Anyone have the brand new 2013 facelift E-Class?

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amdownes

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
62
Location
Hertfordshire
Car
2014 E63 Estate, 2012 BMW 640M Sport Convertible & 2014 VW Golf R DSG
Just wondering if anyone has taken delivery of a new facelifted E-class and what are your first impressions?
 
Yes, I've sort of come "down" from a W211 E320CDi Avantgarde (which is about to be auctioned off).

Didn't choose any options except for an automatic gearbox, so it's really the "base" model, but still well equipped, much more than my previous car.

COMAND, park assist (actually parks the car), distance warning thing, 3 different ambient light colours, the colour dash in the middle of the speedo is really good, and plenty of info on eco driving, and the stop-start too.

Coming to the 4-cylinder from a V6 is noticeable though but I don't find it intrusive. And it has flappy paddles. I've yet to drive it in the dark (I only got the car a couple of days ago) to try out the LED headlights.
 
Are the LED's just DRL's or do they produce the low beam? Should be getting my 220 SE in about a month
 
Many thanks for this. I have ordered one but never seen (in the flesh) or driven the new model. It seems like your early impressions are positive. What do you think of the exterior facelift - an improvement from the previous model?
 
Just wondering if anyone has taken delivery of a new facelifted E-class and what are your first impressions?

Had mine a good few weeks now.

The 7G+ box is a big improvement over the last I tried.
Mainly built to provision stop/start, it's far smoother now.
Once warmed up the low load changes are nearly imperceptible.
Paddles are okay but response is slow - leave it in auto - sport mode is nippy.

Damping is excellent - adaptive dampers now of course.
The ride on the SE is superb, I have not tried the Sport yet.
My last car was a 3 series, and I have run two of those now and this rides far better than the 318 saloon or 335 coupe did.

COMAND online worked faultlessly with my iPhone5, including phone, address book and data services and Facebook app (really, you can post to FB from the car lol)
I set the phone as a hotspot and everything goes through it okay, seems to do traffic data too (?)

The functionality is overall very good and quite logical.
Linguatronic will learn your accent if you have ten minutes t spare.
It works 100%, unlike the famous iteration in the iDrive system which is dire.
Heck of a lot of commands to use too, you really never have to use buttons and it is worth mastering if you are a 'motorway office' type guy.

Dimming mirror, folding wing mirrors and heated seats are nice freebies.
Self parking works well, fitting gaps I would think 'tight' and probably pass by :)

Negatives?
Can't fault the bloody thing which is a first.
It's quiet and smooth and the 220CDi is returning about 53mpg on runs.
But with only 1k on the clock this will improve, diesels always get more frugal after about 20k....

I would not have bought the previous iteration for two reasons:
1. Too expensive at its trim level
2. Dated styling

Of course both are addressed from my POV this year, and I'm a very happy owner.
People always comment favourably and always positively. You never get that driving BMW.
And I get let out of junctions all the time now - a nice improvement!

I see your sig mentions E63 so some points are not relative, but might help other readers :)

Steve
 
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I've got one, done about 2k so far. I drive an S class most of the time and I'm just looking after this for one of my employees at the moment. It's a 250 CDI and it's returning about 45mpg on a normal run.

Comand is good, relatively comfortable but needs ABC to be properly so. Makes a huge difference compared to normal suspension. Seats are pretty good.

I think it's a good step up from the previous model, for sure. Better looking as well, like the front end a lot. Maybe not as balanced as the previous design but somehow more desirable to me.

If I was speccing one, I'd add comfort seats and ABC then it would be an excellent car for long distances. Without ABC even the Sport model pitches and rolls a bit too much for my liking.
 
Steve. Many thanks for all your trouble for putting this together - much appreciated. Now really looking foward to getting mine only 5 months to go!
 
What do you think of the exterior facelift - an improvement from the previous model?

The main feature, compared to the previous facelift W212 are the one piece headlights, and the centre mounted star on the grille. I'm not too bothered about that, though I miss the star sticking up in the middle (to remind you what you're driving something special!), I suppose nobody is able to pinch it!

There is a bit of evidence of cost cutting though (compared to W211) - the white puddle lights underneath the door, and the red safety lights which comes on when the door is open are now in one unit, I miss the sunglasses drawer (which I used to keep change in - handy for tolls), no ashtrays in the rear door cards, and there's a lot of bare metal visible in the boot. Also, when lift the boot floor, in the W211, there was another carpeted compartment, handy for putting in less used stuff such as a tow rope, atlas, hi viz jacket etc..

Also I notice the battery is very small (in size). Looks like a motorcycle battery!
 
I saw my first one in the flesh yesterday - I had reservations after seeing the pictures about the gaping holes in the front bumper, but in person it actually looked pretty good, it's a really nice facelift overall I think.
 
A friend has a E220CDi on extended test at the moment, currently on his way up to Scotland for the long weekend). It was delivered to his home on Thursday evening, but because he currently has a C180 he didn't think he needed any help with the controls. How wrong he was. He was due to pick me up just before 7pm to go to a show. He eventually arrived at 7:15 - because he couldn't start the car. He's testing out the manual because it's £1k cheaper but didn't know (as I certainly wouldn't) that it had to be in first gear to start!!! By the end of the evening I'd quite easily persuaded him to shell out the extra £1000 for the 7G+ box.

Without any prompting from me, he commented unfavourably about the engine noise. Even coming from his C180 petrol, the slightly larger diesel had an unrefined sound at low speed. (His wife, sat in the back, didn't notice however.) But he was pleased with the extra power over his C-Class. Overall the car felt very comfortable on all surfaces, including the many speed humps near our homes. Apart from the engine noise, my friend's only other complaint was that the cruise control and indicator/wiper stalks have been swapped over compared to the C-Class. But he'll get used to those.

I'll let you know his thoughts when he gets back from Scotland.
 
He's testing out the manual because it's £1k cheaper but didn't know (as I certainly wouldn't) that it had to be in first gear to start!!!

The manual Pre-facelift I had last weekend required both clutch and brake to be depressed before starting, but certainly did not need 1st gear to be engaged. I'd have thought that to be completely non-sensical and contrary to MB's safety ethos. :confused:
 
The manual Pre-facelift I had last weekend required both clutch and brake to be depressed before starting, but certainly did not need 1st gear to be engaged. I'd have thought that to be completely non-sensical and contrary to MB's safety ethos. :confused:
Seemed totally non-sensical to us aswell. I'm guessing that he hadn't tried depressing the clutch and brake pedals without also engaging 1st, but that was the combination that eventually worked so he stuck with it. (He's an economist so wouldn't understand such things!)
 
christopherwk said:
Also I notice the battery is very small (in size). Looks like a motorcycle battery!

Is it located in the boot? If so, it's dedicated to the stop/start facility. There's a full size one under the bonnet, at least that's the case for the C-class.
 
Is it located in the boot? If so, it's dedicated to the stop/start facility. There's a full size one under the bonnet, at least that's the case for the C-class.
Thank you. I never knew that. Goes down as another of "those things you didn't know about with your car". [Note to self: check where all the bits are before having a problem on a cold wet and windy night.]
 
The main feature, compared to the previous facelift W212 are the one piece headlights, and the centre mounted star on the grille. I'm not too bothered about that, though I miss the star sticking up in the middle (to remind you what you're driving something special!), I suppose nobody is able to pinch it!

There is a bit of evidence of cost cutting though (compared to W211) - the white puddle lights underneath the door, and the red safety lights which comes on when the door is open are now in one unit, I miss the sunglasses drawer (which I used to keep change in - handy for tolls), no ashtrays in the rear door cards, and there's a lot of bare metal visible in the boot. Also, when lift the boot floor, in the W211, there was another carpeted compartment, handy for putting in less used stuff such as a tow rope, atlas, hi viz jacket etc..

Also I notice the battery is very small (in size). Looks like a motorcycle battery!


That's the backup battery [ which is indeed similar to those found in some motorcycles] the main battery in the engine compartment is hidden under the big U shaped ducting [ removable by releasing clips] for the air conditioning system on the nearside of the car.
 
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Where's all this 'bare metal' in the boot.
If you are a prisoner, tied up and looking upwards from the boot floor, then perhaps you see some.
How much time do you spend gazing into the luggage area? :)
Ditto carpet in the sub floor....

Missing ashtrays in rear doors? IF you don't have one in the front why put them in the rear?
How many people actually smoke these days, and how many are allowed in the car given how many are company vehicles etc.

And how is fitting puddle lights with dual function 'cost cutting' in it's negative?
Sounds like common sense manufacturing to me.

What I think lets this point down however is the yellow lamps used in puddle and mirror down-lighter areas.
Really should have been blue-white to match the headlamp LEDS. Poor aesthetics.

As far as bonnet badge, it would probably look odd with the large grill star below.
But I suspect its related to a pedestrian safety improvement.
The NCAP 2010 review mentions pedestrian safety from the leading edge of the bonnet as 'poor'.
This will certainly be driving the new design more than purely aesthetics.

Steve
 
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I was looking for opinions on the facelifted model, and came across this thread, so I thought I'd register and offer a few opinions.

Our E220CDI SE is on order, but I saw one in the car park at MB Brentford. They wouldn't let me drive it, but they did let me drive an E250CDI Sport instead.

I really liked the E-class for following reasons:
1. Headlamps look much, much better. Grille is beautiful, and very in-your-face (but when it is that pretty, you would want people to notice it).
2. I'm happy the ponton rear arches are gone, the design looks less fussy and cleaner.
3. I was sceptical about replacing the gear level with a stalk, but it was remarkably effortless to use.
4. The air vents with rounded edges from CLS look better than sharp edges design used before.
5. Stop-start was very smooth, as was the gearbox; I didn't experience any hesitation from it.
6. I thought the car viewed from the side, in black with the new 5-spoke alloys, was just majestic.
7. I did a lot of 30-60mph and 40-70mph sharp bursts of acceleration to test refinement. Personally, I thought it was good (from inside the car). But when I accelerated hard from a standing start, it did growl at me.

The only gripes I have are that:
1. The speedometer is really difficult to read. I drive the facelifted W203, which has a full-length needle on the speedometer.
2. Swapping the indicator stalk and cruise control was unnecessary. I've noticed they've rolled this out to C-class; I wouldn't be surprised if they changed it back in a few years time.
3. Small strip of chrome on side of the rear bumper looks like someone just stuck it on for the sake of adding more chrome (see pics below).
4. Rear lights now look like Lexus GS300. I preferred pre-facelift rear lights.
5. The redesigned storage compartment between the front seats looks much better, but it is makes a horrible plasticky sound every time it opens.


Questions:
1. in the headlamp cluster, where are the front fog lights? I cannot see any, but the symbol for them is included in the instrument binnacle (next to other lights).
2. Has anyone noticed the gap between the bonnet and specifically the top left/top right corners of that new grille? I'm slightly worried rainwater is going to seep through.

I took some pictures you might like to see, but bear in mind it was a dull afternoon. The black one is an E220CDI SE, the blue one ('Diamond silver') an E250CDI Sport:
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer

imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
 
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knighterrant said:
Thank you. I never knew that. Goes down as another of "those things you didn't know about with your car".

The stop start one in the boot use to have a box over it, have they cost cut and got rid of it as it was put on as a safety feature on my w207 (makes it difficult to short it out by accidentally putting the jack on top!) after about 6 months?
 
kktg7239 said:
I was looking for opinions on the facelifted model, and came across this thread, so I thought I'd register and offer a few opinions.

Our E220CDI SE is on order, but I saw one in the car park at MB Brentford. They wouldn't let me drive it, but they did let me drive an E250CDI Sport instead.

I really liked the E-class for following reasons:
1. Headlamps look much, much better. Grille is beautiful, and very in-your-face (but when it is that pretty, you would want people to notice it).
2. I'm happy the ponton rear arches are gone, the design looks less fussy and cleaner.
3. I was sceptical about replacing the gear level with a stalk, but it was remarkably effortless to use.
4. The air vents with rounded edges from CLS look better than sharp edges design used before.
5. Stop-start was very smooth, as was the gearbox; I didn't experience any hesitation from it.
6. I thought the car viewed from the side, in black with the new 5-spoke alloys, was just majestic.
7. I did a lot of 30-60mph and 40-70mph sharp bursts of acceleration to test refinement. Personally, I thought it was good (from inside the car). But when I accelerated hard from a standing start, it did growl at me.

The only gripes I have are that:
1. The speedometer is really difficult to read. I drive the facelifted W203, which has a full-length needle on the speedometer.
2. Swapping the indicator stalk and cruise control was unnecessary. I've noticed they've rolled this out to C-class; I wouldn't be surprised if they changed it back in a few years time.
3. Small strip of chrome on side of the rear bumper looks like someone just stuck it on for the sake of adding more chrome (see pics below).
4. Rear lights now look like Lexus GS300. I preferred pre-facelift rear lights.
5. The redesigned storage compartment between the front seats looks much better, but it is makes a horrible plasticky sound every time it opens.

Questions:
1. in the headlamp cluster, where are the front fog lights? I cannot see any, but the symbol for them is included in the instrument binnacle (next to other lights).
2. Has anyone noticed the gap between the bonnet and specifically the top left/top right corners of that new grille? I'm slightly worried rainwater is going to seep through.

I took some pictures you might like to see, but bear in mind it was a dull afternoon. The black one is an E220CDI SE, the blue one ('Diamond silver') an E250CDI Sport:
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer

imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer

If you have daytime running lights I think the front fogs become redundant
 

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