C350e owners club

[Goldngin]

Thought I would post my thoughts having now had my C350e for 6 months and just before it's first service at 16000 miles.

I ordered a C350 Premium Plus in White with Privacy Glass, Grey Artico and Black Ash trim in June 2015 and the car arrived at the end of February 2016. This was ordered through Mercedes Fleet and had no issues with getting everything working.

Fantastic looking car and cruises nicely but no sports car.

This was bought as a Company Car to reduce tax and is charged at home daily as well as in London when I can get on to a charging bay - I did not get a bespoke charging point as I did not think the cost justified it as I would always have a couple of hours to charge or overnight. I have the 8m cable and plug the brick into a socket in my garage with the lead running under the door. I have had no problems with charging/overheating.

I had Hankook tyres and the rears lasted over 15k miles - the fronts are about 50% worn. Only issue I had was a puncture which resulted in the tyres being changed but this happened on a Sunday and the only place I can get my tyres changed is a Mercedes Dealer who are closed on Sundays and then quoted 3 days for new tyres! Miraculously they found some (after a fair bit of 'conversation') and this changed to 3 hours.

The longest run I have done is from Milton Keynes to Aberdeen and averaged 44mpg and I can get high 50's on a run to London when leaving at around 06:00. Lowest figure I have got on a tank is 35mpg when I have been playing but for the power available not too bad. My average journey is around 50 miles and I get mid to high 40's mpg.

Downsides - small tank so a lot more stops to fill up so planning the journey not to be ripped of on the Motorways - don't like Sport Plus, very jerky without much benefit - brakes vary in how they perform - in eco mode the car will slow down if it detects a vehicle in front (sometimes quite quickly) however the brake lights do not come on and this has nearly resulted in some rear end shunts - best I have done on a full charge is 8 miles (maybe me?)

To date I have had no issues whatsoever with the car and would recommend to anyone.

That's definite Stu, the brakes lights don't come on when the car decides to recoup energy and brake itself? It's a question I've been wanting to know the answer to. I asked it of myself again on the M25 when the car did it's stuff and a Transit got closer than I would want and have expected. Might have to use the foot a bit more if I know I'm being followed. Given the strength of braking it doe's seem an omission at least when in full use. At it's mildest it's like gearbox braking on a manual so not so bad.

 

[Dodgy]

It's certainly a useful tool. Lex wouldn't allow me to connect up when I took delivery in March...

Forget your leasing company. Just walk into an MB dealership and ask for some help to set it up. They just need your driver's licence.


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[Rich58]

Forget your leasing company. Just walk into an MB dealership and ask for some help to set it up. They just need your driver's licence.


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Hi
Tried this yesterday and local MBA dealer wants to see the V5, asked LEX for a copy and they are telling me they don't allow connection

I know other lease companies are allowing it, are LEX the only oneed?

Had the car a week now and loving it, 35mpg though without plugging in.

 

[derekthetree]

Hi
Tried this yesterday and local MBA dealer wants to see the V5, asked LEX for a copy and they are telling me they don't allow connection

I know other lease companies are allowing it, are LEX the only oneed?

Had the car a week now and loving it, 35mpg though without plugging in.

Yep same for me, dealer said they needed v5. Lex have told me on three occasions they don't allow it. Their main current reason is that Mercedes me is only free for three years so on a four year lease they can't guarantee what the final year will cost!

They have an extensive document detailing why, which seems to cover all extended services on all makes

 

[JP350e]

Forget your leasing company. Just walk into an MB dealership and ask for some help to set it up. They just need your driver's licence.


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Exactly what I did!

 

[JP350e]

Nope, it was a slight ding in the rear bumper about a month ago. Didn't really need fixing but as it wasn't my fault I though I would!

Tyre was fine when it went in, at pretty much exactly the same pressure as the other side for the last couple of months and it's only this afternoon I've spotted a problem..

Had an interesting time at the body shop.. They'd taken it upon themselvess to fit a new tyre as they'd punctured the old one. They put a rather unattractive "PHI-R" branded thing - it looked absolutely awful and very cheap and to say I wasn't impressed was an understatement!
Now fixed after discussing with Lex. In actual fact both tears were worn down to the banding in places so weren't far off giving way completely. Never seen that before in less than 12k miles since new!!

 

[TheCorm]

"Let me inform you on the statement to the problem with vehicle data not updated in web app when using miles per gallon:

This issue is known to our Technical Department, but there is currently no solution for it due to some technical restrictions. The responsible developers are currently looking for a solution, but this can take some time. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Thank you for your patience and understanding."

Official line from Mercedes Me Connect support team on the mpg thing.......very helpful (!)........

 

[Merstrand]

Wish I could get those numbers, I've got 2500 miles on mine, cant get anything better than 24 mpg... ... however when fully charged it says 24 miles available
(I am from Denmark - we don't have a forum like yours)

 

[CaptainChaos]

Wish I could get those numbers, I've got 2500 miles on mine, cant get anything better than 24 mpg... ... however when fully charged it says 24 miles available
(I am from Denmark - we don't have a forum like yours)

You are more than welcome to use this forum.

Your mpg sounds very low. Is the petrol engine running all the time?

 

[sxileander]

You are more than welcome to use this forum.



Your mpg sounds very low. Is the petrol engine running all the time?

24 miles electric available? I've seen 15 as my highest ever, normally 14, reality 10-11? That's six months old and 4K miles in...

MPG however is 54 overall.



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[sxileander]

24 miles electric available? I've seen 15 as my highest ever, normally 14, reality 10-11? That's six months old and 4K miles in...

MPG however is 54 overall.



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Obviously that should have been a reply to Merstrand and not CaptainChaos! Doh! [emoji15]


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[Dodgy]

Wish I could get those numbers, I've got 2500 miles on mine, cant get anything better than 24 mpg... ... however when fully charged it says 24 miles available
(I am from Denmark - we don't have a forum like yours)

Hi @Merstrand. Good to hear from you. 15 miles is roughly 24 km. I'm wondering if there could be some kind of unit translation issue at work here?


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[Dodgy]

"Let me inform you on the statement to the problem with vehicle data not updated in web app when using miles per gallon:

This issue is known to our Technical Department, but there is currently no solution for it due to some technical restrictions. The responsible developers are currently looking for a solution, but this can take some time. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Thank you for your patience and understanding."

Official line from Mercedes Me Connect support team on the mpg thing.......very helpful (!)........

At least the agent who replied to you understood what you were saying. Here's my reply:

"Thank you for contacting Mercedes-Benz Customer Service.

I am writing further to you e-mail dated 9th September 2016 concerning the current mile per gallon limit showing on your Mercedes Me app.

Generally the above mentioned value changes periodically with the vehicle fuel consumption which depends on the driving style, what road types driven on, e.g. motorway, built-up area etc and what ratio of electric power to engine power gets used.

The NEDC figure of 135 mpg comes from a car test in laboratory conditions hence would normally not correspond with the actual values.

If you would that kind and send us a bit more information on how you use the vehicle engine power compared to the electrical power we can forward it to our Technical Department to get a permissible figure for this particular car.

Should you have any further requirements please do not hesitate to contact me or any of my colleagues."

Maybe you explained the issue better than me...


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[CaptainChaos]

I was asked to send a screen shot of my app and a shot of my dashboard.
Not heard anything since!

 

[Stokieuk]

3.5k miles in and still loving the car. Sure there are many features I still don't know about!

Had a really annoying rattle from the passenger side door. This went on for a month or more until I realised it was my sunglasses in the holder

On the commute every single day, the proximity warning alert goes off in the same place. No idea what is going on there!!

Need to start thinking about winter tyres. Any thoughts?

 

[CaptainChaos]

3.5k miles in and still loving the car. Sure there are many features I still don't know about!

Had a really annoying rattle from the passenger side door. This went on for a month or more until I realised it was my sunglasses in the holder

On the commute every single day, the proximity warning alert goes off in the same place. No idea what is going on there!!

Need to start thinking about winter tyres. Any thoughts?

Proximity warning might be a reflection of a sign, or a bush blowing in the wind, or a bee settling on a flower. It seems to get spooked by all sorts of things!

If you look back a few pages I had a reply from MB about winter tyres as I wanted confirmation of what sizes to use as there is nothing in the handbook or on the car.

 

[Stokieuk]

Proximity warning might be a reflection of a sign, or a bush blowing in the wind, or a bee settling on a flower. It seems to get spooked by all sorts of things!

If you look back a few pages I had a reply from MB about winter tyres as I wanted confirmation of what sizes to use as there is nothing in the handbook or on the car.

Missed that, will take a look. Thanks

 

[Stokieuk]

I've been in touch with MB "Customer Service" about winter tyre sizes for the C350e. As you probably know, certain options on the estate model force you to have 18" wheels, and I was interested to know if I had to stick with this size for winter. There is no information in the manual or on the car.

Their reply in italic:

I can confirm that the best winter tyre for your Mercedes-Benz vehicle is the Pirelli - Sottozero 3 (95) load rating (H) Speed rating (Non Run-flat), this tyre is the same size as the tyres that are currently fitted on your Mercedes-Benz vehicle. (i.e. 225/45/18 front and 245/40/18 rear.)

My Technical Department also advised 17 inch winter tyres for your vehicle:
Front - 7J X 17 H2 ET48.5 (225/50/17 tires)
Rear - 8J X 17 H2 ET54 (245/45/17 tires)


So it would seem we can drop to 17" rims for winter which helps a bit with costs. They clearly don't want to drop from a non-staggered setup though which is a shame. Must be all that battery weight they are worried about!

On my E class I used a local garage that took off the summers, stored them for me and fitted winters to the same rims. Referse the procedure come April over three seasons.

Probably do same unless there is a strong reason/advice not to?

 

[TheCorm]

At least the agent who replied to you understood what you were saying. Here's my reply:

"Thank you for contacting Mercedes-Benz Customer Service.

I am writing further to you e-mail dated 9th September 2016 concerning the current mile per gallon limit showing on your Mercedes Me app.

Generally the above mentioned value changes periodically with the vehicle fuel consumption which depends on the driving style, what road types driven on, e.g. motorway, built-up area etc and what ratio of electric power to engine power gets used.

The NEDC figure of 135 mpg comes from a car test in laboratory conditions hence would normally not correspond with the actual values.

If you would that kind and send us a bit more information on how you use the vehicle engine power compared to the electrical power we can forward it to our Technical Department to get a permissible figure for this particular car.

Should you have any further requirements please do not hesitate to contact me or any of my colleagues."

Maybe you explained the issue better than me...


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I did have a similar fight but I just repeating my explanation and got a bit shirty with them when they started resetting things on my car when it was clearly an issue their end!

 

[CaptainChaos]

On my E class I used a local garage that took off the summers, stored them for me and fitted winters to the same rims. Referse the procedure come April over three seasons.

Probably do same unless there is a strong reason/advice not to?

No reason not to. In a perfect world the best advice is that it's not good for the tyres coming on and off, but it's a damn sight cheaper than new wheels and valves, even allowing for the chance to run a smaller size.

Main thing is to check you are buying some of this year's winter tyres, and not some that have been sat on a shelf all year. You can tell by the DOT number on the sidewall.