C350e Advice & Opinions!

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M13KSP

New Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2020
Messages
6
Location
Bromley
Car
Audi A6 3.0tdi Avant
Hi All,

We currently have an Audi A6 Avant 3.0tdi that I love! Unfortunately, obviously it’s a diesel, and living near the London South Circular it is imminently going to suffer the Mayors crazy £12.50 a day ULEZ charge.

Fortunately my wife has expressed a strong desire to go all Greta Thunberg and get a hybrid. I have reluctantly agreed and the only viable option I’ve come up with that offers performance, comfort, style and not looking like an Uber driver is the C350e.

Is there anything to look out for as the only reviews I’ve read have sadly been quite negative towards this car (don’t tell the wife!!). This is mainly due to the electric battery range, but to be honest we don’t do that many miles at all, mostly town driving, and coming from the A6 I think we’ll see a significant improvement in MPG anyway.

How will the car perform vs the A6? I absolutely love the effortless performance I have now and whilst on paper the C350e is quicker, I’ve read that the engine may be more reluctant to perform, is this the case in your opinion?? (I’m afraid that whilst I am 42, I do still enjoy a “spirited” drive when on my own.

Lastly, can it be charged from a standard socket or will we need a charge point installed at home?

Many thanks in advance,

Mike.
 
Hi All,

We currently have an Audi A6 Avant 3.0tdi that I love! Unfortunately, obviously it’s a diesel, and living near the London South Circular it is imminently going to suffer the Mayors crazy £12.50 a day ULEZ charge.

Fortunately my wife has expressed a strong desire to go all Greta Thunberg and get a hybrid. I have reluctantly agreed and the only viable option I’ve come up with that offers performance, comfort, style and not looking like an Uber driver is the C350e.

Is there anything to look out for as the only reviews I’ve read have sadly been quite negative towards this car (don’t tell the wife!!). This is mainly due to the electric battery range, but to be honest we don’t do that many miles at all, mostly town driving, and coming from the A6 I think we’ll see a significant improvement in MPG anyway.

How will the car perform vs the A6? I absolutely love the effortless performance I have now and whilst on paper the C350e is quicker, I’ve read that the engine may be more reluctant to perform, is this the case in your opinion?? (I’m afraid that whilst I am 42, I do still enjoy a “spirited” drive when on my own.

Lastly, can it be charged from a standard socket or will we need a charge point installed at home?

Many thanks in advance,

Mike.
Hi Mark,

A few points from my opinion only. I've had a massive issue with the range in mine as it simple doesn't do anywhere near what Mercedes claim.

I probably get 8-9 miles in the summer and 6-7 in the winter. Mercedes had it the other day and said its got 72% of the battery still in tact and its just over 3 years old, they claim that's fine - they got 8 miles on a test drive and we're happy with that.

That said, performance wise, it's a lovely drive. I generally ride around in hybrid mode and it's lovely and smooth. Now and then knock her into sport and it really does go, it has to be done sometimes just to remind you about why you've got the car and to stop watching the mpg for a minute.

For what the car is, I think it's a brilliant piece of kit. 300hp car with zero tax, capable of achieving 100mpg etc.

I had a courtesy e220d and couldn't wait to get my c class back as the drive is much nicer.

I live around 5 miles from work and just wanted to be able to get to and from work without the ice kicking in which just isn't possible unfortunately, otherwise I'd have nothing bad to say about the car.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
 
Sadly, MB make no guarantee of battery capacity at all. @Masterstein , how many miles on your car?

Had ours from new, still only done under 8k miles in 3 years. Almost exclusively short trips, usually within battery range even in winter. Allowing for the first 1k miles done in Sport mode (to get some miles on the ICE), average mpg is around 75 IIRC.

Certainly does shift when prodded, but feels like it runs out of puff quite quickly at higher speeds. I suspect this is due to the torque from the electric motor dropping off as the revs pick up. Would love to see a dyno plot of how it actually delivers.

Air suspension is quite good I think. Steering feels pretty good. Yes, you feel the weight of the battery pack in the back. Bit like having a couple of bloaty passengers in the back seats all the time :)

Personally, I think the ICE sounds bloody dreadful. It’s bearable from inside the car as it’s fairly well soundproofed, but outside, it sounds like a bag of spanners in a tumbler. I’ve no idea how they made a petrol engine sound so shite.

With the benefit of hindsight, would I have bought it? 100% no.
 
Sorry, forgot to say, re the charging. Yes, you can just use the 'granny charger' (no idea why they are called that!) but I'd suggest limiting the charge current to 10A, not the full 13A (either on the charger or in the car work) but I would say, if you can arrange it so you effectively have a tethered charger, it will make plugging in/unplugging a whole lot more convenient than massing with a dangling brick. Some folk have managed to do a semi-permanent rig with their granny chargers that appear to work well.

I had a Rolec tethered charger put in and am glad I did - makes it so easy to manage.

For clarity re the 'would I have bought it' comment I made - this says at least as much about me as it does the car, I was just giving my own opinion. Personally, I've not enjoyed the MB ownership experience all that much. To be brutally honest, it's largely down to me making poor decisions and not doing due diligence. I was so excited at the idea of buying at least one new car before I died, that I got carried away. I had no previous experience of spending this amount of money on a car so had no idea how badly I would react to the depreciation. It's not that I couldn't afford it - I can, just that I don't like it! On top of that, I really wanted a Tesla S but couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a car. Again, I could afford it, just couldn't do it.

So, I ended up buying a car I didn't really want, without having a test drive (as MB couldn't seem to organise one and I was stupid enough to 'assume' it would be fine) and I didn't look closely enough at the warranty before it was too late. As a consequence, every time I look at it, I am reminded of my own stupidity. Every time (pretty much) I am obliged to deal with MB, I tend to have a bad experience one way or another - from the absurd servicing costs to the belligerent and unresponsive customer "services" department. Dealers who treat me like garbage, you name it. In fairness, the last dealer I went to did manage to do what they said they would when they said they would - strikes me as a shame that something as basic as that should be viewed as a result.
 
How important is performance living inside the London South Circular?

What's the average speed in London these days? 15mph?
 
I went to buy one in 2018 and the dealer I spoke to actually warned me against them at the time so I went elsewhere and bought a pre reg c250d (I try to buy pre reg if possible). The dealer said that they hadn't quite got them right yet. I appreciated her advice. It lost her a sale. Perhaps the new ones are ok now. I don't do much mileage but I didn't fancy looking into them again after that. Thought I'd enjoy a v6 before we all have to go electric.
 
Thanks for the replies all, really useful.

We do less than 10k a year but do do some long runs down to Swanage and over to Wales a few times a year. The majority of our driving is my wife ferrying the kids short distances to school and various clubs. The battery capacity therefore isn’t such an issue for us.

Performance is crucial for me, we owned a 320d a few years back and whilst it was no slouch, I couldn’t wait to change it for something a bit sportier. We live in Bromley so not within the Sth Circular but we do go that way fairly regularly. I also believe they plan to extend the ULEZ to within the M25 at some point, so getting rid of the diesel before it depreciates any more is critical.

I forgot to say, I will be buying second hand, a 2016 or 2017 reg estate. I’ve read a lot of bad reviews about MB dealerships, I think I’ll give our local one a try and see if I can test drive before committing.

I can’t think of an alternative hybrid for price and performance unfortunately.

Thanks,

Mike.
 
It is a fairly unique offering in terms of performance and equipment. I looked at a few things when choosing, obvious alternative was the BMW 330e but I didn't like the drive/ride one bit - made me feel queasy. I test drove a C300e not really appreciating quite how different it was to the C350e (C350e a better drive IMO).

Lexus IS300h was a possible, but although no denying they are very reliable things and the dealers are exemplary, I just don't care for the interior styling.

TBH, I wish I'd just put my big boy pants on and just bought the Tesla S, or perhaps, waited a bit and got a Tesla 3

I'm quite aware that there are plenty of folk who are entirely happy with their MB purchase, and more power to them. Just wish I was too TBH.
 
I suspect the performance of the 350e will be wasted running a taxi service but hey, it is your money.

Bear in mind possible future value of a car with a degraded battery pack a few years down the road.
 
Thanks Greenmanslk, I’m running a 3.0tdi with 240bhp at the moment and thoroughly enjoy it every time I drive it. Unfortunately the performance is not the reason for selling, it isn’t the best car for short journeys, brilliant for long hauls but if I can get something that offers equal or better performance whilst offering much better mpg on short journeys I’m happy.

I’ll look into battery depreciation and if there are any insurances to cover this anywhere.

Thanks Chris-S, I looked into the 3 series but there won’t be an estate version until later this year. Like you, I’m not 100% taken by Lexus, I just find them a bit in-exciting. I’d love a Tesla but well out of my budget, and I’m still unconvinced about fully electric just yet, particularly on long road trips.

Thanks again all, I think that for my budget it might be my best bet, I can’t find an estate or SUV equivalent anywhere.

Next step is a test drive I think.
 
Sorry, yes, as @Dippo says, internal combustion engine. The in-car-entertainment sounds just fine ;) (mine has the Burmester)
 
There's also the dedicated thread on this forum...

C350e owners club

I've had mine two years. Done 24,000 miles. I have a 20 mile commute each way each day and, probably, do 300 miles on longer trips each month. I charge at home and at work and average 57mpg since I've had the car. I've recorded every fillup and have the figures.
These cars are horses for cources and actual economy is very dependant on use. its a really heavy 2l turbocharged petrol automatic which is never going to be economical. the 300de will probaly be my next car and, with the diesel and double (and then some) electric range, I'm expecting my average economy to go up to the mid or high 80's per gallon. When you do put them in Sport + mode, they are very quick and the tail will step out when required.
The biggest critism I have is the fact that the back tyres last 12,000 miles.
 
Hi guy's looking for some help please, i was driving along yesterday, and got a beep and message saying malfunction with the battery symbol,
i think it's the hybrid symbol, and it then said don't change gear till you go to workshop, which i found strange, i had no charge as never charged it,
then i got a message saying No towing of the car, when i stopped and turned off the ignition, and when starting again it would'nt let me put into gear,
i called for breakdown assist, on arriving the driver sugested on me to drive it home as he got me to drive in a carpark and said he did'nt know a lot on hybrid's
i took the car home and tried to charge it, it would'nt charge, so i went on the assist app on phone and it showed an error, and then it start charging and the error went
from the app on my phone, i drove it today and the malfunction with the battery symbol came back on, i got a smell of petrol also, this is wrecking my head,

any help much appreciated :(
 
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Time to get it to MB I suspect. How old is the car/ how many miles. Battery, electric “machine” (MB terminology) and power electronics are covered for 6 years/63000 miles
 
Dec 2015, 80k i read up just now that it could be a fuse? when the car start charging last night, the error went from dash, and came back today after 2 miles
 
i just checked the car again just now and the error is gone again, but will come back as soon as i drive it, i would think.
 
Sadly, out of warranty then. Try and find yourself a reputable (recommended) independant MB service and see if they will do a diagnostic. Or main dealer of course. Either way, it likely isn't going to be cheap.

An apparently common problem on Teslas is a large fuse in the battery pack failing. I can see how a blown HV battery fuse could be a problem on our cars too. Diagnostics required though, no point in guessing.
 

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