R-Class Mercedes calls R-Class a "lesson learned"

[tennmb]

The GL looks very good, have a waay better finish and material quality, has three seats at the rear and two foldable in the luggage space...Much more convincing.

UHH no. The R is built in the same plant and to the same standars as the ML and GL. In fact, under the skin these vehicles share a ton. audio climate and instrumentation is out of the exact same parts bin. The materials in the R are all very good. The interior is very well done. No it is not over the top, but neither is the GL. The GL interior is identical to the ML except it has the faux leather covering on the dash and one wood strip on dash. That's it.

The rear center row console? i don't see anything wrong with it.
BTW, you can get the bench seat in the R or captains chairs. That is 3 seats in the middle and two foldable in the back.

How much time have you spent in this R? I am with the R everyday and have sold Mercedes for 9.5 years. i have seen nothing trim or material wise in the R that is substandard of the E, C, ML, etc,

It's pretty clear that your opinion is based on your impressions of the exterior styling and not on the facts.

 

[PHYBENZ]

i have seen nothing trim or material wise in the R that is substandard of the E, C, ML, etc,
.

With all due respect there is a trim difference between the R, ML, and GL when you compare them to an E and I won't even mention S. The dash and door materials of the E are a higher grade than the rubbery material used on the R, ML, GL. If you look closely at the finish on the top of the door panels where the gap for the window is on ML, R, GL you will see it is not as nice, with excess plastic sticking out and some sharp edges. The materials used in the interior are not the same and don't feel as luxurious or substantive because I am sure the suppliers aren't the same.

You are correct as far as comparing the R, ML, and GL. They are the same car just different bodies and A LOT of shared parts. They are the same in material and build quality except for the pleather GL dash , Leather inserts on the doors and extra wood.

 

[coolraoul]

I testdrove a full-spec GL 420cdi. And spent some time inside a R-Class.
The interior of the GL is not exactly the same as the ML.

-The dashboard is covered with leather. Much more upscale, because in the ML the plastic is good but not fabulous. The little wood, well....not very important.

-The doorpanels are leather. In the ML they are absolutely HORRIBLE, a kind of plastic with enormous gap, looks very crappy. Only bad part of this interior for me.

So the two "flaws" od the ML are corrected in the GL. Very good interior.

Concerning the R-Class, I did not drove it, but spent some times in one. I NEVER judge something that I did not touched, felt or tried. You will never see me criticizing something that I did not experienced.

So I spent some time in an R-Class. The dasboard looks okay, not more. The dash material is quite similar to the ML. Climates and Comand too, of course. However, a lot of pieces are made of sub-quality material I found.

The panel gaps are not the same everywhere: the dash, for instance. The heater grille are almost touching the doors, little gap. But the glovebox is 1cm from the door...so very different alignment. Not good-looking. Especially with the kind of wave coming across the dash.

Also the front armrest did not give me a very good impression at the opening, from what I remember.

But it is really the rear armrest. I hated this big thing. Gave me a poor impression. It furthermore was not completely engaged, and was very hard to put in place correctly, made an big noise when engaged...

The levels to fold the rear seats, or to access to the third row also were completely out of place ( in the GL the kind of red textile is a bit surprising, bit feels solid at least...)

All in one, these are small details, but the R-Class did not give me a very good impression. Some details were not really well executed.

I don't know, it was an impression. A lot of pieces I touched did not let me a very premium impression.

The ML or GL let me much more satisfied. I like the very solid double bars in the center console. And nothing gave me a cheap impression, contrary to the R-Class.

Anyway, to each his own! The R was also very comfortable to sit in, the captain chairs are very pleasant, and you had more place than in the GL that effectively does not feel that big inside. Especially the luggage space, with the folding seats, is not very high! Also the knee room is not enormous, contrary to the R. But like I said, some details did make me feel much better in the GL.

 

[tennmb]

That stuff on the dash of the GL. That aint leather my friend. There was a special edition GL that did have Nappa leather on the dash, and the ML63 has genuine leather on the dash.

The edition 10 ML comes with the same leather on the doors and wood on the dash as the GL.

The ML and GL interior are the same with the excpetion of the faux leather dash and faux leather on the door, and wood trim. I think I already mentioned that.



I'll agree I like the way the door and dash trim feel on the E over the ML, GL, R. The E interior is tight with smooth edges at every point.

 

[coolraoul]

Well in the GL I tried it really felt like leather, but yes it seems it is MBTex.
However, it is much better than the plastic trim in the ML or R.

Did not knew for the Edition 10 ML, must be rather expensive then this limited edition. It is not really usual to make such changes for a limited edition!

Other than that you're right, the interior is exactly the same.

The rear seats are more thin in the ML aren't they? They look so big and opulent in the GL!

Concerning the E-Class we agree...It looks superb. One class above the three SUVs.

 

[Yaz]

I, for one like the interior of the R better than botht the ML and GL. I sat in all seats of the R at the auto show last year and I'll tell you this big guy was very comfortable in all seats.... even way back there, in the last row.

 

[tennmb]

MB tex is standard on the E, GL, R, And ML. Full leather is optional on all.

Front and middle row leg room and shoulder room are the same on ML and GL. The back seat has a recline feature in the GL, that allows more knee room for 3rd row.

IMO, in the R they could have moved the middle row a little forward and moved the 3rd row up a little to increase cargo area with all seats up. Keep in mind that we don't get a short wheelbase version of the R in the U.S.

The 2nd row leg room if you are behind a 5'-11" person is ridiculous.
I like the dash design, center console on the R. Those grab handles on the GL and ML get a lot of "what's the deal" comments from customers. The cupholders in the ML look tacky, where as in the R they flow with the design.

I hope they design the R with more grit and keep it in the lineup.

 

[JadeVetti]

So what do they want to do with it, keep it and make some changes, or scrap it?

18,000 sold....if I were them I would shelve it. Sometimes the 2nd time around is better. Try again in a few years.

 

[CorpusCallosum]

Looks a tad to plasticky for me. They really needed a great interior for this car as a competitive advantage over the SUV on sale. Anoher problem was that MB themselves couldn't decide how to market this car. What exactly is a "sports cruiser"! This car has nothing sporty about it. It was a marketing gimmick that didnt pay off. This car should never have been bread to go against the SUV/SAV market. It should have been concieved for owners who don't want a larhe SUV but have a large family and are still in the market for a luxury vehicle. This shortfall by MB has with all honestly made the R Class a failure. A bold and gusty move none-the-less by MB that if maketed and esign correctly in the 2nd generation should be a hot as people move further away from gas guzzling SUV's. A good showcase for clean diesel in my own opinion!!!

 

[cawimmer430]

So what do they want to do with it, keep it and make some changes, or scrap it?

They're probably going to remove it from the MB lineup. I don't think a theoretical second generation R-Class will do well either. There's probably just no large existing market niche for this type of car. Or at least people looking for something like this tend to favor an E-Class T-Modell or GL/ML etc.

 

[cawimmer430]

About the R-Class interior, I think it's fine. It's well made, appears durable and feels and looks premium. It basically satisfied most criteria for a luxury interior. Plastic is used by everyone in the luxury market, everyone.

I think what ruins most MB interiors for people is the general trend towards "conservative styling". The R-Class, GL and ML interiors can be described as "boring" looking, and this probably makes people also think they're "a little cheap looking". I've said it before, the GL and ML interior are good. Perhaps not class leading, but good.