Yesterday I met my close friend who owns a Pre FL 2011 E200 CGI W212 and we both swapped and drove each other's cars to compare the generation gap between W212 and W213.
Here is my W213 E200 parked next to my friends Kalahari gold E200 W212. There is a massive contrast between the styling of both cars. The W212 appears to be more sharp edged and more upright, although the cars outside dimensions are very similar. The W213 looks a lot more modern and makes the W212 appear dated on the outside, although his W212 does look elegant with the Elegance trim with multispoke 17inch wheels and the gold colour.
My friends W212 has all black leather interior with light brown wood, which goes well with the Kalahari gold exterior. He has the Elegance trim with 4 spoke steering wheel and semi electric seats with 4 zone climate control.
Driving comparisons:
Note - We only drove the cars in an urban open car parking area at a mall at speeds up to 60km/h, but here are my observations.
1) The front seats of the W212 have a softer sprung and wider squab area than my W213, which has more supportive and sportier contoured front seats.
2) The W212 still has the old manual pull handbrake on the right of the steering wheel to release and foot to engage which takes a little getting used to after driving my car, which has an automatically controlled electronic handbrake which engages when pressing park button and disengages while selecting drive on the column gearshift.
3) The W212 still has a center console gear shift knob, which is very satisfying to operate with its zigzag motion in contrast to my notch notch column mounted gear shifter.
4) The W212 still has the old electronic Mercedes key with notch that presses into a key ignition on the dash and you need to turn it to the right to start the car, while my car has a keyless go start stop system.
5) The throttle feels a lot stiffer/heavier in the W212 and takes a heavy prod to get the car moving and does not feel as responsive as the throttle in my W213, so the car initially doesn't feel as quick on the takeoff despite having the same 135kW/184PS outputs. It could also be the gearshift as my car has the 9G-tronic while my friend's car has the 7G-tronic.
6) The steering wheel is larger and at low speeds the W212 steering is heavier and less responsive off center than my car. The W213 steering is lighter but perfectly weighted in my opinion and turns quicker and is more responsive off the straight ahead. As a result, the W213 feels like a smaller car to drive than W212. The bonnet appears longer and with the 3 pointed star on the hood, my friends W212 gives the impression of driving a bigger car.
7) The W212 has a softer suspension, but surprisingly the ride is no better than my W213 with 19inch wheels. The W213 feels better controlled over bumps and is quieter inside, with less engine noise and seems to have better NVH levels.
8) The interior of the W212 appears to be more solid in the center console and door trim than my W213 and doesn't make creaking noises when you press them with your fingers.
9) The interior space seems very similar on both cars and so is the boot space.
