e500 is US problably cost cheaper than a e2.8 or e3.5 litre in malaysia. therefore you have tons of money left over to burn petrol or diesel. but you also need to consider. the turbo unit is more fuel efficient. quite a few good examples of turbo units available now mainly the 3litre turbo in the bmws, in the peugeots 308s. some NA engines that can hope to match them in fuel efficiency (considering larger power and torque output) are the ones from porsche and more recently the 3.5litre units in the toyota aurion and to a lesser extent the 3.5litre in the accord. the 2.3litre e class is cheating coz they equipped it with the 7 speed gearbox.

audi also seems to be improving on thier TSFI in the golf gti.

Yes, 1.8L for a mid sized luxury car is pathetic. E’s in NorthAmerica start at 3.5L, But take it in context our our market and the rising fuel charges.

Wait till you see the 1.8L Diesotto in future benzes. What will you say then?

wut abt road tax???do u think its worth of ur money…with dat kind of road tax charge(refer to e500 or e430)i wuld rather buy the sports car or sports luxury sedan like quattroporte or merc cls..tgk marketla bang…if they sell e500 or e430…x lakula sgt…

what do u expect.., the contractor tasked to assemble the ckd part are paid by peanut..

that’s why they locate their factory in some god-forsaken place in pekan.., so they can pay peanut to the line-worker..

some more look at which company that assemble the ckd? AAM – another DRB-Hicom? what do their track record says about vehicle that come out from any of their assembly line.. ?

sutera? suria? sangyoong? merc?

Daimler Malaysia should do the CKD themselves so they can better manage the quality..

Merc was better during the C&C time..!

btw, the correct word is panoramic or panaromic roof?

can someone tell? confused lah….

I have always wondered whether Merc will stop making the 1.8 T and move to their new generation of V6 and V8. The fuel price increases nevertheless puts an interesting dilemma to this question. The argument of merc owners being able to afford fuel is only relevant in Asian countries as in Europe/US these cars are generally more affordable and customers there are very conscious of cost of ownership.

What are the published economy figures for the 1.8 and 2.5 for comparison sake?

One thing i must say about Merc is the ride. Its an amazing feeling, similar to gliding. Does not make much of a case for sporty driving but the general ride is exceptional. I drove an e280 advan for a week and i was amazed at the fact this was achieved on 45/18 inchers. Didnt notice any issues with build quality though so maybe its a one off, and when things go wrong they really go wrong…anyways waiting to see ( definitely not to buy the new E next year.

However as for the car… I’d say it is the “norm” for us to see “gimmick” when it’s near end of lifespan… sigh

The new one’s on the way, why buy this? Moreover the new C wasn’t that far apart from this C in terms of size and spec.

Oh, after I sat in one, I finally understand why Camrys and Accords are selling like hot cakes in Malaysia.

They’re larger, hence more comfortable, cuts out wind noise on par, except the part where the Japs will begin to wallow when speeds reach around 130km/h whereas the Merc stays calm even up to 170km/h.

But, if it’s for normal usage which 99% of the time it is, the Camry and Accord just trumphs this in everything they do, larger, more fuel economical, cheap, and RELIABLE.

I supposed parts are from overseas, I guess the workmanship here could be the culprit….

Don’t get me wrong, the service team was polite and the entire experience was comfortable, but what irked my friend were the faulty electronic seat adjustment buttons for the front seats and the rattling noises from the dashboard. They fixed it for him but after awhile, the problem comes back again. He wrote to MB Malaysia once, and they assured him that his problem will be fixed. They have replaced the seat adjustment buttons for him but the dashboard still rattles everytime he travels over uneven surfaces.

I’ve sat in a couple of new Mercs and somehow, despite MB’s claim that the CKD ones are better since they are “climatized”, the CBU units feel better assembled.