Mercedes E250 CDI @ 95,000 kms INTRO:
Well, my dad is a diehard merc fan. It is extremely difficult to convince him to even consider any car from any other rival brands. However there was no proper service support in Goa. It was only in early 2010 that an authorised Mercedes dealership was setup. This was when my dad decided to take the plunge and buy one.
Now the question was which one. We considered the Mercedes C class a little too expensive for it offered. We found the E Class much more value for money than the C class. We didn't consider the M Class because of all the problems that was experienced by the owners. Then came the choice of the exterior and interior colour options. Well this is where it goes all wrong for Mercedes. I feel that in this price bracket Mercedes should allow their customers to customise their own colour combinations. Anyways after all the debates at home, it was decided that we would book the E 250 CDI Elegance in Cuprite Brown with beige interiors. EXTERIORS
The car looks regal. The front of the car is instantly recognisable as that of an E Class thanks to the twin xenon headlamps and the big grill. The colour exhibits different shades under different light conditions. At night, it is very easy to mistake it for black! But the flipside of this colour is obvious that it does demand good detailing every six months and shows swirl marks rather easily.The alloys look nice but are difficult to keep clean.
The OVRMs are small for the car. Only the right one is auto dimming.The head lights come on and shut off automatically. They swivel around as you turn the steering wheel. It has a good spread and definitely a huge step up over the halogen light that the base E Class come with. Our car came with the straight DRLs. The boomerang shaped ones were available only on 2009 and early 2010 models, regardless of whether the car is in Elegance or Avantgarde trim. INTERIORS
Frankly, I feel that the car is not as well equipped as its rivals, more specifically the new Audi A6. However the car does come with the basics such as the rear ac vents,three zone climate control etc. The stereo is nice. It is quite clear and has good bass. The COMAND system is a basic one and only incorporates the bluetooth phone functions and the stereo options.
The interiors have a very simple design and is quite well built. I say 'quite' because some bits such as the bonnet release lever and the storage compartment is quite flimsy and threaten to break off very easily. However the ergonomics are spot on. Every switch is where you want them to be. 5 to 10 mins is all you need to be familiar with the controls.
The rear seats are comfortable enough but the floor hump in the middle makes the 5th passenger a little uncomfortable. The seat headrests are soft but there is no button to make the headrests fall back to ensure more visibility.
The A.C is not the best around. It takes while to cool down even on the lowest temperature setting. The AC vents on the B-pillar are
however next to useless, as there is hardly any air coming out even when the vents are fully open. THE DRIVE
The engine belts out around 200 bhp of power and 500 Nm of torque. That's right, 500 Nm of torque! Show the car an open stretch, push the throttle to the floor, wait a bit for the gearbox to shift down and before you know it you reach that distant speck on the road in no time. Once the gearbox shifts down, the torque surge is so much that you feel that there is a vacuum in the the seat pulling you further and further into the seat! However the engine does sound gruff at the redline.
Show the car some corners and the car doesn't fare too badly. Sure there is body roll, but it does feel controlled.The steering is light enough for the city and does weigh up as the speed increases. But it does not offer much in terms of feedback.
The gearbox though just wants to spoil the fun. It takes ages to shift down when you push down the accelerator pedal. The time it takes to shift is akin to that taken when manually shifting a gear with the clutch pedal on some other car, and sometimes even longer! The shifts are not all that smooth. Just wondering when Mercedes India is going to plonk the 7 speed gearbox, available in the E 350 CDI, into this one. The E 250 CDIs in the UK are available with these gearboxes. RELIABILITY
When we bought the car, it came with Continental tyres. The problem with these tyres is that they have weak sidewalls. Due to this if you are not careful with the car on potholes, there is a really high probabity that a bubble form on the tire. These bubbles cannot be fixed and the tire has to be replaced. At around 16k a tire, replacing one isn't what you call cheap. What's worse is that more often than not the tyres are not replaced under warranty and the cost of the replacement has to be borne by the owner. We have replaced 2 tires due to this. Other than this it has been quite a pleasant ownership experience. The car hasnt broken down till now, touch wood. But I do hope that MB India comes up with service packages like the ones that BMW offer.
Last edited by crux : 18th March 2012 at 22:14.
Reason: To ensure continuity of the post
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