German Car Zone

Cheers Raoul!

The Australian spec sheet only says natural brown and not beige, which has thrown me lol.

This is the interior we want:
http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/6...0408008vg2.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...08C1311_17.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...08C971_046.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...08C971_001.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...08C971_004.jpg


Anyone know for sure what colour that is?

With either an Indium Grey or Paladium Silver exterior. Though I'm leaning towards Indium because I'm not sure it would go that well with Paladium, and I think a darker colour would suit the lines better. Just trying to find pics of these two colours!

I'd definitely take the Airmatic over the Distronic Plus. I think it's smart to play it safe. No doubt the standard suspension is more than adequate on normal roads but if the road conditions are bad (I really have no idea of the roads in Australia), the Airmatic will clearly have the comfort advantage. Furthermore, I agree with the remarks about Distronic Plus offering only minor benefit in everyday-driving.

It also seems like the Airmatic II is a major improvement over the old Airmatic.

The interior colour should be natural-beige/black!

Hope, that this will be available in your country!! And I would go for the Indium grey exterior!!

Indium Grey






Palladium silver








And the interior color that you showed in the photos is called Natural Beige, the other color Almond Beige is a little bit lighter.
Personally I think the interior color natural beige suits the Indium grey exterior color the best.
Natural Beige would look a bit out of place on a Palladium silver colored car in my humble opinion.

And concerning the choice of the extra 2 options, it's a bit hard to choose.
I'm leaning towards the Airmatic II, should come in handy on rough roads plus that the ride could be risen in case when you have to drive over a big bump or a side walk etc. And Mercedes should have done a lot of engineering developing and improving the second generation.

The safe choice would be the Distronic Plus. Especially if the Airmatic II would not live up to expectations like in the W211 in which every setting is just not right. That would really spoil the driving experience overall and the thing is that there's nothing you can do about it other then taking it for granted.
The Distronic could come in handy in stop and go traffic and on the highway, even though comfortable it would kind of numb the sense of driving in my opinion. But a good thing is that it can detect a sudden stop in traffic up ahead and will automatically apply the brakes and warn you on the oncoming traffic in case you're not paying attention.

You probably have your reasons but why not spend the money on:
- AMG Package
Adds some sportiness to the E-class.

- Panoramic Roof
Gives an airy interior especially with the Natural Beige interior and gives a nice contrast to the Indium Grey or Palladium silver exterior.

- Night View Assist
To some it's a gimmick but who knows it might prove to be useful.

Indium grey is definitely a charming colour!! Adds a lot to the car in my opinion!!

AMG sportpackage would be really a extra I would add to the E-Class!! But it will also stiffen the suspension (Mr. Mercedes father want to get a comfortable ride) so you had to get air suspension as well…which make it an extreme expensive option then!!

Nevertheless I would personally prefer the AMG package over Distronic and Airmatic!

I'd opt for the Indium grey. Most shades of silver remind me of the beginning of this decade when the market was overdosed with silver cars...

The AMG package would stiffin the suspension. Furthemore, its about an 11k option compared to 3-4K for the airmatic and distronic and more then he wants to spend.

Well standard silver is defnitely out of the question!

But the Paladium silver on the C's looks very nice. It just wouldn't go very well with the interior combination we like.

Indium silver looks a bit brown? Anymore pictures floating around?

I also thought that interior colour is the Black/Natural Beige shown on the German site, but the Australian spec list does not have that combination. We have Black/Almond Beige and Black/Natural Brown. I'm sure it's the latter, but I'm worried about a car with the wrong interior colour turning up in 3 month.

The amount of sunlight seems to be very influential to the impression of the exterior color. It looks grey-ish when the sun is little but intensifies to the color copper-ish when the sun is shining strong. It's hard to capture, you should see it in person to get a proper impression.

The facelifted version of the previous generation E-class and also the CLS-class and maybe some other models have that color as well.
Maybe your dealer have one standing in the showroom or you spot one on the road.
It is a rare color though.

In case you're afraid that you order the wrong interior color, just show them photos and let them verify the colors.
The salespersons should know it better than anyone else.
Good luck!

Great. Thanks Alwing for the pictures! Looks great!

The choice is now between Indium Grey and Curpite Brown.

The interior we're after is 'not recommended' for Paladium Silver, and I think darker colours will work better with the lines of the E. I did send the pictures to the dealer and said that is what we want, so we'll see what they advise. I think there has been a misprint on the Australian Initial Spec Guide

Is there an English configurator out there?