C350CDI Sport Saloon delivered

[Focus]

The lease company dropped off my new C350CDI Sport Edition 125 today and I have had a little time to play, taking the delivery guy to his next appointment 16 miles away in Basingstoke and the down to the next village for a birthday meal. Wife reckons I won't ever have a new car on my birthday again - she may be right!
It as been a manic day with the Focus ST in for interim service and MOT and having the new car delivered. Someone coming up from Plymouth tomorrow lunchtime to buy it!

Very impressed with the performance, comfort and refinement. There is just tons of technology in this car and the manuals take some reading. I feel I am only just scratching the surface at the moment but I am looking forward to a blast down to Bude end of March to see best mate for the weekend.
My only disappointment so far is with the Mercedes paint finish, which is quite orange peel but I lime Caravansite Blue (sic)!

Will report more once I have a few more miles under my belt and take some photos at the weekend - it has been wet and grey here today.

 

[seven]

Enjoy!
Nice road between Crediton and Bude for driving.

 

[FamilyPack]

Enjoy the new car. I've had mine since just before Christmas and I still get a nice feeling getting into it...

 

[Focus]

Can't stop booting it to feel the thrust as we head towards warp factor 7!

Therefore the fuel economy is around 29 mpg, but the mileage is still only at 185 miles. Ooo it is a bit rapid! - much quicker than the Focus ST which you would have had to rev to get maximum boost from the turbo and it would still be left for dead by the C350.

Things are working out well at the moment - just sold the Focus to the first caller from the Autotrader advert, the day after it went live. Came all the way from Plymouth to Fleet Hants and paid cash - wife taking it to the bank as we speak. Was quite nervous that it could be a pig to sell - just got lucky i guess.

Still getting used to the comand sytstem - quite complex but i am sure half of it i won't use on a regular basis - must get my music on to it from the Ipad - i hope it is straight forward - could not upload my contacts from my HTC phone - seemed to take an age, and do it in fits and starts.

 

[This is Pete]

The easiest way of getting music onto the hard drive in the Comand unit is to burn the MP3s onto DVDs in Artist/Album folders. I found that my Comand (APS) couldn't copy music from flash disks, but could from DVDs.

I managed to get my contacts from my Windows 7 phone on the second attempt (didn't want to behave for the MB handover expert).

I find that Comand is easy to navigate, mainly because I just use what I need to use from it. It gets easier after a bit of practice.

I've had my E350 since before Christmas, I still haven't slowed down yet. The performance and enjoyment factor goes up when you get the hang of the unrestricted rev range mode; it makes the exit of roundabouts a whole different experience.

Well done on getting the ST sold.

 

[Focus]

Take it you are refering to Sport mode on the Transmission?

 

[FamilyPack]

O yes, you'll definitely slow down, I certainly have....

 

[This is Pete]

Take it you are refering to Sport mode on the Transmission?

No. Take a look in the manual at the part that talks about derestricting the rev range. A long pull on the downsift paddle will put you into this mode and also downshift enough gears to give you peak power when you need it.

Sport mode changes later in the rev range but won't neccessarily keep the revs high.

I tend to use the derestricted mode when I want a good escape from a roundabout or need a swift overtake without needing to wait for the kickdown. I then change back to E or S mode with a long pull of the upshift paddle.

 

[Focus]

Oh right - will look that up.

Just tried plugging my ipad 2 into the usb port and the comand says there is no usb storage device so i can not upload my music that way. Will have to burn a DVD as you said - bit daft considering this is a modern comand system - will not even copy music from my HTC mobile - it will only play music from them both via the media interface or bluetooth from the mobile - don't think the Ipad has Bluetooth?

 

[This is Pete]

You can only stream music from a bluetooth device, you can't use it to copy files/media across.

And yes, I was a bit disappointed that it couldn't copy MP3 files from a flash disk, but it was perfectly happy to play the music from it.

 

[@MARK]

No. Take a look in the manual at the part that talks about derestricting the rev range. A long pull on the downsift paddle will put you into this mode and also downshift enough gears to give you peak power when you need it.

Didn't we agree that this was actually a placebo effect seeing that the engine delivers peak power at low revs not high and that what you are doing is just putting the gearbox into restricted mode and then letting the fail safe kick in?

To the OP

You might want to read your manual before you decide to give this a go

 

[This is Pete]

Didn't we agree that this was actually a placebo effect seeing that the engine delivers peak power at low revs not high and that what you are doing is just putting the gearbox into restricted mode and then letting the fail safe kick in?

Probably, but it gives me a satisfying kick in the pants that I don't get in full auto mode.

 

[Focus]

Having no luck with comand - will not read discs i have just burned of my mp3 collection. Even a shop bought cd plays but i can not copy it to the hard drive. One cd i burned plays the music in car but comand says there are no music files when i go to copy the mp3 files to the music register. WTF - How are you supposed to get your music collection onto the hard disk?

Confused, frustrated and flummoxed!

 

[This is Pete]

Have you burned the DVD/CD as "Data"? You need to burn in "Data" mode, so that when you put the disc into your computer, you can see the folders in Windows Explorer.

Comand won't "rip" a music CD.

 

[st4]

Didn't we agree that this was actually a placebo effect seeing that the engine delivers peak power at low revs not high and that what you are doing is just putting the gearbox into restricted mode and then letting the fail safe kick in?

Peak power is always produced near, if not on the redline. Peak torque may be produced lower down the rev range, but the engine speed multiplying out the torque relates to power.

Power is a measurement of the work done, torque merely the work applied. With a rise in engine speed, will come a rise in power.

You might want to read your manual before you decide to give this a go

Or just try it. Knocking the car into a gear restrict is the same as a manual change down, 3rd is really good for attacking roundabouts in a 7g merc, or 2nd for slower tighter ones, as it means your revs are nearly 3k when you arrive in, and you are well in the turbo zone are of the rev range, merely apply full speed and you blast out.

It also gives you more engine breaking in 2nd or 3rd gear when you restrict it, meaning more control over the car and you can sling your way out at speed and grin like a cheshire cat

 

[Focus]

Ok, finally was able to get music uploaded onto comand music register by burning a "data cd" as suggested but I have 3.4 gb of music burnt to the DVD and it has so far, after 3 attempts, only uploaded 47 songs! It keeps stopping after a while and then says disc unreadable, even though it will play the whole disc! I think command, as far as a music storage system is inept and poorly thought out. The drive seems especially finicky about discs - I have several that it will not even read.

Car is now filthy - no rain equals dirty roads so may wash it onSaturday and post some photos. Is posting photos straightforward? Any tips appreciated.

 

[Mactech]

Ok, finally was able to get music uploaded onto comand music register by burning a "data cd" as suggested but I have 3.4 gb of music burnt to the DVD and it has so far, after 3 attempts, only uploaded 47 songs! It keeps stopping after a while and then says disc unreadable, even though it will play the whole disc! I think command, as far as a music storage system is inept and poorly thought out. The drive seems especially finicky about discs - I have several that it will not even read.

Car is now filthy - no rain equals dirty roads so may wash it onSaturday and post some photos. Is posting photos straightforward? Any tips appreciated.

I found the best way to upload mp3 songs was to pop them on an SD card, put it in the slot and the hard drive would then take them without hesitation, deviation or repetition.....

 

[This is Pete]

I burnt about 3 DVD with music on and they all loaded up without any problems at all, although I did keep the ignition turned to the "accessories on" setting while they loaded up. I found that if I turned everything off except the stereo and locked up, Comand would fall asleep soon after. I just had to pop out every once in a while to check progress.

As Mac said, the alternative is to get an SD/PCMCIA adapter and do it that way, but I didn't fancy the idea of buying a gizmo just to use it the once in a blue moon.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/ot-off-topic-forums/124042-idiots-guide-posting-photos-needed.html

 

[FamilyPack]

Power is a measurement of the work done, torque merely the work applied. With a rise in engine speed, will come a rise in power.

Always a difficult discussion without getting technical. Best for me to understand is an analogy of a boxer hitting a punchbag.

Torque is about the force in each punch
Power is about the total impact on the bag of many punches.

So, if the boxer hits as hard as he can and gradually increases the rate at which he punches, then you get to a peak 'torque' figure somewhere. Then as the boxer starts hitting faster, each individual punch may lose some force, but the overall effect will be an increase in the total force hitting the bag.

Make any sense?

 

[Mactech]

Always a difficult discussion without getting technical. Best for me to understand is an analogy of a boxer hitting a punchbag.

Torque is about the force in each punch
Power is about the total impact on the bag of many punches.

So, if the boxer hits as hard as he can and gradually increases the rate at which he punches, then you get to a peak 'torque' figure somewhere. Then as the boxer starts hitting faster, each individual punch may lose some force, but the overall effect will be an increase in the total force hitting the bag.

Make any sense?

There is a well known saying amongst engine builders and those in the know in motorsport:
Power wins arguments....torque wins races