NEW B-CLASS - INFO PLEASE

MIW615

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Seriously thinking of buying the new B-Class, was just wondering of members thoughts on this car - good or bad - best model ect

Many thanks in advance

Malcolm
 

hawk20

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Been a big success. Six months wait for factory order. Ride much better on the SE.
 

EmilysDad

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Seriously thinking of buying the new B-Class, was just wondering of members thoughts on this car - good or bad - best model ect

Many thanks in advance

Malcolm

You'll have to have a test drive. I was lent one a few months back as a courtesy car for the day. I wouldn't buy one, horrible, choppy ride IMO, but most FWD tend to be.

MB have sold a few, so loads of people must like them :rolleyes:
 
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MIW615

MIW615

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Thanks guys for your input - I have a test drive bookek in two weeks time
 

television

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From the carrying capacity and inside innovation it is very good, it will be nice to hear what you think of the ride :D:D
 

hawk20

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You'll have to have a test drive. I was lent one a few months back as a courtesy car for the day. I wouldn't buy one, horrible, choppy ride IMO, but most FWD tend to be.

MB have sold a few, so loads of people must like them :rolleyes:

That sounds like you drove the Sport version with ridiculous 18 inch wheels. OK if you want the gangsta look but ruins the ride -and lowered and stiffened suspension too. The SE ride is dramatically different. Much better on the UKs unloved roads.
 

hawk20

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Thanks guys for your input - I have a test drive bookek in two weeks time

Try and get the SE to drive. Or some time in each if they happen to have both models on demo.

Great interior.
 

Peter Hill

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Bright red 2012 B Class B200 SE (W246) Diesel with quite a lot of the extras.
Bright red 2012 B Class B200 SE (W246) Diesel with quite a lot of the extras.

(In case you missed the other post)

Spent a lot of time looking at reviews about the different suspensions and steering set up. When I got to drive a B Class on test it turned out to be a standard suspension, and a rather brief test too. Difficult getting onto the open road in nasty old Croydon! What with the 'new car' and unfamiliar driving I could not really evaluate the thing.

However...

She has now done a few thousand miles, and I have become quite used to it.
It is a very good car, a LOT better than the Scenic it replaced and better than the Ford C-Max I had before that.

This one has the standard alloy wheels with the tallest tyres. There is no lowering nor 'sport' mods. I have all the possible seating options installed and seat heat, but no electric seat movement. (I'm getting a bit old and creaky now, and I enloy my comfort) I wanted the softest, most comfortable suspension. (I still miss my old Citroen XM)

I have a number of particular local corners and multiple severe curves which I enjoy throwing it through at max speed occasionally. (Doesn't everyone?) Whilst I can get the wheels to squeel a bit I have never felt any lack of adhesion. It will lean a bit, but not a lot. The Scenic felt like you could rip the tyres off on severe direction changes, but the B Class is much better settled. With the excellent seating position I don't suffer any rattling about either. I've driven it down to SW France and back up again with no problems, nor aches and pains. The other half says it is a very comfortable environment, suits (fits) her body, and she will sometimes drift off to sleep when I am driving!

What more can I say? I will be happy to answer any questions, silly or otherwise, you may wish to put to me.

BTW I have the B200 diesel, and it is noticeable that the 'box is lower geared. At 50mph you are continually trying to decide whether to sit in top or to drop a gear when there is a steeper rise ahead. At 30mph there is a similar dilemma between 3rd and 4th. It's prolly that indicator telling me to change up (for economy) and I'm slowly getting to ignore the read out and drive it by 'ear'. (Not that I can easily hear the motor actually!)

P.
 

EmilysDad

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That sounds like you drove the Sport version with ridiculous 18 inch wheels. OK if you want the gangsta look but ruins the ride -and lowered and stiffened suspension too. The SE ride is dramatically different. Much better on the UKs unloved roads.

Sorry, didn't take enough notice of what flavour it was. As said, I only had it for the day. If you couldn't turn the stop/start off completely, I wouldn't be interested anyway. ;)
 

teabag

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I've had my B180CDi SE Auto for almost 2 months and 3,000 miles and honestly I cant find any fault which would have put me off buying it.

The performance is adequate for the size and output of the engine, and the 7 speed auto box makes the most of what the engine can offer.

Fuel economy is getting better week by week as the engine loosens up and the car is now returning 56.7mpg tank to tank per week of commuting and weekend driving totalling around 400 miles (80% motorway and 20% urban) between refuelling with one third of a tank left.

The ride is very comfortable while not being quite up the standard of my W220 S class and the handling seems to be adequate, howevever it was never meant to be a sports car.

The standard level of trim and equipment is suprisingly good for this class of vehicle as the only factory extra specified on my car is the lumbar seat adjustment which means I can achieve a very comfortable driving position, however I have fitted a retrospective "Becker Map Pilot" navigation module to complement the excellent Audio 20 communications system fitted as standard.

In short, up to now I love the car as a general day to day tool and I do not think you can get anything better for the price paid.
 

bertg

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Seriously thinking of buying the new B-Class, was just wondering of members thoughts on this car - good or bad - best model ect

Many thanks in advance

Malcolm

Mine's on order and i can't wait. Driven a demo around on a couple of occasions and i found it to be a nice drive. I've read reviews about the ride etc, but to be honest, no car is ever going to get the perfect review, someone's always going to complain about something or other.
:)
 

chilton55555

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B Class Sports/2013/180CDi/Comfort Suspension
I have had three test drives, two short and an all day test today. Hence just finalised and placed my order with the dealer. I have driven both SE and Sports, today I took Sports on a long drive over many different road surfaces, to be on honest I found the ride good on motorways but a little too firm on A&B roads for my liking, handles bumps OK but the constant bumping and rumbling on what we thought were generally even surfaces swung my wife's and my own opinion. It made us feel quite nauseous after one hour. We had never experienced this on the shorter 30 min test drives over different road surfaces.
Hence after reading every possible review including asking new B class owners opinions via this web site we have placed an order for a fully spec'd 180 CDi Sports with the NO COST option of COMFORT SUSPENSION . This option also removes the 18 inch run flats, direct steer and changes grill and belt line trim for high gloss black to chrome. This option makes the sports model even better looking in our opinion. My dilemma was that we thought the sports ride was OK but every single review (with the notable exception of the Top Gear review) stated that the lower stiffer sports suspension with run flats used on the Sports model was too hard for UK roads. Hence, what was the point in us reading all of the reviews, asking the owners opinions and then totally ignoring all their collective unanimous advice.
 

PeterCLK

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Believe it or not we are gong off the recently acquired 204 as we both find the seats uncomfortable, also not that easy to ingress/egress and to cap it all it irritates my old left ankle problem. Had none of this with the CLK, the seats were a much higher standard (and wider).
So looking at a B. Quite interested that they now offer it with the 220 CDi engine (auto only but that's what we want)
But - in Sport version only? Who makes these decisions?
Also, using the configurator I can't find the comfort suspension option on any model line - has it disappeared or is it me?
Any other hints/tips most welcome.
 
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hawk20

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ML250 BlueTEC Sport
Believe it or not we are gong off the recently acquired 204 as we both find the seats uncomfortable, also not that easy to ingress/egress and to cap it all it irritates my old left ankle problem. Had none of this with the CLK, the seats were a much higher standard (and wider).
So looking at a B. Quite interested that they now offer it with the 220 CDi engine (auto only but that's what we want)
But - in Sport version only? Who makes these decisions?
Also, using the configurator I can't find the comfort suspension option on any model line - has it disappeared or is it me?
Any other hints/tips most welcome.

Mercedes marketing have never really got to grips with the internet, Their configurators are either wrong or not working more often than it rains in the UK. The ML configurator for example has shown it as impossible to select the sport 250BlueTEC (without a ludicrous collection of extras) ever since the new model came out a year ago -even though I have written in to them about it many times as has my dealer.

So forget the configurator and download the price list from the website. On page 19 you will see: -
Comfort suspension is optional on Sport models

“Only in conjunction with 17" alloy wheels (4) – 5-spoke design (code R24). Removes sports suspension and Direct Steering”

A very wise choice IMO.
 

cm-mojo

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W246 B200CDI Sport
I have just received my B200CDI Sport - and I have to say, I find the suspension absolutely fine, not jiggly at all, very cosetting on the motorway. I think it may be because the earlier cars came with Runflats as standard, whereas its now an option on the Sport.
 

cm-mojo

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I would say though that the direct steering system seems to take a bit of getting used to, as far as i can tell it varies the ratio of turning needed based on speed....i'm not sure yet, but i'm almost positive its changing mid corner! which is a bit disconcerting.
 

JBell

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I would think the harsh ride is mainly to do with the run flats, BMW and Mini have specced them for years and nearly everyone ditches them as soon as they wear out, the ride is transformed, I would never have them on a car
 

roop_the_loop

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I had a B-class as courtesy car for a couple of days earlier in the year, and found it pretty unpleasant. Then just a couple of weeks ago I had another, brand new (<300 miles on the clock!), B200CDI Sport, which was lovely. Again had it for a couple of days, and was well impressed. :)
 

cm-mojo

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I think the B200CDI is a good pick if you're getting one - the B180CDI is a bit underpowered for my liking, and the B220CDI only comes in automatic, which is not the automatic that Merc puts in its bigger cars; its slow to change, a bit dumb-witted when you put your foot down, and you can never really tell what gear its in.

If I could have had the 220CDI in Manual I may have gone for it (purely as I'm coming from a BMW 118D Msport and that's actually more powerful than the B200CDI) but I'm overall very pleased with the car. Its got a lovely smooth engine (I'm pretty sure the BMW was like it when I first got it, but it certainly got rougher over the 4 years I had it) and the manual box is really slick (albeit a bit long), and even with the sport kit (again a must really as the car looks so much better than the SE) its comfortable!
 

Monique

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Beware of the MB dual clutch (automatic) manual gearbox. (The competitor to the VW DSG!)

We have 3 B200 CDI at work. Each had to go back to MB to have new transmissions fitted before 2000 miles.

Furthermore, they will drop from Drive to Reverse without warning. This has caused many brown underwear amongst our female staff (they are the only drivers)

Tread carefully! This is a very serious and often repeated issue.

Good luck.
 
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