The Mercedes will outdo the BMW in terms
of comfort, however, even in this sportier AMG Line guise. Toggle the Dynamic
Select switch back to Comfort and it relaxes the springs, and even on 18in
wheels it patters over the worst bumps and ridges. At speed there’s a bit of
wind noise from around the door mirrors, plus the tires kick up a bit of din
over coarse surfaces, but the same criticisms apply to the BMW.
The stakes are high in long, fast,
sweepers; you feel you can rely on its inherent stability and balance. It’s
still more of a blunt instrument than a 4 Series, which has a little more
finesse, but its effectiveness.
While the new, optional nine-speed
automatic gearbox is snappy enough when you manually pull the paddles, in auto
mode it slurs away through its many ratios without you ever really noticing.
And when it’s at a steady 70mph in top gear the engine’s pulling just 1350rpm,
so you barely notice that, either.
That said, whenever you need to
accelerate, the gruff-sounding twin-turbo 2.1-litre diesel is the weak link,
letting out a particularly coarse rumble. It’s reasonably quick, mind, but we
reckon the more powerful C250 is still a better choice, making even more sense
in this Coupé than it does in the Saloon.
The interior looks fabulous and far
more interesting than anything else in the class. However, when you start
fiddling, the sense of quality does feel only skin deep in places; a wobbly
bull’s-eye air vent and yet another rattle from a Stuttgart product are a
warning that Merc needs to maintain, rather than merely rely on, its reputation
for quality.
There’s no denying it’s a great place
to sit though, with plenty of space up front plus a superb, low-set driving
position and enveloping seats. If you’re tall and faced with a choice
between sitting in the rear of a C-Class Coupé or a 4
Series Coupé, do pick the BMW. The Mercedes is okay for average-size folk,
but suffers a noticeable deficiency in both head and leg room compared to
its Munich rival. That said, the boot’s a good size, and folding rear seats add
to its practicality.
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