Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes

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Thu 25 Aug 2016 21:30
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes - confusedbuyer

Hi all

I went into a Mercedes dealer with a view to getting a Merc C class Coupe C220d Auto, having seen it out on the roads and I just think its LOVELY, particularly inside.

However, a 4 month wait, and an enthusiastic salesman had me trying out in the older E Class 220d Coupe (pre-reg). Now, list price this is a £40k car, v a £35k car. The dealer has come down to £32k on the C, but is at £29k for the E, and I just don't know which way to go. The C looks/feels more modern in and out, but I can't get over the saving on the E and its Apple Carplay compatible thanks to the std COMAND system which I can't afford on the C so is arguably future-proofed from and in-car sense. It's also more spacious and practical so if/when we have kids it'll be easier to live with and seemed to ride slightly better.

Which is the better long term/best ownership proposition? I plan to keep until electric becomes king (probably 4/5 yrs) and I've been driving a Volvo V40 diesel, so both are a step up and have great appeal but my heart is going C-class, and my head is going E-class!

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

CB

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 00:43
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes - Avant

Whatever you do, get a long test drive of both if you haven't already. I believe the latest Mercedes diesel is more refined, but until recently the four-cylinder 2.1-litre engine has been unpleasantly unrefined.

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 11:28
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes - daveyjp
If children are expected a coupe is simply a bad idea, whatever marque or model.

Getting into the rear seats will be a pain, scuplted seats may mean limited choice of car seats, there won't be enough legroom when growing babies are in front facing seats and the boot space will be inadequate.

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 12:25
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes - RobJP

The OP 'plans to keep it until electric becomes king, probably in 4/5 years'.

Unless all your motoring is within a very limited distance from 'base', then electric will not be becoming mainstream for a very long time. Tesla are still losing billions, every single manufacturer that sells 'pure' electric cars has horrible low sales.

Hybrid (plug-in and self-charging) will continue to gain ground in cars, taking space off diesel. Large vehicles (HGV, etc) will remain diesel for many years to come.

But I'll predict that EV sales will still be a small niche for 20 years or more. The range (real, not 'official') is simply limited by the laws of physics and the energy that can be held in a battery / fuel cell, and people have been throwing money at that problem for the last century without any real breakthrough.

As an example of still how 'niche' pure electric are, Tesla sold less than 23,000 cars in the USA last year. Total new car sales in the USA for 2015 : 17.5 million.

In the UK, new registrations for March this year (the 'new' 16 plate month) were 508,000. Electric cars made up 7,144 of that.

Elon Musk (and others) are very good at getting column inches in the Grauniad.

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 13:09
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes - Avant

Agreed absolutely, Rob. EVs won't become widespread unless:

- range in even the cheaper EVs runs to 300 miles

- a more efficient way is found of charging batteries much faster than now

- (given that EVs are most useful in towns and cities, and most poeple living in them have to park on the street) some way of charging a battery wirelessly is found.

Not being a scientist, I've no idea if the second and third of these is physically possible; the first probably is in time.

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 13:26
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes - RobJP

The third is entirely feasible. It's happening now, on a small scale. Inductive charging exists for mobile phones and tablets, and in Milton Keynes (of all places !) the council installed a charging plate in the tarmac under where their hybrid buses are parked up, to provide charging.

The problems will always - always - remain of charging and capacity. EVs will be feasible for me when I can drive 300+ miles on a charge EVERY time. Not "if I don't use the aircon / stereo / drive like granny", but just 'get in and go'.

Oh, and be able to charge up when at my destination. Which means millions of charging points, across the country.

Just imagine EVs becoming properly mainstream, and a nice bank holiday weekend. Tens of thousands of families descend on Llandudno from Lancs / Manc / Cheshire, and all their EVs now need charging up for the drive home - because it's been a nice warm day, so windows open, the aircon on, and slow traffic has meant those getting used for longer, so the battery properly depleted.

We'd have to tarmac over the entire country to provide enough charging points, most of which would then spend 95% of the year not being used.

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 13:55
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe - Mercedes Coupes - Fernando P

I went through that process some 2 months ago and now have a C220 DCi Auto Est - the last of the 204 series, which has been a great success and meets most of the technical specification I require, including the more comfortable 16" wheels. I don't recognise Avant's description of the engine, which is pleasantly refined - but this may depend on what you have been used to. Also, the 7 speed torque converter auto gearbox is so good that gearchanges can hardly be detected. Fuel consumption matches the spec on long motorway runs @ 57.7mpg and latterly @ 60.1mpg, which has surprised me. The current 205 series, which you are probably referring to, has even more technology to contend with and the full week's training is likely to be required to operate it. Finances permitting, you need to consider size requirements between the E and C classes. I have one minor criticism - there is some wind/road noise at speed with the C Class - not a problem for us - but may not be a feature of the E Class.

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