C350e owners club

[Stevejcray]

Enjoy the new car @PepJr Mine is still on order, due August, also from Arval via some MB dealer in London. Does it seem to you that you have the 2018 refresh modelling? I'm still a little unsure what I'll get.

Does CarPlay work with it (if you have an iPhone)?
Do you know if Arval are ok with activating the Mercedes Mobile Me? I see earlier posts problematic with some leasing companies

Enjoy!

 

[PepJr]

Enjoy the new car @PepJr Mine is still on order, due August, also from Arval via some MB dealer in London. Does it seem to you that you have the 2018 refresh modelling? I'm still a little unsure what I'll get.

Does CarPlay work with it (if you have an iPhone)?
Do you know if Arval are ok with activating the Mercedes Mobile Me? I see earlier posts problematic with some leasing companies

Enjoy!

I've not got the 2018/new instrument cluster (had my fingers crossed for that). I'm not sure externally.. will have to have a look at some pictures to check.

I'm an Android lad, I've not plugged it in yet to see if I have Android auto. Will report back (I shouldn't have it as I have Command).

Mercedes me, seems you can activate some features yourself, with the car (using the app... It sends a pin to the car which you then enter). Those still locked are door locking and anything to do with location.
To activate the rest of the features it says you have to go to dealer or do some sort of Skype id check. I've not done that yet.... I'll let you know how I get on.

P.s. side stickers are gone. Looks much cleaner .

 

[Stevejcray]

Thanks @PepJr Health to enjoy the new car.
I wonder as they have stopped taking orders of the c350e, will any have the new 2018 instrument cluster?

 

[RTR1879]

How are you finding the car? Does it have Apple Carplay? What about the blue brakes?

Hi Steve.

Like Pep, mine hasnt got any blue accents other than the really crappy "PowerEQ" badges on the side. Mine doesnt have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, which I believe comes with the upgraded mobile phone pack if you've selected it. Bit of a swizz when you consider other marques include it for free (and in the case of Android Auto it is open source software anyway).

I didnt realise that they come without the trackpad now, unless you specify it. This is a bonus for me as I really didnt like the trackpad on the loaner I had for a while and without it the dial is far more accessible.

What I do like about the bluetooth phone pairing is that you can pair 2 phones and they will both connect at once. Very handy if you have a personal and work phone like I do.

In terms of efficiency, I'm pretty impressed. I drove to work the other morning (27 miles, all motorway except for a mile at either end) and the car managed to turn out 58mpg, and left me with 6 miles range on elec. On the drive back, I came cross country insttead of the motorway (slightly shorter route but takes 15 minutes longer) and the car returned.... 57mpg, even with just 6 miles elec range when I set off. The key seems to be to adapt your driving style to coast as much as you can and watching the car recharge the battery is somehow a little fistbump moment.

The missus has a 67 plate BMW 320d MSport at the moment, and to be honest comparing them one after the other, the Beamer feels a lot harsher ride. I know its supposed to have the better gearbox but I can feel every change and I cant on the 350e.

 

[PepJr]

other than the really crappy "PowerEQ" badges on the side..

Mine were super easy to remove... Bit of floss/fishing wire and wd40 to remove residual adhesive. (Easier when hot, so hot day or use hairdryer)
Looks much better without, imo.

I didnt realise that they come without the trackpad now, unless you specify it.

I got one with mine. Do you have the standard screen/nav or the larger one?
The handwriting thing would be much better if we had LHD cars. (Or you're left handed I suppose! )

 

[Stevejcray]

Thanks for your replies @PepJr and @RTR1879 I am struggling to understand how two cars, delivered within days can be different (trackpad etc). I certainly like the idea where you can connect two bluetooth phones. I hate connecting my work phone to my current car!! It sounds like you are getting a good range with your driving style. Pardon my ignorance, but to 'coast' the car, do you literally just lift your foot off the accelerator, or do you need to activate something?

Can adding the "mobile phone pack" be added at a later date, or is it factory fitted? I wonder how this would work with my Arval lease?

 

[PepJr]

Thanks for your replies @PepJr and @RTR1879 I am struggling to understand how two cars, delivered within days can be different (trackpad etc).

Will be down to different specs. I've got the premium plus pack, looking at @RTR1879 pictures I think he has different packs.

 

[Joe Blank]

One God knows. I am in a strange mood where nothing inspires for a replacement.

However I came across a '16 plate BMW 640d Grand Coupe today. But it is not VAT qualifying :-(

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

Hi, bit late to reply now you’ve handed your car back, but I have experience of the petrol smell in case anybody else has had it.

In short I had intermittent mild petrol smell in the car that the Dealer couldn’t trace. Then recently I had the pre-heat on for a while one cold morning and the whole inside absolutely stank of petrol. The Dealer offered me a slot in 2 weeks time so I declined and called MB Assist. Great chap came out and in about a minute he’d diagnosed it as a faulty fuel vent pipe - it’s obviously a known fault as he had a Product Note reference for it. The pipe was over the back of the engine, near to the windscreen.

He assured me that there had never been any chance of fire (who knows?) and the Dealer fixed it in a day. Why they didn’t know about it and he so blatantly did I have no idea.

Good luck anyone else who’s suffered this and the disbelieving looks when you try to explain it at the service desk.

Cheers Greek, hope you have better luck with whatever you choose next.

 

[Joe Blank]

So I broke my glued flap again. Its because of where I park and the exit to the drive.
Anyway, insurance, non Mercedes repair is £274 and Mercedes quote was £287 (£42 for the hinge and 1.5hrs to remove the bumper to replace the part)

Mine has now been repaired and I think I can explain what goes on.

1 The hinge can be replaced (without removing the bumper) if that’s all that’s broken, cost me £130 main dealer. They’ll need the old flap to take the body coloured panel off and use it on the new door, so don’t throw it away!

2 There’s a bracket inside the rear bumper and if that’s broken as well then the trouble starts. Mine was, but they took the bumper off and were able to repair the bracket itself. 2 hours labour at the body shop, an extra £110. So £240 in total to replace it - sounds like that might be what happened with yours.

3 If the bracket is broken and they’re not able to fix it, that’s when you’re going to need a whole new bumper and my cardiologist tells me I don’t want to know how much that would be just to fix a small plastic flap.

It’s not a good design, far too easy to break and the punishment doesn’t fit the crime imho.

I’ve stuck a strip of reflective tape on the inside of the door now so it catches my eye and hopefully I won’t brush it with my knee again in the dark.

 

[Jeddy]

My solution, involving a rubber band Mr Postman threw away on the drive.
a) It keeps the flap close to the charge plug so I'm less likely to catch it in the first place
b) if I do catch it, then it hopefully reduces the chance of me pulling it too far.
A shame MB didn't design a clip on the end of the flap to go over the plug to prevent you snapping it, but then that would remove a revenue stream.

 

[RTR1879]

Will be down to different specs. I've got the premium plus pack, looking at @RTR1879 pictures I think he has different packs.

Thats exactly what it is. Mine is a bog standard spec Sport (my company's car policy only just limped over the line to allow even that). Having said that, its at least on a par (and in advance in many cases) of the spec of the BMW 320d ED+ I handed back. The only thing I'm missing so far is automatic windscreen wipers, but i'm sure I'll live. Oh, and pressing the phone button on the wheel bringing up the recent calls list to pick a call to make. If thats the sum total, I'm more than happy.

 

[mknight1701]

Mine has now been repaired and I think I can explain what goes on.

1 The hinge can be replaced (without removing the bumper) if that’s all that’s broken, cost me £130 main dealer. They’ll need the old flap to take the body coloured panel off and use it on the new door, so don’t throw it away!

2 There’s a bracket inside the rear bumper and if that’s broken as well then the trouble starts. Mine was, but they took the bumper off and were able to repair the bracket itself. 2 hours labour at the body shop, an extra £110. So £240 in total to replace it - sounds like that might be what happened with yours.

3 If the bracket is broken and they’re not able to fix it, that’s when you’re going to need a whole new bumper and my cardiologist tells me I don’t want to know how much that would be just to fix a small plastic flap.

It’s not a good design, far too easy to break and the punishment doesn’t fit the crime imho.

I’ve stuck a strip of reflective tape on the inside of the door now so it catches my eye and hopefully I won’t brush it with my knee again in the dark.

You’re right, and I didn’t describe very well in this second post about the break. It was the hinge that was snapped and the bumper had to come off to replace the hinge after I slid off the flap front from the half of broken hinge.


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[mknight1701]

My solution, involving a rubber band Mr Postman threw away on the drive.
a) It keeps the flap close to the charge plug so I'm less likely to catch it in the first place
b) if I do catch it, then it hopefully reduces the chance of me pulling it too far.
A shame MB didn't design a clip on the end of the flap to go over the plug to prevent you snapping it, but then that would remove a revenue stream.

The design is bad, the flap is open for hours on end and cars will be in all sorts of situations with kids, dogs and myself passing the flap time and time again.
I think a good design would have been to push in and slide the flap behind the bumper and some kind of sprung return of the flap.


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[CaptainChaos]

The problem is they have designed the flap to the same crappy quality as the fuel filler flap which is only used every so often, and only for a few minutes at a time. They haven't thought that it's going to be used very frequently and left open for hours on end. If it's any consolation I believe they are all as bad. I know someone who's Mitsubishi flap blew off as the wind caught it "the wrong way".

 

[stuartj]

Thanks @PepJr Health to enjoy the new car.
I wonder as they have stopped taking orders of the c350e, will any have the new 2018 instrument cluster?

I am looking at replacing my current C350e with a new one so spoke to the dealer as I did not want to get caught out with a long delivery period like I did last time. I was told that the existing C350e could no longer be ordered and that they would not have details of the face lift C Class until end April or mid May with any face lift cars not available until July.

They did not have any details as to when the PHEV options would be available but said that delivery should hopefully be early 2019 which suits me as mine is not replaced until February 2019, however with a 6-7 month delivery period I need to start thinking about what to do.

I have noticed that the MB UK website is not letting you build any cars at present, just giving offers on existing stock, so maybe they are awaiting all the information on the C Class, as well as the others they are updating, prior to allowing customers to actually get any information.

MB Germany is letting you build cars but no hybrids on there yet.

If anyone knows any different then please share as there are not many options out there for a decent PHEV.

 

[CaptainChaos]

Stuart, this may help:
What do you want to know?

 

[RTR1879]

Ok, my mpg on the commute this morning is just ridiculous. Comfort setting and just left in hybrid mode.

 

[Jeddy]

It's worth a try in Eco mode. I went out the other evening on a full charge for a 35mile return trip on a cross country route with a couple of small towns and managed 70mpg at around 35mph which I was very impressed with. It's surprising how well the car coasts in eco mode, but then I guess 2 tons isn't going to slow down quickly.

 

[RTR1879]

It's worth a try in Eco mode. I went out the other evening on a full charge for a 35mile return trip on a cross country route with a couple of small towns and managed 70mpg at around 35mph which I was very impressed with. It's surprising how well the car coasts in eco mode, but then I guess 2 tons isn't going to slow down quickly.

Will try that on the commute home later, Jeddy.

 

[RTR1879]

Inconclusive results. Used Eco but had no charge in the battery. There was less traffic and the run was faster too. I did notice that the coasting was less smooth and seemed to be entering regen more aggressively. Was still happy given those conditions to top 40mpg