Thoughts on new W212

[harvin1975]

Initial thoughts on my new W212 (E Class Estate)

So - I took delivery of a new W212 (E Class Estate).
My thoughts so far.

• Petrol engine: Nippy enough. Miss the grunt from my 3.5 V6 Murano though. Sounds a bit "rough" - my Dad though I'd bought a diesel.
• Ride: I think it's good. Wife reckons Murano is smoother though.
• Sound System (Harman Kardon): OK - but nowhere near as good as the Bose on my Murano. Bass is rubbish - must check whether a sub is in the car. If so, it's no good. Needs another screen for radio. I want to see Sat Nav + Radio station on separate centre consoles. (I know driver can see additional stuff on driver console - but fiddly and not same amount of detail). No multi-car CD - they're not defunct yet!
• Ambience: Noisy inside - especially around 70mph. Even with stereo going. Murano was far quieter inside.
• Sat Nav: Worst system I've ever come across. Lots of stuff I could configure on my previous system I can't even access on this TomTom based system. Road names are tiny, can't seem to edit names once an address has been saved. No clear description on which route is fast, eco, slow etc.
• Bluetooth: Cannot pair my BlackBerry contacts with phone. Had no problem on my Parrot system in previous car.
• Colour: Lovely - Hyacinth Red is a beaut.

So - missing my Nissan Murano, but am enjoying the feel of having a new car. Hoping the niggles don't remain to spoil my new drive.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

So to sum up your thoughts, at least you like the colour?

 

[harvin1975]

So to sum up your thoughts, at least you like the colour?

The colour is fab!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The colour is fab!

I agree, yours looks very nice, it's nice to see a Mercedes with a bit of colour.

 

[gIzzE]

If you think that is noisy, you should hear the diesel!!


I found the ride far too over damped and crashy on mine, and the noise I went into great detail on previously. In the end I swapped the Conti tyres for....I can't remember now, but they had a noise class 1 and only 68db rating this helped a lot, but it was the crappy interior plastics that caused the noise to resonate, especially in the rear. When I was in the car all day I put a big duvet in the rear and this absorbed a lot of the noise and made it bearable, but far from ideal.

(The facelift got a much softer suspension set up, the facelift sport was softer then my avantgarde pre facelift, and the SE was meant to be even nicer, and no worse for it handling wise.)

Compared to the S211 E320cdi I had before it was a big shock, and I had a new BMW F11 5 Series Touring for a few weeks before the E350 and that was almost silent when cruising at 85, so was a bit of a shock.


But, I sort of got used to those things, the things I couldn't get used to were the steering wheel blocked the cluster when set up to be comfy, window sill too high to rest my arm and the paramater steering which I found almost dangerous, non linear steering is not a good idea imho.
All things which I believe they sorted on the facelift model.

If I had kept the car longer I would have put some thick carpet in the boot and some sort of foam behind the rear trim to absorb the cabin noise.

 

[harvin1975]

If you think that is noisy, you should hear the diesel!!


I found the ride far too over damped and crashy on mine, and the noise I went into great detail on previously. In the end I swapped the Conti tyres for....I can't remember now, but they had a noise class 1 and only 68db rating this helped a lot, but it was the crappy interior plastics that caused the noise to resonate, especially in the rear. When I was in the car all day I put a big duvet in the rear and this absorbed a lot of the noise and made it bearable, but far from ideal.

(The facelift got a much softer suspension set up, the facelift sport was softer then my avantgarde pre facelift, and the SE was meant to be even nicer, and no worse for it handling wise.)

Compared to the S211 E320cdi I had before it was a big shock, and I had a new BMW F11 5 Series Touring for a few weeks before the E350 and that was almost silent when cruising at 85, so was a bit of a shock.


But, I sort of got used to those things, the things I couldn't get used to were the steering wheel blocked the cluster when set up to be comfy, window sill too high to rest my arm and the paramater steering which I found almost dangerous, non linear steering is not a good idea imho.
All things which I believe they sorted on the facelift model.

If I had kept the car longer I would have put some thick carpet in the boot and some sort of foam behind the rear trim to absorb the cabin noise.

Ah - you mention some stuff I failed to include.
Yes - steering wheel obscures top of speedometer when set up to be comfortable for me.
Arm rest thing ok - it's actually in a better position than my previous car - but still not ideal.
5 Series was certainly quieter - and also when driving the 530d.

I'm also tempted to carpet my boot - some nice shaggy carpet may do the trick! The only problem I foresee is finding a colour that will keep wife happy

 

[Red C220]

I have no issues with the Sat Nav in our E and find it better than the Tom Tom we have.

I also have no issues with pairing my Blackberry (Z10) including all contacts.

Ours is noisy, I remember the day I picked it up I thought a back window was slightly open. I figure the noise is tyre roar from the sport rear wheels which are 265 wide I think? Anyway, it's far more noisy than the C220 Estate we had before it.

Ride is good though, but we have a sport with optional comfy suspension, I think it was called direct control or something when we ordered our car. But the ride is great.

 

[developer]

Great colour.

E estates have always been tyre noisy at the rear, to the point where you start looking for quieter tyres.

On the positive side, if you need a load lugger, as I do, E Class has no equal in it's sector.

What engine is it?

Are those full LED's - you have the same DRL's as me - the best looking IMO.

 

[Mulberry]

I'm also tempted to carpet my boot - some nice shaggy carpet may do the trick! The only problem I foresee is finding a colour that will keep wife happy

Does she spend much time in the boot?

 

[merc85]

Ha ha you liked your Datsun then? Thats good wife picks up her new X-trail next week i wonder what it will be like compared to my s211?

Are the 212's so much worse than the 211's then? i love my 211 to bits, but like the shape of the 212's Yours looks stunning btw

 

[gIzzE]

Yes - steering wheel obscures top of speedometer when set up to be comfortable for me.

Arm rest thing ok - it's actually in a better position than my previous car - but still not ideal.

That is a shame on the steering wheel.
I found that when I had my seat set up to be correct for pedals, and then I lowered the steering wheel so my wrists sat on top of it I could only see the bottom of the cluster.
If I moved it up so I could see the cluster I then couldn't reach the steering wheel with my arm on the arm rest of the door.
I ended up with my hands resting on my lap and holding the bottom of the steering wheel on longer journeys.

That on its own was ok, however, the problem was exaggerated by the parameter steering, which made driving round town a bit of a chore.

On the S211 E320 and the BMW if you go round a roundabout you sort of turn the steering wheel to the 9 o'clock position, then round to the 3 o'clock position before coming off and straightening up.
Pretty normal for most cars.
On the E Class with parameter steering you would turn it more than 180º, so you would go passed the 6 o'clock position and then all the way round 360º passed the 6 o'clock again before coming off and straightening up.
Going across London where you are constantly spinning the wheel back and forth got very boring, even more so as you couldn't keep your arm on the armrest and turn the wheel just 90º.
The paramater steering is meant to make the steering lighter and easier round town, it seemed to do the complete opposite.
No one ever really mentioned it on the UK forums, got mentioned loads on the US forums. But I think maybe it was only the 350 that got it as standard here, where as most of their cars had it as standard.

The last straw for me was on the Autoroute, I was doing about 140kmph and there was a very long sweeping curve down a hill, the curve got progressively tighter, the steering seemed to get tighter too, and with it not being linear just couldn't judge how much the car was turning, it started to pull me into the central reservation. There wasn't any danger of crashing as such, as I just slowed down, but I completely lost confidence in the car at speed.


But as negative as all that sounds, I would have another, I would just be very carful with the options, as most niggles can be avoided.

 

[harvin1975]

I have no issues with the Sat Nav in our E and find it better than the Tom Tom we have.

I also have no issues with pairing my Blackberry (Z10) including all contacts.

Ours is noisy, I remember the day I picked it up I thought a back window was slightly open. I figure the noise is tyre roar from the sport rear wheels which are 265 wide I think? Anyway, it's far more noisy than the C220 Estate we had before it.

Ride is good though, but we have a sport with optional comfy suspension, I think it was called direct control or something when we ordered our car. But the ride is great.

Sat Nav - It may be down to change. I'm just finding it less intuitive than my previous version. You can't configure stuff like average speed per road type - but I guess it may be using more real time data. If so, great.

Blackberry - Connects to my Blackberry - but just can't get the contacts read by the COMAND.

I do thing the tyre roar is emphasized due to the cavernous boot space. The duvet in the boot seems like a good option. But my wife may get suspicious - especially if I lay down some nice shagpile too.

Ride: I like it - lots of things to play around with here as we have the Sport/Eco/Manual config thing. Plus airmatic so can switch between sport, comfort and extra height.

Great colour.

E estates have always been tyre noisy at the rear, to the point where you start looking for quieter tyres.

On the positive side, if you need a load lugger, as I do, E Class has no equal in it's sector.

What engine is it?

Are those full LED's - you have the same DRL's as me - the best looking IMO.

It's the E250 petrol. I would've got a V6 if they offered one. Diesels not my thing as I do less than 5k per year - I love the torque on them though.

I also have the ILS system. Tried it out last night but have since read that I should've pushed the light stalk away from me to have full beam. The system would've then taken care of the rest. I think I just had the stalk on normal setting with the light switch on auto.

Ha ha you liked your Datsun then? Thats good wife picks up her new X-trail next week i wonder what it will be like compared to my s211?

Are the 212's so much worse than the 211's then? i love my 211 to bits, but like the shape of the 212's Yours looks stunning btw

That "Datsun" was great . Loved that Murano. I must add it's a very different car to the new X-Trail. Nearly got me thinking about buying an Infiti QX70 (The new FX).
Strange - you never realize how much you like something until it's gone.

I must add though - having a new car as opposed to an older car has raised my anxiety levels. Where do I park in the car park so I don't get knocked? Careful on the reverse parallel parking! Kids - get your shoes off the back of my seat!
I couldn't give 2 hoots about the above in my old car. Parked it where I wanted with no stress or concerns.

 

[Peter DLM]

Gizze, you're the only person I've ever read on any forum that mentions that about the steering, repeatedly. Are you sure it's not just in your mind?

 

[renault12ts]

So...you should have kept the Murano?

 

[harvin1975]

So...you should have kept the Murano?

I think I just miss it. When I was test driving across the marques I kept sitting back in the Murano at the end and thinking "that new car was great...loved this...loved that..." and then I started the engine of the Murano and though that new car may be great but it's not worth 40k more than the Murano!

Anyway - bought the E Class petrol now and sold the Murano. Will certainly enjoy getting more than the 12mpg I was getting from the Murano. I think I've averaged 19mpg so far!

 

[gIzzE]

Gizze, you're the only person I've ever read on any forum that mentions that about the steering, repeatedly. Are you sure it's not just in your mind?

Haha, no.

Not that many were fitted with it, I think I was just unlucky to get it.


None of the 220s, 250s, ever had it, the sport models didn't have it, the AMGs certainly didn't have it. Only 6cyl cars from 2009-2010 came with it as standard from what I could work out.

 

[Ted]

I had one recently for a few days. There was nothing I didn't like about it.
It wafted along beautifully if a little more noisy than I expected.
Interior was a lovely place to be but a little low rent in one or two places.
Fuel consumption was excellent for the size of car.
Both myself and Mrs Ted LOVED the column mounted change and got used to it straight away.
No issues with the satnav other than it was designed by someone with zero knowledge of how to design a UI.
All in all a well executed car. I honestly think that it will grow on you, and that, to me speaks volumes - all of the cars that have been my favourites have done that.

Really nothing negative to say about it, but a couple of things stand out.
I couldn't get over the fact that this car, no matter how nice it was was around 35 grand. It didn't move me in any way. It felt, dare I say it, bland. I felt that despite the fact it was a really nice car....Thirty Five Thousand... if you know what I mean.
And I couldn't wait to get the CLK back. Prolly worth less than a quarter of the E (I hope) Looked so much better. Still draws admiring glances. Kept drawing my eye to it. And most importantly so much nicer to drive.

 

[Alf Barnet]

Harvin, great stuff, not sure about that colour mind

It's not you the navigation is terrible, I'd like a CD changer, auto dip beam is dim witted, but the road noise must be the tyres because mine on skinny 245/45/17's is silent (with or without the boot liner).

Once it got close to a thousand miles it had loosened up nicely, I broke it in like a hire car after 500 miles, worked wonders. Speed is relevant, you don't realise how quick your going. How do you get on with the speedo?

You do adapt your driving style though, it's not an instantly loved machine, no matter what people say.

 

[harvin1975]

Harvin, great stuff, not sure about that colour mind

It's not you the navigation is terrible, I'd like a CD changer, auto dip beam is dim witted, but the road noise must be the tyres because mine on skinny 245/45/17's is silent (with or without the boot liner).

Once it got close to a thousand miles it had loosened up nicely, I broke it in like a hire car after 500 miles, worked wonders. Speed is relevant, you don't realise how quick your going. How do you get on with the speedo?

You do adapt your driving style though, it's not an instantly loved machine, no matter what people say.

Hi there Alf - yeah, colour's shocking eh?

I think the 17s have a little more cushion to them than the 18s - this may be a contribution to the noise I'm hearing. This is only at speed though. Around town it "wafts" around very smoothly.
Top of Speedo it slightly hidden by steering wheel. But I don't find it as clear. I can't recall what exactly it was. Maybe my last car had a thinner needle - anyway, it's not as clear.
Also, I don't like that when I put Distronic Plus graphics on the bottom left shows km/h - I don't care for that. MPH everywhere else - but can't figure out how to turn this to MPH too.

I have already revved to near red - when I dropped to manual and took the gears down too much. I've done less than 100 miles - so may need to take it a little easier for next 900 miles.
However, the guys at the dealership suggested I drive it how I want and not worry. They said they only provide the recommendations to not thrash the car to new AMG owners. I've ready the book and it suggested keeping revs low - but it's a new car and I want some fun - now

 

[kjl]

I don't like the speedometer after my clk which was much clearer and easier to read. I think it is because the markings for the 10mph and 5mph increments are the same. I find it very difficult when in a built up area to check I am not over the speed limit with a quick glance.