C-Class W204 W204 Avantgarde vs. Elegance

[Fiery]

Hi Guys,


I'm still driving a BMW 325i E90 LCI (standard seats), and still find it uncomfortable. I've been looking for my next car for long months now, test driving various vehicles.

Lately I had a chance to try the new E250CDI Avantgarde for a weekend, and strangely, I found its seats too hard and not as comfortable as expected. I especially found the side supporters too intrusive. Previously, in the local Mercedes dealer's the salesman claimed Avantgarde and Elegance seats of W204 are identical, but now that the new E-class is out, and there's a clear visual difference between its Avantgarde and Elegance seats, I've started wondering about W204 seats.

I went to the dealer's today and tried the W204 Elegance (with leather), and then sat straight into a W204 Avantgarde (also leather). To me the Elegance seats seemed comfortable, and found the Avantgarde seats too hard.

Is it just my senses cheating me, or those seats really are very different? If they are fundamentally different, that would mean the salesman talking rubbish, but quite frankly, it wouldn't be the first case about local dealers...

Thanks for any comments.


Fiery

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Hi Guys,


I'm still driving a BMW 325i E90 LCI (standard seats), and still find it uncomfortable. I've been looking for my next car for long months now, test driving various vehicles.

Lately I had a chance to try the new E250CDI Avantgarde for a weekend, and strangely, I found its seats too hard and not as comfortable as expected. I especially found the side supporters too intrusive. Previously, in the local Mercedes dealer's the salesman claimed Avantgarde and Elegance seats of W204 are identical, but now that the new E-class is out, and there's a clear visual difference between its Avantgarde and Elegance seats, I've started wondering about W204 seats.

I went to the dealer's today and tried the W204 Elegance (with leather), and then sat straight into a W204 Avantgarde (also leather). To me the Elegance seats seemed comfortable, and found the Avantgarde seats too hard.

Is it just my senses cheating me, or those seats really are very different? If they are fundamentally different, that would mean the salesman talking rubbish, but quite frankly, it wouldn't be the first case about local dealers...

Thanks for any comments.


Fiery

As far as I'm aware the avantgarde and elegance have the same seats. At least that is the case with Australian spec vehicles.

 

[hiki08]

might the way they stitch the seats affect how firm you perceive the seats to be? as far as I remember when I read all the reviews back when the W204 was first released, magazine reviews said the MB seats were firmer than its competitors but the most comfortable when you need to sit in them for a long period of time in one go.

Not aware of whether internal differences exists tho..