SimonsMerc
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2004
- Messages
- 1,147
- Location
- Sudbury, West London
- Car
- Merc S212 E350 CDI BlueEfficiency Sport 256bhp, Suzuki GSX-650F, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Dynamic
I am doing some work in Paris, and because the place I'm working is slightly south of the city, I am hiring cars and driving around.
Last week I had a BMW 320d touring. I've never driven a 3 series before, but I have to say it was absolutely superb. The 2L diesel engine is a peach - a lovely purr making you question whether it's really a diesel, with plenty of power for this size of car, very pleasant when overtaking with loads of torque available low down in the rev range, and yet an average of 7.3 l/100km over the course of the week (mainly in Paris traffic). The car drives beautifully - I was absolutely amazed. The handling is dead on - it feels more like a sports car, it sticks to the road, it's like you merge with the car such that you can use your own nerve impulses to tell it which way to go. And at the same time, it manages to be comfortable and make me feel like I have lots of space.
The built in BMW GPS system is amazing - the most exact I have ever seen (to the extent of knowing which way I was facing in an underground car-park six stories below ground), with very up to date maps, extremely fast re-routing, amazing integration with TMC (it automatically re-routed me around an accident using small side-roads, and took me back out 100 yards beyond the crash - I looked back and saw the huge tailback it had saved me from) and generally very clever routing options. All in all, I was so impressed with the package I am considering it as a replacement for my 7 series (I want a bit more boot space for lugging around amplifiers and computers and stuff).
This week, I have a C220cdi Avantgarde Estate as a hire car (from Hertz). It has just over 12000 km on the clock, has faux-leather seats, auto box, parktronic and COMAND. And, it is absolutely awful. It is slow and underpowered, even though the engine is larger than the BMW, and it sounds like a tractor (and when going uphill like an asthmatic tractor). The handling is all over the shop - the car gives so little feedback/response it's more like herding cattle than driving. It feels like, rather than trying to build a sports saloon, they tried to package up the E class feeling into a cheaper product, and have failed miserably.
As for the COMAND system - good lord, it's terrible. The maps are obviously out of date, even though the car is only six months old (leading to it telling me to turn into one-way streets in Paris, and taking me into a road which has clearly been closed for multiple years). The GPS is inaccurate - there were a couple of places where it clearly drifted while I was standing still (does this system not have an input from the various car sensors?), and it sometimes seems to take five or ten seconds to even notice that I have strayed from the correct route. Even when it does notice, it starts re-routing from the point at which I strayed, not where I then am, meaning that re-routing is useless - because it takes so long to re-route that I have gone past the point it wants me to turn off at. Worst of all, my destination address was in Massy south of Paris, so I wanted to go South from Gare du Nord, but the stupid thing took me east on to the ring road, which is patently ridiculous in and of itself, and right into the heaviest traffic! I really had to laugh - TMC was *showing* traffic on the route it was taking me to, a whole line of cars replacing the drawing of the road (and making the map harder to read), but it took me onto it and around the ring-road anyway.
I love my E320cdi; it eats up the miles effortlessly, it wafts along with class, it drives and handles well, and is the most comfortable and practical car I have ever had. I will be replacing it with a new E class next year (waiting for the release of the new one in 2009). I am a big fan of Mercedes in general. But my experience this week shows that the old adage is true: Mercedes starts with an E.
-simon
Last week I had a BMW 320d touring. I've never driven a 3 series before, but I have to say it was absolutely superb. The 2L diesel engine is a peach - a lovely purr making you question whether it's really a diesel, with plenty of power for this size of car, very pleasant when overtaking with loads of torque available low down in the rev range, and yet an average of 7.3 l/100km over the course of the week (mainly in Paris traffic). The car drives beautifully - I was absolutely amazed. The handling is dead on - it feels more like a sports car, it sticks to the road, it's like you merge with the car such that you can use your own nerve impulses to tell it which way to go. And at the same time, it manages to be comfortable and make me feel like I have lots of space.
The built in BMW GPS system is amazing - the most exact I have ever seen (to the extent of knowing which way I was facing in an underground car-park six stories below ground), with very up to date maps, extremely fast re-routing, amazing integration with TMC (it automatically re-routed me around an accident using small side-roads, and took me back out 100 yards beyond the crash - I looked back and saw the huge tailback it had saved me from) and generally very clever routing options. All in all, I was so impressed with the package I am considering it as a replacement for my 7 series (I want a bit more boot space for lugging around amplifiers and computers and stuff).
This week, I have a C220cdi Avantgarde Estate as a hire car (from Hertz). It has just over 12000 km on the clock, has faux-leather seats, auto box, parktronic and COMAND. And, it is absolutely awful. It is slow and underpowered, even though the engine is larger than the BMW, and it sounds like a tractor (and when going uphill like an asthmatic tractor). The handling is all over the shop - the car gives so little feedback/response it's more like herding cattle than driving. It feels like, rather than trying to build a sports saloon, they tried to package up the E class feeling into a cheaper product, and have failed miserably.
As for the COMAND system - good lord, it's terrible. The maps are obviously out of date, even though the car is only six months old (leading to it telling me to turn into one-way streets in Paris, and taking me into a road which has clearly been closed for multiple years). The GPS is inaccurate - there were a couple of places where it clearly drifted while I was standing still (does this system not have an input from the various car sensors?), and it sometimes seems to take five or ten seconds to even notice that I have strayed from the correct route. Even when it does notice, it starts re-routing from the point at which I strayed, not where I then am, meaning that re-routing is useless - because it takes so long to re-route that I have gone past the point it wants me to turn off at. Worst of all, my destination address was in Massy south of Paris, so I wanted to go South from Gare du Nord, but the stupid thing took me east on to the ring road, which is patently ridiculous in and of itself, and right into the heaviest traffic! I really had to laugh - TMC was *showing* traffic on the route it was taking me to, a whole line of cars replacing the drawing of the road (and making the map harder to read), but it took me onto it and around the ring-road anyway.
I love my E320cdi; it eats up the miles effortlessly, it wafts along with class, it drives and handles well, and is the most comfortable and practical car I have ever had. I will be replacing it with a new E class next year (waiting for the release of the new one in 2009). I am a big fan of Mercedes in general. But my experience this week shows that the old adage is true: Mercedes starts with an E.
-simon
