Faults:

1. Breather hose.

2. Both interior front door handles broke off.

3. Wiring fell out of phone cradle (super glue fixed :) )

4. Paint chips way too easily.

5. AM/FM not working properly.

6. Random rattles throughout the interior.

7. Front sway bar bushes at 60K.

8. Pads and disks need to be done every 60K (front and back).

General Comments:

This is not a cheap car to own; if you can't afford to pay a $1000 for a service, then avoid this car. I'm not even using the dealer, but costs easily climb on this car. Everything is expensive, but then again it is a Mercedes. However to be fair, the car has never broken down so far, so my main complaint is the cost of ownership.

Make no mistake though, this is an excellent car. Yes, it's got little niggly problems, and yes they are annoying, but you can see the quality, if you put the car up on a hoist; everything underneath looks like a quality part. I saw a BMW of the same age up on the hoist, and it just looks cheap below. The control arms are way thinner, and in general most parts look inferior.

Paint chips really easily, but this seems to be a problem with all modern cars. The car is excellent on longer trips, and you always feel safe in it, the doors shut beautifully, and you feel safe driving at 100 or 140, and I don't see why it would be any different at 200. It is just so well planted to the ground. This is definitely a highway car though. You can tell it was built for cruising and not for the city. On longer trips the fuel consumption will usually drop in between 6.8L and 7.1L with the air-conditioning on.

I'm very happy with the car, and I have no doubt it will easily make it to 200,000 Km's. Rattles are really annoying, but I have fixed them all, but I really shouldn't have to do this in a Mercedes. It always makes me wonder how testers miss these things.

The engine in this car is excellent, you just can't believe its pulling power on mountain runs, it just doesn't make sense. It's such a small engine, and it's supercharged, but the car weighs so much, yet it feels like it hardly matters. This car will easily hit 200 kph.

The best car I have ever owned, but I don't know if I will buy another one, I know how to check for very specific rattles now, so the new cars better not fail here, because I will not buy them just because of that.

My main advice though is to avoid the dealers and find your local specialist. This will save you thousands of dollars.

Faults:

I'm shocked with the quality of the newer Mercs. My friend told me not to get a new one because the newer ones aren't like the older ones... boy was she right.

My passenger door handle (interior) became loose.

The driver's door handle (exterior) is off track.

The seat panel fell off of the back of the driver's seat.

The wiring for the exterior lights STILL has a glitch, which is something Mercedes should've fixed 10 years ago. However, when I took it to Mercedes Benz of Greensboro (NC), the guy showed me a trick. When the car says check tail light, all you have to do is bang on the joker a little bit.

The controls for the car lighting, Car settings, etc.) are entirely too complex...it's time consuming.

The B-service -- ok wow. All Mercedes does is change the air filter, oil change, new wiper blades. They "check" (not replace) to see if you need brakes, suspension and a whole bunch of other things they just check. The B-service is not worth $480 when all you have to spend is $200 on wiper blades, oil change, and an oil filter.

General Comments:

I put 15,000 on the car without doing ANY work to it except an oil change. The ENGINES and TRANSMISSIONS in Mercs are phenomenal!!! Damn the cosemetics.

If you guys haven't noticed... the C240 IS the slowest Benz made in the 21st century (in the US). I wanted a C230 Kompressor... but my parents bought me the C240.

I HATE the "adaptive pedal" because if I go slow in the city, and get on the highway, the car will take off slow and shift early... and it's the opposite when getting OFF the highway... after doing 80mph, and coming to a stoplight in the city, the car will take off like a rocket.

I love the fact that Mercs WILL NOT exceed the maximum RPM (pedal to the metal, the car's RPM gauge doesn't exceed 6 hitting the red zone I LOVE IT).

The "window-trick" DOES WORK regardless if you think it doesn't. In order for the windows and sunroof to open while holding the unlock button on the remote, the remote has to be pointed directly at the sensor on the DRIVER'S door handle (if you don't have the sensor, then you don't have this feature). I've learned that it only work depending on weather conditions.

EVERYONE thinks the upkeep on a Merc is SOOOOOOOOO expensive. I'm only 20 years old, and I took care of my car with NO problem. Think about it. Non Merc drivers have to get oil changes every 3,000k miles @ $25. Merc drivers get oil changes every 6,000k miles @ $50... which is typically the same.

THE ONLY Merc I will purchase is the new S550, or the 2010 E CLASS (OMG it's gorgeous). The 2010 E Class will debut sometime after June! It's a beast! Look or it.