Quick E350 CDI Sport Estate Review

[Deleted member 37751]

Lagerlout is selling his 350 CDi Brabus box for £300.

It's in the classifieds on this forum, I don't know whether it's for the 265bhp engine though, you'd have to ask him.

 

[developer]

Lagerlout is selling his 350 CDi Brabus box for £300.

It's in the classifieds on this forum, I don't know whether it's for the 265bhp engine though, you'd have to ask him.

His is a D6 (III).

 

[This is Pete]

Somebody on here did get a price for one not so long ago and it was over £2k fitted

In that case, I think I'll pass.

Well, after over 500 miles of mixed driving (not exactly trying to be economical), the average indicated mpg is about 35mpg. Which seems in line with my expectations since I didn't really buy the V6 lump to be fuel efficient as a primary consideration.

 

[This is Pete]

Huh. I just found out today that there's little storage bins in the front of the front seats (I thought those plastic boxes were full of electrics for the seats).

I also found the little click for the kickdown mode on the accelerator as well.

After training the linguatronic, it seems to be working out well. It's probably quicker just to push the buttons on the central console but since that would involve the onerous task of leaning forward, it's easier just to grunt my instructions.

Oh, and I managed to get a puncture as well. The pressure loss system worked perfectly as I might not have noticed for a while (not running runflats). Turned out to be a lump of flint, so got sorted out for £18.

 

[@MARK]

After training the linguatronic, it seems to be working out well. It's probably quicker just to push the buttons on the central console but since that would involve the onerous task of leaning forward, it's easier just to grunt my instructions.

You have to train it?

I have had voice control on 2 cars now and never really used it as it seemed more hassle than it is worth.

One day I will read the instruction manual.

I also found the little click for the kickdown mode on the accelerator as well.

On my last car, when in sports mode it was possible to get a triple kick down when you did that.

Haven't tried it on this one yet however I fear I may have run out of road before it gets round to changing.

 

[developer]

You have to train it?

I have had voice control on 2 cars now and never really used it as it seemed more hassle than it is worth.

One day I will read the instruction manual.

I find Linguatronic excellent, particularly for SatNav.

 

[This is Pete]

You have to train it?

I have had voice control on 2 cars now and never really used it as it seemed more hassle than it is worth.

Yes, you need to run through a few question/answer sessions with it for it to get used to your voice. When you do, it's pretty much spot on as long as you know the commands.

On my last car, when in sports mode it was possible to get a triple kick down when you did that.

Haven't tried it on this one yet however I fear I may have run out of road before it gets round to changing.

Yes, there can be a pause while the downshifting happens. What I tend to do when I know I'll need the power is to use the flappy paddles to downshift manually. Then the power deliver is instant.

 

[This is Pete]

What a work of art...

The more I drive the car, the more I love it. I found I need to crack the whip to get some life into her, but with some attention to the flappy paddles, it's a whole different beast on curvy b-roads.

I hereby take back my previous comment that the driving dynamics aren't as good as my previous BMW.

 

[@MARK]

I hereby take back my previous comment that the driving dynamics aren't as good as my previous BMW.

The word I have been using a lot is not better, not worse, just different.

 

[developer]

What a work of art...

The more I drive the car, the more I love it. I found I need to crack the whip to get some life into her, but with some attention to the flappy paddles, it's a whole different beast on curvy b-roads.

I hereby take back my previous comment that the driving dynamics aren't as good as my previous BMW.

Just a slight mod needed.....

 

[@MARK]

Just a slight mod needed.....

Show off

 

[This is Pete]

Just a slight mod needed.....

HAHA... But that would be a D6S kit, surely?

Man, using touchtronic mode makes this car a completely different animal. Just love it.

 

[developer]

HAHA... But that would be a D6S kit, surely?

Undoubtedly - repeat after me, 313/690, 313/690, 313/690

 

[st4]

Undoubtedly - repeat after me, 313/690, 313/690, 313/690

Do the inlet port shut off valves fail on the 350cdi's or did they get round to fixing that issue on a 350cdi?

 

[developer]

Do the inlet port shut off valves fail on the 350cdi's or did they get round to fixing that issue on a 350cdi?

Don't burst his bubble Steve - it's a brand new car.

However, looking that the two photos there's a lot of differences - it's 3 years newer than mine.

 

[This is Pete]

Bubble is unbroken. There's a crapload of warranty left.

I'm having too much fun right now to even consider the brabus kit.

 

[Mercy1]

You have to train it?
I have had voice control on 2 cars now and never really used it as it seemed more hassle than it is worth.
One day I will read the instruction manual.

You are missing out on a great system Mark. Voice commands are quick and easy and there's not much to learn. Much better than manual input, which I now only use on the rare occasions that silly woman can't understand me. For some reason, she can't do Poole or Ewell, no matter how carefully I anunciate it

I was never aware you have to train the system...but perhaps you do...!

 

[Mercy1]

What a work of art...

The more I drive the car, the more I love it. I found I need to crack the whip to get some life into her, but with some attention to the flappy paddles, it's a whole different beast on curvy b-roads.

I hereby take back my previous comment that the driving dynamics aren't as good as my previous BMW.

It's a copy - I've got one like that

 

[developer]

I was never aware you have to train the system...but perhaps you do...!

Don't you have a disc to insert and follow - it was in my manual holdall?

It's not called familiarisation but it's that type of name.

 

[This is Pete]

Don't you have a disc to insert and follow - it was in my manual holdall?

It's not called familiarisation but it's that type of name.

Individualisation.

Basically takes you through a question/answer session where you give it a load of commands to memorize. It's not the full set of instructions, so there's some good voice recognition software in there.

I've found for town names, you get a like of similar sounding names that you can choose from. Oddly, I can't seem to be able to enter a postcode through lingatroninc, or I've not found the method of doing that yet.