C350e anyone considering one?

[JP350e]

Is the car still drivable though JP?

My lack of ability to externally charge hasn't stopped my enjoyment of the vehicle as I am E-Saving on motorways meaning I always have a full HV battery when I get home so I can preheat etc.

Obviously MPG is affected but given that this is pretty dire anyway it's not the end of the world.

My vehicle goes in 8th Feb to have the charge fault identified and I'll be sure to tell them that I want my car back if parts need ordering on a long delivery.

Yes, the car is driveable and will regen / charge when coasting but to be honest, it's so bad on fuel economy without the charge I don't want it back!! Maybe it was partly my driving but with electric working it giving me somewhere close to 50mpg overall, without I was getting around half that. I do around 500 miles a week so it would cost me a fortune..

I'm also hoping that by leaving it with them it will help with the pressure to pull the parts forward!

 

[GME]

So, after the good news that Mercedes have apparently found the fault, now the bad news. Parts (Charger socket, cabling for the car and charge control module) are on nil stock. They're expected into Germany 3rd Feb, add a few days to get them to the UK and then a few days to fix it it's expected back to me mid-Feb. This would be approx. 6 weeks after I left it with the garage to investigate / repair. This is somewhat later than I expected and I am really not happy with Mercedes now.

But... I'm away mid Feb to late Feb. Any delay to the parts (and the dealer advised there could well be) means I won't have the car when I need it and it will be late Feb before I get it back - getting on for 2 months after I left it to be repaired.

JP, not good news but still better than mine. I am told the complete charger needs replacing and April is the earliest they will have the charger available. I've put in a complaint to MB and the lease but am still waiting to hear back.

 

[kingofthehill]

JP, not good news but still better than mine. I am told the complete charger needs replacing and April is the earliest they will have the charger available. I've put in a complaint to MB and the lease but am still waiting to hear back.

That is a farce. I'm sorry for your bad luck and hope that MB can have a more serious approach to the matter following your complaint. Again, under new rules you more or less have the right to force them to take back the car.

Perhaps in your discussions, or JP in yours, you could kindly uncover for the rest of us if this is an isolated hardware failure or whether there is a more serious design flaw? I guess this will become very relevant for the rest of us if it is the latter.

Thank you in advance.


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[stevehg]

Yes, the car is driveable and will regen / charge when coasting but to be honest, it's so bad on fuel economy without the charge I don't want it back!! Maybe it was partly my driving but with electric working it giving me somewhere close to 50mpg overall, without I was getting around half that. I do around 500 miles a week so it would cost me a fortune..

I'm also hoping that by leaving it with them it will help with the pressure to pull the parts forward!

I assume they have supplied a loan car in the meantime. What is that, and what mpg are you getting over your normal week in that?

 

[JP350e]

I have considered rejecting the car but to be honest, I love it and wouldn't want anything else! If I was to get another, the gov grant is now less and it would cost me more so I have to wait, unfortunately..

I'll make some enquiries but it feels like a design fault to me - one Mercedes need to understand ASAP and fix!

I have a loan car stevehg, it's a C220d saloon from the dealer. I'm getting around 50mpg out of that right now but the problem I have is my C350e is an estate and the loan car is a saloon. I had the estate for a reason - I need the extra space! The dealer is looking to get me into an estate by the weekend, not sure on the spec yet but that will be better I hope. I just have to wait and hope the parts come in earlier.

On the positive side, my car isn't getting covered in salt / dirt and it'll come back to me nice and clean!!

 

[naw103]

Heck.......feeling slightly nervous about getting mine now next Wednesday.

Just wondering if the folks who are not having such bad luck, who's cars are not sat at the dealership, could give any feedback on long term mpg. Also, what are people finding the cost per charge is? Is anyone's battery getting any closer to that claimed 19 mile range?

 

[derekthetree]

Heck.......feeling slightly nervous about getting mine now next Wednesday.

Just wondering if the folks who are not having such bad luck, who's cars are not sat at the dealership, could give any feedback on long term mpg. Also, what are people finding the cost per charge is? Is anyone's battery getting any closer to that claimed 19 mile range?

Mine is now 5 weeks old 1500 miles and no charging issues. The only hybrid issue so far is a very intermittent error where E-mode is greyed out on startup, but that aside no issues.

So far I've got tanks between 35mpg with motorway runs and no charging to 41MPG with urban running and lots of charges. So far average over 1190 tracked miles is 37.5mpg.

I haven't had a bill yet(!) but my tariff is 13.33p per kWh, so charging a 6.2kWh battery should be ~83p? Not sure it ever goes flat so call it 80p.

I did a run this morning on full electric. I got to work (9miles of country roads so some30-60 accelerations) with 15% left showing. It was estimating 15 when I started, but this was from cold with no preheat either which should increase actual range. Someone postulated on doing a motorway test to see what the max could be.

 

[ASnowman]

Heck.......feeling slightly nervous about getting mine now next Wednesday.

Just wondering if the folks who are not having such bad luck, who's cars are not sat at the dealership, could give any feedback on long term mpg. Also, what are people finding the cost per charge is? Is anyone's battery getting any closer to that claimed 19 mile range?

Stop worrying folks, the car is great, and you will get your EV miles.
No PHEV or EV delivers the stated miles in real life.
You get a sporty cool car with a real kick when you hit the pedal.
On all new technology there will be issues, and in a forum you mostly hear from the ones that have an issue. The majority don’t have any issue at all. I also use forums a lot when I have an problem and need advice, I seldom write stories about everything that runs fine in my life

I assure you, you will have a smile that stretch you chin once you get out there and push sport +
You did not buy a 600 nm car to have the lowest mpgh in town.

 

[Mercnewbi]

Have Mine

Hello There,

I have had my C350e since December 9th defecting from BMW330d and on the whole I am very happy with the car.

The EV range is in the real world around 8 miles max (13 showing on dash), even when taking it gently and dont expect to even ever see the pack capacity go anywhere near the stated 19miles before you even start. It would be nice to have a little more honesty from MB on this matter

On a run at motorway speeds I get between 40 and 45 mpg which I am happy with especially given the low BIK tax.

 

[ASnowman]

Read a test in a magazine on real MPG on PHEV.

C350E 2,76 higher than stated, Outlander 2,66 and Passat GTE 2,76.
It’s the system created to do the measurements that is the problem.
The saying “don’t shoot the messenger” suits fine here.
That’s why we as consumers should read up on real usage test.
Have a splendid weekend folks!

 

[kingofthehill]

Hello There,



I have had my C350e since December 9th defecting from BMW330d and on the whole I am very happy with the car.



The EV range is in the real world around 8 miles max (13 showing on dash), even when taking it gently and dont expect to even ever see the pack capacity go anywhere near the stated 19miles before you even start. It would be nice to have a little more honesty from MB on this matter



On a run at motorway speeds I get between 40 and 45 mpg which I am happy with especially given the low BIK tax.

How do you find the car drives relative to the BMW, both in terms of suspension and fun? Was it the F30 that you had? Magazines have been fairly critical of the W205 relative to the F30 in the fun aspect...


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[ASnowman]

How do you find the car drives relative to the BMW, both in terms of suspension and fun? Was it the F30 that you had? Magazines have been fairly critical of the W205 relative to the F30 in the fun aspect...

Not my question, but since I have had a F30 for 3 years I kind of know them both.
You will find the F30 somewhat more fun to drive in long and winding roads.
I would prefer the w205 on motorways.
Keep in mind the 330E is not out yet, so we don’t know how it will play with the extra battery in the back.
PS I loved the F30, and I love the W205 just as much.
The thing I miss the most is the I-Drive in BMW.

 

[Mercnewbi]

Hello King Of The Hill

It was a 2013 model 330d and as regards the differnces in driving, there are many, the C350e is a much more refined relaxing drive in E or C hybrid mode, the air suspension controls the sheer bulk of the car fine.

That is for my driving style which is not what I would call spirited, in S or S+ the car just becomes an assisted petrol and then it is close I would say but still less focussd than the BMW was.

I do though prefer the longer legged power delivery of a petrol over the derv car. I wonder how the 330d might have felt with a couple of hundred kilos on board.

 

[KirkA]

Wow, now I know why everybody has been raving about this car in Sport+ mode. Have a demo C350e for the weekend and love it already.

 

[B33fy]

I posted about an interesting NHS Lease (Well, lease and government grant) issue due to the time of ordering earlier today - http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/2235827-post63.html

Not sure if you were affected etc, but worth a read if yours seemed a bit on the expensive side?

If not - enjoy the car - not long now at all!!!

Queried my order and directed NHS lease cars to the above post Had a call from NHS lease cars, very helpful, mine was affected. Getting a revised quote sent early next week. Still hoping for a end Feb delivery date ordered in August. Big big thanks to noob monkey for highlighting this, much appreciated.

Mike

 

[famousgrouse]

Hello King Of The Hill

It was a 2013 model 330d and as regards the differnces in driving, there are many, the C350e is a much more refined relaxing drive in E or C hybrid mode, the air suspension controls the sheer bulk of the car fine.

That is for my driving style which is not what I would call spirited, in S or S+ the car just becomes an assisted petrol and then it is close I would say but still less focussd than the BMW was.

I do though prefer the longer legged power delivery of a petrol over the derv car. I wonder how the 330d might have felt with a couple of hundred kilos on board.

I agree with the above.
Far prefer the power delivery through the revs with this car over diesel. Plus with the boost from electric, there's lots of torque on offer from low revs, arguably the big plus of a diesel. Best of both worlds!
I had a 320d F31, the C is much more comfortable and refined. In sport modes it firms up nicely, handles plenty fine for me.
Does it handle as well as the BMW? Probably not. But I rarely drove it to the point where that extra poise was critical. Plus it makes up for it in power once you're coming out of a corner anyway..!

 

[ASnowman]

Anyway. Both cars are great Machines

 

[uumode]

I've driven the latest 3 series 330d, it handles better than the W205, steering feel, brakes better and more progressively, and corners flatter (M Sport Vs AMG Line)

AMG line steering feels a little more woolly to me. AMG line is not that far off though.
However if talking diesels, the 6 cylinders of the 330d is much better than the C250, 4 cylinder, the 330d is smoother, more refined and quieter. I found the C250 runs out of puff in the very high rev range, where the 330d continues to sing. However this is the C350e thread, so this is wondering off topic

 

[Salty1]

Charging working fine two months in

I'm trying to use run electric as much as possible. Nearly all my driving is short, city trips but I've also have a couple of longer motorway runs over Christmas and one or two trips out of the city to the airport etc. My average mpg over 1,000 miles or so is 58.8 but of course I will have a fair bit to add on to my electricity bill. My previous VW diesel was averaging about 35mpg around the city. As a fairly low mileage company car user, my bigger saving will come from BIK. The charger (Rolec at home) is working fine. In the first couple of weeks, it tripped our home RCD a couple of times but we get that happen quite a lot for other reasons too - a light bulb blowing will do it. It seems to have settled down now. Only fault on the car so far is an incorrectly fitted middle rear seatbelt, which we noticed the first time we had three rear passengers.

 

[spookie321]

I agree with the above.
Far prefer the power delivery through the revs with this car over diesel. Plus with the boost from electric, there's lots of torque on offer from low revs, arguably the big plus of a diesel. Best of both worlds!
I had a 320d F31, the C is much more comfortable and refined. In sport modes it firms up nicely, handles plenty fine for me.
Does it handle as well as the BMW? Probably not. But I rarely drove it to the point where that extra poise was critical. Plus it makes up for it in power once you're coming out of a corner anyway..!

I am running a 320 ed at the moment, which sits on energy saving rubber and is ghastly in the wet, and sometimes the dry. The tyres are so hard. The main issue I have with the Beemer is the interior, which for a 33.5k car is poverty spec. The loss of a little driving fun on the twisties is unlikely to bother me, and I expect the sheer speed and acceleration of the 350e will more than compensate.