Mr. Mercedes
Premium
Hey guys...just a pointless little thread about my trip to the BMW and Mercedes dealerships yesterday. A friend of mine has been looking at an M3 or a C63 and asked me to go along to help him make his mind up.
At the end of the day he loved the engine note of the M3 and the apparent rawness of the package. Conversely he felt the C would be a better car to drive every day and had more features and a nicer interior. He currently drives an E90 325i so this was going to be quite a step up. In the end though he felt the M3, while a fantastic performance car, didn't justify it's price for what it had to offer in aspects (interior, features etc.). As for the C63, with a new model a few months away he has decided he may as well sit tight and see how that turns out before making up his mind.
While at the BMW dealership I poked around quite a few cars. Here’s a quick summary:
X1 - Still odd looking exterior wise, and the interior plastics, particularly on the lower console, are cheap. Heavily optioned though its looks transform from odd to funky and I can see why it would appeal to a lot of buyers out there looking for a small premium SUV. It certainly turns heads, if not always for the right reasons. The Q3 will probably be more my taste.
X3 - The new exterior is very boring. Why does BMW have so much trouble with creating a balanced front end? But interior wise absolutely nothing to complain about.
5 Series - Sooooo boring without the M pack yet sooooo beautifully athletic and understated with it. There was a dark blue one on the floor with 19 inch alloys and an M sports pack that looked absolutely splendid. The interior certainly is plush, but the central screen looks a bit odd when the vehicle isn't optioned with the larger display. It probably feels a little more luxurious than the E, but doesn't have the same solidity of build that the E's interior has. The lower end 5-er models also lack some of the finer detailing such as the chrome around the air vents, which was a little disappointing. But the rear seat is notably better than the E for cushion depth and comfort. A very nice car all around. The salesman did tell me that the reception to the vehicle in Australia has been a little disappointing.
5 GT - YUCK. It's no wonder the one sitting on the showroom floor was covered in dust and the exact same vehicle I saw there months ago. Not even the dealer likes it enough to clean it lol. As for it justifying its price premium over the 5 by having a nicer interior? Not the way I saw it. It looked decidedly Korean in terms of design and no better than the 5 in terms of fit and finish. The 5’s interior looks far better in my eyes. The way the wood was applied and finished in the GT, it looked like plastic. $150-250K for this? They're completely mad.
Z4 - Love all around! The exterior is sexy as ever and the interior is spot on. The SLK has it's work cut out for it.
At the Mercedes dealership I really was reminded why I love the brand so much. The new range of vehicles really are impressive and look far more cohesive when together than when viewed individually. I was delighted that they just brought out the face lifted C and they even had a CLS on display. Here's a quick summary.
G55 AMG - Australia finally gets the G Wagen because the military spent most of the time and money doing all the work for conversion for our market. Entirely outdated interior wise, but gangster tough looking on the outside. Not my cup of tea, but definitely one to look at if you want to make a statement. Especially if that statement is, 'I have more money than sense and can afford to buy an antiquated vehicle, in every respect, for a ridiculous amount of money.'
CLS350 CDI - The car is still 2 months away from its official launch here, but some dealers have been given vehicles to show customers and take test drives. This is obviously to stop them heading over to Audi and purchasing an A7, which is being very very aggressively marketed. The car was absolutely stunning. The lines to my eyes look perfect and the car looked predatory and in motion. The LED front lights are a knock out. The interior turns it up a few notches on the E and feels every inch 'premium'. This truly is an incredible vehicle and will prove to be a complete home run for Mercedes. With the memory of the A7 fresh in my mind from my visit to Audi a couple of weeks back, I certainly would chose the CLS over the A7 in a heartbeat. The dealer will have a CLS63 on the weekend which I will hopefully get to go and see.
C250 CGI - Finally the face lifted model is launched here. I actually took this car for a 30 minute test drive and walked away thinking what more could you want from a small luxury sports sedan. In my opinion it is now by far the most complete vehicle in its segment, untill the new 3er arrives. The blend of handling, ride and refinement was brilliant. I love our C200k, but the incremental refinements they have made to the steering, the ride the body control etc all add up to take the C to another level. The headlights which appear slightly contrived in photos work perfectly in person. And the new dashboard is a revelation. While I felt there was nothing wrong with the previous on in terms of build and quality, the new one addresses the desing and tactile misgivings in one fell swoop. The dash plastics are lifted straight from the E and whoever says the A4 has a better built and finished interior is either kidding themselves or simply foolish. A bit more could have been done to freshen up the rear end though. The range of available equipment is impressive. Distronic plus cruise control, active lane guidance, bluetooth audio streaming from mobile devices, blind spot assistance, just to name a few. You can now really buy a fully featured baby benz and not feel short-changed you've missed out on some of the nice techy stuff on the E and S. I'm so tempted to buy one of these babies lol. But I’ve promised myself I am going to stick to the A3 for at least a year.
I walked away from Mercedes with a warm fuzzy feeling that has been missing for some time. The brand I love so dearly has finally returned to form and the new products speak for themselves. Audi may do this better and BMW may do that better, but Mercedes is once again doing what it does best.
P.S Mercedes Australia execs have seen the new A-class and A-Class AMG. They're talking about a sub $60K price for the AMG variant, which would be a knockout blow for the Golf GTI/R30 and certainly turn the heat up on the A3 and 1 series. Expected launch is 2nd or 3rd quarter 2012.
At the end of the day he loved the engine note of the M3 and the apparent rawness of the package. Conversely he felt the C would be a better car to drive every day and had more features and a nicer interior. He currently drives an E90 325i so this was going to be quite a step up. In the end though he felt the M3, while a fantastic performance car, didn't justify it's price for what it had to offer in aspects (interior, features etc.). As for the C63, with a new model a few months away he has decided he may as well sit tight and see how that turns out before making up his mind.
While at the BMW dealership I poked around quite a few cars. Here’s a quick summary:
X1 - Still odd looking exterior wise, and the interior plastics, particularly on the lower console, are cheap. Heavily optioned though its looks transform from odd to funky and I can see why it would appeal to a lot of buyers out there looking for a small premium SUV. It certainly turns heads, if not always for the right reasons. The Q3 will probably be more my taste.
X3 - The new exterior is very boring. Why does BMW have so much trouble with creating a balanced front end? But interior wise absolutely nothing to complain about.
5 Series - Sooooo boring without the M pack yet sooooo beautifully athletic and understated with it. There was a dark blue one on the floor with 19 inch alloys and an M sports pack that looked absolutely splendid. The interior certainly is plush, but the central screen looks a bit odd when the vehicle isn't optioned with the larger display. It probably feels a little more luxurious than the E, but doesn't have the same solidity of build that the E's interior has. The lower end 5-er models also lack some of the finer detailing such as the chrome around the air vents, which was a little disappointing. But the rear seat is notably better than the E for cushion depth and comfort. A very nice car all around. The salesman did tell me that the reception to the vehicle in Australia has been a little disappointing.
5 GT - YUCK. It's no wonder the one sitting on the showroom floor was covered in dust and the exact same vehicle I saw there months ago. Not even the dealer likes it enough to clean it lol. As for it justifying its price premium over the 5 by having a nicer interior? Not the way I saw it. It looked decidedly Korean in terms of design and no better than the 5 in terms of fit and finish. The 5’s interior looks far better in my eyes. The way the wood was applied and finished in the GT, it looked like plastic. $150-250K for this? They're completely mad.
Z4 - Love all around! The exterior is sexy as ever and the interior is spot on. The SLK has it's work cut out for it.
At the Mercedes dealership I really was reminded why I love the brand so much. The new range of vehicles really are impressive and look far more cohesive when together than when viewed individually. I was delighted that they just brought out the face lifted C and they even had a CLS on display. Here's a quick summary.
G55 AMG - Australia finally gets the G Wagen because the military spent most of the time and money doing all the work for conversion for our market. Entirely outdated interior wise, but gangster tough looking on the outside. Not my cup of tea, but definitely one to look at if you want to make a statement. Especially if that statement is, 'I have more money than sense and can afford to buy an antiquated vehicle, in every respect, for a ridiculous amount of money.'
CLS350 CDI - The car is still 2 months away from its official launch here, but some dealers have been given vehicles to show customers and take test drives. This is obviously to stop them heading over to Audi and purchasing an A7, which is being very very aggressively marketed. The car was absolutely stunning. The lines to my eyes look perfect and the car looked predatory and in motion. The LED front lights are a knock out. The interior turns it up a few notches on the E and feels every inch 'premium'. This truly is an incredible vehicle and will prove to be a complete home run for Mercedes. With the memory of the A7 fresh in my mind from my visit to Audi a couple of weeks back, I certainly would chose the CLS over the A7 in a heartbeat. The dealer will have a CLS63 on the weekend which I will hopefully get to go and see.
C250 CGI - Finally the face lifted model is launched here. I actually took this car for a 30 minute test drive and walked away thinking what more could you want from a small luxury sports sedan. In my opinion it is now by far the most complete vehicle in its segment, untill the new 3er arrives. The blend of handling, ride and refinement was brilliant. I love our C200k, but the incremental refinements they have made to the steering, the ride the body control etc all add up to take the C to another level. The headlights which appear slightly contrived in photos work perfectly in person. And the new dashboard is a revelation. While I felt there was nothing wrong with the previous on in terms of build and quality, the new one addresses the desing and tactile misgivings in one fell swoop. The dash plastics are lifted straight from the E and whoever says the A4 has a better built and finished interior is either kidding themselves or simply foolish. A bit more could have been done to freshen up the rear end though. The range of available equipment is impressive. Distronic plus cruise control, active lane guidance, bluetooth audio streaming from mobile devices, blind spot assistance, just to name a few. You can now really buy a fully featured baby benz and not feel short-changed you've missed out on some of the nice techy stuff on the E and S. I'm so tempted to buy one of these babies lol. But I’ve promised myself I am going to stick to the A3 for at least a year.
I walked away from Mercedes with a warm fuzzy feeling that has been missing for some time. The brand I love so dearly has finally returned to form and the new products speak for themselves. Audi may do this better and BMW may do that better, but Mercedes is once again doing what it does best.
P.S Mercedes Australia execs have seen the new A-class and A-Class AMG. They're talking about a sub $60K price for the AMG variant, which would be a knockout blow for the Golf GTI/R30 and certainly turn the heat up on the A3 and 1 series. Expected launch is 2nd or 3rd quarter 2012.
BMW line-up is more me, I only miss a SLS competitior to complete the line-up.
