6 Spec Mistakes We Made With ‘Our’ Mercedes-AMG C43
The Mercedes-AMG C43 we’re running as a long-term test car has what you might refer to as a ‘punchy spec’. And by that, I mean we got carried away and added a fifth of the car’s base price on as optional extras.
After some time on the configurator, we inflated the £51,200 on-the-road cost of a C43 estate to £62,065. Yep, getting on for £11,000 in options, which is surprisingly easy to do on a premium car like this.
We’re mostly happy with the options we’ve added, but if we did it again, there would be a few adjustments to rectify the mistakes we made. Which were…
1. 19-inch wheels
These £595 black 19s look fab paired with the Designo White Metallic paint, but there’s a problem: the ride. Granted, we haven’t had a chance to compare to a C43 on 18-inch rims (an incoming test on a C63 with 18s will give us some sense), but the ride is more brittle than expected, and I suspect the bigger wheels are the main culprit, with the run-flat tyres potentially being a factor too. They’ll look great for our photos, at least…
2. Black seats
There’s nothing particularly wrong with this - the interior of the C43 is a very nice place, and black Artico (man-made leather) seems like a natural choice. But I’ve since been back on the configurator and realised what I should have done is specced it in ‘Saddle Brown’. Doesn’t it look resplendent specced thusly?
3. AMG Carbon pack
As you might have noticed, our car doesn’t actually have this - although we asked for it, Mercedes’ PR people said no, fearing it’d push the price with options rather close to a base C63. They had a point, and in any case, the car looks great without it, so I’m really not sure it’s worth splashing £1260 on, particularly when this is supposed to be the more restrained AMG’d C-Class.
4. Performance seats
I know, I know, bucket seats on something like a C-Class estate is - like a load of carbon stuff - a bit silly. This is another option Merc talked us out of, and I’m glad - the memory seats we have instead are wonderfully comfortable and still plenty supportive.
5. Red seat belts
A no-cost option which is selected as default in the configurator, which I now wish I’d have unticked. They’re just a bit uncouth in a car like this, aren’t they?
6. Carbon and aluminium interior trim parts
Like the seats, I’m not unhappy with the way this option makes the cabin look. But in hindsight, the open-pore ash wood option (above right) is just a little classier and more befitting of the car’s character. At £195 vs £700, it’s also a considerably cheaper option.
What else is specced?
The priciest single item on the menu is the £4995 Premium Plus pack, and it’s worth the outlay - a C43 with this added won’t leave you wanting for much. It includes a parking package, the brilliant Burmester sound system, keyless entry, a panoramic sunroof, mobile phone connectivity, and much more besides.
A driver assistance package was added for £1695, bringing this like autonomous emergency braking and steering assistance into the mix. An AMG performance exhaust was £1000, while the paint is £895 - sounds a lot for white, but it does look great in the metal. Rounding off the spec is £385 for privacy glass, handy in my case as the car will often have a four-year-old sitting in the back who’d rather not be blinded by the sun.
What do you think of the way we optioned this C43? Would you do anything differently?
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Did you mean since not seen in the bit about the brown seats?
Benz has amazing brown interiors.
“Would you do anything differently?”
Yeah, either stretch out to a proper AMG C63 or get the S4 Avant… C43 just doesn’t do it for me
You will probably kill me. But I couldn’t drive a C63. If I was in a market for a performance car of any sort, I’d had to choose the S/Plus/Performance option.
We’re currently arranging a C43 Vs C63 Vs C63 S test, should happen early may!
I’m sorry but for £62k Mercedes is having a laugh.. (that’s just over $80k USD)
You could have a fully equipped Genesis G70 for less than the starting price of this… excuse… for a luxury car. This fully optioned Merc is almost twice as much as the fully optioned G70, which can be had with either AWD or RWD. They are toe to toe in power and performance, however the Merc is far less equipped, and far more expensive. It also looks 10 years old but that’s just an opinion.
At this point Mercedes is relying on their faux sense of prestige.
This Merc is outclassed by almost everything in its class and still costs more.. Lexus RC F Sport, Cadillac XTS V-Sport, any of the big name US Muscle cars *in top trim and spec, i.e GT350, Hellcat, ZL1, etc really any major sedan or large coupe is going to out class this… which is unbecoming of Mercedes but especially AMG…
I could buy a nicer, faster car… and still have enough change for another car that was also faster.. this is highway robbery. Car would be great if it was about £35,000 ($45k USD)
I agree although we don’t have the choices of Cadillacs and other US cars here in the UK (at least not at the US prices)
But buying Mercedes in the US is total madness, I agree
Although again, almost everyone buys cars on finance and with popular finance options such as PCP you never really own the car and return it instead of paying the balloon payment at the end… so it all comes down to what finance deal you get at the dealership. As such, the cash price doesn’t mean anything
This is why I got a used Mercedes for half of its original price 😂 Land Rover and Porsche are also just as bad with new car pricing honestly.
You’re comparing the price of a car in the US to one in the UK - that doesn’t really work since cars are much more expensive here. G70 isn’t sold here either AFAIK, but the equivalent Stinger GT S, for example, isn’t a great deal - residual values are terrible so you’ll either lose a lot of money in depreciation if paying cash, or pay a steep leasing/PCP monthly fee.
uhmm to be honest, while you get more power and budget punch from an American V8, you get everything else in a rather terribly thrown in,
the C Class is for someone whod want fast and comfort in a great package, instead of JUST fast, like with an Hellcat. Also the G70 isnt an estate and the back seat is terrible according to literally everyone, so i wouldnt compare
Also taxes are more evil here…..
For £35,000 in the UK, you’d hardly be looking at a 4 series with a 2.0 diesel
Did you say “our” Mercedes-AMG C43?
That joke was lit
Note the inverted commas…
It’s not the 19 inch rims, it’s the run flats. after swapping in some non-rft Pilot sport 4s tires, I can guarantee you it’s the run flats. They make a huge difference and can help prevent rims bending because RFTs are too stiff.
Mercedes has always been like this. You can have 2 equal cars, same price, etc, but one is way better than the other just because of the spec. The best trim in the c class was, is, and always will be the avantgarde. Sporty, but no carbon fiber AMG stuff.
Wait a minute red seat belts and brown sports seats? Doesnt that clash more than a friday night bar fight?
Black seats are better than any other colour
My impression is that run flats are on the car which will certainly have a harsher ride. The stiffer side wall will contribute to that. Certainly running 18’s will improve it more.
A number of W205 owners are complaining of premature rear wear on run flats. They are moving to regular tires. MBworld.org has a few threads on this.
If the car came with run flats, I would think they would tune the car to that setup. Test drive one with run flats.
Correction: Run without run flats. Really need an edit function. :(