When the roof is open, a large wind-deflector panel in front of the opening tilts up to prevent any buffeting, booming, or cockpit turbulence at speeds up to 90 mph. Two glass panels cover the entire roof the front one can pop up to vent or slide back over the rear one for open-air motoring. The front buckets provide good lateral support, and the chic cloth is a welcome change from today's de rigueur hot-in-summer, cold-in-winter leather (a $1410 option).Īnd then there's the pièce de résistance, an idea that was featured on the 318ti California but is perfected here: the $995 panoramic sliding roof. Seating for four is comfy unless the rear riders are tall of torso or hairdo, in which case the roofline's inch-lower sleekness will present an interference fit. Inside there's a sporty three-nacelle instrument binnacle, a unique three-spoke steering wheel, and genuine aluminum trim. Claar's friends in the budget office helped him nab the four-door's optional Sport-package suspension as standard equipment and scored all-new exterior sheetmetal, bent into a much more raffish shape. Yes, the seats of the base car are cloth-upholstered and manually adjusted, but the 318ti used a cheaper outdated rear suspension and different and cheaper switchgear, and shared the sedan's front-end sheetmetal unaltered. And the base price of $25,595 - $5000 less than a C240 - indicates deep de-contenting, as with the BMW, which sold at a similar discount.īut maybe Claar had allies deep in the organization that helped him to make lemonade of this lemon assignment, because the cost cutting seems less obvious. The sports coupe gets a four-banger, while the rest of the C-class (and 3-series) lineup has graduated to sixes. The Benz's hatch surgery slices off 7.3 inches of length (the BMW lost 8.8 inches), trading the sedan's 12 cubic feet of enclosed trunk space for 10, to 38 cubes of hatch versatility. Yikes.Ĭomparisons of the new C230 sports coupe with the ill-fated BMW 318ti are inevitable. How else could he have been stuck with developing a C-class hatchback for the United States of Sedan-dom - the very nation that rejected a version of the wildly popular BMW 3-series that had been given a Gremlin chop? Talk about setting someone up for the big career crash. Had a few too many Maß beers at the Cannstatter Volksfest and spilled bubespitzle down the boss's wife's blouse. No issues since last update - still running strong.Maybe Klaus-Peter Claar got crosswise with DaimlerChrysler's board of management. Update October 2016: Just turned 68K miles. So far, I have not had need to use the extended warranty. I discovered a small crack in one of the rear wheels which was replaced with one I purchased used online. I serviced front and rear brakes (purchased OEM parts online) - a relatively straightforward job. I performed routine maintenance and inspections since the CEL issues I had shortly after I purchased the car. Update April 2016: Overall I have been pleased with this car. Expensive (over $2K), but warranty covered all but $150. Still running strong although I did use the extended warranty last year. Overall a positive experience.Īn update: Car now has 72,000 miles on it. In the five years I drove it, the only major repairs were what I described previously. The rear end damage was extensive enough for the insurance company to declare it totaled. Update 10/6/19: In the spring of this year the car was hit while parked in a lot. Recently purchased an extended warranty - just in case. Since then, the car has run nicely - although I do get high speed vibration on certain stretches of highway (probably due the the low profile tires). A month later a coolant pipe began leaking at the rear of the cylinder head (I replaced this myself). The 1.8L engine had a cam sensor design flaw which leaked oil into the harness (cam sensor seals were replaced under a MB recall by previous owner, but not the oil saturated harness). Within a month the CEL came on and required a new engine harness and two O2 sensors to repair. I purchased this 2004 C230 Sedan Sport one year ago with about 56K miles on it.
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