W212, w204, 250 or 350 CDI efficiency?

[OneForTheRoad]

Very much so the case , it had to have real leather and not this man made plastic Artico crap that cracks and splits .

Your not wrong . My driver's seat has 3 small splits ,that appeared from nowhere.

 

[markjay]

There's aren't many W204s out there with real leather and heated front seats, unfortunately, but good luck with the search. Also the face-lift model is the better find.

 

[philnewmerc]

There's aren't many W204s out there with real leather and heated front seats, unfortunately, but good luck with the search. Also the face-lift model is the better find.

True, I think the C is a better size for me but unfortunately there were a lot of poverty spec rep mobiles sold, which I'm not remotely interested in, so may have to buy the hearse-line E. A Merc with no heated seats? madness! A merc with a manual gearbox? What kind of caveman buys such a thing. I'm all but decided to ignore my self imposed rule of less than 5 cylinders is like having steak with ketchup, but heated leather and auto is non-negotiable... unless its v cheap

 

[DSM10000]

True, I think the C is a better size for me but unfortunately there were a lot of poverty spec rep mobiles sold, which I'm not remotely interested in, so may have to buy the hearse-line E. A Merc with no heated seats? madness! A merc with a manual gearbox? What kind of caveman buys such a thing. I'm all but decided to ignore my self imposed rule of less than 5 cylinders is like having steak with ketchup, but heated leather and auto is non-negotiable... unless its v cheap

Hold out for what you want or you will regret it

 

[markjay]

True, I think the C is a better size for me but unfortunately there were a lot of poverty spec rep mobiles sold, which I'm not remotely interested in, so may have to buy the hearse-line E. A Merc with no heated seats? madness! A merc with a manual gearbox? What kind of caveman buys such a thing. I'm all but decided to ignore my self imposed rule of less than 5 cylinders is like having steak with ketchup, but heated leather and auto is non-negotiable... unless its v cheap

You'll be typically looking at a C-Class that started life as a private purchase, as opposed to a business lease. Sadly, most are the latter rather than the former. Try avoiding looking at cars with a registration starting with a K, you are more likely to find the privately purchased cars in this way.

 

[philnewmerc]

You'll be typically looking at a C-Class that started life as a private purchase, as opposed to a business lease. Sadly, most are the latter rather than the former. Try avoiding looking at cars with a registration starting with a K, you are more likely to find the privately purchased cars in this way.

Sorry I don't get what you mean? K?

 

[DSM10000]

If you want a C Class then around 2012 is a good year according to my MB Independent. The W204 had a facelift and can be a very pleasant place to be. I miss my W211 and would happily buy a W212 / 13 /W204 /05 when next looking but we are down to three cars at the moment and I have no "need" of another

 

[MrGreedy]

Sorry I don't get what you mean? K?

Cars that start with registration letter K are usually registered directly with Merc around Norhampton. See here for locations:

Private Number Plates & Vehicle Registrations | New Reg

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Registered directly with Merc usually means either lease deals, or dealer demo cars.
My car is 'KM', and it was a dealer demo with reasonable options, including nappa leather seats.
So a registration starting with K is more likely to be a lease car, but this is not conclusive obviously.

Cars that start with other regional identifiers stand more chance of being registered at the dealership purchased from, and therefore a private buyer.
Then following the logic that private buyers might spec the car they want, rather than what complies with the cheapest 'monthlies' on a lease or company car deal, so you might be able to identify cars more likely to be better specced by the reg if shown on autotrader etc.

 

[philnewmerc]

The later 265bhp drivetrain really is more economical than the earlier one, in part due to engine changes but also due to the switch to the 7g+ gearbox. The difference is reflected in the lower CO2 emissions, and it's not a result of any measurement method change. Another benefit of the adoption of the 7g+ gearbox is that it eliminated the slight lag when pulling away from a stop that was present on the earlier cars.

I ran my 2011 265bhp E350CDI from new for 35,000 miles and kept full fuel consumption records. The average consumption - real, brim-to-brim - was 38mpg. Beware claimed mpg based on the car's trip computer: mine would routinely show around 10% lower consumption (i.e. a higher mpg) than the real brim-to-brim measure. Most of my driving was on fast A- and B-roads on my daily commute, but obviously over that distance it also included motorway and city driving so it's a realistic view of fuel consumption unless you have a high bias towards short city runs in stop/start traffic which in my experience carries a heavy consumption penalty.

If fuel economy is important then the 265bhp BlueEfficiency drivetrain (introduced on cars built from around April 2011) is the sweet spot until the very last cars with the 9g gearbox. Avoid the AdBlue "BlueTec" pre-facelift cars as they drink more diesel and have a lower power output.

Sorry I missed this reply. 38 mpg sounds very realistic (and the reason some prefer their OBC readout ). Excellent advice, thanks.

 

[st13phil]

I think the C is a better size for me but unfortunately there were a lot of poverty spec rep mobiles sold, which I'm not remotely interested in, so may have to buy the hearse-line E.

Having owned both a W204 and a few W212's, if faced with the choice I'd go for the E-Class. The W204 C-Class is a great car, but the W212 is better.

If you're looking for a C350CDI then chances are that anything available will be Sport spec which is fine, but the ride can be a bit on the choppy side.

There are certainly more E350CDI's in Sport trim than there are in Avantgarde trim, but the ride quality of the Sport version is still very good, and much more comfortable than a Sport-spec W204. All W212's in Sport trim have a black headliner, but many were spec'd with a Pano Roof which lightens the interior significantly. It's rare to find one with the optional leather seats (standard was Dynamica in the centre with Artico bolsters). In Avantgarde trim the headliner was a light colour which makes the interior less oppressive and it got proper leather seats as standard. Another advantage of the Avantgarde trim is that it came with the same size wheel and tyre on each corner (rather than the staggered setup on the Sport) which means you can swap tyres around to even out the wear.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Mine is a Sport (E350 CDI)....it does have the black headliner and no sunroof which is a pity.....but have light grey leather on the seats and the door, along with the silver metal inserts, really brings it to life. No way Id have a black leather one but its personal choice and I know others on here would not consider anything other than black. But my interior feels much bigger than the black ones IMO.
As far as ride goes....firm but compliant and stiff enough to go around corners properly. My seats are real leather too.
Poor pic attached!!

 

[ALFAitalia]

Note how close I have to park it to the wall to leave a sensible route past.....never though about how much wider it was than my 159 until i got her home!! The passenger mirror is overlapping the end of that wall!!

 

[BlackC55]

Get a 250 or 220. Map it (the performance is great) and you will see 50MPG and possibly better.

 

[toteimerced]

If you get the four pot, you’ll wish you’d got the six, torque is immense and far more refined, just saying.

 

[BlackC55]

If you get the four pot, you’ll wish you’d got the six, torque is immense and far more refined, just saying.

and 50% more to fix when it goes wrong

 

[toteimerced]

Yeah but worth it.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Note how close I have to park it to the wall to leave a sensible route past.....never though about how much wider it was than my 159 until i got her home!! The passenger mirror is overlapping the end of that wall!!

I was the same with the 3er; I knew it was wider than the S204 but not that much....

 

[toteimerced]

You need a bigger drive, best move house.

 

[st13phil]

My seats are real leather too.

The first owner thoughtfully spec'd the optional leather seats, which are identical to the ones fitted to the Avantgarde cars.

 

[ALFAitalia]

You need a bigger drive, best move house.

The drive is massive at the front...I could fit three cars abreact at a push.....but her ladyship uses her car most days and I only use mine on a Weekend....so she gets the front and I get banished to the back where its narrow. For a while we parked them side by side....but it looked stupid!!