Faults:

Weird little things have gone wrong with this car. 1st it was a passenger door that wouldn't totally unlock with the key fob which when they put it back together the door handle came off in my wife's hands! Just like the Visa commercial: Mercedes X-mas gift $35,000 New... Premium Gas $3+ a gallon... look on wife's face when the door handle came off in her hand of her new Mercedes Benz...Priceless! Then when that was fixed, the reflector inside the Xenon headlight assembly came loose and fell in front of the bulb in the headlight housing. Then the radio has no volume on two different occasions 7 months apart. Only took it in to get fixed once. After a couple of days the radio came back on by itself. A software update patch seem to fixed the problem. Everything was fixed under warranty without questions.

General Comments:

Besides those little weird things... the car has performed flawlessly and we have been very happy with it this last year. It always brings a smile to your face to see that shiny, pretty new black Benz sitting in the garage. It also has plenty of pickup for those passing games on the streets or the highways. It brakes on a dime with the 13" cross drilled rotors and handles tightly, but comfortably at all times. No complaints! Would buy another one!

Faults:

Nothing - the car has been faultless.

General Comments:

Smooth, comfortable, punchy, well specified and beautifully finished. As a bonus it's even relatively economical, averaging 38 mpg so far and I don't drive it gently. There's more than enough grunt on tap to give the ASR system a workout, and not just in the wet either.

The muted five cylinder burble from the engine, overlaid with a good dose of turbo sibilance is wonderful, and there's little combustion rattle when warm, even idling with the bonnet raised. It is a bit ropey sounding when cold though, but that's just the nature of the diesel beast.

Typical Mercedes automatic gearbox with barely perceptible changes, and always seeming to be in the right gear when you need it to be. A very nice match with the diesel engine, as the shove on tap is always instantaneous.

When you sit in the car it just smacks of quality. The plastics are all soft feel and nicely textured, the fit and finish impeccable and the leather looks, smells and feels expensive.

My car, being an ex demonstrator, came loaded with optional extras including the 17" alloys, sports suspension and cross drilled discs. Handling is excellent, although the ride can suffer if the road surface is particularly awful. You still wouldn't call it unrefined though.

In common with BMW and other German cars, there is now a computer system in which you can "personalise" your car such as setting things like headlamp off delays and other nonsense. It's a bit gimmicky to be honest with you, and I sat in the car with the owners manual and had a play for an hour when I first collected the car, but have never touched it since. I suspect most owners will find the same.

Incredibly, the car has not yet had its first service. Like a lot of cars Mercedes have a variable indicator, and I'm told by the dealer it will need its first service somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 miles depending on driving conditions. To the engineer in me, that rings alarm bells, but I guess Mercedes must know what they are doing.

Overall a superbly engineered, capable, and practical motor car that's good to drive and superbly equipped. I would recommend it without reservation.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong.

General Comments:

This is the improved 'New Generation' model with redesigned interior.

The build quality is excellent and the materials used throughout the car are first rate.

Performance is good although at low revs the engine feels a bit underpowered in stop and go traffic.

On the highway, the supercharger helps the engine pull strongly but it gets a bit loud at higher revs.

Handling, steering and brakes all feel very good which gives the driver a sense of confidence.

Interior room is good for this class of car and four people can ride in it very comfortably.