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Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedans
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Anyone purchase a C320 or C240 lately? and what is the price you paid for?
Now beat that BMW!
Historically MBs have been more expensive than their competition (you remember the previos generation S Class). Again, I think Mercedes makes a great car, they're just expensive compared to their competition.
I think Mercedes has been building cars to win favorable magazine reviews as of late (I'm being fecious, but you get the point) instead of building a true Mercedes. But that's an argument for another topic.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
For what it's worth...
About the distinction between BMW 3er "Sport Sedans" and C Class "Entry Level Touring Sedans", I'd say that these are nearly meaningless generalisations invented by marketing people who lack adequate descriptive capability.
I have driven both extensively and I'd be hard-pressed to find any major, significant difference between, for example, a 320i and a C 240 in handling and roadholding. Perhaps the distinction between the two becomes clearer with the 330i and C 320, particularly if the BMW is fitted with the optional "sport" suspension. A suspension which is, by the way, not too happy coping with uneven pavement in corners when driven quickly. But both cars in their lower spec form are very close in feel and the choice one makes between them is mainly attributable to intangibles, in my opinion.
For real world driving, the Mercedes-Benz C suspension is head and shoulders above the bone-jarring and skittish-on-bumps BMW Sport suspension. If you live and drive on a racetrack, the 330i Sport is the preferred option, I will admit.
To my mind, the C 230 Kompressor Coupé represents the best of both worlds: very good handling/roadholding, massive torque and very tight performance in a package that is stylish, commodious and potentially very economical if driven carefully. Sure, it's only a four cylinder engine, but it's a lot nicer than the 2.6 L V6. Too bad the 4 cylinder Kompressor engines are not sold in the C sedan in North America. That's why I have a 2002 C 230 K.
Let me ask you about my '96 C280: do you recommend any aftermarket products/adjustments to this engine, or would you agree "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"?
Dealer Incentives on '02 Cs:
Coupe - $1000
Sedans [BOTH] - $1500
Wagon - $3000
The latter figure only applies to the wagon, not the C320 sedan, which gets the lower amount.
Two questions:
1. What would you suggest/advise/recommend to a potential buyer about such "manufacturer-reconditioned" car buying situation?
2. I want to get it shipped (insured) from Dallas to Omaha. Any good/bad experiences about a used car getting shipped (was it a satisfying experience for anyone here?)
Thanks a lot in advance!
My advice is run, don't walk away from any offer for you to buy a lemon. There are far better things to buy with your money. Like a nice reliable Toyota ;-)
I'm currently going through this with a new BMW 325i I just purchased & if I can get my money back, I'm thinking of a C320.
My car's in the dealer for the 4th time for a fail-safe problem (in 6 weeks of ownership & 1200 miles!)& they are now planning to replace the wiring harness & are waiting for the part to come in from Germany since it's not a US stock item!
Anyway, the dealer knows he can no longer restore my confidence in this car; how can I get BMW NA to agree too?
So I press the wrench button and tell the operator to come get this POS. They do and after a day they tell me the tech forgot to replace the pin that connects the shift lever to the transmission.....oops! They are very lucky I wasn't killed or that it didn't happen in a parking lot.
I told them my wife informed me that she would never drive the car again and that I wanted a new car. They offered me a 2003 C for like 10K. I said, no thanks.
Well after a few weeks of playing hardball, looks like I will be getting a new 2003 E320 for about 10k. Alot of money,yes, but 2 years newer and way more car.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
Any suggestions?
Thanks
The 1798 cc engine is all aluminum, has counter-rotating shafts to smooth it out and gets better fuel economy (6%) than the outgoing model.
It is also less powerful, and (more importantly) less torquey.
The 1.8 is listed at 189 HP and the 2.3 has 192.
The 2.3 engine developed its maximum torque of 280 Nm between 2000 and 4500 rpm.
The 1.8 engine develops its maximum torque of 260 Nm between 3500 and 4000 rpm.
So where the 2.3 (which I have) pulls like a train at 2000 rpm in any gear, the newer one will have to be revved harder and shifted more often to make similar progress.
In absolute terms the speed of the new 1.8 model is only slightly down - it does 0-100 km/h in 8.1 seconds versus 8.0 for the 2.3 L engine. But the way the old engine does this is effortless due to its massively wide torque spread, whereas you'll have to work the new engine a lot harder.
The specific power of the new M271 engine is well over 100 HP/L and the old one is in the mid 80s. Thus I think there's more "room" to reliably modify the 2.3 for more power if that's your bag. Many long-time Mercedes-Benz mechanics think the old M111 engine is the best one they made in recent times.
Finally, the new engine is in its first months of production and I would not be surprised to see it suffer from a number of "teething problems". If you want to read more about this engine, go to MBSpy and look under M271 engine series - there's a long press release on it.
Overall, if this sounds like a vote for the 2.3 L 2002, so be it.
MSRP with Automatic, Met Pnt, and C2: $34,525
Price Paid: $30,025 [$4500 off] plus taxes.
I feel like we got a good deal, and they still made a couple of hundred bucks on it after holdback. This car was among at least 10 others, and had been around in stock for a long time, so there was absolutely no trouble in striking the deal.
We needed a comfortable, safe touring car, not a sports sedan. That said, a really basic BMW 325 was an alternative, as well as a base G35, but the combination of ride and silence at speed, not to mention my long relationship with the brand, cinched the deal.
Incidentally, my research indicated that '03s were already available in SoCal for $600 over invoice with no hassles, and probably less if you wanted to dicker, but we plan on keeping the car long enough that the extra discount on the '02 means more. I do like the new Pewter color for '03, though - ours is Bordeaux red, which is gorgeous to look at but high-mtc to keep up to my standards.
So, back in the MB saddle again...
BTW, in discussing my engine temp with local mechanics, I've found that MB engines generally run warmer than others. Keeping them clean helps lower it a wee bit.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
Just as well they didn't include the C - it would have finished dead last anyway, for the reasons noted above....and this paying customer [as opposed to "journalists" who borrow cars for a few days] could absolutely not care less.
If I lived in an area with a lot of precip and/or snow, I think I would opt for it without much hesitation, notwithstanding the weight/performance penalty.
-As quiet as any car we've ever owned, including the W210 E, which was excellent.
-Ride quality just a hair short of the last E, but as good as the last S we had [a 126 bodied 300SD].
-Good seats, about on a par with the best we've had.
-Performance is about what I expected, which is nothing special, but the short gearing at least has the advantage of allowing you to squirt ahead quickly once you're at speed.
-I'm not a fan of all the electronic doo-dads, especially the TeleAid thingie, which took three tries to successfully activate and get the display to stop telling me it wasn't alive. Trip computer is fine, but I would prefer a real dipstick to check the oil, thanks. Just my age showing, no doubt.
But I'll tell you this, for sure: as MBs go, the price we got combined with the car makes me feel pretty good. Coupe owners should feel even better [ I just couldn't live with the firmer ride and extra noise of the Coupe, but it was a close call ] with the extra $5k in their pockets.
Perspective: our '84 190E 2.3 [delivered Nov '83] was priced at $24,450 before tax; we paid $30,000 before tax, 19 years later, for the C240. You do the math. And there is simply NO comparing these two cars - the distance between the W201 and W203 might as well be the moon. More power, better ride, better handling, quieter, smoother, ABS, ESP, better seats, curtain and side airbags, more trunk, more back seat...I could go on. In this respect, MB's claim to more value actually holds up.
What's changed in that 19 years, of course, is that the competition has become a whole lot tougher and more sophisticated [the '03 Honda Accord would be Exhibit A]; however, in the end, there is a feel to these cars that I haven't been able to duplicate, so here we are again.
More as we get some real seat time. There are a couple of swingouts planned for early October. In the meantime, the dealership just called to remind me of my service appt for Monday - I'm trying to get the one predelivery defect fixed, which is a tendency to wander off to the right at speed - the wheel alignment needs the tender mercies of the very competent tech who handles this for MB Sacto. Fingers crossed...
M
The 5% is use on longer trips - anything over 4 hours can become a trial because of the combination of the firmer ride, extra noise [though this car is noticeably quieter than a Civic], and seats.
Since we are traveling more by car now, and less by air [just like so many other people you read about], the C seemed like a reasonable investment. Is it twice the car? - well, no. I was willing to pay a premium for what I wanted, but cars like the Corolla and Civic are arguably all the car many people need.
There have been some teething problems with the '03s, but as always, fewer and less annoying than you would expect from the Germans or Americans in an equally new model. Ours was trouble-free in all important respects, but others have had complaints about dash noises, and recalls for a small number of cars about tires and axle bolt torquing. The car seems to be in shorter supply than you'd expect, and we got a good price for ours as a result.
The only thing that I had a real objection to the Corolla was the rear suspensions ride. I have a 5 hr drive home to my family and I didn't think I could endure the way it reacted to our midwestern expansion joints. But I was never sure that it wasn't due to the tires being over inflated.
By contrast, the 203 C sedan is much less sensitive in its ride quality - the factory says 28 front and 32 rear, and we are running 31 all around, with no deterioration in ride. Once you get above about 34 psi, you begin to feel it in the C if you're sensitive [ most people aren't ], but the Germans have a magic about springs, shocks, and sway bar settings that no one else can match. This is why I stay away from 'sport pkgs', whether they come from MB, BMW, Audi, or VW, because they take the one claim to fame these cars have over their competition and degrade it. The prime reason we picked the C sedan is the combination of ride and silence...in this size class, only the BMW 325 comes close. The 330 now has the 'sports suspension' as std, with low profile tires and firmer shocks, and it crosses the line for me. This is what I mean about the distinction between a sports sedan and a touring sedan...
If you stop with the thing nearly ice cold and moist with condensation, the bugs and molds grow overnight and make the "nice" biology experiment that you're breathing and complaining about. In humid areas this is more of a problem than in drier areas.