First sign of madness

[HumberMart]

Caught my wife at an opportune moment whilst she was busy at work yesterday and somehow managed to get her to agree to let me swap her 12 reg new B180 for a 10 reg S350cdi with AMG pack!
Don't think she appreciates yet how big the S Class is however she does feel at home driving my ML.
Problems with the 7 speed DCT made her lose confidence with the B.
pick up the S on Tuesday.

D

 

[A-AvantGarde]

My sister-in-law went from a W245 B Class to a W221 S Class so you should be fine. Like you say, it all depends upon how confident she is driving larger vehicles.

The only downside with bigger cars is parking spaces often being far too small.

 

[HumberMart]

The only downside with bigger cars is parking spaces often being far too small.

Yes, fortunately it has a rear camera, so at least she can watch in glorious technicolour as she dents the rear spolier!

I feel most for the 19" AMG alloys that they are just about to refurbish before delivery. If she hasn't damaged at leat two of them before the end of the first day of ownership, I'll be well pleased.

I had to replace 2 newish tyres on the B due to side wall damage, and I think MB will have to write off the alloys as they look non-refurbishable to me! I sometimes wonder if the constant kerb bashing contributed the the gearbox issue she had.

 

[Teflonso]

Please tell about your problems with the DCT. I've been thinking about a B Class and it would be an auto, so I wouldn't want to get goosed.

As for her problems with kerb bashing, have you thought about getting her one of these?

 

[HumberMart]

The current B180CDI Auto is a great car. I've just driven it back from the dealers after their checks etc on the gearbox, and enjoyed the drive much better than the trip there in a new facelifted W212 E Class.

Having had an 09 pre-facelift E220 which i was well please with, I found the road noise in the new one far too noticable (on 17" Contis/SE spec). Also I agree with other posts about the steering in the facelift, numb and imprecise around the straight ahead.

The only thing I can criticise in the new B is a similar level of road noise (but on 18" runflats and a cheaper car it's more forgivable). Even the cabin feels almost as good as the E, apart from the centre console/cup holder area. However the B is real fun to drive, with direct, precise steering. Needs more power of course!

The problem with the DCT was strange. Basically it would stick in a gear at about 2,000 rpm. However if you accelerated very slowly, it would build up to normal revs, but then stick at 2,000 when decelerating!

Please bear in mind this only happened on 2 occassions in 24,000 miles, but was pretty scary when it did. especially the first time when I was approaching a toll booth in France, and it just stuck at about 30 mph with my feet off the gas! Fortunately a tug on the left paddle saved the day and slowed the car. I then discovered that selecting and moving in reverse for only a few feet would cure the problem.

The dealer has updated the software, replaced a preesure sensor, and renewed some connectors. They said they had had one or two issues with poor connections/pressure sensor on these gearboxes, but not many.

It works fine again now of course. But we're unlikely to prove it's fixed before we swap it for the S350 next week.

 

[gIzzE]

The current B180CDI Auto is a great car. I've just driven it back from the dealers after their checks etc on the gearbox, and enjoyed the drive much better than the trip there in a new facelifted W212 E Class.

Having had an 09 pre-facelift E220 which i was well please with, I found the road noise in the new one far too noticable (on 17" Contis/SE spec). Also I agree with other posts about the steering in the facelift, numb and imprecise around the straight ahead.

Don't tell me that!!!

I was told the road noise on the facelift had been improved and so had the steering.

I thought both were terrible on my 10 plate E350, so much so I got out as quick as I could.

 

[Teflonso]

Don't tell me that!!!

I was told the road noise on the facelift had been improved and so had the steering.

I thought both were terrible on my 10 plate E350, so much so I got out as quick as I could.

I've got an E350 on order, delivery in Spetember. Road noise seemed fine on the test drive, bearing in mind that the roads around us are absolutely shocking.

 

[cp3377]

The road noise on my facelift E300 is very low - I'm on Michelins! But I have read elsewhere someone testing a version with the Continentals and they mentioned the tyre noise so perhaps the brand of the tyre is an issue. My car is seriously quiet overall - much quieter than my old W211. Re the steering - the new car has the electric "on demand" steering but I'm pretty happy with it. Little "feel" but very accurate. I haven't driven the new B class but it sounds far superior to the original version that I used to get lent by the dealer.

The S350 sounds great though - they are fantastic cars!

 

[HumberMart]

Collected

So the wife's small red B Class turned into a large black S350CDI at about 6 this evening. Quite a change.

Ironically the purchase price of both vehicles was about the same at £27K, but chalk and cheese in the extreme of course.

For a 3 year old with 46K under its belt, the dealer prep and fully refurbed AMG alloys, with AMG pack, obsidian black/cream (so called tan) leather, it looked like new, and felt like its near £70K original list.

A slight disappointment is that I didn't find it had any unlisted extras that I had allowed myself to dream of, like massage seats or nightview. It's pretty much a bog standard S, plus the AMG pack. It does have reverse camera, and memory seats, but I think that they may have been part of the AMG pack anyhow. I can now see the benefit of soft close doors, as this doesn't have them. Having to take two attempts to shut the door somehow spoils the luxury ambience a little. No DAB also, nor speed limits on the sat nav, but better spec'd 2010's seem to trip over the £30K mark, so I'm very much content for the price, and less to go wrong of course!

The car was showing a 34 mpg average from new, not too bad, however I expected a little better than the 28 it did on the 20 mile steady trip home.

The only concern was a knocking sound at low speed on poor surfaces, that the salesman blamed on a trade plate during test, was still evident, and I think it may be the drivers seat. Will therefore need to return it to them pretty soon for them to check/fix.

So early days. It looks and feels a million dollars compared to the B, and the black/cream with AMG pack to me would be the only combo to have (easy to say now before the winter grime sets in!) No privacy glass, which does seem odd on a big black limo, but think I'll be different and keep it that way (assuming the wife agrees!)

On the upside, I managed to get a bargain of a reg plate from DVLA Select today. It's amazing how many tasty cheap plates are still available for £250. How about S600 OMG for £250! OK so it's comparable to putting AMG badges on a 350CDI, but surprised it stayed unnoticed at that price for so long.

Will add photos and a longer road test review soon.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

So the wife's small red B Class turned into a large black S350CDI at about 6 this evening. Quite a change.

Ironically the purchase price of both vehicles was about the same at £27K, but chalk and cheese in the extreme of course.

For a 3 year old with 46K under its belt, the dealer prep and fully refurbed AMG alloys, with AMG pack, obsidian black/cream (so called tan) leather, it looked like new, and felt like its near £70K original list.

A slight disappointment is that I didn't find it had any unlisted extras that I had allowed myself to dream of, like massage seats or nightview. It's pretty much a bog standard S, plus the AMG pack. It does have reverse camera, and memory seats, but I think that they may have been part of the AMG pack anyhow. I can now see the benefit of soft close doors, as this doesn't have them. Having to take two attempts to shut the door somehow spoils the luxury ambience a little. No DAB also, nor speed limits on the sat nav, but better spec'd 2010's seem to trip over the £30K mark, so I'm very much content for the price, and less to go wrong of course!

So early days. It looks and feels a million dollars compared to the B, and the black/cream with AMG pack to me would be the only combo to have (easy to say now before the winter grime sets in!) No privacy glass, which does seem odd on a big black limo, but think I'll be different Sent from my iPhone keep it that way (assuming the wife agrees!)

Funny what you say about unlisted options! I'm the same whenever I pick up a 'new to us' car, it's kind of like a little bonus.

My sister in laws sounds pretty much the same as yours, she has a 12 plate 350 CDI with AMG pack and black / black cream interior. They don't have privacy glass (my brother assumed privacy was standard as he hadn't seen a current spec one without!)

They don't have a reversing camera so I think that's an extra on yours!