Edmunds Inside Line - Long-Term Test: 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport

[coolraoul]

Oh, maybe it was that all the smoke then? And the hole in my pant?
No, I found it useless, and even annoying to have that heating thing under my @$$, but... It must be because I don't really like all these gadgets.

Hell, I even can't stand the cruise control! And these automatic A/C often nerve me always blowing air like that all the time...

So young, already old-fashioned...Really no gadget-freak...(my cell-phone has neither a camera, than a MMS-function )

 

[PanterroR]

So young, already old-fashioned...

Indeed...

To each his own, of course, but as i've said my 1st time i hear about it useless and uncomfortable...

Whatever...

 

[cawimmer430]

Here in Germany you can't even sell a bike if it does not have heated seats ?? Why?? In France nobody really cares this thing...

It's quite useful in the winters. I think if you have a heated garage it is no big deal but that's expensive and most people don't have that anyway.

I just came home from watching a movie with a friend and I am glad my sister's BMW 118i has heated seats. It was -5 degrees C outside so the car was ice cold on the inside. Heated seats help make it more comfortable. I remember driving the 1985 Mercedes 300SE W126 in the winters - no heated seats. Takes awhile for the seats to warm up if you know what I mean.

 

[PHYBENZ]

2008 Mercedes C300 Sport: President's Day Drive



Three-day weekends are a good excuse to get out of town. And as a sort of early Prez Day exercise, I spent the better part of last Friday driving our 2008 Mercedes C300 Sport on some of my favorite central California driving roads.

From a true sporting aspect, the C300 is somewhat of a disappointment. Steering turn-in is immediate – a little too quick in my opinion – and there's substantial grip provided by our car's optional 18-inch AMG wheels with "ContiSportContact 3" 225/40ZR18 tires. But the lack of paddle-style shifters for the transmission, so-so lateral support from the driver seat, the non-disabling stability control system and still somewhat-soft suspension tuning all combine to keep our C300 from being truly engaging.

Away from twisty ribbons of asphalt, I enjoy the C300 more. It's comfortable and respectably quick. And I have to admit, it looks great parked in my driveway. But given a choice of our long-term C300 or our Infiniti G35 for a driver-themed weekend getaway, the G would be my choice.

Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 6,440 miles

Long-Term Road Tests - 2008 Mercedes C300 Sport: President's Day Drive

 

[Merc1]

2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport

Feb 25, 2008

2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport: COMAND 2.0




The 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class comes standard with a new control interface that utilizes a wheel-based controller and a pop-up display monitor. It's very similar to the interface that debuted on the current S-Class, and it's vastly better than Mercedes' previous-generation COMAND navigation interface.

In driving our C300 for about two weeks, I never had to crack the owner's manual on how to figure something out. It's not as effortless to use as I might have hoped – I often found myself hunting in menus for certain functions and spending too much time moving the wheel controller around since the display isn't touchscreen. But overall it's pretty good interface, and it's certainly better than iDrive.

2008 MB C300 -- Brent Romans



Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 6,850 miles


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[Merc1]

Can we make this thread a sticky since this is an ongoing report?

M

 

[Zafiro]

Can we make this thread a sticky since this is an ongoing report?

M

Fixed!

 

[PHYBENZ]

They have no updates on this car for months, and then this... What a joke.

2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: Do Trey and Matt Know About This?

page 77 of the Mercedes-Benz COMAND Operator's Manual

I couldn't make my iPod work properly in our 2008 Mercedes-Benz this weekend, so I dug into the 731-page novel that is the C-class operator's manual. Volume one, consisting of 510 pages, is the primary C-class manual. Volume two, a 221-page affair, refers only to the Mercedes-Benz COMAND system. (Yes, I know. But MB caps everything and uses only one "M".)

There isn't a single page in either volume about the integrated iPod connection our Merc clearly has. Instead, each one devotes but one page each to the "aux" jack our car lacks.


But the search wasn't a total loss. On page 77 of the COMAND manual, I found the above images in the video section. Someone at Mercedes-Benz has a sense of humor, after all. Can you identify the South Park episode in question?

Long-Term Road Tests - 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: Do Trey and Matt Know About This?

 

[ZicZachZo]

The editor says that the next post will be about driving the car. They have driven it less than 2000 miles in 4 months....?! Come on Edmunds.

 

[modena_360stradale]

Give me that classic Cadillac behind the boring Camry.

It's always nice to see people who aren't taken up by the Toyota craze

 

[PHYBENZ]

The editor says that the next post will be about driving the car. They have driven it less than 2000 miles in 4 months....?! Come on Edmunds.

According to Edmunds, the car has over 7,500 miles...

 

[PHYBENZ]

Wow another update so soon!

2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: DIY iPod Operator's Manual

Eureka! In our last episode, our 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300's lack of an operator's manual entry on the subject of iPod use or clearly labelled buttonage had left many confounded. There just had to be more functionality from this dedicated iPod connection than we were seeing.

And indeed there is. The key to the whole thing is the small button on the right-hand side of the steering wheel with the telephone icon on it. Once you discover this little nugget, the dedicated iPod connection in the Merc goes from "This sucks!" to "Wow! This is great!" in 5.1 seconds.

Here then is our own Operator's Manual entry:

Step 1: Connect your iPod.

Step 2: Use COMAND to select "Audio" then scroll down to "Aux." Step 2: Use COMAND to choose AUX as the source.

Step 3: Scroll left or right until "audio" is displayed on the information screeen in the center of the speedometer and press "OK." Step 3: Scroll left-right until "Audio" appears on the central speedometer display, then press "OK."

Step 4: Look here to see the song title display. The iPod will resume playing whatever track it was on before it was connected to the car. Step 4: See track info here.

Step 5: The secret is to press the telephone hang-up button to access higher-level iPod functions. Step 5: Press the telephone hang-up key under here (under my thumb) for iPod menus. The choices will temporarily override the track information in the central display.

Step 6: Press up and down here to scroll through genre, artist, podcast, etc. But make sure you begin less than 8 seconds after the last step. Press OK to select the desired menu item. Step 6: Press up-down to scroll through the high-level menu choices, then press OK to select. Once in play mode, this will also switch between adjacent tracks.

Once you know what the telephone hang-up button on the right-hand side of the steering wheel does, the C300 iPod connection makes a whole lot more sense.

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle testing @ 7,665 miles

PS: Enough iPod already. Next we'll talk about driving the beast.

Long-Term Road Tests - 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: DIY iPod Operator's Manual

 

[ZicZachZo]

According to Edmunds, the car has over 7,500 miles...

I meant from the time of the last post back in February the car had like 5k or something like that which would indicate that nobody drives this car very often because it's accumulated little mileage since Feb.

 

[Merc1]

2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: A Fair Price for Comfort?



Slipping into 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport gives me an immediate sense of well-being. The seats are broad, firm and easily tailored to my preferred position. Ride quality is similarly firm, but never harsh -- just a typical European compromise of comfort and control. And while the 3.0-liter V6 is rarely exciting, its accessible torque band (221 pound-feet at just 2,700 rpm) allows for authoritative passing.





Among the many choices available for solo commuters, I really don't think you can do much better than our $39,450 Benz for day-to-day pleasantness. The trouble is, I find myself thinking of it as a rear-drive Honda Accord, and other than an extra smidge of fun on back roads, I'm hard-pressed to grant the Mercedes C300 any big advantages over our $30,895 Accord EX-L Navi.

In addition, when I exited in Fontana, California (shown to gorgeous effect above), I stopped for fuel. After being driven 251 mostly-highway miles by Technical Director Dan Edmunds and me, the C300 took 14.048 gallons of fuel. That's just 17.8 mpg and that's tough to take from the base V6.

Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 7,771 miles


Long-Term Road Tests - 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: A Fair Price for Comfort?


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[PHYBENZ]

2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: Cruise in lieu of turn signal

I'm rolling down the freeway coming back from a downtown restaurant when I make a new discovery about our Benz C300. I'm making the transition from the 105 to the 405, which is a big, sweeping on-ramp. As I am a model citizen, I signal my lane change in the middle of the curve. As I near the apex, I lift off the throttle, but instead feel -- what the crap! -- acceleration. I had unintentionally actuated the cruise control stalk and set my cruise speed.

As you can see in the photo, the cruise stalk is located just above the turn signal. The position of the turn signal in most other vehicles is usually about mid-point between the turn signal and cruise stalks on the Benz. So I have occasionally activated the cruise when I meant to signal a turn. Is this common with Benz owners, or am I just a dumbass?

Albert Austria, Senior Vehicle Evaluation Engineer @ 8,664 miles

Long-Term Road Tests - 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: Cruise in lieu of turn signal

 

[keith100]

Hi Members, my first post here.

I must admit I hit the cruise control regularly for the first week!

Keith

 

[LaArtist]

ive gotten used to it..
so it doesent happen..
might have in the beginning..

 

[PHYBENZ]

Mercedes-Benz C300 Fuel Economy



I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Our C300 feels so utterly over-engineered and under-stressed that it will easily drive half a million miles before anything will need replacing." At least that's what it feels like. Few cars have this quality and it's really hard to put into words.

Part of it may have to do with the fact that the sturdy body in white is built to endure everything from decades of diesel-powered taxi service in the old country to thundering around racetracks in the form of a nuclear-powered 450-hp C63 AMG. That's a wide range of duty for a platform to accommodate, and not many manufacturers build their cars to this standard.

I had the C300 over the Memorial Day weekend and made a 430-mile lap from L.A. to the central coast and back. Though mildly congested and highly patrolled, I managed to make excellent time in both directions on Highway 101 and still earn decent fuel economy.

After I pulled into my driveway on Monday, the car's on-board computer reported "Since Start: 214 mi, 03hr:26min, 26.8 mpg, 63 mph." That's a bit of a surprise because the car is only rated at 18-mpg in the city and 25-mpg on the highway. So even at my sometimes-rapid pace, I managed to beat the EPA's highway number by almost 2 mpg.

Chris Walton, Chief Road Test Editor @ 9312 miles

Long-Term Road Tests - Mercedes-Benz C300 Fuel Economy

 

[coolraoul]

Hi Members, my first post here.

I must admit I hit the cruise control regularly for the first week!

Keith

I often drive the E-Class (W211) of my father, and it never happened to me. Never. The blinker level is too big, I never missed it and hit the small cruise-control instead!

Both look different in the C-Class however, with the cruise-control longer and lower than before, or is it just me?

BTW, this feeling of over-engineering is exactly what I love in the W204 so much, and honestly it would make me take the W204 instead of the W211 where I don't really have this feeling. Given my current financial state, however, I won't have to make this choice

 

[tennmb]

In addition, when I exited in Fontana, California (shown to gorgeous effect above), I stopped for fuel. After being driven 251 mostly-highway miles by Technical Director Dan Edmunds and me, the C300 took 14.048 gallons of fuel. That's just 17.8 mpg and that's tough to take from the base V6.

That sounds suspect. Most people actually experience above the sticker averages on the highway. As noted in another post.

I wish Mercedes would address the mileage. I used to get 30 mpg in an E-class (3.2 V6 3-valve) on the highway, easy. The 3.0 is supposed to be a more efficient engine yet is lucky to get 27 on the highway in the lighter weight C.