i am averaging about 21 mpg, mostly city driving (wife does not use the freeway yet)
MPG was not even a factor for me in my decision. i took one look at the 328i and then the c300 and i knew what I wanted.
if MPG will be your deciding factor, then definitely MB will not win over the BMW. in all the advertisements for the C300, i don't recall them playing up MPG as a strength. when the company does not boast about it, then you know for sure that it is not a strong point.
Its sad that with oil approaching 100 a barrel that MPG isn't even a factor for some people. The really sad thing is that this car should be able to get 30+ with a 7-speed auto trans. Its just lazy engineering.
So expect a Benz (and a caddy CTS) to get less than the estimate, and a BMW to get more.
Since this one was marketed at my segment (3-series owner) I thought I'd try it. The mileage was the straw, but the goofy horn that everyone (including the salesman) accidentally hits, sort of goofy shifting, and the poor bluetooth implementation didn't help.
If this one got 30+ highway, I'd probably own it now. Instead I picked up a used 545i for a little less. I take delivery tomorrow. Its rated at 25 highway (scaled to the 2008 values), but gets 30 going 70 or so.
Thanks for the input everyone. You did confirm what I was expecting. I had hoped for some magic button or some magic highway speed that peaked performance, but it was just hope.
i am averaging about 21 mpg, mostly city driving (wife does not use the freeway yet)
MPG was not even a factor for me in my decision. i took one look at the 328i and then the c300 and i knew what I wanted.
if MPG will be your deciding factor, then definitely MB will not win over the BMW. in all the advertisements for the C300, i don't recall them playing up MPG as a strength. when the company does not boast about it, then you know for sure that it is not a strong point.
i 100% agree !! in my eyes im going to be using gas regardless so why not use gas and enjoy a nice ride as well. most w204 buyers arent purchasing / leasing the car for its MPG number !!
Last edited by omgitselaine : 11-21-2007 at 07:41 AM.
I drove 1800 miles between last Friday and Monday. Using gasoline, with the A/C off and driving between 70 and 73 mph, I was getting slightly over 30 miles per gallon. If I drove 80ish, fuel economy dropped to slightly over 28. My C300 before the trip had just had the 1,000-3000 service and had about 2,100 miles on it.
From what you say, it sounds like it must have had ethanol in it which is expected to get less fuel economy. Depending on what ethenol cost in your area, you are very likely to find that it cost less per mile traveled than with gasoline.
Last fill up, I averaged about 20mpg of mixed driving. A highway run I did a few weeks back, I was averaging 26-29 the trip with an average speed of 70mph. I have 2200 miles on the car. I am hopeing it will get a little better.
__________________
rob
Current: 08 C300w Sport Loaded.
They could have made the C300 do 30 mpg on the highway but I'm glad they didn't because the car would be ruined. To achieve 30mpg, they would need skinny 195 tires, a serious weight reduction with degraded safety, a grill like a Prius, a taller overdrive 7th gear that couldn't maintain speed in a 25 mile per hour headwind, smaller side mirrors, etc. The car would look like crap and not be any fun at highway/autobahn speeds.
__________________
S.
2008 Mercedes C300 Sport mars red/black
2007 Lexus IS350 Sport Pkg. smoky granite metallic/gray
2004 Porsche 986S seal gray metallic/black/black
2002 Jeep KJ 4wd Sport white/gray
Seems like an issue? Not really if you consider some factors like weight, tire size, etc. Honda Hybrid Civic gets 45-50mpg with thin rubber band wheels plus paper thin doors if that's what you're looking to get. lol
They could have made the C300 do 30 mpg on the highway but I'm glad they didn't because the car would be ruined. To achieve 30mpg, they would need skinny 195 tires, a serious weight reduction with degraded safety, a grill like a Prius, a taller overdrive 7th gear that couldn't maintain speed in a 25 mile per hour headwind, smaller side mirrors, etc. The car would look like crap and not be any fun at highway/autobahn speeds.
I was comparing a Benz to a BMW, not a Prius. The BMWs get much better mileage. For some people, it is a factor. They could have done it easily with the c-300 without ruining the car. Even GM boosted the mileage in the new CTS, and they don't care about the issue at all.
Had I seen some of the posts that said closer to 30 a week ago, I may have given this car more thought. I saw enough that said 25 and under to be convinced that is the accurate number though.
Linear Mode
