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Mercedes C-Class

Even German firm’s most popular car can be improved; what’s it like to drive?

Mercedes C-Class front

By Jo Oliviera

March 2011

After one million sales and four years Mercedes has revamped its most popular car. The new C-Class now gets a more aggressive design, improved engines and a whole raft of features that make it an altogether safer machine. But is that enough?

By the end of this year, BMW will reveal an all-new 3 Series while Audi will upgrade the A4. So, it’s not surprising that this facelift is the most extensive the Stuttgart brand has ever done to one of its products. It claims there are 2,000 new or changed parts.

Video: watch CarBuyer's video review of the Mercedes CLS

 

The most obvious update is to the looks. The front end is much more striking, taking on cues from the SLS AMG and CLS with new headlights, a more prominent radiator grille and a sportier lower bumper. The bonnet is now made from aluminium to cut weight too.

Order the optional bi-xenon headlamps with the Intelligent Light System (ILS) and you get a neat row daytime running lights. Character is further boosted at the rear with larger taillamps. Overall, the car is very aerodynamic with a best-for-the-class drag coefficient of 0.26.

Inside there’s now a new, larger display integrated into the instrument cluster as well as new metal trims, quality leathers and grains which contribute to a better feel. The instrument cluster layout has a sportier look and an easy to read lay-out which will please most drivers while there’s also a new generation of telematics (optional with 3D navigation and internet access) which is faster and more intuitive to use. 

The mechanical improvements deserve plenty of attention too. All the engines have been revised, each receiving start/stop as standard, which helps to reduce fuel consumption by up to a third. What’s more all eco-friendly BlueEfficiency units (except the 300 CDI 4Matic) are available with Mercedes’ super smooth seven-speed automatic transmission.

All engines benefit from direct injection which in the case of the super smooth C350 3.5-litre V6 petrol model we drove means a power increase from 268bhp and 350Nm of torque to 302bhp and 370Nm of torque. But the unit returns 38mpg up from 28mpg. It can also accelerate from 0-60mph in around six seconds and onto 155mph! 

Entry-level petrol engines include a 1.8 litre four-cylinder – in the C180, C200 and C250 variations – while the same four cylinder diesel unit is the base for the 118bhp C180 CDI, 134bhp 200 CDI, 168bhp C220 CDI and 201bhp C250 CDI. The revamped C-Class also gets the latest driving assistance systems to keep you in your lane on the motorway, warn you of vehicles in your blind spot and alert you if you begin to fall asleep at the wheel.

Almost no changes have been made to the chassis of the C Class so it still feels very comfortable and balanced regardless of how the driver wishes to behave. It’s not as sharp as a 3-Series but for Mercedes loyal buyers, that’s probably a positive. 

For an alternative review of the latest Mercedes-Benz C-Class visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

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11 Comments

...

They've made it uglier at the front. Rest of it looks good ut they have properly messed that front end up!

By b18boy on 9 March, 2011, 3:35pm

get it right

Dear mr/mrs/miss/ms/other Oliveira,

your figures on the Merc C350 BlueEfficiency are away to cock. The combined mpg is 41.5, not 38 (as stated above), and the CO2 figure is 159g/km, not 174, so under the important 160g business depreciation cut-off rule in UK.

Try to get it right, and do justice to an amazingly efficient engine/car. There are a lot of tw*ts here who are only too ready to mindlessly disparage anything Teutonic, without you giving power to their elbow. Ta.

By farmergiles on 9 March, 2011, 4:21pm

Get it Right v2

Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Other Farmer Giles

The economy figure in the article is probably for in town driving and the figure in the At A Glance panel is probably combined or motorway driving. The CO2 number probably differs from the stated figure to the tested figure.

Pull your head out of your @rse and stop being a patronising idiot.

Jo Oliviera is a motoring journalist — a professional — not a self-rightious tw*t like you. Ironically, you are an example of the very people you berate in your rant.

Journalists work to tight deadlines, write authoritatively and do so very well... I'd like to see you turn your keyboard to writing the kind of quality reviews we enjoy reading in Auto Express.

"Ta"

By LandRoverForever on 9 March, 2011, 5:45pm

@l/rforever,

mate, don't be a pr*ck. I made a comment on a matter of incontrovertible fact. You commented on my comment, ad hominem. Stay on the facts, not the man. Your 'fact' is wrong.

The figures I gave, re. combined mpg and CO2 emission per kliometre, are the official ones - for the facelifted C-Class with the new 3.5 V6 engine - from Mercedes-Benz themselves. Check it, if you wish, at mercedes-benz.de website. The figures given on the Mercedes-Benz german webiste are for the EU cycle, so will apply to the UK market C-Class as well, once the UK website goes live with the 'new' C-class data by the end of this month.

To recap, the new 3.5 60 deg. V6, in the facelifted C350 BlueEfficiency, is a breakthrough and step-change in efficiency in the car industry. It is the first of Mercedes-Benz's MoVe family of engines which improve fuel usage efficiency by as much as one-third over their already market-competitive predecessors.

This is surely worth highlighting, hence why I wished to draw it to the writer of the piece's attention. A petrol engine producing 300+ hp output in a D-segment, 1.6 ton car, capable of 0-60 mph in under six seconds and yet able to return over 40 mpg AND qualify for company car fleet consideration, due to its sub-160g/km CO2 figure, enabling first-year full depreciation write-off, is truly outstanding and remarkable achievement and we should congratulate its creators.

If you still have a problem with that I suggest you take your "LandRoverForever" and employ it elsewhere, perhaps where facts are a moveable feast, as appears to be the case with you and indeed with Land Rover and its notorious, lowest of the low build quality and reliability. 'Forever' indeed. Now that would be a novelty! Ta ta.

By farmergiles on 9 March, 2011, 7:26pm

Blah blah blah...

I don't give a toss about the car... I give a toss about you trying to berate a professional journalist.
Don't tell me to stick to the facts then make some sweeping generalisation about 'notorious' build quality of [all] Land Rovers. I've had a few. Mine have been reliable.
Seems to me that you're the prick, not me... Lay off the journos!

By LandRoverForever on 9 March, 2011, 9:41pm

Blah blah blah...

I don't give a toss about the car... I give a toss about you trying to berate a professional journalist.
Don't tell me to stick to the facts then make some sweeping generalisation about 'notorious' build quality of [all] Land Rovers. I've had a few. Mine have been reliable.
Seems to me that you're the prick, not me... Lay off the journos!

By LandRoverForever on 9 March, 2011, 9:58pm

@lrforever,

fella, you clearly have some mental health issues. I feel for you, bro. do seek help. try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dignitas_(euthanasia_group)

By farmergiles on 10 March, 2011, 7:53am

...!

A well though out response from the man with nothing sensible to say who has been well and truly been shown up!

By LandRoverForever on 10 March, 2011, 7:48pm

...!

A well thought out response from the man with nothing sensible to say who has been well and truly been shown up!

By LandRoverForever on 10 March, 2011, 7:50pm

most enjoyable read for a long time

I mean the post-article comments of course!

By sanghanip on 14 March, 2011, 8:56am

C350 CDI perhaps ?

I quite fancied one of these, but wanted the equivalent to the outgoing C350 CDI model (3 litre V6 diesel) - I can't see any details for a powerful diesel variant, other than brief mention of a 300 CDI 4Matic which sounds like 4-wheel drive. Do you think a C350 CDI may come out later ?

By brienze on 14 March, 2011, 8:09pm

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Mercedes C-Class front
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FIRST OPINION

    This latest C-Class is a brilliant all-rounder. The comprehensive changes have made it even more luxurious, safer and better to drive. What’s more, the fact that even our range-topping V6 petrol is capable of returning around 40mpg shows how much more economical the new range is. It all adds up to a comfortable, quiet and quality executive saloon.  

 

AT A GLANCE

    Price: £36,000 (est.)
    Engine: 3.5-litre V6 petrol, 302bhp
    Transmission: Seven-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
    Top speed: 155mph
    0-62mph: 6.0 seconds
    Econ: 41.5mpg
    CO2: 174g/km
    Equipment: Adaptive headlights and cruise control, alloy wheels, climate control, leather upholstery, stop-start 
    On sale: Spring
     
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