Mercedes C-class Vs. Audi A4 (help us choose)

[Mr. M]

3 months is a long time to wait for a new car, especially for car enthusiasts like us. Did your salesman give you any freebies or price reduction?

It's the 'standard' waiting time here if you want something bespoke. That's why most people buy standard off-the-shelf shipments that have no special options. And, if you option your own car chances are resale values will be the same as that of standard optioned cars, unless you find a owner who appreciates your options. That sucks. But our car market is small that's why it's like that... Anyway, we waited 7 months for our QP, so that can soothe Mr. Mercedes's heart.

Yeah Audi is losing a bit of what made them Audi. The S-class and C on the other hand are Mercedes at their best in over a decade!

They're also taking the sausage thing a bit far and are looking very congruous across the entire range. I bet at least 60% of the public will have a hard time distinguishing between the new A4 and older face lifted model.

Yup, 200K is the engine we'll be getting. The 220 is a bit unrefined at lower revs and rest, and comfort and refinement are the priority. The C200k will also be replaced after the 220D, so it will be current for longer. Details of the new diesel have already been announced. Finally, the extra cost of the diesel is not justified by fuel consumption either given the relatively low number of K's my mum racks up every year.

Ah I see... Okay. I can't wait to see your car in the metal.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Congrats!!! This is going to be a great car!! Love the sahara beige interior and in my opinion it is awesome (even with 80 %+ black interior)! The only thing, that I wouldn't like is cleaning the leather after every drive.
And the exterior colour is the best, you can choose!! Absolutely gorgeous!!

And thanks for the testdrives reports!!

lol thanks REE. Yes the sahara beige is gorgeous, but I'm already getting scared at the thought of keeping it clean. I was actually banging my head at the fact that over 80% of the dealer stock vehicles have plain black interiors. The elegance beige, grey, cognac and sahara beige are far more interesting. They just don't keep any in stock!

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

It's the 'standard' waiting time here if you want something bespoke. That's why most people buy standard off-the-shelf shipments that have no special options. And, if you option your own car chances are resale values will be the same as that of standard optioned cars, unless you find a owner who appreciates your options. That sucks. But our car market is small that's why it's like that... Anyway, we waited 7 months for our QP, so that can soothe Mr. Mercedes's heart.



Ah I see... Okay. I can't wait to see your car in the metal.

3 months isn't so bad. We waited for 1-11 months when we first ordered the CLK240. What MB Australia was doing was filling orders for 320's and 500's (because the margins are MUCH larger) and bumping the 240's down the list.

The resale value on optioned vehicles is no better here either, but if you keep the car for around 5 years, it lessens the pain.

 

[Monster]

The 2.6litre unit in the CLK is extremely refined. It is much smoother then the the 3.2litre unit we had in the E320 even. That said...it's lazy and lethargic and in no hurry to go anywhere. A cruising engine certainly.

The 200k engine is less refined then the 2.6, probably on par with the old 3.2V6. But it's quite eager to get going. I have driven the 180k and 200k in the past, and they were much better then the unit we sampled on the weekend. It has to be put down to the fact that it had only 68Km on it.

Now I am very tempted to try the improved 200k engine for myself. How responsive is the engine? Has MB finally banished their age old tradition of having an accelerator made out of dough?

Yes 3 months is far tooo long, but none of the dealer stock at any of the QLD dealerships comes close to the combination we want:
- Tenorite Grey exterior
- Sahara Beige/Black interior (80%+ of interiors are full black )
- Command (its just over 3K this time around. Much more reasonable then the 5K Audi is asking for MMI and what MB used to ask for in the past)
- Vision package (Sunroof, Harmon Kardon Sound, Bi Xenons)
- Active Bi Xenon option
- Avantgarde package
- 17 Inch AMG alloys

Very nice combo and options, in fact I will have the exact same options as yours (well maybe with the all glass roof) if I am ordering a C-class.

 

[Monster]

3 months isn't so bad. We waited for 1-11 months when we first ordered the CLK240. What MB Australia was doing was filling orders for 320's and 500's (because the margins are MUCH larger) and bumping the 240's down the list.

The resale value on optioned vehicles is no better here either, but if you keep the car for around 5 years, it lessens the pain.

Yeah, the waiting times for new MB models are pretty long, I remember when the w211 was launched back in late 2002, we tried to place an order and we were told we have to wait for 7 months, and the car has no special options at all, I guess it is the same with your CLK.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Now I am very tempted to try the improved 200k engine for myself. How responsive is the engine? Has MB finally banished their age old tradition of having an accelerator made out of dough?



Very nice combo and options, in fact I will have the exact same options as yours (well maybe with the all glass roof) if I am ordering a C-class.

LOL...not dough, maybe a sponge cake this time around! he he...no it felt just right. Not overly responsive to throttle inputs like some vehicles, but not lazy either. Go for a test drive!

I would also be tempted with the all glass roof, but it's an absolute NO for dad. The only reason the sunroof is there is because it makes more sense to get the vision pack then option the HK audio and Bi Xenons separately.

 

[ree]

lol thanks REE. Yes the sahara beige is gorgeous, but I'm already getting scared at the thought of keeping it clean. I was actually banging my head at the fact that over 80% of the dealer stock vehicles have plain black interiors. The elegance beige, grey, cognac and sahara beige are far more interesting. They just don't keep any in stock!

Somewhere (*searching*), I have a photo of the seat of a sahara beige interior. Well, I have found it!! But this is a car in a showroom, so you don't know how many people got into the car with their brand new jeans etc.

The circle on the upper left is a reflection of the mirror - so no dirt.

View attachment 581007e1686e335cd08760e195edadad.jpg

And here I played a little bit with the contrast…

View attachment 1d015608672eda35772ff41919adacf9.jpg


But don't be afraid. I think, with a little bit of care, the seats will also look like brand new after 5 years.

And you can't get the Sahara Beige and Cognac interior with the Elegance Version here in germany!! If it is available in your country with the Elegance version, it would be awesome if you could share some photos!

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Somewhere (*searching*), I have a photo of the seat of a sahara beige interior. Well, I have found it!! But this is a car in a showroom, so you don't know how many people got into the car with their brand new jeans etc.

The circle on the upper left is a reflection of the mirror - so no dirt.

View attachment 581007e1686e335cd08760e195edadad.jpg

And here I played a little bit with the contrast…

View attachment 1d015608672eda35772ff41919adacf9.jpg


But don't be afraid. I think, with a little bit of care, the seats will also look like brand new after 5 years.

And you can't get the Sahara Beige and Cognac interior with the Elegance Version here in germany!! If it is available in your country with the Elegance version, it would be awesome if you could share some photos!

LOL now you're REALLY scaring me. Why oh why does it have to look so good though. I wish the cognac was a few shades lighter. That would have been an alternative then. Or if the grey leather interior had the upper dash and door parts finished in black and not a darker shade of grey. I'm sure I've seen pictures like that, but it doesn't seem the cars in Australia can be specced that way.

Here we have:

Elegance -
Black/Black
Dark Grey/Grey
Savanah Beige/Cashmere Beige

Avantgarde -
Black/Cognac
Black/Black
Dark Grey/Grey
Black/Sahara beige

 

[Alwing]

You really did tick the most essential options on the C-class!
Even the color is great, Tenorite Grey is one of the best colors available on a C-class in my opinion.
I don't know how tall you and your folks are but having Panoramic roof would decrease the front headroom. So if you're tall, you'd be better off with just a sunroof.
By the way, are you getting the 17" or 18" AMG wheels? You posted that it's the 17" AMG wheels but the picture in your post shows the 18" AMG wheels.

Anyway the Black/Beige interior is really nice but as with all light interiors, it does get dirty very quickly if it isn't going to be taken care off every once now and then.
In combination with lighter interiors, I prefer wood inlays over aluminum because it looks too cold and clinical otherwise in my humble opinion.
The Cognac Brown interior seems to be less vulnerable against light smudges.
My personal favorite.



The Dark Grey/Grey interior is great as well. I believe they made the upper part of the dashboard and the upper doortrim dark grey because otherwise the contrast would be too great if it was black combined with the lower part of the dash which is of a lighter grey color. I think it looks great as well, the only interior color which isn't 80% black that you were refering to earlier.
I have saved a few photos of the a Tenorite Grey C-class with Dark Grey/Grey interior a while ago because it was such stunning combination. It was on sale a few months ago and obviously sold already.

Aside of that there're a few small options that are in my opion worth considering:

Park distance control
Very useful in tight parking spaces and reversing especially if one don't know how far the boot or hood stretches. And sometimes you could hit something you can't visually see like a small pole, trailer hitch or a small kid playing.

Heated / Cooling seats
Nice for the winters and summers especially if it's leather.

Full electric seats
The full electric has memory function for like 3 persons.
Worth considering if the car will have multiple drivers with great length differences and driving positions (laid back or active).

Automatic trunk closer
Not really necessary but a nice addition if you don't want to get your hands dirty.

Black headliner/roof
Not really necessary but it does add some richness to the interior in my opinion.

 

[Monster]

The Park distance control is standard in all Australian C-class. The 18inch AMG wheels are only available with the AMG bodykit and dynamics handling pack.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

You really did tick the most essential options on the C-class!
Even the color is great, Tenorite Grey is one of the best colors available on a C-class in my opinion.
I don't know how tall you and your folks are but having Panoramic roof would decrease the front headroom. So if you're tall, you'd be better off with just a sunroof.
By the way, are you getting the 17" or 18" AMG wheels? You posted that it's the 17" AMG wheels but the picture in your post shows the 18" AMG wheels.

Anyway the Black/Beige interior is really nice but as with all light interiors, it does get dirty very quickly if it isn't going to be taken care off every once now and then.
In combination with lighter interiors, I prefer wood inlays over aluminum because it looks too cold and clinical otherwise in my humble opinion.
The Cognac Brown interior seems to be less vulnerable against light smudges.
My personal favorite.



The Dark Grey/Grey interior is great as well. I believe they made the upper part of the dashboard and the upper doortrim dark grey because otherwise the contrast would be too great if it was black combined with the lower part of the dash which is of a lighter grey color. I think it looks great as well, the only interior color which isn't 80% black that you were refering to earlier.
I have saved a few photos of the a Tenorite Grey C-class with Dark Grey/Grey interior a while ago because it was such stunning combination. It was on sale a few months ago and obviously sold already.

Aside of that there're a few small options that are in my opion worth considering:

Park distance control
Very useful in tight parking spaces and reversing especially if one don't know how far the boot or hood stretches. And sometimes you could hit something you can't visually see like a small pole, trailer hitch or a small kid playing.

Heated / Cooling seats
Nice for the winters and summers especially if it's leather.

Full electric seats
The full electric has memory function for like 3 persons.
Worth considering if the car will have multiple drivers with great length differences and driving positions (laid back or active).

Automatic trunk closer
Not really necessary but a nice addition if you don't want to get your hands dirty.

Black headliner/roof
Not really necessary but it does add some richness to the interior in my opinion.

Thanks for all that Allwing.

The wheels we are getting are the 17inch AMG wheels. They were previously available only as part of the AMG package (a CRAZY 12K option ) but are now available as a stand alone item:
Mercedes-Benz Australia - Passenger Cars - C-Class Saloon - Light-alloy wheels

I do like the cognac interior, but my parent's don't. Its also not a recommended combination with the tenorite grey exterior. The only other alternative is the reef grey. It looks 'cool' whereas the sahara beige and black combination looks 'rich' and a bit more bespoke. The MB brochure certainly shows the Black/Grey interior combination as opposed to a Dark Grey/Grey combination. This has me a bit perplexed. Food for thought still...

I definitely agree about the trim. The Black Birds Eye looks great and I much prefer it over the aluminum.

- Parktronic - Standard here as monster said.
- Heated/Cooling Seats - Heating is not necessary here in sunny QLD. Cooling would be nice, but is quite overpriced.
- Full electric seats - 1/2 electric are standard, and my mum drives the vehicle 90%+ of the time.
- Auto trunk closer - Very nice option, but dad would definitely baulk at the thought. lol. It's not even available here.
- Black headliner - Standard on the Avantgarde Black/Sahara Beige combination.

Thanks for the great pictures!

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

The car has been ordered. Delivery mid September.

 

[coolraoul]

Very good choice. I love the C-Class.

According to a German forum, MY2009 (deliveries from June 2008) C-Classes will get 6G instead of 4 for music storage, some slight enhancements on the functionalities of COMAND, and the sleeker mirrors of the Blue Efficiency models will spread across the entire range.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Very good choice. I love the C-Class.

According to a German forum, MY2009 (deliveries from June 2008) C-Classes will get 6G instead of 4 for music storage, some slight enhancements on the functionalities of COMAND, and the sleeker mirrors of the Blue Efficiency models will spread across the entire range.

Oh wow, really? What do the mirrors look like? Any idea what the Command upgrades are? I hope we don't miss out. The car will probably only go into production next month.

Are these it?

 

[coolraoul]

Yep, those mirrors exactly. It's almost certain that they will be standard now.

2009MY means at Mercedes the car produced from June. So yours will definitely be a 2009.

The Comand improvements are according to them the possibility to regulate much better the interaction between the music and the GPS voice. And 6GB for music storage.

Honestly, if I had a W204, I would install the BE-mirrors... So it's very good that they're standard now!

The car seems to be bullet-proof reliable and very pleasant to live with. A real true MB like in old days!

 

[Monster]

Oh wow, really? What do the mirrors look like? Any idea what the Command upgrades are? I hope we don't miss out. The car will probably only go into production next month.

What ever happens, ask the salesman for any confirmation and have him write it down in the contract about which specs and model year you are getting, or what you want to get.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

What ever happens, ask the salesman for any confirmation and have him write it down in the contract about which specs and model year you are getting, or what you want to get.

Yeah I will confirm with the salesman. In oz the car is still considered an 08 and not an 09 build. Whats up with Germans and Americans and build dates.

Hey monster, do you know that now within a week or so of placing your order they give you all the details and online access so you can track your car from the factory? The US has had this for a while, and now we FINALLY get it.

 

[Monster]

Yeah I will confirm with the salesman. In oz the car is still considered an 08 and not an 09 build. Whats up with Germans and Americans and build dates.

Yeah, this entire model year thing is very confusing.

Hey monster, do you know that now within a week or so of placing your order they give you all the details and online access so you can track your car from the factory? The US has had this for a while, and now we FINALLY get it.

Now this I didn't know, thanks for the info This is pretty interesting. I am not sure how this tracking system work, I am guessing it tells you the exact time and date of your car being built and being transported off germany or does it go into more details?

btw you wake up pretty dam early.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Yeah, this entire model year thing is very confusing.



Now this I didn't know, thanks for the info This is pretty interesting. I am not sure how this tracking system work, I am guessing it tells you the exact time and date of your car being built and being transported off germany or does it go into more details?

btw you wake up pretty dam early.

I recieved an email yesterday from MB with a link to the tracking website. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet but will let you know what it does.

Yeah....early starts for me. Wish I was a uni student again.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Check this out Monster! Cool huh?

Its even got an ETA at dealer! Damn I was hoping mid August. My parents are going overseas then, and it would have been brilliant.