Review
I've owned this car for about a month. It had slightly over 91,000 miles on it at the time of purchase, which isn't bad considering the car is 10 years old. I terminated the lease on my 2015 Chevrolet Cruze 7 months early because I really liked this Mercedes. I kept going on the dealer's website to admire it for months. Finally, I'd made up my mind and got it! Let me tell you straight up, driving this car is a religious experience, I kid you not. Acceleration is out of this world, the engine just keeps on revving, lots of torque at very low RPMs. And then there's the sound... Sounds like a sports car, very nice animalistic growl. Handles like a dream and extremely comfortable. It has a few dings and scratches, again, the car is 10 years old. The only thing I somewhat miss is a modern infotainment system. I've grown accustomed to just connecting my smartphone to it and enjoy my music. However, it has a 6 disk CD changer in the glove compartment and in dash CD player and I have about 600 CDs, so I'm good there. It does have blue tooth, unfortunately it can only be paired with older circa 2007 flip phones. So those were the only trade offs. I'll tell you, I got tired of driving these tin boxes with asthmatic 4 cylinder engines, turbo charged or not. This car puts most brand new vehicles to shame.
Ok, so I've put around 8,000 miles on the car. Good news first.
1.The car is still a blast to drive and handles well in the snow. We have pretty nasty snow storms here in Cleveand, so I was quite impressed. I recommend switching to comfort mode when driving in the snow, as the transmission starts in second gear to prevent wheel spin.
2. The car came pre-wired with an outdated iPod 30 pin male connector. I've ended up buying an Aluratech Bluetooth amplifier from Staples with a 30 pin female connector which can be paired with your Android or IPhone (I have a Samsung smartphone). The Harman Kardon system recognized it instantly, so now I'm able to stream my music with an amazing sound clarity. Don't even bother with FM transmitters, all you get is static. The only downside, you can't change tracks using your steering wheel controls. In-dash controls won't work, either. So you'll have to use your phone's music player to change tracks. The steering wheel volume control buttons work fine, however.
And now not so good news.
1. Check engine light came on a couple of months ago. Mercedes-Benz dealer said it could be either tumble flap (which they said was sticking) or oxygen intake sensors. They wanted almost $700. So I took it to a local Firestone shop. They were able to replace the sensors for $225. The check engine light disappeared and hasn't come on yet. Now, the tumble flap may still be sticking, but the check engine light hasn't come on yet, so I'm not going to worry about it. It's not affecting neither acceleration nor MPGs, so all is well for now.
2. A suspension noise (coming from the front of the vehicle) has developed recently. Sounds like panging. Firestone said all four springs are broken and have to be replaced at some point. $1500 for front ones or $2400 for all. The noise is normally heard at low speeds or while braking before a red light. On certain days it's prominent, other times (especially during rain or snow) there's no noise at all. The handling seems to be unaffected, so I'm going to wait on that one.
To sum things up, I'm still enjoying the car. It's my daily driver, very reliable, apart from those issues . During the temperatures well below zero, the car would always start without hesitation. It has also been inexpensive to maintain, two oli changes, first one was done by the dealer ($115), the second one by Firestone ($105). Take my advice, take it a local shop. One year later, fixed front suspension (ball joints and connecting rods), that took care of the noise I mentioned earlier. It wasn't cheap ($2400), but it was worth it. The noise disappeared. Eventually, all four springs would have to be replaced. It's still fun to drive and is still my daily driver. The interior still looks good for an 11-year-old car. The air conditioner is ice cold. All lights and switches work as intended, everything lights up. The factory sun roof works beautifully. No issues with transmission or engine. So apart from a few mechanical issues the car has been a pleasure to own and drive.