Drove a W211 E320 this AM... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

blackmercedes · #1 05-14-2004, 03:28 PM

A friend of mine and her husband attended a social function last evening. As the evening wore on, some wine and spirits were consumed, so both of their cars were left in the parking lot. The husband grabbed a ride to work this morning, and left his wife to bring both cars home.

Since he's quite anal about his car (not like ANY OF US, huh..?) she elected to drive his car (Boxster S) and I drove her 2003 E320 home. We cabbed it into downtown.

I LOVE the W211. Wow. This is, without a doubt, the nicest sedan I have ever driven. The ride is fantastic, but not floaty in the slightest. It's just "perfect." The overall ride quality easily rivals the W140, but has much sharper reflexes when the wheel is turned. The rack and pinion has been tuned to perfection. In the parkade, I was able to feed the car through the tight corners with what I thought was going to be overboosted sterring on the road. Not in the slightest. Once moving, the steering was firm and precise. Wow.

The cabin was quiet and felt just as anvil-like as ANY other MB. It was certainly more "modern" than the W210 we owned, and the materials are pretty swanky. The gauge package is a little odd, but clear nonetheless.

The M112 felt different than in the ML's I've driven, smoother somehow. Suspension, sound deadening, whatever. It felt great.

The interior switch gear was of a higher quality than in our W210. Not by leaps, but noticable.

The brakes are not very linear and I was not smooth at all. Are the E320 the SBC brakes? If so, they would take getting used to. They seemed to have more grip as the pedal was pressed and the point of "more grip" seemed to move depending on speed.

When the E320CDI arrives, I'm going to have a VERY tough time not going into debt to get one. The W211 is a significant step from the W210 and I hope that this level of ride and steering refinement is indiciative of where MB is going with all their products. Just make the brake pedal feel better and I think the car is just plain perfect.

Glad I didn't draw the Boxster...