2012 Mercedes-Benz C350 Reviews

Mercedes-Benz has just launched an all-new C-Class model, so there's a good chance many owners of older models will be trading up. Meaning there could be a glut of used C-Class in Australia, giving you the chance to select between the many on offer, as well as the opportunity to select from the best of them. 

The small-medium Mercedes-Benz C-Class, while costing significantly more than many cars in its class, is becoming increasingly affordable by the standards of the prestige car market.Though it has been built down to a price when compared with upper crust Mercedes models, the price trimming has been done intelligently and you still get a car that’s well built and uses good quality materials.The C-Class is sold as a three-door coupe, a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon body. Coupes from 2008 to 2011 were called the CLC-Class in an attempt to give them a sportier image. That didn’t seem to work and with the new model of 2011 the C-Class coupe name was revised.This is a rear-wheel-drive car so those travelling in the back seats of sedans and wagons will find themselves a little squeezed unless the front seats are moved forward a notch or two. This situation has improved over the years as the C-Class cars have become slightly larger, but it’s still smart to take the family along during your pre-purchase road test to make sure it suits them.Boot space is good and the big bootlid in the sedans makes it easy to load. The wagon is of the stylish school, with a sloping tailgate that robs the load area of some cubic capacity.Naturally the back seats and boots of the coupes are on the cramped side, but that’s par for the course.Few cars come with such a staggering range of engines as the Mercedes C-Class. Four, six and eight-cylinder engines are offered. The latest petrol engines have direct petrol injection and are significantly better than the older units in terms of performance consumption and emissions. Look for the letters CGI in the car’s title, indicting the new-generation engines. The name Kompressor in the car’s title means it has a supercharged engine to provide extra torque. Later units use a turbocharger rather than a supercharger.The hot AMG models use the V8s and have tremendous performance, but this comes at a cost in high fuel consumption.Mercedes-Benz C-Class with turbo-diesel engines have been sold for many years, long before they became common in other European marques. They have either four or six cylinders. The newer diesels (look for CDI on the badge) are a big advance on the older diesel in smoothness and refinement and once the car is cruising at a steady speed we defy you to pick them from petrol powerplants.The great majority of C-Class Mercedes-Benzes will have an automatic transmission, though you will find some four-cylinders cars have a five-speed manual gearbox, they may cause real hassles at resale time.Luxury levels are Classic, Elegance, Avantgarde and Sport. The latter has firmer suspension for better road feel and will make a nice car for the enthusiastic driver.Spare parts, servicing and repairs are all expensive for a car of this size, but certainly not for a machine with the high prestige rating the Benz affords you. Insurance costs are generally reasonable for a car in this class.It pays to buy a used Mercedes-Benz which has been serviced throughout its life by an authorised dealer. Their mechanics are not only trained to high standards, but are in constant touch with the factory. A car with a full service history will almost invariably command a higher price but be sure the service books are genuine.Mercedes-Benz Australia offers a good used-car scheme on cars up to five years of age. The length of the warranty varies according to the workshop’s assessment of the car.WHAT TO LOOK FORBe sure the steering is positive with no unnecessary free play in the straight-ahead position. There were some problems with the early version of the Brake Assist System (BAS). These should have been rectified by a dealer after a recall. Contact the dealer or Mercedes’ head office to see if this work has been done.Do a visual check of the car inside and out for signs of damage or worse-than-average wear. Pay particular attention to the bumper-bar corners for signs of paint scrapes. Also have a good look at the condition of the seats.Always call an expert for the final say no matter how good the Mercedes appears to be after your own inspection. Either use a mechanic formally trained on Mercedes or a senior inspector from your motoring association. Noisy engines, or units that are slow to start may be about to rack up an expensive repair.CAR BUYING TIPIf you’re considering getting an old prestige car rather than a new, but somewhat mundane, car make sure your budget is up to the task of supporting the higher running costs of the upmarket machine. 

THERE are more Mercedes coupes than descendants of the Romanovs and working out their lineage is almost as difficult.That's because Mercedes has been very un-Germanic about its two-doors and failed to line them up in a nice orderly fashion.So where its sedans come in three easy-to-understand sizes, C, E and S, the coupes have been all over the place. For example, there was the CLK, which can still be seen double-parked outside any establishment popular with ladies who lunch.It fitted somewhere between the C and the E. If you preferred gravy to jus there was the CLC, which is smaller than a C and, in any case, really a hatchback. Or the CLS, which stretches the definition even further because it has four doors.It's an E in running shoes. Then there's the retro SLS, which has wings instead of doors, and the CL, which is the rich uncle of an S.Obviously, even Germans were confused and for some time they've been trying to sort it out. First, Mercedes replaced the CLK with the E Coupe. It has mixed parentage, but at least you know where it stands.Now, in a sign it's getting the hang of the whole model family idea, Mercedes has ditched the old-tech CLC and brought out something unambiguously related to the C. It has even called it the C Coupe. It has two doors, different panels and grille, plus a unique rear diffuser. But it clearly carries the same genes as the C sedan and wagon.VALUEIt squares off against the Audi A5 and BMW 3 Series coupe but, unusually for a Merc, starts under them on price. The C180 BE, at $58,900, is designed to lure the price-conscious shoppers who would previously have gone for a CLC, which began just above $52,000.The C250 BE feels like the coupe sweet spot at this end of the market. It starts at $69,900, which would also buy a BMW 320d Coupe, with a four-cylinder diesel, or the Audi A5 2.0TFSI, which is the only front-wheel drive of the trio. With the C250 BE in the mix, the choice just got more difficult.DESIGNAll the coupes get the upgraded interior recently fitted to the sedans and wagons, which means it feels suitably premium for the money. The seats, with integrated headrests, are first rate and there's enough room in the back as long as you're no more than average height and your feet aren't too big. With the sunroof fitted, headroom is a bit cramped and, before you order one, make sure you can live with the mesh screen, which cannot keep out Australian sun.Access to the rear is fine, although that's partly because the doors are 30cm longer than the ones in the sedan. So you won't be able to get out in a car park.But the boot is as large as the one in the E Coupe and the two are closer than you may expect on some dimensions, such as wheelbase and width. If you don't need the extra presence, equipment and bling of the longer car, then the C Coupe may be enough.TECHNOLOGYI didn't sample the 180 BE on the drive program in Victoria this week, so I can't say whether it's any good. However, from the spec sheet it's clearly much slower and, amazingly, thirstier than the C250 BE, which uses a more powerful version of the same 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine.Mercedes believes the C250 BE will be the most popular variant and if you can live without a V8's ability to break traction on demand, or the better torque and soundtrack of the 225kW 3.5-litre V6 in the C350 BE, then it's worth a look. It certainly seems like value against the C350 BE, which is another $30,000.The BE stands for Blue Efficiency, which is Mercedes' suite of fuel-saving tricks. So it's also frugal, consuming 7.0 litres of premium for every 100km, even though it misses out on stop-at-idle, which is fitted to the diesel. The diesel four-cylinder C250 CDI is the same price as the petrol and with stop-start delivers impressive economy of 5.1l/100km and a slightly faster sprint time to 100km/h. But it didn't feel as quick and makes noises that verge on loud and coarse. With another 110kg of weight, it's not as pleasant on the road either.DRIVEIts acceleration won't impress HSV owners, but for a small four-cylinder it feels adequately feisty. Its 150kW mean a 0-100km/h time of 7.2 and it builds speed with conviction. And while the engine does emit a few odd noises, for a turbo four it doesn't sound too bad.On a twisty road you can have fun in this car. The steering is light but accurate and gets better when the sport button is pressed. You can turn quickly into corners confident it will hold its line and grip, even when the tarmac deteriorates. Its smallish engine helps it feel balanced and planted; it doesn't have the heavy nose feel of some bigger-engined cars.MERCEDES-BENZ C-CLASS COUPEPrice: From $69,900Engines: 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol or 2.1-litre turbocharged four-cylinder dieselOutputs: 150kW at 5500rpm and 310Nm at 2300rpm (C250 BE); 150kW at 4200rpm and 500Nm at 1600rpm (C250 CDI)Transmission: Seven-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive