Anyone drive a B200? Impressions?

Heh, does "multifunction all around useful car" include the times when husband wants to feel "manly"? If so, yes, the turbo could be worthwhile. ;-)

Cheers, ws

good point, alas with the CVT (cont var tranny) it stays pretty much at 1800 rpm and the rush of adrenalin when nearing redline is just not there

Can I ask though on another topic, my R134 refrigerant is low (just had it converted and repaired last summer) and in Canada we are analy retentive re topping up refigerant. Is this also the case in the US - NY state specifically?

cheers, guenter

It gets warm in Canada?

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Hell, yeah, we must of hit 78 F or so the other day. Geeesh!

swelteringly near the air conditioner at home, guenter

It seems to me that most of the feedback on this model here has been extremely negative about quality control and overall product quality...

Don't really know, can't get 'em around these parts (USA).

Marty

Only 78 F? That's not sweltering hot! Try 90s and 100s with high humidity index!

Yeah, usually on a tuesday in August. It was 35C at midnight two days ago and about 47+ with the humidex later in the day. Then we had a tornado last night which cooled thigns down a lot. Half a willow tree fell down in frotn of my house and missed my SD by 4 inches. THANK YOU GOD.

There's trees down all over the place here. I saw on the weather channel a hardwae store somewhere near here got blown away where it touched down and heard from the checkout girls in the grocery store this morning that a whole (small) town north of Barry's Bay is missing.

I had no electricity for 12 hours last night.

...... ahhh, you spoiled it :-) ..... I was going to see just how true the well known - in Canada - addage re our fellow North americans to the south of us :-) I imagine none of them ever saw the TV spot "talking to Americans" by Mercer... :-) eg. Prof at UCLA congratulating us on the adoption of the 24 hr day and the abolishment of Igloos by Cretin etc etc

- cheers, guenter

ps re the 47+ humidex temperature, that translates to 117+ F for those still using antiquated systems.

thanks for that Marty, hadn't realized. It did appear to be expensive, almost double to what some Asian makers are asking for roughly similar vehicles

cheers, guenter

God bless the brown nose schooner and all that sail in her. I wanna see Rick Mercer and John Stewart together reading the news. I'd pay big money to see that.

Mercers piece on "How to roll a joint" by Pierre Burton is I think the funniest thing I've ever seen on TV.

Isn't an A-Class much better value?

Saw several Bs here (am on holiday in Austria) and must say I don't like the views from the rear (like an Aygo or something?) or the front (echoes of PT Cruiser).

Side view ok...

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

What is the well known adage?

Does it have anything to do with a boastful, ignorant people who have confused good luck with innate superiority?

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I agree, B is too expensive. the A is not imported to Canada.

cheers, guenter

Ahhmm, 'OK'.... in deference to others on this board, let me just say 'extreme naval gazing' ! For example, I'd venture to say that 95% of them can't find Toronto on the map.... London, England, maybe with some luck :-) ...... but there IS a very astute subset among them .... flame suit on!

cheers, guenter :-))

Hallo Guenter,

sorry for stepping in late, but had to wait until my sister got her B200 CDI (W245.208)

Although the quality impression of e.g the dashboard is better than with the (new) A-Class I find it to be clearly below what I expect from such an expensive vehicle (29.000 Euro base, can easily reach 40.000, German prices, include 16 percent German VAT).

Rear view (especially to the sides) is close to zero, means you _have_ to order the PARKTRONIC, front view is not really better with the lower parts of the car so as a consequence DC only offers front and rear PARKTRONIC.

Overall quality impression is not that good, some parts like the seats or door panels (close to) adequate for a 30k EURO vehicle, other things like paint (slight difference between metal body parts and plastic parts like bumpers; colour is 748 comete grey metallic, a colour here in Germany very poular with W245) are sub-par and engine hood is really catastrophic:

1970's style hood support strut, has to be pulled out of it's retainer and then to be swung upwards to be inserted into an yellow recess on the underside of the hood - no hydraulic lifts which hold the hood, no springs like in the old W123, just a simple hood retainer... ===:-(((

...and shall I mention there's also no sound insulation pad under the hood?

To say it nicely: That shabby for such an expensive car!

Due to the sandwich floor e.g for elder people it may not be convenient to climb onto the seats, but once reached it gives a nice overview over many other cars as the B-Class is 10 to 19 cm (4 to 7.5 inch) higher than normal cars like C-Class etc.; DC labels the B-Class as Multi Purpose Vehicle - a bit far stretched IMHO.

The standard trim level of the B-Class is not bad, the B 200 CDI includes things like 6-speed man trans, parameter steering, selective damping system, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, front fog lamps, 12 Volt socket in passenger compartment, manual air conditioning, front centre armrest, height adjustable driver's seat, illuminated and air conditioned glove compartment, luggage compartment cover, MB audio 20 radio w/CD, multi- function steering wheel, outside temperature gauge, electric front windows, ABS, BAS, ESP, ASR,

6 airbags, active headrests, steer control, tyre pressure loss warning system, remote central locking, seatbelt tensioners etc. - not bad, really.

BUT on the other hand even metallic paint costs extra, as well as Xenon headlights, navigation system, sunroof, leather upholstery, easy vario system and storage package (Did anybody say _Multi Purpose vehicle_?) as well as tempomat (cruise control for man trans vehicles) or AUTOTRONIC auto trans, automatic climate control or rear electric windows or telephone pre- wiring or...

B 200 CDI engine is ok, fast enough, but of course a bit loud (at least on the outside - CDI...).

AUTOTRONIC: depends on, some like it, some not.

In the glove box compartment were connections for an Apple iPOD (an option, iPOD interface kit), but the software to show the ID3-tags on the radio (here: Audio 50 APS) is not ready yet, only a later DC software update will give that, so long one has to live without it... ..and what puts even more shame on DC is the fact that the iPOD interface kit from Dietz _does_ show the ID3-tags... ==:-(

All-in-all: Very high price, even higher with with AUTOTRONIC, auto climate, metallic, sunroof, Xenon and navi. Quality level not on level with price.

Would I buy it? No. But YMMV.

Juergen P.S.: Sheeeesh, don't tell my sister, she likes the car and that's fine ;-)

Juergen, you could write auto reviews for commercial publications. That was more thorough than most that I read.

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greek_philosophizer wrote: (I wrote some comments about an B200 CDI)

Too much honour - really.

Besides some mistakes like

which should read

there is _many_ aspects missing.

Here I have to add that I was a bit surprised DC went the AUTOTRONIC route, but they claimed they choose it due to the very limited space in the A-Class. The AUTOTRONIC is a CVT (Continuous Variable Transmission, the gears are only programmed by software. See e.g

As far as I can see it (at least here in Germany) the DSG (Direktschaltgetriebe = Direct-Shift Gearbox) is winning many fans, especially with Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia. See e.g.

But time will tell, especially when the cars collect more and more miles/kilometers and one can judge about longevity of both systems.

A thing which I found remarkable was the long reach of the radio controlled remote locking which was (with nearly free sight to the car) circa 50 metres - that's impressive.

Another remarkable thing for me was the interiour with leather ARTICO combined with cloth: ARTICO is an artificial leather (to avoid the term "plastic") and didn't feel any better than in my old W123, although admittedly it looks much nicer today.

I would strongly recommend to order either the ARTICO/ cloth combination (middle parts of the seats are cloth then) or the real leather as caused by the height of the seats (sandwicdh floor concept as with A-Class) one has always intensive contact with the seat's sides facing outwards when leaving and especially entering the car - as can be seen with newer W123 which don't have such a combination the seat sides rub through, an effect which is vitually non-existent with fake or real leather.

The 10-spoke alu wheels - which are part of the Sports package - are a pain to clean.

The rear window is very small, a trend which can be seen since years with new cars. Worst car I have seen so far in person is BMW 1-series, but B-Class is also bad, the see-through area is small as outer parts of the rear window are blackened.

And of course it's a matter of personal taste, but I found the oval exhaust pipe (part of Sports Package) somehow displaced.

A cell phone can be installed in the front center armrest, but the sliding tray looks a bit flimsy and cheap - and I don't elaborate further that the opened tray comes to rest exactly above the cup holder...

Ok, enough for now, I only add that the rear center armrest is thin and very short...

DC claims B_Class sales are very good in Germany, but on the other hand there are huge discounts for taxis - and since mid-July there is a hidden rebate for all, the so-called Active Package, consisting of fog lamps, panorama roof, tempomat, exteriour light and sight package and some other goodies

Juergen

Fantastic Review of the B200 Juergen. Many thanks! I had intended it for my wife....... who didn't particularly like it especially after she test drove a 3 series .... she was sold on it instantly. For myself, I still like my old '89 300E more than ever.... don't need all those fancy things the newer models offer. What are you driving by the way?

best, guenter

Although I did like the design of the 3-series predecessor more than that of the current model, I can fully understand that.

My MB is a totally worthless 1982 W123 240D - only options are auto trans, power steering, manual sunroof, central locking, front center armrest and right-hand side outside rear view mirror (and a radio of course). Nothing else, no a/c, no power windows, no cruise control, no alloys, no nothing - not even tinted windows!

And although many younger MB fans can't believe it, my car has more options than the vast majority of W123 diesels of that time...

Juergen P.S.: Power is 72 PS, 0-62.1 mph = 24.7 sec., top speed is _nearly_ ;-) 86 mph ;-))))