Mercedes-Benz C-Class Saloon Mild Hybrid (Parallel Imported)

C Class review

Hi - After watching all kinds of car reviews and test driving about a dozen vehicles, I finally settled on the C Class. We traded in a Toyota Corolla. Overall, it's a very good car, but not the perfect car. Perhaps there is nothing called a perfect car, but this one comes very close. There are several things that I like, but there are a few things I am disappointed with in the car. For the price you pay for this car, I think these issues should have been ironed out.

The drive is silky smooth, but the transmission is jerky. You will feel every gear change.. Coming from a Corolla CVT to this, i found that a big surprise. But once you cruise, it's like hot knife over butter. The finish of the car, the appearance of the car are all excellent, to me. Looks great interior and exterior. But the fit quality (this car is made in South Africa, not Germany as your website says) leaves a lot to be desired. Push the wooden panel or the side panel, you feel as if you are cracking a biscuit. Seriously, not what one expects of a $300,000 car.

The engine is adequately powered and the mild hybrid is very nice. Four adults and a child should be comfortable in the car. Three adults in the back will be a challenge/uncomfortable.

More bad things: The audio system is basically crap, for the money you pay for the car. Worse still, Mercedes wont fit you Burmester or any other system for you. Resorting to third party will void the warranty. Not nice and you are stuck. The car has very good outside noise insulation, so that helps a bit. I dont find any issue with the run-flat tires.

Air conditioning is also not great. In the corolla, I used to set the temperature at 26 and it would cool the car well. Anything above 24 is not going to help in the C Class. The Fan speeds 1-4 are pretty much useless. Five is the bare minimum and sidx and seven can be noisy.

Appearance

Space

Smoothness

MBUX

Interiors

Ambient lighting

Jerky transmission

Bad audio system

Fitting quality

Value for money paid

Features for money paid

Air conditioning

My 3rd Mercedes-Benz after CLA & GLB. Happily driven for first few months.

Things started to get weird when noises, software & hardware issues surfaced.

The repair/replacement list kept getting longer, even the car was left with C&C workshop for weeks & no less than 10 times with a year.

Eventually gave up & asked to return my c-class from workshop & traded-in almost immediately.

One of the most entertaining and comfortable drive.

The interior sets you in the mood every time. Never fails to impress your passengers with the interior and comfort.

When driven hard the extra boost from the electric motor gives a punch.

Stock Mercedes Audio is reasonable once tuned right.

Fuel Consumption and Reliability is up there for an European made car.

The interior is love at first sight

Big screen for those old eyes

Pickup is good with the new EQ boost technology

Comfortable and handles well when driven hard

Turning radius is small for a long car. Easy to park even not using the Park Assist.

Can have more features for the price point.

Noisy RFT tyres. Sound insulation can be better since using RFT.

The popular Mercedes C-Class, in my opinion, stands out as the design-driven choice of the segment. Muted yet muscular on the outside, clean and sleek in the cabin.

Other than the looks? There's now more space than before in the cabin, especially handy for the rear passengers.

The car also now can come with rear-wheel steering, which is actually pretty handy for those tight parking lots, although here its not quite as dramatic as what you can get in the other cars from the segments above.

Drivetrain is smooth and quiet enough.

But the high insulation can make the car feel slower than it is. MBUX system will take some getting used to, and the ride with the AMG-line suspension just never settles, even on seemingly smooth roads.

The new 2023 Mercedes Benz C-class seems like a totally different beast of a car. The looks of the S and E class combined, packaged with the compactness of the C-class and the practicality of a phenomenal saloon, finally allow it to enter the conversation for the best compact-executive saloon.

The C-class has always been the budget S-class or a cheaper alternative to the executive class, as such a popular option for Singaporeans. However, it always falls short of the 3 series, outperforming it in every category and being a better bang for its buck. With this version, however, it might finally have a compelling case to fight the 3 series.

The main argument for getting C class over 3 series is definitely the flashiness of the interior as compared to 3 series. It inherits the flashy yet intuitive 11.9-inch touchscreen from the S-class, making it seem more 'atas'. The spamming of ambient LED lights around the cabin, and the little features like red lights flashing when aircon temperature is increased really elevate the whole driving experience. It has a slightly longer wheelbase, just around 1.2 cm shorter than that of E class, making it sufficiently spacious for rear passengers, solving the issue of lack of space in previous generations. Boot space is acceptable at 455 litres, sufficient for daily use.

The Exterior has shifted from boring E-class lookalike to a beautiful identity of its own, especially in AMG line. The aggressive side lines panning from front to end of the car, revamped face and rear of the car and impressive side profile really make the C-class make you go wow whenever you go past one.

The 1.5 litre engine, regardless of engine trim, provides sufficient power and torque for daily driving. It is very responsive and sometimes sounds pretty good. Handling is typical for a comfort-biased car - light but surprisingly receptive enough and accurate, not too numb, an improvement from its predecessor. Ride quality is good, and soaks up bumps in the road well, which should be expected from such a car. Body-roll is not very bad due to a tauter suspension than its predecessor, but still inevitable for a comfort-biased set-up. Overall, the driving package is very appealing as it combines exceptional comfort with easy driving.

In conclusion, if having a driver's car is not a priority to you, there is no reason not to get this car.

How amazing the interior looks at night, especially with the ambient lighting everywhere and the massive 11.9 inch display dominating the centre. It always feels very refreshing and futuristic whenever I get into the car. I love the fuel efficiency of this car. When I drove this, I could get around as good as 4 litres per 100km fuel efficiency, which can be achieved with the amazingly fuel efficient 1.5 litre engine paired with mild-hybrid system. This is also helped with the fact that it has a drag coefficient of 0.24 and also the 9-G tronic transmission, which constantly changes between gears to find the optimum rpm for maximum fuel efficiency.

I just love how well-rounded this car is.

The price is a bit on the pricey side, more than standard 3-series which comes with more features as standard. Even though the car is capable of performing certain functions, one must pay extra to access them, which is something that I deeply dislike. As many features do not come in as standard, one has to pay more when its competitors are giving the same features free.

The brake pedal feels weird at times, which takes time to adjust. The infotainment system might feel complicated at the start and took me a while to get used to. Some of the materials in the cabin feel cheap, which I do not expect from a car of such price tag.

The new 2023 Mercedes Benz C-class seems like a totally different beast of a car. The looks of the S and E class combined, packaged with the compactness of the C-class and the practicality of a phenomenal saloon, finally allow it to enter the conversation for the best compact-executive saloon.

The C-class has always been the budget S-class or a cheaper alternative to the executive class, as such a popular option for Singaporeans. However, this generation makes a case for the C-class to be its own rather than constantly viewed as just a substitute.

The main argument for getting C class over 3 series is definitely the flashiness of the interior as compared to 3 series. It inherits the flashy yet intuitive 11.9-inch touchscreen from the S-class, making it seem more 'atas'. The spamming of ambient LED lights around the cabin, and the little features like red lights flashing when aircon temperature is increased really elevate the whole driving experience. It has a slightly longer wheelbase, just around 1.2 cm shorter than that of E class, making it sufficiently spacious for rear passengers, solving the issue of lack of space in previous generations. Boot space is acceptable at 455 litres, sufficient for daily use.

The Exterior has shifted from boring E-class lookalike to a beautiful identity of its own, especially in AMG line. The aggressive side lines panning from front to end of the car, revamped face and rear of the car and impressive side profile really make the C-class make you go wow whenever you go past one.

The efficient 1.5 litre engine, regardless of engine trim, provides sufficient power and torque for daily driving. It is very responsive and sometimes sounds pretty good. It is very efficient as a result of mild hybrid system and low drag coefficient. Handling is typical for a comfort-biased car - light but surprisingly receptive enough and accurate, not too numb, an improvement from its predecessor. Ride quality is phenomenal, and soaks up bumps in the road very well, almost as well as the E class. Body-roll is not very bad due to a tauter suspension than its predecessor, but still inevitable for a comfort-biased set-up. Overall, the driving package is very appealing as it combines exceptional comfort with easy driving.

Overall, if you are not a driving enthusiast, the C-class might just be the better choice for a good compact executive sedan.

I really like its interior. Very flashy, modern, and sleek, filled with many ambient lights (my favourite) spanning across the whole cabin. The rear has enough space for 2 fully sized adults. I like how much you can customise the C-class in, many specs with different options.

The highlight definitely has to be the ride quality and sound-proofing - it is superb! The cabin is pretty quiet when driving in the highway. The suspension is absolutely out of its class, it soaks up bumps better than any car in its class and is very comparable to the E-class. This makes the ride so relaxing and refreshing, something that is very reminiscent of a Mercedes. I like the steering, it is light but not the point it is too numb for any feedback. It is receptive and sufficiently accurate, making long drives less tiring and very relaxing.

The 9-G tronic transmission is very good at maintaining revs and picking up whenever you need it to perform overtaking maneuvers. The engine combined with a efficient transmission and drag coefficient of 0.24 allows the C-class to be incredibly efficient when driven correctly. It is claimed to have around fuel economy of 3.5 l/100km. The mild-hybrid system also contributes to such efficiency, and also make start and stop traffic seamless, which I really do appreciate.

The exterior is very good as well, the new styling really makes the C class take on its own identity, rather than just being a cheap E-class or S-class. It screams "I am C-class" very loudly, which is what I really like about this car.

I do not like the quality of the interior as it feels a bit cheap with hard plastics in certain areas and squeaky parts whenever I apply pressure on them, something you do not want in a luxury car. Although I said the infotainment system is good, it takes a while for anyone to get used to and not very easy to use at the start, however this problem reduces as you drive the car.

The main drawback of the C-class is its price, which is around 300k, which is slightly more expensive than its rivals like 3 series but cheaper than its bigger brother the E-class. Moreover Mercedes does not make a lot of features as standard, which would add up to the cost, which is very annoying.

The C-class does not look as good in its standard trim as compared to the AMG line, compelling you to spend more to get the more handsome look.

Basically a small S Class. Interior is VERY premium and the built is GREAT! Extremely fuel efficient as well! Getting 700KM on full tank.

Feels luxurious for a C-Class

Fantastic ride quality. I wasn't expecting much for a C-Class but was blown away by the sound proofing, you won't even hear much road noise at 100km/hr.

The W206 is beautiful both inside and out.

Like

Smooth, comfy ride

Improved rear seats

Modern looking both inside and out

Solid performance, fantastic handling

Dislike

Expensive for it's class

Many features at this price point will be available to other makes of cars but missing in the C-Class

A newfound sense of smoothness bolstered by a well integrated mild hybrid system. Added, XPel stealth PPF, the wide vertical slits grille and 19" And this car looks amazing.

Mercedes' new C-Class now comes in as an all new model. It's apparently bigger everywhere although you probably won't notice it unless you have both the old and new car side-by-side.

The styling is alright I guess. It brings the C-Class up to date with the rest of the Mercedes range although having said that, I think it's a little uninspired.

On the inside is where the new car truly shines, MBUX is showy, if requiring a little time for familiarisation, while the switchgear here is also all rather premium. Space is also quite decent front and back, although there is a huge centre console.

You'll need to buy into a bigger Mercedes if you're looking for a truly comfortable cruiser, or just get a Lexus. The ride in the C-Class is firm, and a little busy actually. Not all that great.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class has grown in size, even if I don't think most people will be able to tell there's that much more space in the cabin.

Not that it will really matter. What they will notice is the fact that a lot of the switchgear is borrowed from the larger S-Class, and the massive vertically-oriented screen in the middle.

Ride quality here is also ok. It's firm and a bit busy so if you're expecting a cushy Mercedes get the E-Class. But otherwise, it's all a delight to steer and the platform feels reasonably solid - one place where you will notice is much improved over the previous-gen car.

It's really extra on the inside. The infotainment screen is unavoidably huge, and there's a variety of colours available from the ambient lighting, so you can change the atmosphere from cozy lounge to nightclub with just a few buttons.

The ride really could be improved. MBUX is also a hot mess if you're unfamiliar with its myriad of layouts.

The design of the exterior is really a little bland. Those that are not familiar with cars can easily mistake this for either an E-Class or A-Class Saloon - whether that's good or bad is up to you.

Some of the interior plastics also need to be improved. There's sections such as the door cards that could be better covered with carpeting or leather.

Features such as adaptive cruise control and lane centering are all available only as costly extras. Not cool when non-premium brands already have these out of the box.