165: LIVE Drive Mercedes C300 W205

A little dance. A little display. You want to press everybody? You want to press everybody?

What was the record? 104 buttons? I don't think it's got... Fuck, can I?

I can't even turn right. Can't turn right. Mate, action. Lucky those guys are renovating, so they're not there.

That's why I parked in the glory spot. That's all I'm waiting for, 1.7. Fuck man, you're even being a dead right. Good morning, good afternoon.

Listen to the all-time car podcast, live drive, surprise, surprise. How little's it got an announcement to make? Bullshit. LAUGHTER He finally bought a car.

Everyone just said, Bullshit! LAUGHTER Bullshit! Well, most of all, it is. You can't hear it.

I mean, it's not a trick. It's a Mercedes C300 sedan. W205. 205, right at the 200s.

I don't know what their W designation's age is. Describe it with the shape of the year. So, model year 2020? This is the last classic W205 shape.

I think it's a timeless shape. It is a very elegant classic shape that sits... I think it's... I did go and look at the all-new W206.

Too much glass, too much touch screen for me. Which we get to drive, because we've got one in the fleet. My father's got a brand new thing in the class, so that's... We're gonna drive this first and then get our hands on that.

Too many. Maybe. Too many fingerprints on the screens. Yeah, we'll get to that.

The interior felt a bit blamder than the 205. I don't know if it's because there's not as much balance. But for some reason, it just felt shape-up. I don't know.

I'm gonna disagree. But it's still about this carbon. It was a classic shape. I think they ran for about eight years.

20... 15. It's one of the popular models. I think it's a classic shape.

The fact that the E-Class copied it, it's usually the other way around. The E-Class is usually the standard one. It was like a BBS class when it came out. A E-Class copied the C.

You could tell that there was a difference in this. But this shape has just really aged well. The cities haven't really... I think BBS tends to tweak their mid-life updates.

Cycle impulses where they call it. Where this one... They just keep it. It's a classic look.

It's large. It's quite roomy in size. A little bit larger than the 204. That we have as well.

Yeah, so you've basically got a C250 to a 4-wheel driven in the bars because they could pre-dye that night. So now we're in the 205. And basically, it's got all the Wizban gadgets. The set of screens, it was big in its days.

Sort of turning down. It's more like a sideways iPad, where the new screens are more your upright iPad. Yeah. But it's a good size.

It's a good size. Everything's really good. Really good economics. But you don't need the screens.

The screens are almost like an afterthought. Well, it's got the 12-inch drivers cluster. Yes, the driver's screen's almost bigger than that. And that's a full-to-tool.

And you can... If you're familiar with the Mercedes, sort of get up, you can configure the dials to your classic... Sort of 3-clears. The classic's nice.

It's in the blue. Then you've got the yellow. You can put the nav inside. You can do it with the one thing.

But what I like about this interior is that there's designated buttons. You've got your air con buttons there. You can just touch it after you go through menus. And I think some car makers have lost the plot in that respect.

And you've also got your main buttons underneath. You've got your radio, your media, your nav. So you can just go straight away. And then the...

Obviously, the screens are touchscreen. That's not touchscreen. Mercedes went through... They went through a phase where touchscreen was dangerous.

And then it became all touchscreen. Yeah. So... Look, it's...

This was a... A good boy, actually. I've been looking for a little while. Since episode one.

Yeah. I've been looking around. And when the Audi got totaled last year, it was... Alright.

I'm gonna buy you. And then I was... Then I was... The thing is the used market for you.

And then the new Ranger was coming out. So I wanted to wait. And just got out ahead. So I bit the bullet and I said, whilst birthday is coming up, I'm gonna get a new car.

I'm gonna find something to replace a W-24 with. Yep. And I started looking around. I wasn't going for a C200.

Because I didn't want to practice 60,000 budget. And even though they were nudging below 60s to get with the right options there, this has the vision package, the seat comfort package, the AMG line, and... So, and the command package. It's got all four.

So basically, yeah, the other cities have done, and a lot of the European markets have done, is they've packaged all their options into named packages, which I'll all just went through. So basically you're getting the memory seats on both sides, at the front heated seats, the Burmice, the sound, the Panerouff, the AMG line body kit. So... It's fully loaded.

It's fully loaded. It's got the comfort seats, the quite confidential. So, and it was like, I just couldn't find the right colour combination, or the right options. And one of my pet hates was the silver trim on the doors, which could be quite clear.

Yeah, they do. And I wanted the black ash, and it was very hard to find. And then this thing came along. 20,000 kilometres?

Just one owner? Stop it. The funny thing was, there's moments where you say, I'm going to buy that car, and I looked at the last service it had at Mercedes, which was about 5,000 plays a go. And the owner was a doctor.

And he had done the Mercedes dealership for brand new continents. And I went, well, this guy doesn't give a fuck. Yeah, so if you're getting Mercedes to put tires on your car, your car's getting looked after. It's getting looked after.

So, $58,000. But just before we talk about the cars specifically, just to comment on the second hand market, I'm finding that when you said use, the popular cars are still commanding big bucks. And there's still a weight list, if you want your ranger and your highlighters or your typical expensive popular use and popular cars, like a Rav, the SUV's, they're still up there. But there's, and the shit cars are always shit, because we did shit drones and stuff like that.

But you've got popular cars like the C-Class, where they're now coming back not to pre-pandemic levels, but they're finding their way back to not bullshit prices. It took a while for the A-35 to be sick. And so Dan's, I think so Dan's are dying. Yeah, I really wanted, I did want a 300.

Actually, I would have liked a 43. And without this pandemic stuff, I probably would have bought a 43 for the same price as this. Yeah. But...

It would have been a lot firmer than this. Yeah, look, it's, it was for my wife. She does 10,000 KZ. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, it was, yeah, but C300 was the preferred option that they were all 200s, and this thing came along, and it was like, made a lot of pay tickets done. And again, I was trying to turn it to 300, the market was not that much. It's not that much, but this is the update. So it's the 190 kilowatt engine.

Yeah. So, very brisk. So it's a four-cylinder... Four-cylinder turbo.

So the 9-speed auto. It's more tweaked than the 200. It's a same-speed. It's driven a couple of times.

I've got the windows 10-turn, and, like, it's a good term of saying is to get the tractor motor should have done. Oh, this is the one. You should have done it for myself. You know what I can't figure out?

How Mercedes had the... They've got the touch pad that goes over, the circle pad. Yeah, you can use it. Seriously, you got a shitty lancer.

Oh, God. So they want to drag you out. Yeah, absolutely. Really?

Yeah. There's even a staking with a 360-3. Or I think he's got a disability, he's right-lecks, right-lecks, right-lecks, right-lecks. And he missed the key.

So yeah, that's what I think. He can't happen. He's missing his key. So...

It's a clean car. What's with the purple fucking LED? Well, my son, Jacob, likes the red. So it's reddish-purple.

So I wanted that color. Now I wanted green. So we take turns now on... Can't you make a flash between two colors?

I thought you'd go over it. I don't know. But there's a medium one option. I mean, I'm sure.

I think you can use a moderate specter Moscow. But I think you can plug in the LED thing and put it into, like, a fucking Christmas mode. Yeah, so I just think it's changing. So...

You can also notice when I thrash in the fuck out of this car, because it's not Ross's. So, basically... No! Alright, we're at the underpass.

Now we're going to do some performance. Even though we're sort of out friendly boys and blue, further around. Your tire pressure lights there. Yeah, I don't...

It's odd because... I've noticed that. So what's happening is I'll go down to the menus and have a look at how this one works. That...

Battery set it. Well, it is... It's not that much as a fire, but it seems like when you're driving around, the tires get walled, right? So the pressures go up.

That's what happens. Yeah, but the pressures... And then it's telling me that the pressures are up. So this is a dedicated...

They know specifically the tire pressure. Yeah, it tells you how hot and cold each corner is as well. Yeah, with the sea... It's got the temperature as well, so it's like the A35 with the CLS.

Basically, it just tells you one of your fucking wheels has got no tire pressure. Yeah. And I checked the wrong tire on the way back from Melbourne to 9. So, yeah, wait.

Yeah, if you wanted to drive in anger, it's... You know what, I thought it was like a warm hatch. If you were going for a drive and you were down down the coast or some twisty bits, it's actually... It's not going to get you in trouble.

No. But it is going to get you there. You're going to have some fun. Yeah.

And the gears were being held, and they're pretty good keyboxes. There was no real faults with this car, but the sea classes mean they're stable for some years outside. Yeah, but they had to... They were almost little barges, soft barges.

Yeah. And this model was the one that put them on the map with the handling. So it gave it to the three series, they matched it. And that's why the C63 in this model has also gone to the next level.

It's not just a big engine, fast and straight line, where this is the model that where the handling came into play and the set is really caught up to the three series. And I'm really... Like the steering's really well weighted. Like the...

You know... We're doing Nashikanes. It's very well weighted. Nice ride.

A little bit firm, but it is the... No, I like it. It is the sport dam suspension. This is nothing like the A35.

That was a fucking crash bank. Yeah. This is pretty... The seats are a little bit...

The seat is in its firm, but it's not as sporty. It doesn't hold you in and make you feel uncomfortable. The seats are quite good. The lumbar is great.

Yeah. The back seats are a little bit... They're a great car. The kids are happy.

I've got a new car. And it's not a corolla. And it's not a corolla. They're a little bit disappointed.

They wanted a Tesla. Yeah. It wasn't going to happen. You did look...

You did look... You did try to look at the base. I did. To make it work.

I did, but no, it wasn't quite the time. I did say to the kids that it's got some features that the Tesla has. And they were like, huh? We're driving down the motorway.

And I flicked the radar cruise on. And all the driver ate. With the cell steering. With the cell steering.

And I went, look, kids. No, heads. And it went around and we've been all the way there to start a flashing up. It's up and went here.

And they were in the backlight. Oh, Lord of Pilot. It does a lot of better job than the Tesla can tell you that now. The CLS does it.

I used to do a better job. You know, you have this kind of track as a coming through. Yeah, so... Yeah, really happy.

So this is the wife's new ride for the next 10 years. So you need, what color is it? What's it for? Cellonite Grey.

Cellonite Grey. So it's not really a cell, right? It's a nice... Well, she turns 50.

So I said, it's a mature color. It's still part of the German rainbow. The white, the silver, the grey and the black. But it's a nice...

It's not this typical color. I don't know these typical German. It's really not. You're not going to see it.

It's just a nice vibe. As you know, I do have a knack of finding good value cars eventually. Yeah, I don't know. When you find them and you find them at a good price.

I don't know when you look down the A7. I mean, you find it at a B&W dealer. They don't know how to price it. And you stole that car when it was...

It's 72,000 for 160,000 car. You stole that car. So no, no, you do that. I've got a question.

And I've got the questions from the professor. I saved it for you, Hal, because you know more about tires and wheel combinations. The professor's got a girlfriend. I think the professor's batting way above his average looking at the car she owns.

She drives an E450... Oh, wow. Right? So it's in that silver color.

Yeah. So the professor rides Hyper. I hope you'll have a great day. I hope you'll have a great day.

I hope you'll have a great day. I hope you'll have a great day. Oh, wow. Right.

So it's in that silver color. Yeah. So the professor rides Hyper. I hope you'll have a well.

My girlfriend needs to change RIMS wheels from low profile as RIMS cracked. Now, that's Starmee with Mercedes wheels cracking. Can you advise on best RIM wheels for 55-year-old lady? More comfort and less high performance.

Thanks. Now, E450. Let's go back to start with the RIMS. The roads are still fucked.

I went through two crack rooms. E450 has 20s on it. I went through two crack rooms. I don't know whether it's those smokey AMG type wheels at Mercedes.

I don't know what's going on, but they're cracking RIMS left-right at the center. I had to change the CLS ones last month. That's why I'm flat on the way back from orbit. It's just, I don't know what it is at the moment.

The A35 would crack two RIMS. So let's start with the RIMS. Do you keep those RIMS? You can't change them.

Well, the issue is that the 450 comes with the 20s. They've got the single two I've got on these. They've got the 20s and they've literally got a very low profile. So option one would be look for a second.

Look for a second-hand set of the 19s. So could you look at an E300? Yeah, like a mess of versions. Yeah, but you could do that.

But you've got to crack those as well. Because the tyres are not going to have much more sidewall than what the 20s do. So the issue is that I think we're trying to solve the cracking. The cracking is the cracking.

I think it's more the comfort. We're trying to get rid of the low profile aspect. Well, you can't get rid of it. So if you keep those 20 RIMS and change tyres.

You can't. Well, you can do it. You can't go to a toilet. You'll end up with it.

You can't put an SUV tyre on it. You'll do it. It's just not going to work. So the thing is if you go to a higher profile tyre, the tyre is bigger.

It's taller. It's 6 higher off the rear. So it went to a 19. And you go to a smaller rim.

You might be able to go to a 30 to a 35 or a 40 profile. So that'll fix the comfort. But then you've got to also watch out for the car is designed for that particular tyre RIM package. So if you change the diameter of the car.

Oh, the car? You can't go. You've got to plug out on the side of your tyre. The car, the box or in the door chain.

Use one of the petrol chain. So there's a tyre pack out there. So really what happens with the cars? It will say what tyres, wheels and tyres, that model is suitable.

Like what it comes with. Now some of them have three different down. Like the W204 had a 17 and an 18 option in the actual playing the play card. Right?

So if you bought the model that had the, someone had optioned it with 18s. You can go back to a 17 as long as it was what's on the play card. 17 by 7 and whatever the tyre size is. A lot of feeling the E450 is going to only have the 20-inch option because I think that was pretty much standard for it.

Yeah. I think they've got the larger brakes which is probably why they need the larger wheels to clean them as well. Yeah. So you can do what the good doctor did here with the C300 and that's going on the C300.

Pay double for the tyre. And for the convenience. However, I would probably go to your local tyre fitter. Go to your local, your local, your call to your local.

Could you or some of those? Just have a box. Jane or whatever. Go to the boys at teddy tyres and teddy tyres.

Teddy tyres. Don't guide you in the right way to do it. I'm not sure if there's a budget in your mind or, because I mean there's tyre sizes which we're talking about and there's tyre brands as well. Look, most of the, most tyres.

Don't buy tyres, please. Don't buy tyres. Yeah, don't buy tyres. Look, you can get, the commos, there's a PS-91 which is a very sporty tyre.

It's going to be half the price over the US. And if it's just a crime and around the US and some of those are going to get a coffee and dinner, then you're not going to notice anything different. Yeah. But you still want to get a grippy tyre.

You don't want to get stuck with it. Oh, the PS-91's scared. You don't want to get it. See, when you go to the other extreme, the cheap tyres, when I say cheap, as in both price and quality, the tread where it might last you a bit longer but may win a range all over the road.

Well, they may not last as well. And braking distance as well. If you look at your tyre comparos, if you hit the brakes and you're in cheap tyres, your braking distance is alarmingly longer. Well, especially in the wind.

The good doctor. The good doctor. Actually, when you, like you know, Mercedes, who do these tyres when they get the service? And they are the Continentals and they have the designation M01, which is a Mercedes option tyre.

Okay. So they're pretty much what, they're the Mercedes Continental. And now you will get the Continental in the same, say the Continental 5P and it'll have A01, which is for Audi. Okay.

So, and then there's I think N01, which is I think Porsche. Yes. And there are variances in the actual tread pattern specifically for that car. Specifically for the car, because it's been designed for that car.

But people always say, oh, it's been just specifically designed for that. Well, there's little designations and it's on the Michelin's as well. And it's on the, on the Parrellis, right? I love the A01, M01.

I'm not sure what BMW is. But, yeah. The other thing I learned as well was tyres. I'm not a big fan.

I've never really got into tyres. I'm not going to tyres lately, but when it was one of those things where I was like, oh fuck, another set of tyres. But the Ford Digi Code, which is the week it was manufactured in the year, it was amazing when I bought some new tyres in my Mrs. car.

And when I looked at it, I was like, 18 months old. And I don't think because a tyre sits on your car for four or five years, it's got tread. After four or five years, they're the rubber in the tyre then it composes. And it's more dangerous having an old tyre.

It gets harder. Yeah. So then your braking distances went all dry. Or it could crack?

Well, they deteriorate. They're not as grippy. They're not as... Well, that's how Paul Walker died in that Porsche and it was at the 911, the career at GT.

Yeah. It was the original tyres. The car was ten years old. And they died.

They wrapped themselves around a pole because the tyre literally exploded because of its decomposition. So, going back to the E450, beautiful car, I'd love to drive that live drive. I'll drive it. After you get your WFL to come to the top of the top.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, basically, I think you should contact your local Mercedes, where you serve some. Have a chat as to what's up. It's originally new car, so.

Yeah. What options you've got to go to a smaller rim, whether that's feasible. If it is feasible, if Mercedes tells you it's feasible, then I would shop around and see what it might be an opportunity to get a nicer wheel. Another different design.

There's always people who might be able to put some E6 wheels on it, some genuine ones. You know, you're going to use set-up someone. That's not going to help to the comfort. Well, look, I really don't think you can gag out from a 22 or 19 on that car.

I think he's going to have some hurdles there with regards to what's on the placard. And then if something goes wrong, then you're on the risk of your insurance company saying you're on your own body. Yeah, true. You've got insurance factors as well.

You've put in the wrong combination tire and it makes your car not roadworthy. That's probably something else I think about too. Contact Mercedes, can you go to a smaller rim, which gives you a higher profile tire, which brings in the comfort factor with a good tire, which brings in the grip if you need to do handle as well? If that's not an option, I think you're pretty much stuck with the feel you've got.

I don't think I've got suspension settings on those 50s. It'll be like dynamic and sport and stuff. Have a look to see if you haven't got the car stuck on sport. A small pass.

So that's another comfort. Put in the comfort. Have a look. Professor, look up the global coverage suspension settings.

I'll say that we're putting in sport class. Did you feel the bump? I can feel now actually. I think we just ran over it fast and coin.

No, but look, watch this. It's radio. I'm watching. What are you trying to do now?

No, you're trying to do it now. When you're putting the sport class, you feel the sort of like a bit more weight in the steering wheel than the throttle. We're not in the passenger seat, don't we? On that note, right?

Does review us? Send us some more of your technical tips. We're happy to help. I think we helped other professors go for it.

Give us a five star. Give us a comment. I don't have to read those. I've read those for a while.

Keep saying the guests. They keep coming and then we have to change the dates. The captain is ready. The captain is ready.

It's married at first sight. Our resident expert at married at first sight. The captain, he's going to come on. I think from the next one, let the couple settle down.

Let's get some kilometers on them. Then the captain's also going to fill us in and give us his predictions on married at first sight. There's some do's at the moment. We'll save that for when the captain comes on.

So thank you for listening. Bye for now. I'm going to be not so working. I can't connect with Sadie's me.

I can't connect with Sadie's me. I can't quite handle it.