haha, sorry quick draw McGraw, I meant Koreans!

 

Mercedes have lost some exterior identity along their journey, although their interiors though have excelled and remain beautiful in most of the range.

 

Very subjective of course... but the interior of a friend's C350 CDi Sport is an over-designed, bling-tastic fest.

Nasty plastic bits, hideous gear selector knob, switches everywhere and bit 'n' bobs 'n things for no reason I can think of other than showroom appeal for the vapid.



The item I dislike the most is the motorised screen for the navigation and other functions.


This is my current benchmark for style...

 

You are, of course, joking that that's your current benchmark for style...?

How old is the C350 you mention; I run a 62 plate C220 Sport and the interior looks nothing like that.

 

That beemer interior really is a mish-mash and, like the merc, there seem to be all manner of different style switches (both physical and virtual) scattered hither and thither.

It is however hard to tell just by looking at it whether it works ergonomically.

 

IIRC it's a '10 or '11 plate C350; it could well be an Elegance. It doesn't really register on my interest-o-meter alas; the most notable feature of the interior is the panoramic glass roof...

As for the BMW's interior, from what I have recently seen of other contemporary cars, there's little that compares with it for design originality and tactile qualities.
I would never have full leather for car seats through choice - and it's usually crap Chinese leather in most mainstream contemporary cars - and analogue instruments are an anachronism.

Each to their own of course.

 

As you said.

 

... back to the subject of Mercedes exterior styling, the W168 A Class was - IMHO - a masterclass in packaging and functional design. The implementation may have left a little to be desired, but I would argue it was a ground-breaking as the original Mini.



Edit: And this was one of the the most useful features on any of the many cars I have owned - the removable rear seats AND front passenger seat of the A-Class.




And this is the latest A-Class. Hideous. Utterly hideous.

 

Looking at the switch gear etc or the BMW, MERC and my Audi I do wonder how much of this stuff is actually needed during every day driving , and indeed how much is actually used , is most of this drivel is just marketing to appeal to the kids who like toys .
My Audi has more knobs ( some would say the driver to ) bells, lights and whistle's than the average fighter jet , my eldest son remarked on this the other day when I dropped him of at the airport he said crist the dash is like a Christmas tree , it's one of the things I find distracting especially at night, at least in an A3 there is a simple button to drop the dam MMI screen out of sight , the A4 it take's about 10 moves on the MMI system to turn the thing off and the MMI is totally in the wrong place so far from your sight line it becomes dangerous to use while driving , You need fighter pilot training to operate it blind in the dark

 

It's obviously trying to compete with the 1 Series. Those who like a badge and a bit of bling will love it - quirkier looking than the BMW too, so chicks will dig it.

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