Auto Bild's Side-By-Side Comparison Of The Mercedes-Benz C-Class And BMW 3 Series

[Yperion]

E90 doesn't have much more space in the rear seat compared to old C class so i 'm surprised cause the result means that there is no improvement in the rear seat for the new C class over the old one.

 

[Zafiro]

And those who will buy the new A4? Do you envy them also?

of course Yannis

 

[Yperion]

of course Yannis

Thanks Andreas.

I needed to know cause i 'm going to buy one.

 

[bmer]

I'd say:

Front: Tie
Rear: Close but MB wins
Interior: BMW

 

[EnI]

My 2 cents:

Front: 3er
Rear: C-class
Side: 3er
Interior: 3er

Winner: 3er

 

[bmer]

Someone more than I who think the C-class interior have much in common with Opel Cars?

/audi

I've never thought that but actually now that you said it I can see some some small similarities...




Here the lower part of the middle console (the central knob, number buttons and how they are placed (layout))




The upper part of the middle console (area that includes: hatch (for flip screen?), air-con vents, warning signal button)


And now before I get flamed: I'm NOT claiming that Mercedes copied Opel, the similarities are propably just a coincidence.

 

[mrkc77]

It is a bit unfair to compare a AMG kitted C to a normal 3er but being a MB fan, i'm not complaining

However, my vote goes to the C, due to the fact that it has a better rear end than the 3 IMO. If it was a comparison between the E46, than the E46 wins.

Surprise to see though, that the 3 seems to have more rear legroom than the C.

 

[sunnyman12]

The sports kit for the 3er only makes it look worse, so in my eyes this comparison is fair.

your talking garbage...
any way i think the c looks real good..i think that these cars look really similar from the outside...especially dimensionally

 

[ismeto]

What is the colour this Mercedes ? not seems Silver

 

[CarGuy]

Quite Unfair but here goes
Experior: C all the way(side,front,rear)
Interior: 3er(not that big of a difference but less complexity does it)
Overall: C

 

[NTT]

What is the colour this Mercedes ? not seems Silver

Palladium Silver

 

[NTT]

This is the Avantgarde version and it improve the looks a lot. It looks better than the other version of C-class.

• Looking at these pics I find the 3er front more attractive than the C-class.

• The profile is a tie between them.

• The rear, none of them are any beauties, they just look alright.

• Interior, Im with Yannis on this. The interior in 3er looks more clean and elegant and not as busy as the C-class

.

Both are fine vehicles and you wont be disappointed if you choose the C-class or the 3er. Two of the best cars on the market today. I envy those who is thinking of buying either the 3er or the C-class.

I agree with your comments about the dash on both cars.

Its quite interesting, the C's dash looks fine in isolation, but when placed side by side with the 3er the C's dash looks quite busy.

 

[klier]

3er all the way, from every angle....and the interior in particular! Even without M package.

 

[GTA45E]

Nice pics.. The new C sure does have a lot of presence!


This presence comes from it`s mother the new CL and it`s father the S. It almost crushes the 3 in the side by side photos and the C isn`t that much larger. I`m also with those who say the C is better looking!
not only that but the design seems to have a completed touch.

 

[SDNR]

Btw, I can see new Audi A4 much more dangerous to the 3er.

I absolutely agree Eni

The new Merc will continue to be popular among the over 50s .....but no boy-racer will ever choose the Benz over an A4 or 3er. The C class just isn't as cool as the other two.

 

[Centurion]

I agree with your comments about the dash on both cars.

Its quite interesting, the C's dash looks fine in isolation, but when placed side by side with the 3er the C's dash looks quite busy.

It is all about convinience. Many people like me like having certain functions easily accesed and not having to go through menus. Like cellphone feature in the C. Instead of dialing a number suing a jog you simply do it the old fashion way and use the 1-9 buttons on center console. A great looking console can sometime be a pain in the ass to use in the real world. When it comes to interior function is often more important than form.

 

[arvinda]

The mercedes looks progressive, but has merc copied the Hoffmeister kink from the 3-series. Looks aside, where both are quite evenly matched, I would feel that the BMW would appeal to the more sporting driver while the merc will cater to the more luxury orientd consumer. Wonderful cars both.

 

[Mr. Chigga_Chan]

It seems like MB did a great job putting together the new C-Class. Its never going to win the boy-racer crowd, but it's not supposed to.

When we get all the brand nuthuggers trying to claim foul when MB puts out a sport version of the car that will probably be the same price as the luxury version in the US, you know that MB made some improvements. You would think that a normal 3-Series would dominate in all handling and performance categories.

I think the C-Class looks far better than the 3-Series from the exterior(E46 beats them all), but the C-Class interior looks way too busy and plasticky vs the clean lines of the 3-Series. Thats the one thing I still despise from the C-Class, that interior center console doesn't look like it came from MB.

 

[NTT]

It is all about convinience. Many people like me like having certain functions easily accesed and not having to go through menus. Like cellphone feature in the C. Instead of dialing a number suing a jog you simply do it the old fashion way and use the 1-9 buttons on center console. A great looking console can sometime be a pain in the ass to use in the real world. When it comes to interior function is often more important than form.

Quite right.