[rcl]

It's boring how all new MB's look the same, from the CLA all the way up the S class. I'll take a BMW please.

[hellrotm]

Originally Posted by rcl

It's boring how all new MB's look the same, from the CLA all the way up the S class. I'll take a BMW please.

LOL and BMW's don't look the same.

[-Wingman-]

The hell is up with the kindle fire on the dashboard?

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by rcl

It's boring how all new MB's look the same, from the CLA all the way up the S class. I'll take a BMW please.

Yep. All the new BMW lines look the same...ugly.
One car in entire line up of interest to me is the M235i with a manual. But it isn't for its looks, that's for sure.

[ep_83]

The great thing about this segment is that there's something for everyone. At this price point, you have to compromise and find out what's important to you.

You're not going to find a car in this segment that has BMW's powertrain, Merc's luxurious interior, Caddy's chassis, Lexus' reliability, and Audi's AWD option.. It's one the reasons so many arguements get started about which car is better. I like that every manufacturer is taking a different approach to this segment.

[ep_83]

Originally Posted by rcl

It's boring how all new MB's look the same, from the CLA all the way up the S class. I'll take a BMW please.

When the f30 first came out I had a hard time telling the difference between it and the f10 when looking at it from the rear. I drive an ATS and still confuse it with the CTS from time to time. I have to look at an Audi A4 three times to see what it is.. once to see if it's an A6, once to confirm it's an A4, and once to make sure it wasn't a Passat lol..

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Road and Track seem to like it: http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-revi...?src=soc_fcbks

When the corners came, it pulled sports-car grip numbers, but it leaned toward the outside like a whore in a packed church. It might have been a good performer, but the 190E made no pretense of sportiness whatsoever. And guess what? Mercedes sold a gob-smacking 1.9 million of the things.

As W201 was replaced by the W202, which became the Mr. Peanut-headlight W203, which eventually gave way to yesterday’s W204, and the C-Class lost all contact with its big-daddy S. It became a 3 Series clone with far too much emphasis on driver involvement (“dynamism” in Mercedes-speak) and far too little emphasis on being a luxury car. In total, 2.4 million W204s left Mercedes dealers. That’s hardly a small number, but it’s also not vastly more than the W201 did all those years ago, before luxury cars actually became mainstream.

As W204 retires, the W205 C-Class is on the horizon, set to go on sale this fall. And to put it mildly, Mercedes is back.

Just like it took a trained eye to tell the W201 from its bigger siblings, the new C looks like a shrunken S-Class. The new design language finally marks a return to the simple, elegant styling that once flowed onto Mercedes automobiles from the pens of masters Bracq and Geiger and Sacco. The C-class’ front overhang is impossibly small, its side flanks largely unadorned, and its stance at once muscular and elegant. With the exception of its in-your-face face, it’s a stunning work of restrained simplicity.

And then you open the door. Close your eyes and picture the most expensive luxury car you’ve ever been in. Then shrink it in size but not substance. That is the 2015 C-Class. Every element of its cabin is a piece of modern art.

We’ll let the photos do the talking here, but when you sit in the new C, whether up front or in back, you’re sitting in the nicest cabin in this class. The still-pretty A4 has nothing on this; the 3 Series’ best materials can’t compare to the worst in this car. Wow.

The U.S. market C-Class will come in two flavors, initially: the C300 4Matic, with a turbo four, and the C400 4Matic, with a twin-turbo V6. As their names suggest, both come with all-wheel drive, though the C300 will be available with rear-wheel drive shortly after launch. (Which, incidentally, will be late this year—and U.S.-spec C-classes will be built in the US for the first time.)

The C400’s 3.0-liter V6 pumps out 329 hp and 354 lb-ft, more than enough to move it with serious speed (assisted by weight savings of up to a claimed 220 lb, thanks to the generous use of aluminum in the W205’s structure.) The fixed-split all-wheel drive system (45% front, 55% rear) puts all of the power to the ground, all the time—wheelspin in the dry isn’t a remote possibility.

Unfortunately, the 7-speed automatic proved clumsy, slow, and clunky. And if I’m being honest, the twin-turbo V6 makes the perfect argument for its rumored straight-six replacement. Not only is it too loud and coarse, but the whiny V6 engine note doesn’t match the elegance of the rest of the car.

The better engine choice is, quite unexpectedly, the four-cylinder. Preliminary estimates peg the turbo 2.0-liter’s output at 241 hp and 273 lb-ft for the U.S. market, but the European-spec car we drove was far less powerful.

Wearing a C250 badge, the rear-drive Euro car is rated at 208 hp and 258 lb-ft and can still accelerate to 62 mph in 6.6 seconds, according to Mercedes. It is more than quick enough, and the engine is not only far quieter than the V6, its sound is far less offensive. Better yet, the C250’s transmission is smoother and quicker to respond—and it felt like it wore a half-ton less weight over the front end. Indeed the smaller engine and lack of all-wheel drive would save a good amount of pounds.

Rear- and all-wheel-drive C-Classes use steering racks from different suppliers, but they feel similar (though the rear-drive C250’s was significantly lighter.) Feedback is completely eliminated thanks to the electric power assist, but the rack’s variable ratio tightens progressively as you add lock. It’s slow enough on-center to eliminate any chance of nervousness, but then quickens naturally. It’s brilliant—and a major improvement on the nonlinear, surprise-ratio-change rack on the current SL roadster.

Our test loops consisted of roads with nary a bump on them, so we’ll have to wait until we get the C-Class on our own soil to make a final comment, but the C’s ride was exemplary. Airmatic air suspension is available as an option—but don’t be fooled into thinking the system gives a plusher ride. By using air springs, it means the C-Class won’t experience degradation in ride quality when it’s fully loaded.

The C400 demonstrated a marked reluctance to turn, but the lighter C250 turns in quickly and remains fairly neutral in corners, with exemplary body control. Mid-corner bumps are met with a substantialthwack!, which might be an issue on our horrendous roads.

But this C-Class isn’t trying to be a sports sedan—and that’s a key point. As a luxury machine, it’s spectacular.

Mercedes loaded the new C-Class, of course, full of active and passive safety features including autonomous cruise and emergency braking. The latest version of COMAND infotainment system has gained additional functionality, but lost a lot more in usability

Everyone using it was continually confused—there are redundant screens, redundant menus, redundant controls. There’s a new capacitive touch-sensitive pad that towers above the circular controller, used in theory for pinch-to-zoom commands as well as spelling out destination entries. Unfortunately, it has tiny buttons on it that are unusable while driving, and if you reach past it to use the circular controller, it senses your hand and does all sorts of things you didn’t intend.

Ironically, we sampled the distracting new system the same week that Mercedes announced its partnership with Apple. So let’s hope this version of COMAND is short-lived—and that Mercedes, and every other car company—can stop distracting itself from the business of building cars.

Because, as the new C-Class proves, Mercedes is still very much able to produce some of the best cars in the world. It just needed to stop pretending it was BMW.

[TheBingoBalls]

Too bad BMW can't stop pretending to be a Mercedes or Lexus. BMW built a reputation on being sporty and unfortunately, not everybody wants a sporty ride but everybody wants a luxury car so now we find BMW trying to balance the two but I feel they'll always be stuck in the middle and not always in a good way while Mercedes can build cars like the 2015 C-Class without worrying they can sell enough.

[DieGrüneHölle]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

Too bad BMW can't stop pretending to be a Mercedes or Lexus. BMW built a reputation on being sporty and unfortunately, not everybody wants a sporty ride but everybody wants a luxury car so now we find BMW trying to balance the two but I feel they'll always be stuck in the middle and not always in a good way while Mercedes can build cars like the 2015 C-Class without if they can sell enough.

Yup BMW had their niche and they are straying too far from it.