Considering a new E-Class - Advice Request

[Dieselman]

hard to beat DMB :

Not far of Cavansite, which I really fancy.

 

[V12]

Me too, and it was my idea...really, someone pinched it and sold it to Ford.

Which ford was it introduced on?

 

[Dieselman]

Which ford was it introduced on?

Don't know in the US, but the first one in the UK was the Range Rover.

What made me REALLY sick was that after thinking...well, not so bad as I didn't have contacts in Ford, I found my Cousin works for Ford Worldwide, reporting at Board level...

 

[V12]

I don't know why the W220 was the first MB to have it, it really should have been a feature long before, seeing as heated seats were a very common option from the W126.

I personally hardly use heated seats but ALWAYS use heated steering wheel for a good portion of the British year!

The even more shocking thing is that it now is an available option on most cars, yet still no one options it!

Please think of us peasants who like a well specced second hand motor!

 

[Dieselman]

I don't know why the W220 was the first MB to have it, it really should have been a feature long before, seeing as heated seats were a very common option from the W126.

Heated seats uses resistive wires as the element, hence would have been unsuitable for steering wheel covers.

In about 1990 I met someone who had developed a carbonised material that when two cloths were laid web over weft it created an even resistive material mat.
When fed with electricity it became a heating element.

I suffer with cold hands and suggested heated steering wheels. He wrote that comment down in a notebook...then went to Ford US with it.

 

[AshC63]

I suffer with cold hands and suggested heated steering wheels. He wrote that comment down in a notebook...then went to Ford US with it.

Your intellectual prop£rty given away free there Dieselman.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

£200 for warm hands is a bargain IMO.

 

[cinek]

Reverse camera comes very handy indeed, in particular, when you find mercedes reversing sensors as unreliable as I do.

Contour seats feature may look impressive, but after playing with it in the first few months of ownership, I didn't touch it for over a year now.

Not sure how much room would you have left in the back with integrated child seats, so considering you have three kids, I would definitely check first if the third seat/ booster can be safely secured in the middle.

Never had heated steering wheel so cant comment, but love the heated seats, which come as standard on this model anyway

Personally, I like my music, so HK was a must to have option.

I honestly think that new E class is so well equipped as standard, that there isnt much you would need added to it.
The only option I would consider is the LED headlights, oppose to just partial LED which comes as standard.

 

[elisetype25]

Can't say that I've ever got into my car during the last 92k miles and thought this steering wheel is too cold, but each to their own.

In terms of each to their own, I have the Driver Assistance Pack. Predominantly bought for Distronic, which I find a fantastic tool that really does reduce stress on long journeys especially in poor visibility. This is the only must have item I would specificy on an already well appointed car.

Blind Spot Assist is useful and comes with the package.

There is a knack to getting the most from the system as I find the Distronic is more suited to a relaxed driving style. The nature of the extent and reaction time of the car means that if regularly drive around in excess of legal speeds you may find the system too aggressive in it's response. This is more muted as you adopt a more relaxed driving style. I use the distance adjustment to anticipate other road users and fine tune the system braking, also in start/stop traffic I tend to take control as I find the system brings the car to a halt in the final millisecond of braking a little too abruptly and I like to keep things smooth.

Essentially if you love Cruise but get frustrated with the constant on/off nature of using it in traffic then Distronic is for you.

If it is an estate your after, I would also recommend 7 seats. These are very useful when friends and family need transport and can often mean a journey can be undertaken with 1 car instead of 2.

A final point, do these come with DAB as standard now? I find FM/AM pretty useless and DAB is a must, I know some have criticised the reception, but I have never had a problem with it. It does seem to vary from place to place, but I have driven from the mountains of N. Wales to the northern most tip of Scotland, down to Devon and Kent and across to Suffolk with no significant issues.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure you will enjor the car, they are very good.

Happy hunting.

Regards, Neil

 

[Storm]

I've got the Hybrid and had to make some decisions as I was coming from something which had tons of extras. I chose ILS not only because they look awesome when you unlock the car and during the day but because they are simply fantastic at night. Not cheap but every time I drive in the night I fully appreciate them.

Ah, I wouldn't mind some first hand feedback on how you're finding the hybrid. What's the mpg like (I assume nothing near the 68mpg quoted)? Does it set off 'silent' just using the electric motor when starting the car? Can you feel it kick in and out (does this get frustrating?)?.

Thanks!

 

[Teflonso]

I manage an estate, which seems as long as an oil tanker just fine with the standard front and rear sensors and honestly couldn't see the need for a camera. But lights in the rear headlining take some getting used to - I nearly took out the garage door first time I backed on the drive.

Parktronic is flawless but finnicky. I've only used it about 3 times. When parallel parking, it insists on going about 4" from the kerb, which niggles me.

Bluetooth - yes you can hardwire iPhone or other stiff. I've got a 60Gb SSD hard disk on a USB cable in the centre console and have all the music I'll ever need.

I recommend the 6CD changer - it's reasonably priced and plays DVDs.

Kiddy seats - thought about them, but you can only get them with black upholstery and I wanted grey. They do look good though and are not a bad price. You have to buy the front retraint for the second seat.

Seats - I took the active seats, primarily for the massage function. Massage is so-so, but the side bolsters pumping up when you go around bends is a hoot.

Colour - I picked Coveline Blue, which I'd only been able to see in brochures, swatchs and on-line (none represent it well). But it's a really good choice, much better than being just another silver/grey droid on the road. The other option is Hyacynth Red, but expect to get your car delivered sometime never. They must have one old gadger in a shed doing this colour. The premium white (is it Diamond White?) looks a bit off colour to me, definately not worth the extra dosh.

Heated steering - I would have welcomed it the other morning, but put my gloves on for 5 minutes instead. It seems very over priced to me.

I took speed limit warning and it's nice to have, but probably wouldn't go for it again.


.
.

 

[Storm]

The parktronic will actually do both parallel and perpendicular parking, however I've only managed the perpendicular once! My girls (8 &5) go mental when it parallel parks itself, but that is not reason enough to buy one I've been surprised at how often I've used it!

Ah, I didn't realise that, all of the videos I've seen just show parallel parking!

Quick look on the website and it shows the SE with the media interface which means you'll get the cables to hard wire. I've not hard wired yet as I have a iPhone 5 and not bought the apple adapter. I've not seen album art when synced over Bluetooth, will have a look tomorrow as I rarely sync my iphone during the day (my work blackberry stays sync'd for hands free during the week) and report back.

If it's anything like the BMW and Audi system then it'll need to be hard wired to stand a chance of syncing properly.

 

[Storm]

Reverse camera comes very handy indeed, in particular, when you find mercedes reversing sensors as unreliable as I do.

Contour seats feature may look impressive, but after playing with it in the first few months of ownership, I didn't touch it for over a year now.

Not sure how much room would you have left in the back with integrated child seats, so considering you have three kids, I would definitely check first if the third seat/ booster can be safely secured in the middle.

Never had heated steering wheel so cant comment, but love the heated seats, which come as standard on this model anyway

Personally, I like my music, so HK was a must to have option.

I honestly think that new E class is so well equipped as standard, that there isnt much you would need added to it.
The only option I would consider is the LED headlights, oppose to just partial LED which comes as standard.

Thanks for the tips. Did you listen to cars with and without HK (admittedly I've not done this)?

With regards to the LED lights - I wasn't that impressed with ILS - but that's based on a few youtube videos where I struggle to see it offering much benefit. Again, the dealer wasn't helpful in describing it or showing it to me in the flesh as it were.

 

[Storm]

A final point, do these come with DAB as standard now? I find FM/AM pretty useless and DAB is a must, I know some have criticised the reception, but I have never had a problem with it. It does seem to vary from place to place, but I have driven from the mountains of N. Wales to the northern most tip of Scotland, down to Devon and Kent and across to Suffolk with no significant issues.

Thanks Neil, especially for the first hand views on the distronic system - it sounds like a must have for me.

Yes all cars in the range now come with DAB as standard.

 

[Red C220]

It's funny how different options are more important to different people.

As already said, the E is so well specced from factory that there are only a few things we'd wish to add.

Panoramic Roof (I've had this on a previous c class estate and really liked it)
Black Ash Wood
360 degree camera
Diamond White Metallic

We don't want to spend any more than that.

However, we've got ILS light on the C class and it is good and I'm worried we'd be disappointed with the standard lighting.

So we're considering getting the normal reverse camera (which we had on an ML previously and found it extremely useful on a big vehicle) and Polar white paint and then putting the savings towards the ILS.

That would give us

Panoramic Roof
Black Ash Wood
Reverse Camera
ILS
Polar White.

We're having the front passenger seat modified for Mrs Red (who has MS) so the Memory seat function would be wasted.

 

[Red C220]

Not far of Cavansite, which I really fancy.

In the flesh it's quite a long way from Cavansite, We saw a Cavansite car in MBworld last weekend and actually thought it was black until we were stood right next to it.

The representations on the MB configurator are quite a long way off, particularly the blues.

 

[st13phil]

Did you listen to cars with and without HK (admittedly I've not done this)?

I did before I spec'd by W212 and went the HK route as my ears told me it was a worthwhile upgrade.

With regards to the LED lights - I wasn't that impressed with ILS - but that's based on a few youtube videos where I struggle to see it offering much benefit.

If you drive much at night on unlit A- and B-roads then the ILS is a huge benefit. I have ILS on my W212 and my wife has Bi-Xenon's on her R171 so I get to do back-to-back comparisons and the difference that ILS makes is massive. It's now one option that, if available, I'd never spec a car without.

BTW, the Easy Pack boot box is really useful. It makes carrying groceries and other items that would otherwise end up strewn around the boot a much simpler task. In the three years I've owned my car I've only had to remove it once (easy to do, and requires no tools) to gain the small amount of extra height necessary to get something particularly large in the boot.

 

[Dryce]

I have ILS on my W212 and my wife has Bi-Xenon's on her R171 so I get to do back-to-back comparisons and the difference that ILS makes is massive. It's now one option that, if available, I'd never spec a car without.

I think 'huge' and 'massive' are a bit of an overstatement - unless the R171 is just plain bad and is a poor point of reference.

My view is that since I first experienced bi-Xenons that nothing I've driven since has offered anything other than a marginal improvement.

Clearly this is subjective.

However I'd be wary of the tangible value of some of the lighting options being offered on modern cars.

One thing that does bother me with some of the newer setups is that while they get lighting into the areas at the side they also can have quite sharp cutoffs which increases contrast between lit and unlit areas.

 

[Red C220]

As I understand it, the standard lights on a new E class are halogen unless you spec ILS?

Have I got that right?

 

[Was1]

Get the ils! They make a noticeable difference.!