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      01-11-2016, 05:20 PM   #1
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Tempted by fully loaded c350e

Just had a look on our company car system, and I can spec a C350e with every option, plus the cheap tax, I am tempted!

Didn't like the drive on the normal suspension, but the c350e has the airmatic, got one coming next week for a test drive, will see after that.

Has anyone driven one of these yet?
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      01-11-2016, 05:29 PM   #2
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The journalists write ups have been somewhat ambivalent mate.

Be interested to hear what you think.

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      01-11-2016, 05:34 PM   #3
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Will defo post up a mini review, also have a 330e test drive booked for when it comes into stock.

Actually hoping I don't like the C class, makes my life easier
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      01-12-2016, 12:13 AM   #4
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If I was a betting man, I would forecast you will prefer the BMW. Interested to hear how you get on.
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      01-12-2016, 02:02 AM   #5
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I have a colleague who got one and really likes it, but he is a lifelong Merc man. He came from a E220 and says he gets fuel economy a little lower.

I'd be more tempted if it was available in the AMG sport trim.

I should probably have a drive too, when the BMW 330e is also available, but I think I will just wait till the new 5 series is out too.
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      01-12-2016, 04:24 AM   #6
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c350e and 330e - on order (both)

my brother has ordered the c350e and me the 330e. He ordered the c350e on the advice of a dealer friend who had driven both in Spain. She said the merc has a much nicer ride (for oldies) and the bmw much sporter. The merc does have a nice cabin, but the BMW in Msport looks good. Not sure if BMW will tweak the 330e suspension seeing as it is ~165kg (or more) heavier than a regular 320 petrol, as even the professional reviews deter yo ufron M Sport suspension...

He was told their isn't any c350e in the country, and i think bmw have little or no 330e's also in the country, so its all a bit speculative.

Delivery is March for Merc and late June for BMW. I'll post a direct comparison once in front of both, but wont be for a few months yet.
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      01-12-2016, 04:28 AM   #7
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I am not a Merc man in general, keeping an open mind but I didn't like the C200 I had, mostly due to handling, not sure if airmatic will solve this,

Waiting for the 5 is a good shout, but I expect it to be at least a year off, hopefully it will handle like a F30 with the weight loss, which would be win/win
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      01-12-2016, 04:38 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy-som View Post
my brother has ordered the c350e and me the 330e. He ordered the c350e on the advice of a dealer friend who had driven both in Spain. She said the merc has a much nicer ride (for oldies) and the bmw much sporter. The merc does have a nice cabin, but the BMW in Msport looks good. Not sure if BMW will tweak the 330e suspension seeing as it is ~165kg (or more) heavier than a regular 320 petrol, as even the professional reviews deter yo ufron M Sport suspension...

He was told their isn't any c350e in the country, and i think bmw have little or no 330e's also in the country, so its all a bit speculative.

Delivery is March for Merc and late June for BMW. I'll post a direct comparison once in front of both, but wont be for a few months yet.
From what I understand the 330e does have different suspension due to the weight, and you can't get adaptive. From the configurator it does appear that you can get both passive normal and m-sport.

The spec I can currently get on a 330e M sport is pro nav +, m-sport +, reverse camera, comfort pack and driving pack. If I could get a few more bits I would order now, but I think it would be too similar to my current 320d with the above spec, hence its test drive first and order if I love it that much more
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      01-12-2016, 04:55 AM   #9
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I had driven 350e and its not a "drivers" car. If you do motorways mostly then this is a perfect car. Quiet , frugal , decent performance and quality of finish on pair with higher BMW models.
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      01-14-2016, 03:38 AM   #10
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The plot thickens, the 330e has had a price drop at work, I can now get that car with almost as much spec and it would be in the m sport guise.

I would be missing some of the driver aids, the real leather, premium paint, adaptive suspension, incar perfume and memory seats in the 330e. But all stuff I could live without, still on the bench a bit, as do I want a f30 for the next 4 yrs? Also will wait for the c350e test drive, just to make sure its rubbish.
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      01-14-2016, 02:44 PM   #11
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We ordered a C300h estate for the wife as we're expecting a child later this year, had one for a few days to try in November. Expecting delivery in April. Very nice and complements the 430d very nicely.

The C is strong in the 4's weaker areas, and vice versa. Should make a good combination.
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      01-23-2016, 08:26 AM   #12
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so had one for 3 days this week, and I won’t be ordering one.
For anyone thinking about a c class, you must get the air suspension it makes the cars, it is std on the C350e.

a quick review for anyone looking at the same car, (I did review the C200 in more depth here http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1064839)


the main reasons I didn’t get one is the user interface is worse than a V-tech toy, the car was not dynamic to drive and finally everyone who saw it said granddad!

The car drives fantastically when you want comfort, the air suspension was super comfortable, around town it was super relaxing, so anyone stuck in traffic/town driving for 90% of the time, this is worth a look (mind you this is comparing 16” normal tyres to my 19” runflats).
Motorway and A-roads was also fine when driving normally, the problem comes when you want to have fun, it doesn’t perform.
Firstly the handling, this car can take sharp corners, long corners, most corners quite well when it knows they are coming, however try to get some more dynamic like a slalom test (see here
) or change direction against a camber, and it loses control. I lost it on a few roundabouts and I wasn’t trying.
This is further compounded by the lack of feedback in the steering and controls, the car stiffens up nicely in sport+ mode, but it doesn’t give much if any extra feedback, if you thought the F30 was bad, try one of these!

Onto the engine, it was a good combination, the car never felt left wanting, you point it in a straight line, bury your foot and it went like a 3.0, this bodes well as at some point it is likely we will all be driving some kind of hybrid, electric motors will be the new turbo’s.
Generally the electric/petrol switchover was very good, you wouldn’t notice much when switching between the power sources, it did lack some dynamics in this area, as it seems if you adjust your input quickly, the car needed a second to think and then it would act, admittedly it has 2 engines to think about, but my 320d with 8AT is like a mind reader, where as the merc was more like communicating via post.
In terms of noise, I didn’t it too bad, fairly quiet when the electric motor was running the show, but even the 4 pot didn’t make much noise. A few reviews complained about the 4pot noise, but it sounded like a 4pot petrol, not an overly noisy one, maybe if you drive the car expecting 6pot levels of refinement, you maybe disappointed??? And once you turn on the stereo, even at low volume it drowns out most of the noise.
For economy, I got around 30mpg from the petrol engine, compare this to the C200 I had (similar engine), and it was 38mpg, I don’t think the calculation takes into account the electric miles, but it does show the impact of the extra weight in the car. On a full charge I managed about 8 miles at best, now this was in cold conditions with most of the electrics on, so I am sure you can get better.
One complaint is the electric motor isnt quite man enough to keep up with normal bristol traffic, often the engine would kick in when keeping up with traffic, lets hope the 330e doesnt have this problem.

The gearbox was much better than the C200 I had, it was smooth and generally quite good, still not quite as good as the BMW 8AT, but much better than the C200 version. I am not sure if this is down to the motor instead of the torque convertor or the extra power over the C200.

Finally this car had a couple of extra features over the C200 I tested, as the C350e had the premium plus pack.
The Burmester sounds system was better out of the box then the Harmon in the F30, but it only had 3 adjustments for the sound, high, mid and low, whereas the full equaliser on the Harman and once adjusted the Harman wins hands down over the burmester. Also the volume was not even close to the Harman, in the F30 I can come out feeling almost deaf, where as the burmester seems to fizzle a lot sooner. The speaker grills are very nice, but its all show and no go in this department when put up against the Harman.

The full size panoramic roof was amazing, for my little one in the back, she loved the view, BMW need to get in on this act, I would pay for one if it was an option.

Finally the command system, I had some high hopes for this system, the C200 I had was using the Garmin nav. Now the command system is much more useable than the garmin, but not even in the same ball park as pro nav! Things like split screen, arrows/display on dash, usability, the controls, the list goes on, hence the comparison to V-Tech, said it before and saying it again. We really don’t know how good we have it with idrive and pro nav!

on the 3rd day, I didnt even attempt to pick up the keys and go for a spin in the Merc, which speaks volumes in itself, normally when I only have a toy for 3 days, it will be like we need milk and bread every hour
I think the Merc is for people who don’t like driving, just get from A to B with minimum hassle, whereas BMW when up against the merc really does live up to its tag line, the ultimate driving machine…………my god have I been brain washed by BWW……lol

For me, I will test drive the 330e, but right now I doubt this car has what I desire in my next car. My gut feel, the BMW implementation of PHEV will be much better than the Mercedes going on track record, however until they design the car from ground up to be a PHEV (ie get the weight in the right place), the ICE versions will always be more dynamic.
My prediction is probably a 330d LCI when my car slows it’s depreciation (or maybe hell will freeze over first), followed by the next gen 3 or 5 series.
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      01-23-2016, 08:50 AM   #13
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A few gremlins I forgot, firstly the speed sign camera firstly told me I was in 10mph zone when I was in a 50, then it told me National speed limit in a 40, and the parking sensors would randomly go off, when there was nothing near the car, I don't think Mercedes keeps their standards up on the lower down ranges
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