Mercedes-Benz W204 Coupe - AMG Sport Plus...Diesel
Discussion
I recently took delivery of my first Mercedes, A C220 CDI Coupe with the AMG Sport Plus package, which to me is the most attractive trim level especially for a coupe. To the untrained eye there isn't a great deal of visual differences between it and it's big brother, the C63.
Spec includes:
-18" staggered dual colour wheels specific to this trim
-AMG body styling
-Half leather, half alcantara seats with red stitching
-Red stitching everywhere
-Adaptive Xenon lights and LED everywhere else
-Nav, DAB etc.
-7 Speed auto , 170bhp engine
-Fortunately, specced badgeless so no diesel give away or cringey AMG badge
It actually has a ton of features over the standard model, it's really worth seeking out:
Initial impressions are, epic. I love it. It really is a bit of a head turner and the engine is ample for my needs, working really well with the 7 speed auto.
An impressive 62mpg on the first long journey and 45 average so far.
Plans:
-A trip to the garage for front pads (desperately low) became more expensive as it needed discs too. At least they look good and the rears are fine.
-Wheel refurbish, the fronts are polished and badly corroded as well as kerbed. I'll get the polished bits finished in paint instead to avoid it happening again.
Other than that just enjoy it, I haven't seen any styling parts worth buying as it seems to have it all as standard.
Brakes before and after!
Spec includes:
-18" staggered dual colour wheels specific to this trim
-AMG body styling
-Half leather, half alcantara seats with red stitching
-Red stitching everywhere
-Adaptive Xenon lights and LED everywhere else
-Nav, DAB etc.
-7 Speed auto , 170bhp engine
-Fortunately, specced badgeless so no diesel give away or cringey AMG badge
It actually has a ton of features over the standard model, it's really worth seeking out:
Initial impressions are, epic. I love it. It really is a bit of a head turner and the engine is ample for my needs, working really well with the 7 speed auto.
An impressive 62mpg on the first long journey and 45 average so far.
Plans:
-A trip to the garage for front pads (desperately low) became more expensive as it needed discs too. At least they look good and the rears are fine.
-Wheel refurbish, the fronts are polished and badly corroded as well as kerbed. I'll get the polished bits finished in paint instead to avoid it happening again.
Other than that just enjoy it, I haven't seen any styling parts worth buying as it seems to have it all as standard.
Brakes before and after!
So having had a chance to get to know the car a bit better I have the following thoughts, observations and plans !
Did a bit of digging and found an old photo of it online, which tells me:
-Mirrors are wrapped or painted black
-Grill changed
-Lower grill wrapped (I knew this, as it needs redoing)
All of which I approve of, so that's cool. I also thought the white LED interior lights were stock but they aren't.
Drive:
Love it, smooth power delivery. I only recently realised it is twin turbo , which helps. It is a little lacking in power, something to look at later.
Handling:
Corners flat and handles bumps really well. It allegedly has stiffer springs than stock but it rides very well.
Economy:
1st and 2nd tanks averaged around 45mpg on the dash. Turns out the real mpg is about 2 less. Hit 62 indicated on a 50 mile drive.
Things I dislike:
-Parking sensors don't beep until very close compared to other cars. The sensor bars are useful though.
-Mercedes only have one steering wheel stalk. Seems silly to me as it's empty on the right side.
-The paddles work well I just wished kickdown was disabled when using then in D&S. Manual mode disables them which is good.
-Start Stop is awful so always disable. Particularly when parking!
Plans:
-Service Inc transmission by end of year
-Re-wrap lower bumper
-Refurbish the wheels in stock colours but painted not polished
-Alternatively a 19" Black with polished lip upgrade
Did a bit of digging and found an old photo of it online, which tells me:
-Mirrors are wrapped or painted black
-Grill changed
-Lower grill wrapped (I knew this, as it needs redoing)
All of which I approve of, so that's cool. I also thought the white LED interior lights were stock but they aren't.
Drive:
Love it, smooth power delivery. I only recently realised it is twin turbo , which helps. It is a little lacking in power, something to look at later.
Handling:
Corners flat and handles bumps really well. It allegedly has stiffer springs than stock but it rides very well.
Economy:
1st and 2nd tanks averaged around 45mpg on the dash. Turns out the real mpg is about 2 less. Hit 62 indicated on a 50 mile drive.
Things I dislike:
-Parking sensors don't beep until very close compared to other cars. The sensor bars are useful though.
-Mercedes only have one steering wheel stalk. Seems silly to me as it's empty on the right side.
-The paddles work well I just wished kickdown was disabled when using then in D&S. Manual mode disables them which is good.
-Start Stop is awful so always disable. Particularly when parking!
Plans:
-Service Inc transmission by end of year
-Re-wrap lower bumper
-Refurbish the wheels in stock colours but painted not polished
-Alternatively a 19" Black with polished lip upgrade
I'm a big fan of the new ones for sure, but the W204 is lovely.
The facelift added a lot to the car in my opinion, the interior is totally different and the lighting much improved. The coupe was introduced at the same time so there is no such thing as a pre facelift coupe.
Comparing it to my BMWs i'd pitch it somewhere inbetween the E90 coupe and F32 4 series in terms of specification and feel.
The facelift added a lot to the car in my opinion, the interior is totally different and the lighting much improved. The coupe was introduced at the same time so there is no such thing as a pre facelift coupe.
Comparing it to my BMWs i'd pitch it somewhere inbetween the E90 coupe and F32 4 series in terms of specification and feel.
Betrayed, misled and hurt.
Mercedes pulled an absolute blinder here. I was wondering what surround lighting was, as I didn't have exterior illumination. So I checked the door bulbs:
Hmm all looked good, but I couldn't get the bulb out with my sausage fingers to find....
There's no wiring! Mercedes went to the extent of fitting bulbs into these holders but omitting the wire. There are various lighting packages and mine seems to be without.
There's a relatively straight forward retrofit possible, something to consider for another day I guess. Had a cheeky look in the footwell too to find 2 gaping holes
. Cheap skates.
Mercedes pulled an absolute blinder here. I was wondering what surround lighting was, as I didn't have exterior illumination. So I checked the door bulbs:
Hmm all looked good, but I couldn't get the bulb out with my sausage fingers to find....
There's no wiring! Mercedes went to the extent of fitting bulbs into these holders but omitting the wire. There are various lighting packages and mine seems to be without.
There's a relatively straight forward retrofit possible, something to consider for another day I guess. Had a cheeky look in the footwell too to find 2 gaping holes
. Cheap skates.ZX10R NIN said:
Your's is a nice car I went for the E Coupe as it came with the 4.7 TT engine, but these look good there are a few features you can retro fit (such as distronic etc) for not to much of an outlay.
Tell me more ! I things I'd definitely like at the moment:-Puddle and footwell light retrofit
-Auto dip mirrors on reverse (have to have memory seats for this !!)
-Maybe the E Class variant of these alloys (19") but still have the corrosion issue so either a refurb or a different style wheel
I was actually aiming to get an E Coupe as I'm a sucker for the pillarless look.
Edited by joropug on Monday 10th October 08:27
JD66 said:
Just bought a c220 coupe myself but mines the se executive spec. Love it so far although might upgrade to the amg style alloys at some point in the near future.
Good work got a thread going ? These alloys look nice but they corrode like crazy. All the silver is corroded and some of the black is peeling. The normal AMG 18s are nice but I might go for these in 18" guise...worried they might make the wheels look small though so maybe 19s are required. 
Sheepshanks said:
Did they have a red reflector as the lens? Maybe they're fitted when the door cards are made so they just stick the same housing in them all.
In my W203 the underdoor lighting doesn't do much - I didn't realise it was even there for years.
Does your front surround lighting work? Needs to be dark and possibly the light switch set to auto.
Yeah it's all there just not connected. Fronts I think are just the DRL I think unless you know otherwise In my W203 the underdoor lighting doesn't do much - I didn't realise it was even there for years.
Does your front surround lighting work? Needs to be dark and possibly the light switch set to auto.
AlonzoHarris said:
Nice car op. My wife has a W204 C180 premium plus. Really nicely specced cars. Odd that the puddle lights aren't actually lights. My wife's car has the puddle lights in door and also has lights in the door mirrors and ambient lighting in the door handles and door pulls.
Does your car have those lights? Just thinking they may have been some sort of light package as an option.
Nope none of them ! I have been hoodwinked. It does have the adaptive xenons though.Does your car have those lights? Just thinking they may have been some sort of light package as an option.
Well that's rather nice !
Build quality seems very good to be honest. The dash creaks a touch but is cured by pressing in the radio area every now and then. I have a small creaky rattle at the rear I think is the parcel shelf but have yet to recruit the Mrs to drive it whilst I search !
Overall I'm impressed, it's worn pretty well so far.
Build quality seems very good to be honest. The dash creaks a touch but is cured by pressing in the radio area every now and then. I have a small creaky rattle at the rear I think is the parcel shelf but have yet to recruit the Mrs to drive it whilst I search !
Overall I'm impressed, it's worn pretty well so far.
Did a bit of maintenance on the Merc today, In the form of air filtration.
In getting quotes for the upcoming oil service, I am pretty disgusted how much specialists are charging for filters. For perspective, a local specialist wanted £220 for an oil change and inspection (Mercedes themselves are £217), or for £350 they'll do the full service. When I asked what it included: Cabin filter and key battery.....utter joke, £130 for a filter and 10 mins of labour.
So for the princely sum of just £45 I was able to do both the cabin filter and the engine air filter and will go to mercedes for the hypothetical stamp for oil.
Cabin filter is pretty straight forward if fiddly, the underside of the glove box comes down with a few torx screws, the filter itself has a sliding latch (which is a b
h) and a couple of metal clips (which are a bh) - the clips you can do without so I threw them away.
The filter itself looked in pretty good shape to be honest (old on right) but they are different brands so might not have been that colour to start with.
Next, air filter. To access you need to remove engine cover, undo the ECU bolts (torx, but 8mm fit over!), Unclip the wiring and then remove 6 torx on the air filter cover.
I gave the air box a wipe as it was quite dusty inside, the old air filter looked like it was due so it wasn't a wasted effort.
I finished the job with a wipe down of the plastics, it's a well sealed bay as it keeps very clean.
A few £ saved for an hours work.
In getting quotes for the upcoming oil service, I am pretty disgusted how much specialists are charging for filters. For perspective, a local specialist wanted £220 for an oil change and inspection (Mercedes themselves are £217), or for £350 they'll do the full service. When I asked what it included: Cabin filter and key battery.....utter joke, £130 for a filter and 10 mins of labour.
So for the princely sum of just £45 I was able to do both the cabin filter and the engine air filter and will go to mercedes for the hypothetical stamp for oil.
Cabin filter is pretty straight forward if fiddly, the underside of the glove box comes down with a few torx screws, the filter itself has a sliding latch (which is a b
h) and a couple of metal clips (which are a bh) - the clips you can do without so I threw them away. The filter itself looked in pretty good shape to be honest (old on right) but they are different brands so might not have been that colour to start with.
Next, air filter. To access you need to remove engine cover, undo the ECU bolts (torx, but 8mm fit over!), Unclip the wiring and then remove 6 torx on the air filter cover.
I gave the air box a wipe as it was quite dusty inside, the old air filter looked like it was due so it wasn't a wasted effort.
I finished the job with a wipe down of the plastics, it's a well sealed bay as it keeps very clean.
A few £ saved for an hours work.
Rattles.....for what it's worth Mercedes have put together this car pretty well. I have been chasing however, a most irritating rattle from the rear.
Initial investigations led me to the emergency triangle bracket. It's pretty loose and a clip has broken, but alas it was not the cause. With the triangle affixed it does not move or rattle as the triangle keeps it tight.
The search continued and after recruiting a driver, I had a suspicion on my back seat travels that the third level brake light was the rattler.
With the added pressure of a folded jiffy, I was able to determine that the difficult to remove rear light bar is the cause, and it really is bad having recently removed the jiffy to confirm.
I've seen some videos online on how to replace the bar which appears to be a single unit. I will investigate when the weather is better and see if there is a way of tightening it without stripping the shelf.
Open to any suggestions here!
I have also fitted a brodit phone mount but opted for a swivelling magnet instead of a phone holder. Works brilliantly and is nicely placed from the driver's perspective.
And as it's my first Mercedes I'm still finding nice little touches. I thought my map lights were broken when testing them in the day, but at night realised they are underneath the rear view mirror. This has the added benefit of zero glare from the bulb itself given its lower than the position of your eyes. Nice.
Initial investigations led me to the emergency triangle bracket. It's pretty loose and a clip has broken, but alas it was not the cause. With the triangle affixed it does not move or rattle as the triangle keeps it tight.
The search continued and after recruiting a driver, I had a suspicion on my back seat travels that the third level brake light was the rattler.
With the added pressure of a folded jiffy, I was able to determine that the difficult to remove rear light bar is the cause, and it really is bad having recently removed the jiffy to confirm.
I've seen some videos online on how to replace the bar which appears to be a single unit. I will investigate when the weather is better and see if there is a way of tightening it without stripping the shelf.
Open to any suggestions here!
I have also fitted a brodit phone mount but opted for a swivelling magnet instead of a phone holder. Works brilliantly and is nicely placed from the driver's perspective.
And as it's my first Mercedes I'm still finding nice little touches. I thought my map lights were broken when testing them in the day, but at night realised they are underneath the rear view mirror. This has the added benefit of zero glare from the bulb itself given its lower than the position of your eyes. Nice.
Small update:
Just had a service, the first in my ownership. Amazingly I phoned around specialists and they worked out more expensive than Mercedes themselves.
One specialist who I wanted to use wanted £220 for an oil change and check/top up or £350 for a full service - I asked what extra you get and it was a pollen filter and key battery!!!
Mercedes were £220 + 80 for brake fluid, with a £10 saving online if you pay up front. The service was pleasant, the work done well and a bonus of there being another MB notch on the service history's bedpost. Even bigger bonus, they replaced the pollen filter and key battery and didn't charge me for it. I was a bit confused by it, as it wasn't stated in the online quote. Annoyingly i replaced it myself a few weeks before so I got no benefit.
On the downside however....the automated car wash they put it through has seen an end to my significantly corroded/battered alloys. They are literally falling apart now so in going to get a 4x wheel refurbishment in gloss black with black simplified centre caps.
I found a car on eBay that has the same wheels in black, it's a terrible photo and the centre caps are all wrong but think it will be the best option as I don't want the cost of diamond cutting only for it to happen again.
Glossy version of these maybe:
Not angry at the dealership at all they were already ruined but I will decline the car was next time !
On Sunday the car was spotless, today it looks like this:
Thanks to a considerable drive on one whole tank. The last few miles were worrying me a little but just about made it! The long distance performance of the Merc is brilliant, it surpassed even my 530d. Comfortable, economical and capable. For those who care, the F30 320d manual I had previously did the same round trip at 60mpg (both indicated, both are 2mpg optimistic )
Couldn't be happier with it, more to follow once I get the wheels sorted!
Just had a service, the first in my ownership. Amazingly I phoned around specialists and they worked out more expensive than Mercedes themselves.
One specialist who I wanted to use wanted £220 for an oil change and check/top up or £350 for a full service - I asked what extra you get and it was a pollen filter and key battery!!!
Mercedes were £220 + 80 for brake fluid, with a £10 saving online if you pay up front. The service was pleasant, the work done well and a bonus of there being another MB notch on the service history's bedpost. Even bigger bonus, they replaced the pollen filter and key battery and didn't charge me for it. I was a bit confused by it, as it wasn't stated in the online quote. Annoyingly i replaced it myself a few weeks before so I got no benefit.
On the downside however....the automated car wash they put it through has seen an end to my significantly corroded/battered alloys. They are literally falling apart now so in going to get a 4x wheel refurbishment in gloss black with black simplified centre caps.
I found a car on eBay that has the same wheels in black, it's a terrible photo and the centre caps are all wrong but think it will be the best option as I don't want the cost of diamond cutting only for it to happen again.
Glossy version of these maybe:
Not angry at the dealership at all they were already ruined but I will decline the car was next time !
On Sunday the car was spotless, today it looks like this:
Thanks to a considerable drive on one whole tank. The last few miles were worrying me a little but just about made it! The long distance performance of the Merc is brilliant, it surpassed even my 530d. Comfortable, economical and capable. For those who care, the F30 320d manual I had previously did the same round trip at 60mpg (both indicated, both are 2mpg optimistic )
Couldn't be happier with it, more to follow once I get the wheels sorted!
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