The 2007 Mercedes C280 4Matic is Not a BMW E46, and the Wheels are Too Small

"Swayze Train GTi" (swayzetrain) 07/22/2016 at 14:27 • Filed to: budget ballin, mercedes benz, mercedes, c280, 4matic

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Do you feel the need to impress people you don’t know? Do you send your children to school with a bag of hardtack for lunch because you’ve spent all your money on tire shine and wheel spacers again? Is your most commonly used phrase “I’d like to speak with your manager please”? Do you own a Gucci handbag and live in an apartment?

If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions, allow me to introduce you to the C280. The budget Merc (at least in the US). A car for people who’d like to think they’re richer than they are. Much like many of the posers who drive them, the C puts up an admirable facade of appearing more luxurious and German than it actually is. But for most owners this isn’t a concern, because they were shopping for a badge on four wheels. You could sell them a Kia Amanti with a three pointed star on it and they’d drive away happy.

It may sound like a bad thing, but Merc has actually hit the nail on the head with this one. America is full of slovenly fools living their lives by the catchphrase axioms of whichever rapper has his fleeting moment of fame during any particular week, and for the goal they have in mind, there is no better car than this.

For the C280 is an automotive stepping stone, it’s nobodies dream car, it’s relegated to being the best thing they can afford at the time. But, as I’ve previously stated, stepping stone cars always preserve at least a semblance of your dream.

Your dream of making enough money to buy new wheels and tires every time instead of cleaning them.

It has a loud sound sound system. It’s black. Shiny. Leather bound. Adorned with strips of chrome. Wait a second, is this pretending to be a booth in a strip club pretending to be a classier strip club pretending to be an Ann Arbor martini bar? Regardless, all the bare minimum appearance of wealth boxes are checked. If people see you in this car, they will think you have money. Sure, if they grew up in the lap of luxury or complain about tax brackets, they’ll probably know better, but that’s a moot point. People associate with those who are similar to them, and socioeconomic tiers are a major defining characteristic in that dynamic. The girls you’ll be picking up will be driving a secondhand Avenger with a Fourth of July gauge cluster and an engine fashioned from non newtonian fluids. They won’t know that this car might as well be a bucket of cold sand compared to an S-Class, because to your average American, every BMW and Merc is a luxury car. In the States, they’ve always been sold as such, cheaper models such as the A Class never jumped the pond. The only exceptions I can think of are the Honda Insight C-Class Sportcoupe, and the BMW 318ti, which was named like a graphing calculator and drawn by someone who ran out of room on the edge of the paper.

So if you’re trying to impress people, it works. But what if you care about swag AND driving pleasure? Well, unfortunately, things aren’t so great on that second front. The C280 is the 3.0 liter model, because at some point in the early 2000s, the Germans pawned their rational naming schemes to buy weed and Rammstein CDs. The engine makes an adequate 228 horsepower, but that’s on premium gas, and you’ll struggle to better 20 MPG around town. Furthermore, a decent chunk of power is eaten by the powertrain. Speaking of, it uses a completely uninspiring five speed autobox, with smooth upshifts and ponderous, confused downshifts. Subtract a gear and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between it and a Cadillac 4T80E from the late ‘90s. Sure, you can slap the stick around like you’re watching your favorite Krystal Boyd video, but you’ll get the response time of an on-location news reporter. It holds the road well enough, but the aggregate feel of the car doesn’t inspire joyful spurts of childlike behavior on a twisty backroad or clover interchange.

All this would be fine if it were a completely refined cruiser, if it offered the kind of relaxation that could only be improved by a fireplace. While the soundproofing is excellent as affirmed by the heavy doors, the leather is soft and perforated, and the air blows cool and fast, faults arise the closer you look. At 70k miles, the lamination over the burlwood accents has cracked. The leather on the shifter is wearing. The heated seats won’t penetrate your winter jacket on full power. In fact, compare the heat to 90s GM units, whose settings range from “half a step down from too comfortable” to“one degree under the threshold for lawsuits”, and you’ll wonder if Germany is a tropical country. Too much of the road is felt as well, uncomfortable isn’t the right word for it, but a shot or two over par. Additionally, the car decelerates strangely for an automatic, there’s a pronounced feeling of engine braking, as though propelled by a manual transmission. Whether this is a symptom of the transmission or AWD system remains unknown to me, regardless, it feels unbecoming of premium wheels.

But it does very much look the part when dressed in black

Strangely, the largest fault I have with this vehicle seems like a small one. Unsightly blank buttons adorn the top of the center stack, leading occupants to wonder what options are missing from this particular model, a massive mistake for any luxury vehicle. Premium brands aren’t supposed to remind you of what you don’t have, they’re supposed to make you feel good about what you do have. The driver of a C280 knows he’s in the entry level bracket, parking up next to his boss’ S550 reminds him every day. But when he drives home and leaves the shadow cast by the flagship, he should again feel comfortable in his domain, superior to all Camrys, Gremlins, Grand Prixs, and Malibus that line the return to his castle. None of those cars have hood ornaments. Blank buttons will remain a miniscule but consistent blemish on the owner’s self confidence for the duration of ownership.

They barely even use half the real estate they’ve allotted to the top rows, this is egregious, spiteful button design.

Most of the problems associated with the C280 seem to stem from its early ‘90s origin. The W203 generation C-Class’ final design was approved in 1995. FIVE YEARS before the first one hit the dealer lot. Sure, they did some refining, testing, and further development in the intermission period, but the bones of this car are so ‘90s they were probably found in an episode of NYPD Blue, and the influence of that dark decade is inescapable. The blank buttons are prime examples of that golden age of cost-cutting. Analyzing any era of a automotive production requires an understanding of the contemporary market, and the mid ‘90s and early 2000s were a period of adequate car design. Fuel injection was coming into it’s own, providing reliability and power for all motorists, and it was the height of buying things simply “because”. Products were cheaply built so the masses could outdo each other via buying more items, and the surplus of loan debt this school of thought precipitated led to a financial disaster known as The Great Depression.

Remember when we all went to the banks to have a polite chat about who the fuck wrote the terms of our mortgages?

For the extent of this period most vehicles were reliable, but few were truly exciting. They were cakes swathed in the heresy of low-fat icing, and against this backdrop, the C280 stands tall, it’s utter competence in all areas provides a well rounded score. Unfortunately, the E46 3-Series, it’s main rival, stands even taller. The exterior aesthetics could be argued over, but the E46 is more reliable, has a superior interior, and most people are willing to excuse the slightly harder ride of the BMW because of its sporting pretensions, which are delivered, especially with a manual transmission.

But in the end, there are very few brands that project an image of wealth as well as Mercedes does. It’d be easy to do a lot worse trying to convince people you have money. The baby Merc drives competently, rides well, and ticks most of the basic luxury boxes that American citizens are looking for, and it provides you with solid transportation. One cannot say the same thing about other frivolous goods that purchased by those with more money than sense. Hell, people buy Jordans they never wear, bottled water that came from the same authority as their tap water, fifths of Goose just to mix with Red Bull, instructional yoga Blu-Rays, authentic Ferrari diapers originally developed in Maranello for endurance race use, and Tinder plus. There are any number of complete financial wastes to fall victim to. In that light, the C280 is probably the best decision they’ll ever make in their lives.

Noah - Now with more boost. > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 14:35

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This was hilarious. As a connoisseur of vitriol I rate this a 10/10. I do like the interior though... not gonna lie.

Nibby > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 14:38

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We had a 2002 C240 new then. It sucked. Pile of shit that was always at the dealer for various things.

My citroen won't start > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 14:39

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What has living in a apartment got to do with anything haha?

E90M3 > My citroen won't start 07/22/2016 at 14:45

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It carries somewhat of a different stigma here in the US.

Party-vi > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 14:48

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“but the E46 is more reliable”

E90M3 > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 14:48

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A fraternity brother had one when I was in college, I got to drive it several times and I really didn’t think that it was that bad at all. Hell, if you gave me one to drive everyday I wouldn’t mind it at all.

My citroen won't start > E90M3 07/22/2016 at 14:49

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Don’t most people in big cities live in apartments? I mean, there are no houses, just buildings.

E90M3 > My citroen won't start 07/22/2016 at 14:57

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Yes, however most of the wealthy people lived in the suburbs. It’s really only recently that some of these people have started to move back into the city. There are some exceptions, like New York, but take Atlanta for example, people with money live in the suburbs.

My citroen won't start > E90M3 07/22/2016 at 15:03

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Huh, that’s interesting, here in São Paulo the wealthy (middle and upper-class) live in the city because it is closer to all the amenities and places of work (speculation) and the lower classes live in the suburbs, because cheaper housing (also speculation) and a veiled effort from the rich to keep them away.

Swayze Train GTi > Party-vi 07/22/2016 at 15:43

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I mean neither are reliable, but in my experience the BMWs are bit less likely to break stupid things. Aside from the oil pump nut backing off sometimes...

Party-vi > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 15:44

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Coolant. Expansion. Tank.

Swayze Train GTi > E90M3 07/22/2016 at 15:45

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Oh it’s not a bad car. I just wouldn’t spend money on one, unless it was a complete steal. Of course, we all know what happens when you buy a cheap Merc

E90M3 > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 15:50

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There is no such thing as a cheap merc, might be cheap to buy not cheap to run though. If I was gonna buy a car of that vintage I'd buy an e46

Swayze Train GTi > My citroen won't start 07/22/2016 at 15:51

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To be clear, I don’t think living in an apartment is a bad thing, sometimes you’ll have to depending on where you live. Many people envision themselves owning a home someday, and the lifestyle they’ll have if they reach that point. And they want to realize that dream, but they do it ass backwards, buying the things they can afford, but not the things they should focus on.

My citroen won't start > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 15:55

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Nah, that’s ok, it seems like living in an apartment carries a different stigma in the US of A outside of New York and the like. I’ve only lived in a big city, meaning buying a house means living away from the best the city offers.

Swayze Train GTi > Party-vi 07/22/2016 at 15:58

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Damnit. I was hoping you wouldn’t bring that up...

This C280 however, has had its entertainment electronics fail for no reason, and also keeps throwing a code every few months for something air intake related, despite the local dealer trying to fix it twice. There was something else minor an engine related as well, but I cant think of it right now. And it’s not a high mileage car, around 75k.

Also, balance shaft failures are a thing that happen on this series of mercedes V6

Party-vi > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 16:11

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Oof. I’d really like to get my hands on a C55 AMG or even the C350 with the manual. I’ve heard they’re a hoot to drive.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Swayze Train GTi 07/22/2016 at 19:57

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There was a nail. But you hit it so hard on the head it disintegrated. But this really goes for any base/entry level Mercedes. 203's were always kind of junky compared to even other generations of C. Facelifted ones were a huge improvement believe it or not though. Even the C55 was a very small step down from the C43 as far as build quality and options go (aside from expected modernization like stereo stuff).

itranthelasttimeiparkedit > Swayze Train GTi 01/04/2017 at 21:36

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The auto behavior of engine break exists on the 1st gen boxster too, it was really weird at first but I grew to like it on my wife’s.