[sethwas]

So I decided my annual family road trip this year would include tail of the dragon, and the car I expected to rent (mustang convertible) wasn’t available so Alamo nicely gave me a ’19 C300 for the journey instead since they couldn't give me my money back and just give me a cheaper rental instead. Thought it would be interesting to compare to my ’16 228i and I was very surprised at the outcome.
(I drove a 4 series for a week last year all through CA and ended up buying a 2 series after because I wasn’t happy with how the 4 drove. The 2 was a superior size than the larger ones, plus it as a machine felt more solid vs. the clunky/crashy nature of the larger sibling. Odd since they are related so strongly. Incidentally I’ve been to Vance, Alabama for the Mercedes factory tour so know how they make the C class too. Funny how what goes around comes around)

So first the walk around – the F22 looks like a BMW coupe. It’s not trying to be another BMW. It’s lines are taught and aside from some stylistic weirdness that is mostly subjective it’s cohesive. The C300 looks like it’s trying to be a larger Mercedes. It’s not. Actually, from the inside front seat they may as well be the same size. I wish the 2 series came in a 4 door, because I really like having a door access to the rear seat. I know BMW will never do this because it would eat away at the 3 series sales, but the 3 is simply too large, and if BMW makes a small 4 door car it will likely be FWD again on purpose to not compete with the 3.

Anyway, as for hands on – when filling up the Merc gas door pops open farther than the BMW on release but feels cheaper and flimsy when closing which is odd as this is something you would touch often. Contrast this to the Mercedes trunk lid which was wonderful, it opens AND closes by itself silently. You load whatever you want, and when you reach up to pull the trunk down you see there are two red ILLUMINATED buttons that you can use to lock all the doors or close the lid. So nice to tap the button and walk away. I wish my 2 did this. Around the side the door handles all glow and the doors themselves open solidly and more important close solidly unlike the 228i whose insides don’t stop moving even after the door closes. I noticed 3 and 4 series do this as well. The exterior handle mechanism on the Merc is just superior to the BMW. It feels solid in the hand and less likely to break which is indicative of nothing just that touchpoints are important. Closing the door from the inside is also superior in the Merc, and that just may be an advantage of having a smaller door as the grab handle is better placed. This is probably one of my biggest let downs of my 2 – that the doors just don’t close solidly like other cars I’ve owned before. Of course, my favorite exterior feature of the Merc was the LED headlights which were wonderful in the smoky mountains.

As for inside, the Mercedes sure wins on presentation. Superficial of course, but I had a white with tan interior on the rental (have Oyster on my 2) but Mercedes does more surfaces in their tan and this is personal preference. I like that only my seats and the door card are tan and the rest is black. In the Merc the lower dash is light too, which to me is too much. Of course lots of wood and chrome and those round air vents. Whether you like the seat controls on the door or seat is up to you. I prefer when located on the seat and adjusting on the door took some getting used to. I’m big on seat comfort and here it’s a draw.
The 2 seats are a bit lower so it takes a bit more effort to get in and out. That and the Merc has a superior seat itself where your thighs and butt go, but the BMW has better materials, comfort, and seat back. The only advantage to the Merc is that all parts of the seat are motorized vs. the BMW which only motorizes the tilts and lumbar.
Speaking of motors, the Mercedes does that thing where the steering wheel (motorized tilt yay!) motors up and away and the seat moves back every time you turn it off to ease exit. I was able to turn off the seat part so only the wheel motors up and away and this was charming and easy to get used to. Would like this on my 2.

Visibility is poorer all around in the Mercedes as opposed to the BMW (higher sills, horrific A pillar angle killing the forward left view, and B pillar right at shoulder blocking blind spot) although the rear view mirror is larger in the Merc. Mirrors don’t fold down in reverse although the backup cam image is enormous. Worst part of the Mercedes was the steering wheel. Simply not comfortable. The cross section is off. In the BMW the ‘flat’ part of the wheel faces you and the dashboard so when you hold it your thumbs rest naturally, in the Merc the flat parts face the ceiling and center of the wheel, so you never can encase it in your hand. This and the turn signal has that smashed-a-tic-tac-box noise when engaging vs. the creamy/silent signal in the BMW.
An area where style trumps function is the center console. They removed the shifter to make it old school American column mount…and then proceeded to do nothing with the free space. There’s actually LESS storage/utility to the Merc center console without the shifter than there is in the BMW that has a shifter and an e-brake. I get why, it’s just a place to put lots more wood for presentation, but its useless for holding things especially when on a road trip.

The starter button is a much nicer piece in the Mercedes, but they put the engine auto start cancel near the infotainment controller instead of by the engine button. I prefer the red instrumentation lights at night on the dash in the BMW, although the Mercedes interior illumination is superior. (wish I could dim the large tablet screen more but this is an issue with all screens in cars).
Of course the AC is better in the Mercedes. The two sides sync unlike the BMW, and there is no fiddling with the power of the fan when in auto. Just overall a better system.

Smartest feature! The volume knob is next to the infotainment control knob so you don’t have to lift your hand or move your eyes away when adjusting sources or volume. BMW needs to move the volume knob next to the idrive knob. Speaking of infotainment, the Merc had carplay, which is nice if you have cell service, but in the mountains when service came and went it was useless. While the large screen is fantastic for nav, worst feature was google maps which on the phone screen updates your distances remaining perfectly without touching anything just automatically as time progresses (even if you aren’t using guided directions), but the carplay google map only updates if you reload the destination. This is a bug in all car play since the phone screen and carplay screen don’t update together strangely – so you end up having to look at the phone despite it being connected to the car. And if you are in a place with no cell service you can’t update the carplay screen at all since it tries to reload the destination coordinates from the web not the last search.

If you don’t use carplay the Mercedes infotainment isn’t bad and in fact buries the car features just as deep as Idrive (weird that they have a digital analog clock on screen and a real analog clock just below the screen). The audio system is superior to the BMW but that’s a very very low bar to clear since its universally understood that the BMW system is worthless. The knob works fine, but oddly where BMW smartly puts the menu buttons above the knob where your fingers can touch, Mercedes puts the menu buttons under the climate controls further up the console requiring an arm lift (no way for muscle memory to do). Also, there is a redundant infotainment between the speedometer which is slick since you can change radio stations with the steering controls while the center screen and knob are doing carplay, but the steering controls are a bit foolish. It’s gimmicky tech for the sake of tech.

Let me explain: the left and right arms of the wheel that hold the rim each have a center fingernail size touchpad with home and back buttons. The right touchpad works the large center screen and the left touchpad works the speedo screen. Thing is, the touchpad is only there so you scroll between speedo menu’s (bizarrely things like the odo and trip meter are buried in a menu). While this makes sense for the large screen on right since it has many functions, it’s dangerous for the speedo screen since you can’t click out or quickly between functions but have to navigate back and look down. My advice would be remove the pad that switches between radio, phone, nav, and trip, to just have 4 buttons on the wheel signifying each and you press to go between menus not navigate the screen to go between menus. Better for muscle memory and better for safety.
Of course my 2 series doesn’t have this since it has no center screen between the speedo and tach. The 3 and 4 series have a simpler version of this when you have idrive with nav. Of course the Merc version is sexier, but it’s decidedly not intuitive and buttons and screens should be designed like they are on airplanes, not buried in menus. To note, my C300 didn’t have nav so I couldn’t test that, but I have tested the 4 series nav and liked how it worked even without cell service when I was in sequoia last year. (car had carplay too but I preferred the BMW Nav to the carplay since it worked better especially with the center arrows and graphics between the speedo and tach).

My 2 series has no USB ports, and the Mercedes has 2!! One for carplay and one for charging. Super helpful on a roadtrip. They are both in the nice and large compartment which doubles as an armrest which is better/larger than the one on the 2 if ever so slightly.
Auto windshield wiper system works slickly, and the knob is better than the one on the bmw. You just twist it (the turn signal stalk) to start the auto wipers, and turn it again to make it more sensitive, and then more to just speed it up. The BMW has that side button to activate and the little rotary knob to adjust sentitivity, and of course tapping up and down which is just too complicated.
I think this settles the non-driving part of the car. The summary is, the Mercedes looks way nicer, has a techier interface which does nothing for the drive, but material feel isn’t higher, isn’t functionally any better (except for doors and trunk action), has less interior storage, and is less comfortable and harder to see out of.


Now for the driving part….what a let down. The only redeeming factor the Mercedes has is that it’s silent. Wonderfully wonderfully silent. This was the best on a road trip since you can have a conversation and on back roads and highways you can just enjoy the scenery. I wish my F22 was this quiet and I kick myself that I went for the UHP tires on my 228i. Next time bridgestone serenity tires.
But that’s about the only advantage that the Mercedes had.

Just a note: I do love the brake alert beep if someone stops short in front of you and the blind spot lights in the mirrors (with warning beep if you try to engage the turn signal while someone is there) both of which my BMW sadly lack.
The engine in the Mercedes makes me wonder what they were thinking. Not only is the sound it produces far less pleasant (and decidedly cheap and clattery - some call this 'agricultural'), but there’s no power off idle which in my mind is luxury. Both cars are turbo fours after all so it’s just a matter of tuning. The Merc needs to rev higher to move which kills the calm experience elsewhere and is slower to accelerate with a firmer gas pedal combined with grabby/ hard to modulate smoothly brakes. I even messed with the drive settings, comfort/sport etc. and am comparing this to the comfort mode in my F22. The BMW simply walks all over the Mercedes in NVH from the engine and drivetrain in general. Steering is heavier in the Mercedes but the dead kind of heavier so no extra feel. And remember I took this car on Tail of the Dragon which must have been a scene: the sport bikes, a random guy with a side car, some goldwings and cruisers, that nutty forester, plus the shiny white Mercedes all heading from deals gap. This car was not happy in the ultra-twisties. It’s a great handler, but more comfortable on the sinewy / curvy roads leading up to the hyper twisted route than on the switchbacks themselves. I did go on some hiking excursions that required hitting up some mountain pass roads which would make the initial D crowd salivate (wonderful, truly wonderful roads), and I liked these better than the dragon, plus I hit up some extremely well unpaved roads in the back woods too which made me wince driving miles up a mountain in a Mercedes without asphalt. Continental makes a great tire and having the car feel loose underneath at low speeds was fun.

The Mercedes feels more solid than the BMW since everything seems tighter and quieter, but the ride suffers on imperfections. It’s so serene and composed that impacts were abrupt and out of character. There's an unusual stiffness which takes you out of the experience. If its got stiffness it should have sporty steering and a seat, but since it has luxury steering and a seat it should have a creamy ride and it doesn't. The Mercedes did have 18” runflats compared to my 17” UHP’s but when I got home it was shocking how much more comfortable the ride was in my 2 series compare to a Mercedes! It simply glides better. That and the seat was softer and the ride was cushier despite the feel/handling advantages of my 2.

End of the day Mercedes built a very impressive machine. It certainly appears more so than my 2 as they say in swingers it’s so money. It was clearly designed to look impressive and operate impressively. But it’s not the better car.

TL : DR
If I were to take my 2, aside from making it 4 doors and giving it the tech package/carplay, I would only want to add the Mercedes headlights, wiper stalk controls, door handles and latch, AC controls, blind spot beep, and auto trunk closer for the perfect car.

Seth

[CP911]

Thanks for sharing. I find your complaint about the 2-series door handles interesting as my M240i is rock solid in that department. Handles feel robust inside and out and the door has no movement or flexing along with the reassuring "thunk" sound upon closing. The positioning of the inside grab handles are a bit awkward though as you mentioned and don't provide the best leverage for closing, although I've never struggled to close my doors. I do strongly agree about not having the AC "sync" capability. My wife's Honda Pilot and my Nissan Armada have it and I wish my 2-series did as well. Actually, I'd prefer a simple single-zone climate control in the 2-er as the cabin space is so small that dual-zone is utterly pointless anyway.

Otherwise, some of the other features you mention on the Merc are just absent from the 2-series because it's obviously in a different segment and the 2-series is not intended to be a fluffed up family cruiser. It's a pure, no-frills driving machine meant to put a smile on your face and not a dealership service visit on your calendar. No need for blind-spot monitors with the great visibility and no need for an automatic trunk mechanism as it's just another potential point of failure on a car with limited trunk capacity to begin with.

I like my volume control knob exactly where it is, like 99% of all the other cars in the world. I don't have to take my eyes off the road and since I drive a manual with hands always at 9 and 3, it's a shorter and more intuitive reach from the 3 o'clock wheel position. It's also faster to mute with a press of the knob compared to using the steering wheel controls.

Just be very happy you didn't get the Mustang convertible! I made the mistake of renting one a few years back. It was the turbo 4-banger and it sucked big time. Horrible engine, horrible boat-like driving dynamics, no trunk space, etc. Never again.

By the way, a 4-door 2-series is coming (next year I think?). It's the 2-series Gran Coupe and will feature a lift-back design like the current 4-series GC. Only downside is it will be based on the Mini FWD platform, but upside is a more spacious interior due to the enhanced FWD packaging. It looks promising as a smaller, more practical option. Check out the new 1-series hot hatch just released in Europe for more insight and details on what this platform is likely to offer in GC form.

Thanks again for sharing! Cheers!

[AndDown]

Interesting comparison, but please keep in mind the 228i has been improved with the F22 LCI's. The doors have a very solid thunk upon closing and the handles certainly don’t feel flimsy. I believe they also improved the sound deadening with the LCI - we just came back from a 1000 mile round trip with my 230i and it felt solid and appropriately quiet for a smaller car. I was at 100 mph a couple times and the car felt stable and in control. The updated LED head lights are brighter and have a further reach than the previous xenons. As for the dash lights, BMW did away with their iconic orange-red instrument cluster lights with the LCI and replaced it with a white light. Initially, I was missing the red-orange lights but now prefer the crisp look of the white dash lights. The interior ambient lights can still be optioned for the classic or the sport lighting. For a DD, I find the F22 perfect for one or two people.

[CP911]

Originally Posted by AndDown

Interesting comparison, but please keep in mind the 228i has been improved with the F22 LCI's. The doors have a very solid thunk upon closing and the handles certainly don't feel flimsy. I believe they also improved the sound deadening with the LCI - we just came back from a 1000 mile round trip with my 230i and it felt solid and appropriately quiet for a smaller car. I was at 100 mph a couple times and the car felt stable and in control. The updated LED head lights are brighter and have a further reach than the previous xenons. As for the dash lights, BMW did away with their iconic orange-red instrument cluster lights with the LCI and replaced it with a white light. Initially, I was missing the red-orange lights but now prefer the crisp look of the white dash lights. The interior ambient lights can still be optioned for the classic or the sport lighting. For a DD, I find the F22 perfect for one or two people.

Good points on the LEDs and sound deadening. I forgot to comment on those two aspects. Indeed, the standard non-adaptive LEDs are magnificent. The car is also quiet and smooth as butter with the windows up. Too quiet, in fact! Can't hear enough of the engine noises until the windows are down. Haven't driven a 228i or M235i, but from everything I've read, the 230i and M240i seem to have been refined quite a bit.

[sethwas]

Thanks - I plan on doing a speaker upgrade in the doors soon and will do some insulation/deadening then as part of the install and hopefully that will tighten up the thunk. It may just be the way the door lines up with the latch and can be tweaked. Long doors tend to sag, at least they used to back in the day.
If I'm feeling spendy I may up the idrive to a later model but as they say at work maybe not this fiscal year.

As for volume knob - I certainly was not suggesting they move it off the steering wheel (I do wish it 'spun' vs buttons), they should leave it there, just move the secondary control on the dash down next to the idrive knob. (I'm actually a big proponent of moving all the infotainment buttons down to near the idrive knob and only leaving the climate controls higher up. In my old acura's the infotainment buttons could be reached by your fingertips when your hand was on the shifter and it doesn't get more ergonomic than that).

Glad to hear the 230 is just a newer more refined 228 (which makes sense) but shame the "GC" 2 that's coming out will be the FWD platform (I do understand they are doing it to compete with the A3 and CLA both of which are FWD.)
I know it will do wonders for packaging and cost to manufacture, so lets hope they get the subjective feel right and don't lose the great sight lines.
Speaking of, regarding the 'no need' for BSM, of course there's no need, this is a 'want'

And fluffed up family car!, that's my market and exactly why I bought a 2 series

Seth

[AndDown]

Hi Seth, check out this thread about the A pillar insulation. My 2019 230i has it but apparently the earlier 228i's don't. Seems to be an easy option to apply. Best wishes!

https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show...lar+insulation

[stein_325i]

Thanks for the informative write up. The C300 seems to serve the typical Mercedes mission in giving a soft and comfortable (if a little boring) ride, while also having an elegant and expensive appearance.

I find that the Mercedes-AMG products (both full AMG and AMG "Sport" models) tend to be more competitive w/ the BMW driving experience. The C43 for instance is a very fun car and is something my wife and I are cross-shopping w/ the new M340i.

[morphomeman]

My 2 series has no USB ports, and the Mercedes has 2!!
Last time I looked, my 2015 had a USB port in the center compartment. Is this not standard?

[RoundelM3]

A more fair comparison would have been with a CLA, not a C300. The C300 is their equivalent of a 3-series, and the 3-series is clearly better equipped than the 2. Even the M2 Competition doesn't have some of the fitments that 3-series cars have, such as head-up display, extra power plug under the glove compartment, etc. As I own both a 2-series convertible and an F80 M3 (and most previously, an F30 335i), I can attest to the fact that the 3- and 4-series are more upscale than the 2, just like the 5 is more upscale than the 3- and 4-series.

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by joshuastein55

Thanks for the informative write up. The C300 seems to serve the typical Mercedes mission in giving a soft and comfortable (if a little boring) ride, while also having an elegant and expensive appearance.

I find that the Mercedes-AMG products (both full AMG and AMG "Sport" models) tend to be more competitive w/ the BMW driving experience. The C43 for instance is a very fun car and is something my wife and I are cross-shopping w/ the new M340i.

Make sure you take the C43 for an extended test drive over various road surfaces before making a purchase decision.
When we were looking for a replacement for our 2016 M235xi ragtop last year, we seriously considered both the Audi S5 convertible and the MB C43 AMG convertible as potential replacements.
While we loved everything about the M235xi ragtop we had, I had promised the 235 to my son and I also felt that, with the grandkids now getting a bit taller, I might soon need some more legroom in the back seat area for the kids.
To make a long story short, while we liked the looks of the C43, it was a major disappointment when on the road.
In the end, we went for the M240xi ragtop.

[sethwas]

Originally Posted by joshuastein55

typical Mercedes mission in giving a soft and comfortable (if a little boring) ride,

This is why I was surprised, the 2 was more comfortable, the Merc was less compliant.

Originally Posted by morphomeman

Last time I looked, my 2015 had a USB port in the center compartment. Is this not standard?

I stand corrected! I use a wireless dock in the cupholder so never really use any USB in my car. Although the dock plug uses the cigarette lighter right under the radio and it has a 'courtesy' USB - for the guests of course.

Originally Posted by RoundelM3

A more fair comparison would have been with a CLA, not a C300....I can attest to the fact that the 3- and 4-series are more upscale than the 2, just like the 5 is more upscale than the 3- and 4-series.

I find this interesting because I did an extended drive (LA to Napa over the course of a week with stops in Sequoia, Fresno, Monterrey, etc.) in a 430i and it was just a larger less rigid 2. Didn't have anything more special except it had the nav/carplay which was superior to the Mercedes tech (particularly the touch interface on the knob).
Interior fitment/finish/materials wasn't better, sound insulation wasn't better, seats were the same, keys/starter/ shifter, gas/brake etc., steering wheel, all the same. Outward visibility was not as 'wide' in the 4 due to the different A pillar angle and lower roofline and higher sills. Backseat was bigger of course, although trunk was smaller (I had the hard top convertible).
It's why I went with the 2 coupe instead of the 4. It was significantly cheaper and drove better for what effectively seemed like the same car.

Seth

[harma24]

Originally Posted by sethwas

I stand corrected! I use a wireless dock in the cupholder so never really use any USB in my car. Although the dock plug uses the cigarette lighter right under the radio and it has a 'courtesy' USB - for the guests of course.

For less than $20, my car has five USB ports: https://www.amazon.com/AUKEY-Charger...s%2C140&sr=8-4

Thanks for the comparison. I test drove a C300, but 20 minutes is nothing compared to having a car for a few days.