MALFUNCTION". I haven't received the VISIT WORKSHOP message since.

This brings up an interesting question: How often does MB update the TeleAid software? It could get annoying bringing my car in for a two hour stint every few months to upload a software patch.

gregmd

Hey,
Did anyone purchase the touch of class/permaplate extra for their MB. I am speaking of the plastic coating etc that is guaranteed for 5 years. Is it worth the $700 or not? I just wanted some extra opinions before I decide to get it.
Thanks,
Greg

drew_

I'd really skip it. Wash your car regularly with a clean sheepskin mitt, wax your car every few months with a good wax and the paint should be just fine after 5 years.


Drew
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zmeenow

i purchased wax/paint care products from a company called zaino... only sold direct.. websight zaino.com..im very pleased with the results... my car is black..shows swirls easily.. but the mzaino product does get most of them out and gives a very "wet" look

fedssocr

I have not used MBCC's financing, but my salesman even encouraged me to secure my own financing. MB's interest rates are quite a bit higher than the competition. I applied through lendingtree.com and ended up with 3 offers each around 7.95%APR. I think I am going to use lendnetwork.com. They've sent me all the paperwork and a blank check so I'm ready to go once my car finally comes in. I'm hoping that rates might drop by then though, so my deal will get even better. If you've got time to get everything in order (as anyone who has had to order a car will) you're going to be better off getting your financing elsewhere. Plus the dealer's finance office won't be able to rip you off.

sleake

I know most folks pooh pooh it, BUT I've paid for additional paint finish on my last two cars -- a RED Honda Prelude (it was Minged) and a Gold Volvo (Diamond Shielded). Drove the honda for 9 years at which time it literally still looked brand new and had NEVER been touched by wax. Other 9 year old red hondas I saw on the road looked pretty crappy, whereas the well above average appearance of mine garnered me some extra $$ when I traded it in. I drove the Volvo for 13 years and it still looked like new. I fact I was always getting compliments on the appearance of the car. Again, the car had NEVER been touched by wax. So yes, I did pay the $700 to have the Touch of Class put on my C320. (That includes interior protection as well.) Others may not agree, but to me it seemed silly not to, especially since there is no way I'm going to be waxing my car every few months. (Why bother if it's not necessary?) I did order some Zaino car wash stuff which works well.

ianh

Zaino car wash have been mentioned couple times here. how easy does the Zaino car wash works? where to get it? and how much?

srmesmer

We got our C240 in November, and it has had a slight pull to the left. I brought it back and had them check the alignment and they said it was fine, but they pull more to the right than other cars. Has anyone else noticed this. If I am on the highway and let go of the steering wheel, within about 10 seconds I will be in the next lane over on the right.

zmeenow

zaino .com is the web sight for zaino products.. they have a 3-4 product system for maintaining paint... no more expensive than any of the better car care systems..
no pull either way on my 240

dennett

I've heard about the zaino stuff and it sounds great, but I use the maguires products. I went with them primarily because it's what Mercedes sells repackaged as an MB product. All the maguires stuff can be had at costco usually, and at Walmart, I hate to admit I do shop there once in awhile! :-) At Walmart all the different maguires products are all something like $4.77, and I mean all the stuff that MB sells. How does this price compare to the zaino stuff, plus what has anyone heard about the maguires stuff? We're still loving the C, it'll be in for it's first oil change sometime later this month, it just turn 2k today!

zmeenow

its more expensive than maguires... for sure// but i spent this much on my car... and it lasts

floridacar

Hello all!

We should be taking delivery of our new C320 in the next week or two. Have gone back through the forum for quite a ways (GREAT source of info) and have come up with the following "look for" list:

Break Squeal
Radio problems
rear doors not opening
trunk not opening
trunk opening by itself

are there any other things we should look for we we pick the car up/shortly thereafter?

also, to offset any possible buyer's remorse , how do folks who have received their 240/320's still like them? No regrets I hope

Thanks to all!

zmeenow

no

pauls6

Had the car for over a month and going on 1500 miles. everyday I find new features that remind me the engineers at MB thought a lot about this car. It is the smoothest MB I have driven. The Dash on this car is nicer than my dad's 99 S. The big snow we had in NJ was no problem. The ESP is really impressive in controlling the car. No need for snow tires yet!

Me? not one regret.

dennett

Although I sometimes wish we had gotten the package C? that includes the seat and steering column memory, I'll take those xenons now too. It's always so much easier to spend more money after you've got the car then while you're actually buying eh? Seriously though, the experience has been the most regret free I've ever had buying a new car, and we've bought 4 cars in the past 5 years.
Car care products- what do you people think of the maguires products? Is there something inferior about it compared to the more expensive stuff? As I said in an earlier post, I figured it was great since it's what MB sells with their name on it. I could be wrong, it's been known to happen LOL!!!

thomas4

My C320 pulled severely to the right when I first got it. If I let go of the wheel on the highway, the car would actually steer itself up the exit ramp! The service manager was skeptical there was anything wrong, but he simply rotated the tires. That actually seemed to solve the problem. At least, I haven't noticed it since.

kenyee

dennett:
Meguiar's is good stuff. Blitz and S100 are supposed to be the best carnauba wax. Meguiar's vinyl protectant #40 is also good. S100 doesn't leave the white residue.
Zaino polish is a polymer wax. If you do a search on the net, you'll find that a lot of people swear by it for making dark colors look "wet". It doesn't seem to make that much difference on silver.
Not sure if that helps ;-)

sonu1

hai you all MB lovers.... I think this message board is going to cost me 40,000. Well i have a couple of questions before i shell in my money.
Is it possible to get in dash cd-player without the comand system?
seocnd question is... is comand system available? If not, then when will it will be available?
You help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

sonu

jjsani

Had my C320 for 2 weeks now and experienced the Break Squeal, and the trunk not opening. The trunk problem only happened once and got it to work after pushing down on the trunk. The brake squeal problem still exist, but usually goes away after driving the car for awhile. No door problems (thank god).

When I go back to the dealer for my tags, I'll address the brake squeal problems. Haven't had Radio problems, only questions, mostly about the speakers. My sticker says 10 speakers, can't find all 10. Not sure what type of speaker, by the back window is. The manual talks about how to change the sound settings, but doesn't explain what the difference is and what happens if you use this setting vs the other one.

Back speaker sounds like it only gives out the bass, maybe that's what it's supposed to do.

Just a suggestion, when you take delivery, have the salesperson explain the radio/speaker settings and point out where the 10 speakers are.

Haven't had the opportunity to really test the car's handling,(snow and ice in NJ), but so far I'm pretty impressed. In situations where I was able to push it around curves, it's great, very tight, for a small car the ride is also very good. Just turned in my leased 98 BMW 528i and compare the C320 to it when it comes to ride, handling, etc.. Even thought they are different cars, the "C" stands right up there. Lot's of luck with your new C.

newc230

I have c230 k for 6 months without any problem. I am very happy with the car. I am looking for the bra for the car. I live in MD. I need to find which one is better, invisible or any other? I already have chips. Will the Touch of class paint work to prevent the chips?

jrct9454

If a competent, complete 4-wheel alignment does not cure a front-end pulling problem, then it is almost always one or more bad tires. Moving them to the rear may solve or mask the problem, but sooner or later you have to make a decision whether to never use the offending tire on the front, or replace it entirely. If you can narrow it to one tire, it is much better to get it replaced when all of the tires have relatively few miles on them, so you can continue to rotate them as a complete set.

This illustrates a continuing problem that plagues the tire business: marrying the disparate materials [plastic, rubber, steel, aramid, etc.] that make up a radial tire, keeping it round and straight, and having it hold together at speeds up to 150 mph continues to be a process that creates a certain number of tires that pass all of the "external" tests of the industry...but are not perfect internally. Thus the pulling, or in the worst cases, the kind of belt separation that has made the headlines in the past few months. Even the best tires from the best makers have a surprising number of "bad guys" that get on to production cars. There's still too much handwork in the making of radial tires, and not enough science attached to detecting internal defects. So pulling and similar symptoms are not uncommon; fortunately, the kind of catastrophic failures that kill people are still very rare.

wagner3

wagner3

w2p2

Going to Germany this Spring. Does anyone have any suggestions on Insurance? Will my Insurance here cover me in Europe, or do I need to get Insurance at the car rental place. What has been every ones experience?
Thanks

wagner3

A follow up on the trunk with a mind of its own. After Drew's suggestion to lock it with the valet key it remained closed. The dealer was very responsive and took it in the next day. Fortunately, it really performed in the shop, with the rear lights blinking and the trunk doing its own thing irrespective of commands. Problem was a defect in the elecronic box that governs the rear end of the car. A replacement appears to have corrected the problem completely. Incidentally, a by product of this event is that the service people contacted me on two occasions to learn how to monitor this site, which they would like to follow to be one step up on any problems that seem to be recurring. I thought that was super, and I'll give an unsolicited plug to R and S Imports in Ft. Washington Pa. for excellant sales and service..Absolutely no regrets with the car. In my view, its a really fun and fine vehicle to drive, particularly, with the 6 speed and sport amenities.

floridacar

dealers have been taking orders for command for a few months now. Ordered ours with command, should be delivered sometime in the next week or two, will see if it really shows up

mongo11

Mark me down for terribly noisy brakes which were fixed by sanding the pads down.

My front seat is literally rocking back and forth like the power tilt adjuster is not quite secure.
Ironically I saw a TV road test on the European 240/270 d that was doing exactly the same thing.

I;m not that heavy at 180 lbs but you can definately feel the seat bottom shifting. Any one else notice this weird dampened tilt/rock motion? The steering wheel is not centered nad I am also getting the SOS malfunction message. This is disqusting when you think that my Avalon never went ot the dealer except for oil changes.

zmeenow

sorry to hear about the problems.. i dont have the power seats..no SOS malfunction.. only problem is a very very slight squeaking sound when car bounces a bit coming from underneath seat and ill have them fix that when i go in for oil change at 7,500.. fortunately i havent had the brake,or trunk problem at all.. i have close to 6,500 miles

only problem i ever really had was a bad radio.. and that was replaced promptly.. other than that..car is performing "to specs"

drew_

Speakers...MB sometimes counts a coaxial speaker (normal cone with a tweeter on the top)) as two speakers. This is why there may be few speakers (physically) than indicated. For example, the Bose system in the M-class is supposed to have 6 speakers and one subwoofer...and it does. A coaxial speaker in each of the front doors, and a regular speaker in each of the rear doors. The subwoofer is located under the driver's seat.

David, glad that your problem is solved, and I'm impressed with your dealerships keeness on being one step ahead of the "game". No doubt that will help to keep them aprised of any potential problems and solutions.


Drew
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mtroy

1500 miles; no more problems since day one's check engine light. I agree with the comment above about the manual; it explains how to do things, but doesn't tell you what purpose is achieved. I found this particularly puzzling involving the a/c controls. So far, I have concluded that the best solution is to leave it in auto mode, set it to the desired temp, and then leave it alone -- the car knows better how to make me comfortable. As for the audio settings: "driver" mode is nice, as it orients the speaker balance to favor the driver's listening; "ambient" mode is a silly echo, and "speech" is useless. Regrets I could have controled: I would have liked to have had the multicontured seat for more lumbar support, but I sacrificed it for the early delivery. Very minor regrets I can't control: gas tank should be bigger; cup holder is lousy; brake dust on wheels; big blind spot (though that's a prob with all sedans). In sum, I love the car and highly recommend it.

husky11

You had a question on purchasing auto insurance in Germany for your trip there this spring. I hope this helps you find what you are looking for.

I have been to Europe six times. Three times on bus tours and three times driving myself. I have researched this carefully the last two trips and have some information that may help.

First of all, the auto rental companies do have the coverage, including the CDW portion and of course they are most happy to provide you with the policy. The cost for just the car, in my experience, is close to equaling the cost of the rental for just the car itself - it's expensive. You can check insurance costs out by going into www.autoeurope.com, on both the rental and the insurance.

Last September, we (wife and I) rented a car for 9 days from Europecar in Caen, France and returned it in Tours, France. We did not buy Europecar's insurance policy because of the expense.

Instead, we went online at www.utravelpro.com and ended up buying their insurance at a great savings. What we got for $53 apiece was $400k life insurance, trip cancellation, travel delay up to $1 k, baggage delay $200, medical/hospital & emergency dental, accidental deathe $25 k, and rental car protection up to $30 k. The cost of the policy depends on the cost of the trip and the number of days in travel status. we were on trip for 24 days. The underwriter for the policy was Continental Casualt Co. (this will appear in the utrevelpro web site information. This company is huge.

I also had the use of my VISA credit card as part of the backup. I got a letter from my bank ok'ying it - at no extra cost.

This will provide you with a way to research online. Good luck.

spndx

I noticed that the subject of the Mercedes 'self-steer' option package came up a couple of days ago.

My '97 C230 had the same problem after it came back from its 21K service (which included a tire rotation). The dealer rotated the tires back to their original position, and no problems since. I've heard that MB alignment can be touchy in general and are particularly sensitive to the issues mentioned about tires.

husky11

In the third paragaph of post # 582 I meant to say that the cost of the insurance is close to equaling the cost of the car rental price. It's very expensive if purchased from the rental agency that rents you the car. Sorry for the mistake.

jrct9454

Remember that using a gold or platiunum MasterCard or Visa, or AmEx credit card to rent the car in EU will generally get you 15 days of full coverage for liability and damage to a rental car. Check with your CC issuer for details and limitations.

Buying the CDW or LDW [it can be referenced by either moniker] is indeed expensive; the advantage over other coverages is that in the event of a claim, there is no third party between you and the rental company.

We've rented at least a dozen times in the last 20 years, mostly out of Germany and France, and I've flopped back and forth between depending on the credit card coverage, and buying the CDW. Depends on costs and other variables.

The idea of buying the coverage as part of a generalized travel insurance package [as suggested above] is an intriguing idea, and one I think is worth pursuing if you are at all nervous about using the CC coverage. But again, the car rental company will go after YOU first in the event of a claim - it will be up to you to get your money back from the insurer. The only way to avoid that situation is to buy the overpriced CDW at the rental counter - sometimes I wrinkle my nose and do it, sometimes not...depends on cost.

mongo11

Thanks so much for the heads up on saving big bucks on buying the CD player. Its my understanding that the C series is prewired to plug the cd player in. Is this so..is it plug and play or plug and pray. Who did the install for you?

I love this car in spite of the problems though I too wish I could get the contour seat for the back support. I wonder if it could be retro fitted. First though I have to get the rocking movement fixed. (As you sit in the front drivers seat push up and down and if it moves you'll feel the gradual dampened motion. thanks for all of the comments

w2p2

Thanks Husky11 and jrct9454 on the insurance infomation. I've never driven over there so its all new to me!
Thanks,
Bill (w2p2)

dennett

I hear people talking about how to care for their full leather interiors here and at other forums but what about the cars with standard leather seating surfaces and MB Tex everywhere else? Is there a product that can be used to protect/clean our cars, I mean one product for all the interior, or do we need to use two products? I'd appreciate anybody's opinions here? And please give me some specific product names. Thanks a bunch!

zmeenow

my understanding is that any good leather care product will be good for mb tex... anyone care to comment pro or con?
re:cd installation.... the car is pre wired... your local dealer will do install.. mine charged $80

srmesmer

I have another question about the installed CD player. When I talked to the local car stereo dealer here, they said I would have to get a connection piece from MB for around 150 dollars. I checked out the website mentioned for the car stereo and installation kit for $425 I think, and it didn't mention anything. Any clarifications?

tarik

Bill,

As John and Clifford pointed out, Gold and Platinum cards usually cover car rental loss and damage abroad. I have been obtaining coverage this way for years, but never had an event to find out if it works (knock on my own head...).

The pricing of CDWs is pathetic, most often they range in the 75-90% neighborhood of the regular car rental.

Http://www.autoeurope.com is a very good source for a quote. I got my last rental car (a brand new C240A) through them from AVIS, a perfect transaction. At the time, they offered a discount of up to 30% on MB rentals, which made it about $4/day more expensive than an intermediate Opel or Ford. Earlier this year, they gave me a guaranteed upgrade of one vehicle class (available at http://www.autoeurope.com/specials.cfm?CFID=5220&CFTOKEN=13033376), I had to pay for an intermediate to get a full size! Those specials change frequently, so stay on top and check them out.

You don't by any chance fly DL from ATL to MUC on 3/6? If so, my wife will be happy to lend you a hand, since she is going, too.

Tarik

scottie10

We rented a car from Autoeurope in summer '99 using a platinum card for insurance. Our rental car was vandalized and the credit card insurance paid entirely for the damage. The garage in England sent us an invoice which we submitted to Visa for payment along with a claim form (which you must request from credit card co). We were promptly sent a check for the repairs by VISA (we had the choice of VISA paying the repair company directly or of VISA repaying us and the repair company billing our credit card) While VISA promptly repaid us for the damage, it took almost a year before the repair garage in England charged our card for the repairs. We were very satisfied with the manner that VISA handled the claim and with Autoeurope.

drew_

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w2p2

Thanks again for the link and tips. We are going over March-April. It really will depend on good air fare sales. We are going for what ever specials they have runing. We have an excellant Consumer GURU here in Atlanta. Its a radio show that gives consumer advice on all topics and on Fridays they tell you about cheap trips all over the world. The guy use to be a travel agent and is now on TV and radio. Check his site out, you may have heard of him allready.
Thanks again,
Bill
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lperakis

I will be taking delivery of a fully loaded C320 in about 3 weeks. Thanks to this board, I have heard of several issues; doors, trunk not opening, trunk opening by itself and, of course, squealing breaks. I am planning to show my dealer this laundry list prior to taking delivery and have them, at least, look at each one.
Now for my question...I understand there is also a problem with the radio. What, specifically is the issue?

And for those who have had the aforementioned issues, is there any buyers remorse?

Thank you, in advance.

regards,
Leon

jjsani

For those of you who wanted to know where and what type of speakers you have in the C320. This comes directly from Bose

The Bose Music System in the Mercedes C320 has the following system
content:
2" dash mounted center fill speaker
1.5" tweeter in each front door
6.5" wide range speaker in each front door
6.5" wide range speaker in coaxial configuration with 2" tweeter in
each rear door
9" low profile Nd MT Woofer in rear package shelf (this speaker delivers high fidelity sound quality from a remarkably small space)
Digital amplifier with 6 channels of customized equalization and
Audiopoilot TM noise compensation technology

sleake

Thanks for this info on the speakers. Where is the dash mounted center fill speaker? Is it inside the blower vent on top of the dash? Or is it hidden somewhere else?

Re the radio problem: My problem is static on the AM radio which seems sensitive to the motion of the car, e.g., going over a bump. Sounds very much like a loose antenna connection to me. I've had the car in once and they did not find the problem. It goes back in next week, and they have promised that they will get it handled. In answer to your other question -- No, I have no buyer's remorse. It IS the first year of a new model and some minor stuff like this is to be expected. We all knew that going in. It's a great car in my opinion.

Sherrill

ghorne

Posted this question in the "C Series 2000 and Earlier" section... but it looks like everybody has disappeared. Thought I would try running this across other MB owners.

With reference to our '00 C230...

At 2700 miles, I switched the oil to Mobil 1 15W-50.

I can't remember the other weights that Mobil 1 is available in, 10W-30 I think.

MB recommends 10W-30 for this car regardless of the extreme heat we see here in the Texas/Oklahoma area. Salesman and service people all say 10W-30 stating that this is what MB tells them.

This car is my wife's driver, she does not work so there is no regular commuting with this car. It is always garaged and warmed up prior to driving off. It is rarely left outside parked for more than a couple of hours.

Is there a reason why I shouldn't use Mobil 1 15W-50 in this car? The only extreme temperature conditions this car runs in is the extreme heat during the summer. On the way to Dallas last year, I saw the temperature gauge in the cluster panel read 114F. I regularly see around 110F, this is moving at highway speeds.

My thoughts were that heat is more of an issue than cold for our car, thus the 50 weight oil. I don't know if a supercharger adds more heat that non-supercharged engines, but I am guessing it does.

I know some of you other owners are driving or getting ready to drive your cars in similar conditions. Why wouldn't you go to 10W-50?

Greg

mongo11

Thanks zmeenow for your continued informative contributions. In your earlier postings you gave the CD web site which I visited. Quick question; do I need the mounting brackets and the cable listed too?

Nonetheless, This is a great handling car!

Observations so far:

The outside rear view mirrors are too small!
The back seat is not for more than two average size people.
This gas tank needs to be 2 gallons larger.
The speedo/tach cluster is poorly designed They should have used the E series for the template.

To the other contributors; I am less than excited to visit my dealer twice in the same month for problems discussed earlier. This is a Mercedes and I do expect better because we paid for better. We as customers should not be the last step in the proving process.

Buyers remorse?

I'm not sure. I guess things started out poorly but the dealer and my sales rep are top notch so in the end, I might have went on to the
E320 for more room if I could do things over.

lperakis

I will be taking delivery of a fully loaded C320 in about 3 weeks. Thanks to this board, I have heard of several issues; doors, trunk not opening, trunk opening by itself and, of course, squealing breaks. I am planning to show my dealer this laundry list prior to taking delivery and have them, at least, look at each one.
Now for my question...I understand there is also a problem with the radio. What, specifically is the issue?

And for those who have had the aforementioned issues, is there any buyers remorse?

Thank you, in advance.

regards,
Leon

lperakis

Can't seem to find this info anywhere. I is 15 gal?