Palmball
MB Enthusiast
After a week of ownership, I've finally got round to introducing the new member of the Palmball family....and what a model it is!
As many of you will be aware, this is my second C63 and one made exactly how I always wanted it; white bodywork with cream interior (it's looks very.....Beverley Hills!), leather dash and, of course, with the Performance Package Plus giving the much needed extra 30bhp!
I also opted to collect the car from the factory which in itself was a fantastic and flawless experience. I had the pleasure of meeting Matt (Maff) from this forum who was picking up his new C63 and is a throughly nice chap! (Matt - just to freak you out, I also watched you take delivery from the viewing platform before taking delivery of mine!)
So, I'll start with describing just how good the factory collection option is.
Firstly, it's free (well, in a way you're paying for it as you still pay for delivery but have to 'deliver' it yourself!). The package includes business class flights to Stuttgart, all taxi transfers, one night in a 4-5* hotel of your choice (from a set list), evening meal and breakfast. They also give a you a 2 hour tour of the factory and after you collect your car, it's provided with a full tank of fuel, temporary German plates and insurance for any driver and the Eurostar / Ferry crossing home. In effect, you could end up paying nothing for the trip except for fuel - which in the C63 meant it still cost me around £200 to get home!
The whole experience was seamless and extremely well organised (they apparently process between 150 and 450 factory collections per day depending on day and time of year) and if anyone orders a new Mercedes, I cannot recommend enough just how you MUST take this option.
The trip home to Leicestershire took about 12 hours including the Eurotunnel crossing although I did stop off in Affalterback at the AMG Factory again.
I've decided to take the car back to them in a few weeks to get the lower half of the dash covered in leather so I wanted to finalise in person what they were going to do and what they were going to charge me! I was again treated to another demonstration of what they can do in the AMG Design Studio and if I had a limitless budget, the sheer amount of personalisation available is out of this world.
After I got home, I took the car to the dealer who PDI'd, registered and taxed it (and took off the German plates
). And then guess what happened about 30 seconds after leaving the dealer whilst sat in traffic??...some scroat in a high rise flat in the middle of Birmingham egg'd the bonnet of my shiny new car from about 5 floors up 
Not happy...especially as it took some effort to get the now fried egg off the car when I got home (although I've got to hand it to the scroat; it was a good shot from the distance he was!).
In the last week I've also had the rear windows tinted (MB don't offer a factory tint on the saloon but do on the estate
) and I've also had the front bumper and lights covered in Paintshield to protect it from stone chips. Now, I'm not exactly exstatic about the Paintshield as gives the front bumper a creamy tint and it's already showing signs of dirt along the edges Is this the price to pay for a stonechip-free front end??
Anyway, what about the car?
Well, I think you've all read enough about just what a rude car the C63 is, but since it's 2 months since I sold my first one, I was yet again amazed at the sound this car makes. There's really nothing like it either from inside or hearing it drive by.
The interior quality is exceptional; the leather dash option, whilst only covering the top part of the dash (and the top bits of the door trims not already leather covered), really does transform the interior into something very special and expensive looking.
The guys at AMG showed me how they did it and the leather option really is hand finished and to a very high standard. Despite the original factory fitted (plastic) dash needing to be removed, covered in leather and then refitted, I'm relieved that there's not a single squeak, rattle or vibration.
Performance wise, I initially couldn't really tell much difference between the old non-plus C63 and this more powerful version but I think this was more to do with the two-month gap between driving the two.
Now I've run it in (it's already breezed past 1k miles), I can now definitely confirm the difference at the top end above 5000rpm is very obvious. So much so that at over 5000rpm the acceleration actually takes your breath away and in manual mode you've got to be extremely quick to pull on the paddle to stop it running into the limiter. In normal driving it feels just like a slightly freer revving version of the old one; at the top end, it feels like it has more than the 30bhp that AMG officially say it has.
Here's some pictures of the collection centre in Stuttgart....
They even put the flag out again depending on the nationality of the people collecting that day!
The viewing platform (where I could see Matt taking delivery of his car)....
The first time I saw my new car coming out from the back of the factory....
A very proud me....
And some more pictures after a day detailing it. Firstly, I cleaned the bodywork with some Dodo Juice Lime Prime and my random orbital polisher, then I polished it with some Autoglym Super Resin Polish to ensure the surface was perfect, then I put on a coat of Swissvax Best of Show. I finished it off with some Dodo Juice Red Mist detailing spray....
And now some final shots of the interior....
As many of you will be aware, this is my second C63 and one made exactly how I always wanted it; white bodywork with cream interior (it's looks very.....Beverley Hills!), leather dash and, of course, with the Performance Package Plus giving the much needed extra 30bhp!
I also opted to collect the car from the factory which in itself was a fantastic and flawless experience. I had the pleasure of meeting Matt (Maff) from this forum who was picking up his new C63 and is a throughly nice chap! (Matt - just to freak you out, I also watched you take delivery from the viewing platform before taking delivery of mine!)
So, I'll start with describing just how good the factory collection option is.
Firstly, it's free (well, in a way you're paying for it as you still pay for delivery but have to 'deliver' it yourself!). The package includes business class flights to Stuttgart, all taxi transfers, one night in a 4-5* hotel of your choice (from a set list), evening meal and breakfast. They also give a you a 2 hour tour of the factory and after you collect your car, it's provided with a full tank of fuel, temporary German plates and insurance for any driver and the Eurostar / Ferry crossing home. In effect, you could end up paying nothing for the trip except for fuel - which in the C63 meant it still cost me around £200 to get home!
The whole experience was seamless and extremely well organised (they apparently process between 150 and 450 factory collections per day depending on day and time of year) and if anyone orders a new Mercedes, I cannot recommend enough just how you MUST take this option. The trip home to Leicestershire took about 12 hours including the Eurotunnel crossing although I did stop off in Affalterback at the AMG Factory again.
I've decided to take the car back to them in a few weeks to get the lower half of the dash covered in leather so I wanted to finalise in person what they were going to do and what they were going to charge me! I was again treated to another demonstration of what they can do in the AMG Design Studio and if I had a limitless budget, the sheer amount of personalisation available is out of this world.After I got home, I took the car to the dealer who PDI'd, registered and taxed it (and took off the German plates
). And then guess what happened about 30 seconds after leaving the dealer whilst sat in traffic??...some scroat in a high rise flat in the middle of Birmingham egg'd the bonnet of my shiny new car from about 5 floors up Not happy...especially as it took some effort to get the now fried egg off the car when I got home (although I've got to hand it to the scroat; it was a good shot from the distance he was!).In the last week I've also had the rear windows tinted (MB don't offer a factory tint on the saloon but do on the estate
) and I've also had the front bumper and lights covered in Paintshield to protect it from stone chips. Now, I'm not exactly exstatic about the Paintshield as gives the front bumper a creamy tint and it's already showing signs of dirt along the edges Is this the price to pay for a stonechip-free front end?? Anyway, what about the car?
Well, I think you've all read enough about just what a rude car the C63 is, but since it's 2 months since I sold my first one, I was yet again amazed at the sound this car makes. There's really nothing like it either from inside or hearing it drive by.
The interior quality is exceptional; the leather dash option, whilst only covering the top part of the dash (and the top bits of the door trims not already leather covered), really does transform the interior into something very special and expensive looking.
The guys at AMG showed me how they did it and the leather option really is hand finished and to a very high standard. Despite the original factory fitted (plastic) dash needing to be removed, covered in leather and then refitted, I'm relieved that there's not a single squeak, rattle or vibration.
Performance wise, I initially couldn't really tell much difference between the old non-plus C63 and this more powerful version but I think this was more to do with the two-month gap between driving the two.
Now I've run it in (it's already breezed past 1k miles), I can now definitely confirm the difference at the top end above 5000rpm is very obvious. So much so that at over 5000rpm the acceleration actually takes your breath away and in manual mode you've got to be extremely quick to pull on the paddle to stop it running into the limiter. In normal driving it feels just like a slightly freer revving version of the old one; at the top end, it feels like it has more than the 30bhp that AMG officially say it has.
Here's some pictures of the collection centre in Stuttgart....
They even put the flag out again depending on the nationality of the people collecting that day!
The viewing platform (where I could see Matt taking delivery of his car)....
The first time I saw my new car coming out from the back of the factory....
A very proud me....
And some more pictures after a day detailing it. Firstly, I cleaned the bodywork with some Dodo Juice Lime Prime and my random orbital polisher, then I polished it with some Autoglym Super Resin Polish to ensure the surface was perfect, then I put on a coat of Swissvax Best of Show. I finished it off with some Dodo Juice Red Mist detailing spray....
And now some final shots of the interior....
Last edited:
