19th Nov 2014, 18:37

Didn't use to be - the Mercedes 190 series was very much a mid-size (they didn't use the word E-Class then) or S-Class car scaled down. It was just as over-engineered as the bigger cars, but easier to park on the road as most Europeans do. But these smaller cars (including the 3-Series BMW) have been built to a cost recently. Heck, even the late 1990s E-class. The E36 1992-1998 BMW 3-series was also a shrunken 5-Series. Just shut the door and it feels like the window glass was concreted into the door. But now, the most recently-superseded E90, shut the door and drive it; if you were blindfolded you can't tell you're in a BMW. But the 5-Series still has doors for example that shut solid.

20th Nov 2014, 13:13

You should count yourself lucky in the USA, as the C-Class isn't entry level over here, because we have an A-Class and B-Class too!

25th Nov 2014, 06:47

Mercedes has a very similar quality for all of their cars. The S Classes are more luxurious, not more reliable or durable. I have a C Class with 550,000km and not a single story as this guy reports. I also have an A Class with 298,000km and not a single problem.

And to the person with the C240, I think your car might have been mistreated before it was yours; these are very durable cars.