MB Driver Experience - my last MB?

[hawk20]

..... the CLS 320 CDI I had sounded like a bag of spanners when you put your foot on the floor. It gained speed at a fair old lick, but what a terrible racket ... ! Can't be right in a 50 grand luxury car, surely ? Even for a diseasel (sorry a diesel).

(p.s the fact it broke down was merely incidental, it's the noise I couldn't stand, hence I wouldn't want to live with one for more than, well, one breakdown let's say.)

You had a lemon. Bad luck. Try and get over it and don't blame all CLS's.

The noisy engine was clearly faulty or Clarkson wouldn't have given the E320cdi five stars. And the editor of Autocar wouldn't have said -when asked if he could only have one car what would he choose-- "a Mercedes E320cdi estate."

And the S320cdi would not have been acclaimed as the best saloon in the world by all the foremost Europen motoring magazines.

Anyway, I'm off in my 'silky smooth six' as the 320cdi has been nicknamed, to France and Italy and wherever the mood takes for a couple of weeks.

 

[grpar]

Hawk20, perhaps your own love with this engine is a little biased (perish the thought) ?? It was "What Car" magazine who much preferred the detuned 280CDI to the 320CDI in the E-class principally because, ahem ahem ahem, it was quieter under acceleration ..... (as well as being 4 grand cheaper and just as quick).

Whilst we all benefit from your "common sense" on motoring matters, I'm strangely reminded of the words of Oscar Wilde (I think it was) who said, "Common sense is all the prejudice you acquire before the age of 18".

Bon voyage.

 

[hawk20]

Hawk20, perhaps your own love with this engine is a little biased (perish the thought) ?? It was "What Car" magazine who much preferred the detuned 280CDI to the 320CDI in the E-class principally because, ahem ahem ahem, it was quieter under acceleration ..... (as well as being 4 grand cheaper and just as quick).

Whilst we all benefit from your "common sense" on motoring matters, I'm strangely reminded of the words of Oscar Wilde (I think it was) who said, "Common sense is all the prejudice you acquire before the age of 18".

Bon voyage.

Do you just come here to be rude and sarcastic? Are you surprised to find Mercedes enthusiasts on a Mercedes forum? The 280 may be quieter under acceleration. It is all relative as Einstein said. But the 320 is excellent too. Read the reviews of virtually all journalists to offset against your one experience of a CLS -but yours, of course, was unbiased!

Try also reading a few more threads and you will see numerous members who find the 320cdi an outstanding engine.

 

[stumpy]

FWIW we don't find the 320 CDi at all noisy under acceleration. I've driven noisier petrol cars. But each to their own. Hawk, you like it, grpar, you don't. So what. Best you don't buy one then mr par.

 

[grpar]

Each to his own

Yes indeed each to his own. I don't write for "What Car", and nor do you it seems.

As for rude and sarcastic, Hawk20, I think you must be a little over-sensitive. If you ever read back your own contributions, you might concede you're a little too willing to brush others' opinions aside in favour of your own.

Bon vacances.

 

[Blobcat]

Hawk20, perhaps your own love with this engine is a little biased (perish the thought) ?? It was "What Car" magazine who much preferred the detuned 280CDI to the 320CDI in the E-class principally because, ahem ahem ahem, it was quieter under acceleration ..... (as well as being 4 grand cheaper and just as quick).

The 320CDI engine that Hawk has been waxing lyrical about is not the same 320CDi engine that you are talking about. Hawk was discussing the straight 6, 3226cc rather than the V6 3ltr enginer which is in both the new 280 and 320.
Perhaps I am biased as well, as I agree that the straight 6 320cdi engine is smooth and very powerful. I have tried the V6 and still prefer the straight 6. Perhaps you should try one.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

I think the E320 cdi must be one of the best cars.......to drive. As for being the best car to own, I don't agree. With 116k from new I have to say with the Mercedes you need to have a spare car for the amount of time they spend off the road or broken down. In case of any negative comments, this one has a full MB service history from day one. Owning one is like walking on eggshells, you know something is going to break real soon.

 

[hawk20]

I think the E320 cdi must be one of the best cars.......to drive. As for being the best car to own, I don't agree. With 116k from new I have to say with the Mercedes you need to have a spare car for the amount of time they spend off the road or broken down. In case of any negative comments, this one has a full MB service history from day one. Owning one is like walking on eggshells, you know something is going to break real soon.

The one truly reliable thing is that Olaf will run down Mercedes and praise Peugeot -even though Peugeot consistently come out near the bottom of JD Power and are now laying off 10,000 workers due to falling sales. Why can't Mercedes make cars like Peugeot? Thank God they don't.

One thing you cannot assume Olaf is that your experience (clearly not a good one) is necessarily representative or 'average'. You might be lucky and have a faultless car but you cannot generalise from that to say that a particular make is reliable. Nor the opposite if you get a bad one. If you want a fair assessment of reliability you need large samples of all makes and JD Power, with all its faults, is one of the largest samples around. And even if you don't like to see the recent results coming out rather well for Mercedes, it is a fact that the survey shows that Mercedes owners are increasingly satisfied with the product (much more so than in the past) and that they are more satisfied with their choice than BMW 5 series owners or virtually all Audi owners are with their choice.

Nobody is claiming Mercedes are perfect or that they have got back to where we would like them to be. But the evidence suggests they are improving rapidly, are more reliable than most and that they are more reliable than their main luxury competitors -other than Lexus. The new head honcho says he will get Mercedes level or better than Lexus by 2008. I for one hope he succeeds.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Yes indeed each to his own. I don't write for "What Car", and nor do you it seems.

As for rude and sarcastic, Hawk20, I think you must be a little over-sensitive. If you ever read back your own contributions, you might concede you're a little too willing to brush others' opinions aside in favour of your own.

Bon vacances.

Hawk's just been missing me. I'm back now Hawk old buddy so you can be rude to me instead of our Junior Member friend.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Yes indeed each to his own. I don't write for "What Car", and nor do you it seems.

As for rude and sarcastic, Hawk20, I think you must be a little over-sensitive. If you ever read back your own contributions, you might concede you're a little too willing to brush others' opinions aside in favour of your own.

Bon vacances.

Hawk's just been missing me. I'm back now Hawk old buddy so you can be rude to me instead of our Junior Member friend.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Yes indeed each to his own. I don't write for "What Car", and nor do you it seems.

As for rude and sarcastic, Hawk20, I think you must be a little over-sensitive. If you ever read back your own contributions, you might concede you're a little too willing to brush others' opinions aside in favour of your own.

Bon vacances.

Hawk's just been missing me. I'm back now Hawk old buddy so you can be rude to me instead of our Junior Member friend.

It's a forum, not an appreciation society. Some like their Mercs, some don't. Some have had lots of problems one or two haven't (sorry, intentional and very biased dig there ). Some people really need to calm down a little.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Yes indeed each to his own. I don't write for "What Car", and nor do you it seems.

As for rude and sarcastic, Hawk20, I think you must be a little over-sensitive. If you ever read back your own contributions, you might concede you're a little too willing to brush others' opinions aside in favour of your own.

Bon vacances.

Hawk's just been missing me. I'm back now Hawk old buddy so you can be rude to me instead of our Junior Member friend.

It's a forum, not an appreciation society. Some like their Mercs, some don't. Some have had lots of problems one or two haven't (sorry, intentional and very biased dig there ). Some people really need to calm down a little.