W205 - 14 months on

[ChuckNorris]

So after 14 months, 35,000 miles and 800+ hours of being sat in the driving seat I thought I'd pass on a few thoughts.

I have a W205 C250 Bluetec in the sports version and it has been a damn fine motor so far. Have it for a company car so the 109 CO2 things help with the BiK taxation although I've refilled the Adblu twice outside of the two services it's had so far (£20 from Amazon for 10 litres helps on the wallet).

It's not a fast car but it's quick enough to get in (and out of) trouble but it seems to be equally happy sat at motorway speeds or just pootling about town.

MPG is averaging 51.3 over the life of the drives according to the trip computer but yesterday's 212 mile drive from Sheffield city centre to Southampton saw me record a 69.2 MPG for the four hour trip.

Most annoying things I've found so far...

Creaking somewhere behind the dash - worse in cold but can't agree with other half where it's coming from
Higher than expected wind noise from driver's window
Garmin Map Pilot definitely the worst I've used - doesn't handle straying from the instructions and finds it hard to distinguish between fastest route and shortest
Boot seemed to open far too easily when key has been in my pocket (twice so far but enough to make me paranoid about it)

The annoyances aren't enough to ruin the feeling & drive so with all recent posts focusing on the new C350e I thought I'd add a little shout out for the near 70MPG cruising C250...

Cheers.

 

[st13phil]

Thanks for posting your thoughts and experiences.

It's always helpful to hear from someone who pretty much lives in a car (no offence intended) as that's when anything that's not 100% right really starts to grate.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Fantastic point made on the MPG. C350e doesn't look so appealing when you look at your figures. Less than a second in it in 0-60 time too. (5.9 V's 6.7) It seems Merc has much more development work to do on their plug in to make it worth buying.

However, there aren't many C350e owners that seem that unhappy.

Great post. Thanks.

Ant.

 

[MDC250]

That is very respectable mpg.

Just done slightly over 1000 mile round trip in my C250 (S204) , toll road in France so 130 kph with some 110 kph mixed in. Pretty clear run this end as well but best it would give me is 50.5 mpg

 

[ChuckNorris]

That is very respectable mpg. Just done slightly over 1000 mile round trip in my C250 (S204) , toll road in France so 130 kph with some 110 kph mixed in. Pretty clear run this end as well but best it would give me is 50.5 mpg

That's a good average for an estate and certainly better scenery than my trip back from Sheffield!

I find the Eco mode on the W205 instantly relaxes the car and dulls the throttle response. I think it also reduces the efficiency of the air conditioning which clearly helps the consumption to boot.

No other obvious benefits from the Eco mode and I find that the W204's start stop was more aggressive and cut in far more than my current model.

 

[c63chris]

Good write up and I agree about the Garmin, worse than the Becker I had in the A45. MPG way more than I am getting that said been pleased with mine given the speed. I get high forties/low fifties hacking up and down the M40. Overall very pleased with mine though I'm only 3 months in.

 

[Brian 1]

Wow that's some motoring CN,I think it shows how fantastic reliable Mercedes-Benz are.....

 

[RonFleet]

I have a 17 month old C220 and have covered 16,000 miles - getting exactly the same mpg as Chuck over the 17 months (51.3) and usually high sixties on motorway journeys. Very pleased.

I also have the same problem with wind noise from the driver's side window. I agree with comments on the Garmin - it's nowhere near as good as my old TomTom - although I haven't had any misdirections on roundabouts (voice and text say take the first exit while the graphic shows taking the third exit) since updating the satnav firmware last week. My car creaks from the driver's and front passenger's side windows when the outside temperature is around 12 degC. I suspect it's the seals, as applying a little Fairy liquid cures it for a while.

Great car.

 

[ChuckNorris]

I have a 17 month old C220 and have covered 16,000 miles - getting exactly the same mpg as Chuck over the 17 months (51.3) and usually high sixties on motorway journeys. Very pleased. I also have the same problem with wind noise from the driver's side window. I agree with comments on the Garmin - it's nowhere near as good as my old TomTom - although I haven't had any misdirections on roundabouts (voice and text say take the first exit while the graphic shows taking the third exit) since updating the satnav firmware last week. My car creaks from the driver's and front passenger's side windows when the outside temperature is around 12 degC. I suspect it's the seals, as applying a little Fairy liquid cures it for a while. Great car.

Thanks for the fairy liquid tip, I'll give it a go on the way up to the Cotswolds tomorrow!

The sat nav issue for me peaked when I knew better than the planned route and it refused to acknowledge this. It persisted in directing me back to the M4 and round a big loop adding a further 25 minutes to the journey until I was less than 100 feet from my destination at which point it decided that covering 100 feet was shorter than then massive diversion.

 

[RonFleet]

Hi Chuck,

Did the Fairy liquid help stop the creaking?

 

[ChuckNorris]

Hi Chuck, Did the Fairy liquid help stop the creaking?

worked like a charm! Thank you for the tip

Now just have to explain to the other half why I need to go all Nanette Newman on my £35k car when her DS3 is fine haha.

Will take this opportunity to ask, aside from dulling the throttle response does anyone find that the Eco mode changes anything else?

 

[Jay2512]

Will take this opportunity to ask, aside from dulling the throttle response does anyone find that the Eco mode changes anything else?

You will notice the car go in to glide mode when you take your foot off the accelerator. Basically going in to neutral and coasting.

 

[wivenhoe]

Will take this opportunity to ask, aside from dulling the throttle response does anyone find that the Eco mode changes anything else?

On my C350e Eco turns off the heated seats and cuts down on heating / air conditioning. I don't use it in this cold weather !

 

[ChuckNorris]

You will notice the car go in to glide mode when you take your foot off the accelerator. Basically going in to neutral and coasting.

I expected this one but mine doesn't, it's the same as comfort - revs stay the same and engine braking all as per usual. That would be another little boost in my quest for awesome MPG!

 

[ChuckNorris]

On my C350e Eco turns off the heated seats and cuts down on heating / air conditioning. I don't use it in this cold weather !

thankfully my heated seats stay on although I did notice that the heater wasn't as aggressive / effective. Toasty backside is fine as the rest of me warms up pretty quickly then.

 

[XRS]

Our C250 has done just under 12,000 miles since we bought it in December 2014. The mpg is currently 44.99 overall, though this computer thinks it's more.

My wife does a long journey to her mother's every month but although it's mostly motorway we found no advantage in using Eco. We generally leave it in C.

Our son is just about to pick up his C220 AMG Premium estate. I suspect it will spend quite a lot of its time in Sport+ so it'll be interesting to see how the mpgs compare.