DITTRICH
MB Enthusiast
I had the use of the more modern GLA whilst the w124 was having a water pump replaced. I thought I'd set out a chalk and cheese review.
The GLA is a fairly nippy little beastie, but the 7 speed box changes up quite quickly and so there isn't really any aural feedback - it just goes quicker and doesn't rev like a petrol engine. The main things I noticed were the controls:-
1 The steering was so light and there wasn't much feedback.
2 The accelerator hadalmost no resistance or feedback.
3 The brake was very sensitive and almost no travel.
4 The gears are changed by paddles or by a column stick up/down action.
5 The parking brake is electronic and is engaged by pushing the stick (4 above) in to engage/disengage. Coming from other mercedes cars which had the indicator stalk where the gear stalk now sits was a bit of a challenge. The indicator stalk in an RHD w124 is on a different side to an RHD w202.
6 Command and the reversing camera were actually very useful.
7 Some form of yellow triangle kept coming up on the display on the motorway - looked in the manual - a sort of collision avoidance suggesting I was too close to the car in front.
8 Seating seemed very low down in sporty seats and windscreen very high so no sense of sitting above it all rather sitting in it with little view of the front of the car or feeling of where it was.
9 Fuel economy on 50 mile motorway commute 62 mpg at 60mph checked over 100 miles.
10 The widget on the centre console to control the command screen was actually rather useful but the screen isn't a touch screen like my garmin and isn't much bigger (might be the same 7" size).
11 The quality of the interior is pretty good but a little too silvery and sparkly for my taste.
12 I can't say that I like the gear stalk thing or the parking brake thing.
13 There are millions of buttons in this car and it feels over cluttered and a little claustrophobic. There are fewer button inside the whole w124 than in the driver's door of the GLA.
14 gear changes almost undetectable with little feedback beyond the display
15 It's well put together and convenient but I can't see myself enjoying it in the same way a my w202 c230k saloon. It doesn't have a character or a soul.
Now the statistics w124/GLA:-
1 Same journey 45.4mpg / 62.5mpg real 60 mph motorway driving.
2 Kerb weights 1,580kg / 1,535kg
3 power 136bhp / 170 bhp
4 torque 210nm 2,200-4,600 / 350nm 1,400-3,400
5 gears 4speed / 7 speed
6 tank 72lt / 56lt
7 range 719mile / 769mile
8 0-62 14s? / 8.3s
9 year 1994 / 2013 difference 19 years
What I find remarkable in all of this is that my 240,000 mile estate can still manage 45mpg and I'm curious as to what an E class estate can achieve these days. I'm not sure I'd change the w124 though - it has presence and character - frayed around the edges yet it still battles on.
The GLA is a fairly nippy little beastie, but the 7 speed box changes up quite quickly and so there isn't really any aural feedback - it just goes quicker and doesn't rev like a petrol engine. The main things I noticed were the controls:-
1 The steering was so light and there wasn't much feedback.
2 The accelerator hadalmost no resistance or feedback.
3 The brake was very sensitive and almost no travel.
4 The gears are changed by paddles or by a column stick up/down action.
5 The parking brake is electronic and is engaged by pushing the stick (4 above) in to engage/disengage. Coming from other mercedes cars which had the indicator stalk where the gear stalk now sits was a bit of a challenge. The indicator stalk in an RHD w124 is on a different side to an RHD w202.
6 Command and the reversing camera were actually very useful.
7 Some form of yellow triangle kept coming up on the display on the motorway - looked in the manual - a sort of collision avoidance suggesting I was too close to the car in front.
8 Seating seemed very low down in sporty seats and windscreen very high so no sense of sitting above it all rather sitting in it with little view of the front of the car or feeling of where it was.
9 Fuel economy on 50 mile motorway commute 62 mpg at 60mph checked over 100 miles.
10 The widget on the centre console to control the command screen was actually rather useful but the screen isn't a touch screen like my garmin and isn't much bigger (might be the same 7" size).
11 The quality of the interior is pretty good but a little too silvery and sparkly for my taste.
12 I can't say that I like the gear stalk thing or the parking brake thing.
13 There are millions of buttons in this car and it feels over cluttered and a little claustrophobic. There are fewer button inside the whole w124 than in the driver's door of the GLA.
14 gear changes almost undetectable with little feedback beyond the display
15 It's well put together and convenient but I can't see myself enjoying it in the same way a my w202 c230k saloon. It doesn't have a character or a soul.
Now the statistics w124/GLA:-
1 Same journey 45.4mpg / 62.5mpg real 60 mph motorway driving.
2 Kerb weights 1,580kg / 1,535kg
3 power 136bhp / 170 bhp
4 torque 210nm 2,200-4,600 / 350nm 1,400-3,400
5 gears 4speed / 7 speed
6 tank 72lt / 56lt
7 range 719mile / 769mile
8 0-62 14s? / 8.3s
9 year 1994 / 2013 difference 19 years
What I find remarkable in all of this is that my 240,000 mile estate can still manage 45mpg and I'm curious as to what an E class estate can achieve these days. I'm not sure I'd change the w124 though - it has presence and character - frayed around the edges yet it still battles on.
