w204 Facelift Official Press Release/Pictures

[trapperjohn]

That estate looks very tasty.

 

[st13phil]

Does the intelegence light system on the sport include Xenons. Major plus if it does.

Yes, the ILS does include xenons.

The 5speed box now being scrapped makes getting a 4 cylinder car pointless in my view. Might as well get the 6 clyinder car and enjoy the prodigious torque and power, but I a not a 7g lover, the consolation for having 7g is that engine. The consolation for me of the gruffer slower engine was the better box.

I know you don't like your example of the 7G box Steve, but it doesn't match my experience at all. In fact, I'm in a loan SLK200K today (60 plate, 3k miles) because my W204's in for a service. Compared to the 7G-Tronic box in my wife's SLK the 5-speeder in this car is just like the one in my W204: lethargic & dull-witted and it comes nowhere near the seamless shifting of the 7G box. How the 7G-Tronic Plus box will be with its start/stop function is another question, of course.

FWIW, the C350CDI is not on the UK pricelist that I've seen and according to the MB-International site it won't be available until July in Germany. It has been re-badged as the C300CDI for that markey, and I'd expect it will be re-badged here, too.

 

[gIzzE]

Has it been rebadged or are we going to see an E350cdi with a twin turbo like the BMW 335d??

 

[fuzzer]

Correct. Dropped my W204 at the dealer's tonight for a service and enquired what they knew about the facelift C-Class and spent 20mins or so with a salesman going through some of the sales briefing material. Once again the UK gets SE, Elegance and Sport models with no Avantgarde option.

Interesting bits include:

• All models get Parktronic with Advanced Parking Guidance, Full ESP Hold function, Cruise Control and Attention Assist as standard
• 7G-Tronic Plus 7-speed auto with start/stop function replaces 5-speed auto across the range (£1,250 incl VAT)
• Elegance is now on 17" wheels and Sport on 18" as standard (SE stays on 16")
• Sport gets Intelligent Lighting System as standard
• Four new metallic paint colours including the rather fetching Canvasite Blue
• COMAND APS online is now a £1,995 option and includes 7" colour display, single CD, radio, 3D map display with TMC, Linguatronic, Bluetooth interface, SD card slot 10GB music register (that's more like it!) and an interface connection point in the centre armrest complete with cables. Also available with 6-disc changer for an extra £250
• COMAND also includes Speed Limit Assist which has a camera on the front screen monitoring the posted limit which is displayed on the speedo central display
• Lane Keeping Package (Blind Spot Assist & Lane Keeping Assist) or Driving Assistance Package Plus (Active Blind Spot Assist & Active Lane Keeping Assist & Distronic Plus) are options across the range

OTR Prices for the C220CDI SE Saloon: Manual £27,870 / Auto £29,120. Elegance = SE + £1,295 / Sport = SE + £1,700

Orders can be placed as of now(ish) with first build slots available March/April

If only... I got a printed price list from a dealer at the weekend and its VERY expensive for a new W204. The W212 is a much better buy.

the elegance is £1295 above the SE and the sport is £1700 above the elegance

220 cdi auto sport in white with heated leather , comand , HK audio ia £36,800!

the sport has still got those horrible seats in it from the pictures forcing you to go for the leather. why they don't just leave the nice black cloth in there ive got no idea. Heated seats are still an optional extra.

I can only hope they are setting the price that high to offer big discounts on them.

Oh , and cheeky as chips .. the comand online system? uses the mobile data allocation from the paired phone to work! come on.. BMW include all the data charges and offer an operator assistance as well as remote telematics.

 

[richard300]

I curse the invention of DRL's..... The round fog lamps in the bumpers of early W204's looked so much better (and still would).

 

[Rory]

Oh , and cheeky as chips .. the comand online system? uses the mobile data allocation from the paired phone to work!

Hmmm...I hope the pairing is a bit less iffy than on previous MBs!

On the Sport/Avantgarde thing - it can only be because MB UK is trying to appeal to a younger demographic?

 

[fuzzer]

Hmmm...I hope the pairing is a bit less iffy than on previous MBs!

On the Sport/Avantgarde thing - it can only be because MB UK is trying to appeal to a younger demographic?

Wait and see, the bmw bluetooth system is so much better and they have been using that since 2004 , so hardly reinventing the wheel. MB just use a cheap solution.

 

[st4]

Has it been rebadged or are we going to see an E350cdi with a twin turbo like the BMW 335d??

We can but hope, I for one would be interested once they hit the 2nd hand market. 300bhp in standard tune, yummy, hopefully enough torque to mean 5g box has to be used.

Dream car....

If only... I got a printed price list from a dealer at the weekend and its VERY expensive for a new W204. The W212 is a much better buy.

Agreed, but I guess it does not cost that much more to build a 212 so they can afford to sell it cheap.

Loved it, you know what you really want to buy.

220 cdi auto sport in white with heated leather , comand , HK audio ia £36,800!

Rip off. Another grand gets you a nice E350cdi AG

the sport has still got those horrible seats in it from the pictures forcing you to go for the leather. why they don't just leave the nice black cloth in there ive got no idea. Heated seats are still an optional extra.

Funny how folk are different, I prefer them and an advantage of the 204 over the 212 is the half cloth/leather. I miss the seating of my old car which had that

I can only hope they are setting the price that high to offer big discounts on them.

It may well be so, or that the 204 is deemed more desirable as its smaller, and percieved to be cheaper to run than the larger car.

Oh , and cheeky as chips .. the comand online system? uses the mobile data allocation from the paired phone to work! come on.. BMW include all the data charges and offer an operator assistance as well as remote telematics.[/QUOTE]

 

[st4]

Yes, the ILS does include xenons.I know you don't like your example of the 7G box Steve, but it doesn't match my experience at all. In fact, I'm in a loan SLK200K today (60 plate, 3k miles) because my W204's in for a service. Compared to the 7G-Tronic box in my wife's SLK the 5-speeder in this car is just like the one in my W204: lethargic & dull-witted and it comes nowhere near the seamless shifting of the 7G box. How the 7G-Tronic Plus box will be with its start/stop function is another question, of course.

Phil,

I was also loaned a CLS350cdi with the 7g and whilst it was marginally better than the 7g I have, actual shift times (watching the revs) in the 5g 212 were faster and IMHO smoother. Particularly downshifting.

Sorry. Not a fan.

 

[grober]

Soooooooooooo --any good insider details/authoritative source as to exactly when these cars are going to be appearing in dealer showrooms? Notice I said examples "appearing" in showrooms --- not necessarily available to buy but at least a couple of demonstrators on display. Is there an official launch date and will the estate be contemporaneous?

 

[grober]

Bump!

 

[Raggie]

The dealer has stated that their demo cars will be available on the 25th March, with customer orders delivered shortly after.

 

[grober]

C class facelift video

Quite liked this video on the facelift C class saloon on the Mercedes.de site Reminded me of the old Sean Connery movie The Anderson Tapes for some reason.
[YOUTUBE]XWkHAEjMcQw[/YOUTUBE]

 

[st13phil]

The revised interior is definitely a step up from the pre-facelift cars. The dashboard materials and the materials used on the doorcards looks and feels much softer. In fact, I'd say it feels marginally softer than those used on the W212. The new instrument cluster is very sexy too, complete with the same style of graphics as on the new CLS speedo.

What I do think is a backwards step though is that the Elegance is now on 17-inch wheels as standard and the Sport on 18's. With the state of the UK's roads, I really can't see that being a wise move.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Interactive guide now online:

C-Class - Interactive Owner's Manual [Start]

 

[stefanello_cs]

estate looks nice! not bad at all

 

[grober]

A quick video "head to head" with the BMW 3 series and Audi A4 here. Mercedes C-Class group test | Videos | Auto Express