[Shanti]

Hi,

If anyone is aware, I wish to know in what differs the 1.8L C230 sport coupe from the C180 that sells in Europe.

We have not heard good rumours about the C180. The only available C class sports coupe in Canada, is the C230.

Reliability is what I am most concerned about. Would it be safer to buy a pre-owned MB sedan for this budget, or is it safe to go for the C230 coupe. I am quite young and a sport coupe would fit me best. However, I feel they kept calling it a C230 in spite of the 1.8L supercharged, for fear it would not have sold, had they stopped it - once they started making a C230 coupe. Would the step back be obvious, had they changed the denomination? Otherwise, I see absolutelly no connection between this car in 2003 and the denomination "C230." ... The '03 1.8L C230 sedan comes more for symetry. The sedan kompressors which started in 99 had a little more torque, longer exhaust, the engine was not noisy - although they were 2.3L - and ... they worked just fine ...

Do these C coupes have a future or will they slip into oblivion in a couple of years - like the BM coupes which stopped in 99. The MB coupe is tremendous fun to drive, but these questions gave rise to some doubts in my mind. I know why they changed the engine, but still do not know why they keep calling it a C230 ... )

Any comments?
Shanti

 

[Lynn]

The new M271 engine comes in four versions, and all are 1.8's. One is a direct injection engine, which is not sold in North America because of the sulphur content of our gas. There are three versions of the Konpressor engine, C180, C200 and C230. The only difference between these engines is their state of tune. They have different boost pressures, and software. The old names for the M111 engines were retained for the new engine of comparable hp to its predecessor. The old and new C200's both have about 160 hp, and both versions of the 230 have about 190.

I believe MB is more dedicated to the coupe than BMW was with theirs. One of BMW's problems was that too much was removed from the car. For example, they used a cheap and inferior suspenison as compared to the one used on the sedan. MB did not remove as much content from the coupe as BMW did.

 

[Shanti]

Yes, let's hope MB will be more dedicated to the C coupes than BMW was with their hatchbacks. The C coupes look great, they appeal to me, the suspension is neither too sporty nor too soft - not to mention the rest. Although they do not feel as solid as e.g. a 99 or 00 kompressor C230, I trust it is still mercedes-benz quality.

I will want many miles from mine when I buy it - someone here was predicting that the C coupes will go ~ a quarter million miles. On my '92 chevy corsica I am now drawing close to 300,000 km. A friend of mine had a Honda Civic - so the same engine capacity as the C230 of this year - with over 400,000 km. I guess it depends how much you are willling to maintain it.

BTW a good site with customer reviews for any type of car in the world - carsurvey.org

Shanti

 

[sudhirvnair]

MB and their dedication

from my personal experience, i do not feel that they r doing a gud job with the C class. its got lots of complaints from the customers (that includes me ). seems like they r not so keen in solving those problems. i hope they have a better customer relationship.

 

[Shanti]

From the discussions on this forum, it seems that the folks are happy in general with the C class. I heard that C180, C240 would be bad C class models, maybe because "they did not have the time to fix all the gliches" Opinions are divided.... What car did you own before? What year and model C class do you have now?

 

[yxan]

if we are to get back to the threads original contents,

I drove the 2003 c230K yesterday and it feels alot livelier and faster than the 2002 C230K, did they do more things than just change motor, feels like gearing is shorter too... anyone else who can help elaborate on this?

 

[Shanti]

It seems to me gearing is not shorter. I believe it is much smoother - hopefully this will resolve problems with the coupe standard where you could see demos as of 2002 that were back on the lot, where gear box already had problems. But this year's model gearing is no doubt 10 times nicer ... for sure.


But going back to the original problem as you said ...

Anyone thinks the car will be as reliable and lasting as e.g. 99 - 00 kompressor sedans? They have this undoubted solid feel. I love the kompressor no matter what.

ANYONE OUT THERE!! JUST GO AHEAD AND BUY IT!! This car will be an eyecatcher in 20 years as well!!! What more do you want!!!

Shanti

 

[Shanti]

The price for the C230 when compared to the C180 is indeed justified - both inside and in power.

 

[Shanti]

Anyone knows what is the difference in lb-ft of torque between the C230 and C180? Is the interior identical inside the two?

 

[Lynn]

C180: 162 lb-ft

C230: 192 lb-ft

I believe the interiors are identical.

 

[Beavis]

Wow, we can always count on Lynn to have the technical answers! As for sudhirvnair - sorry you seem to have had a bad experience... but then anyone who sits on the hood of his Benz... well, 'nuff said.

 

[Shanti]

Yes, Lynn is no doubt knowledgeable in the area