[creepy coupe]

I'll admit to being impressed. especially the augmented reality nav. Take the entry level A class to another level.

[Isow]

The A class gets a good write up in Autocar but some of the more desirable extras e.g. adaptive suspension won’t be available in the UK.
Having sat in one at the Geneva motor show I can confirm that the A Class looks an
upmarket product inside and out.
Expensive though, and discounts are poor at the present time.

[x-m4n]

Saw a video review the other day - just not a fan of those air vents but do like it a lot.

[NotGotABimmer23]

Personally i think the long tab thing in the new A and E classes looks awful. Much prefer the audi/bmw layout with the single screen in the middle and the classic instrument cluster.

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by kylemacca01

Personally i think the long tab thing in the new A and E classes looks awful. Much prefer the audi/bmw layout with the single screen in the middle and the classic instrument cluster.

I have to agree the sit on the top look isn't that tidy. I do like the tech on offer though. makes my 2 dash look very last year.

[mcoops]

Originally Posted by kylemacca01

Personally i think the long tab thing in the new A and E classes looks awful. Much prefer the audi/bmw layout with the single screen in the middle and the classic instrument cluster.

Agreed. I really think a lot of the manufacturers are making a terrible job of this. The good bit about these digital displays is their modularity and configurability, so drivers can customise display content. But these huge stick on screens are really ugly imo, and putting things like HVAC controls inside on screen menus is massive backward step in ergonomics.

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by kylemacca01

Personally i think the long tab thing in the new A and E classes looks awful. Much prefer the audi/bmw layout with the single screen in the middle and the classic instrument cluster.

I agree. It's supposed to be a car, but it's starting look like the inside of Currys.

Plus, I hate touch screen, had it before and it is just plain dangerous to use when driving. With the I drive control you can do use it with just the occasional glance. Touch screens require you to look at them in more detail and for longer.

I don't get the removal of all the short cut buttons either. I can understand a bit of a tidy up to make the interior look cleaner and remove some of the lesser used buttons. But there was a reason these buttons to short cut to things were created in the first place, it just makes it easier when driving.

If BMW follow suit, including removing the 8 individually set buttons, I'll be a little disappointed.

[JD6]

A few month old E Class taxi I used had this same screen display. The navigation was better than my BMW pro nav, although that is 4 year old ID4. It seems better than ID6 as well though.

The stuck on nature does look a little odd, and I agree about the lack of ergonomic thought in placing HVAC controls there - pretty but poor ergonomics for stuff you want to control while driving.

I was struck by just how disappointingly creaky the E Class was though. I spent years travelling to work each day in the back of an E Class in the early 2000s and they felt a lot more solid.

[DaveH28]

Originally Posted by Alex440

I agree. It's supposed to be a car, but it's starting look like the inside of Currys.

Plus, I hate touch screen, had it before and it is just plain dangerous to use when driving. With the I drive control you can do use it with just the occasional glance. Touch screens require you to look at them in more detail and for longer.

I don't get the removal of all the short cut buttons either. I can understand a bit of a tidy up to make the interior look cleaner and remove some of the lesser used buttons. But there was a reason these buttons to short cut to things were created in the first place, it just makes it easier when driving.

If BMW follow suit, including removing the 8 individually set buttons, I'll be a little disappointed.

I agree, what gets me is the irony that BMW came up with the minimalist idrive years ago and got slated..
It evolved into them most ergonomic and user friendly infotainment system available...imho.

Now all being pushed for minimalism,
All looks good until you just wanna turn the climate up and you end having to touchscreen to go through it..

My girlfriend just bought a Focus with sync 2, it is actually shocking to use... the sat nav in a 2009 golf was better and more user friendly,

You can't even make a call from the steering wheel controls and instrument cluster, have to try and scroll on an unresponsive touchscreen that's in the wrong place....

I'm getting old

[DaveH28]

Just watched the vid,

I do like the upmarket perception of the Mercedes, but the day I have to say 'hey' to my car is going to be very sad indeed...
Just give me a bloody rotary and shortcut button, so I can just drive the damn thing...
Feeling very Victor Meldrew today

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by DaveH28

I agree, what gets me is the irony that BMW came up with the minimalist idrive years ago and got slated..
It evolved into them most ergonomic and user friendly infotainment system available...imho.

Now all being pushed for minimalism,
All looks good until you just wanna turn the climate up and you end having to touchscreen to go through it..

My girlfriend just bought a Focus with sync 2, it is actually shocking to use... the sat nav in a 2009 golf was better and more user friendly,

You can't even make a call from the steering wheel controls and instrument cluster, have to try and scroll on an unresponsive touchscreen that's in the wrong place....

I'm getting old

The Merc has separate AC controls.

[TodmordenLad]

Originally Posted by DaveH28

Just watched the vid,

I do like the upmarket perception of the Mercedes, but the day I have to say 'hey' to my car is going to be very sad indeed...
Just give me a bloody rotary and shortcut button, so I can just drive the damn thing...
Feeling very Victor Meldrew today

Precisely
Call me old fashioned but who the **** wants to spend their time talking to the ****ing car!?! "Hey, Mercedes, I'm cold" - well turn up the heating, knobhead!?!

[F20MAW73]

I quite like that. Never owned a merc before so might have to check out the competition.

The loud squealing from m sport brakes has dampened the enjoyment of my 4 series ownership. Its embarrasing at times. Perhaps the mercs and audis are just the same.

[MashinBenzin]

To me, the A-Class interior looks upmarket in the same way that a 1980s neon lit nightclub did to my much younger and less jaded self circa 1989. It's taken Mercedes almost 30 years to catch up with that 'classy' design.

That's not a good thing btw

[DaveH28]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

The Merc has separate AC controls.

Yeh I know, I was generalising, I actually like the upmarket feel of it...

Had to laugh at the speaking though.
But I think Beemer could learn a lot in making the next 1 and 3 feel upmarket.

Tbh.... even the new 5 series interior just doesn't do it style wise for me, I love the ergonomics of the Beemer, but I saw a brand new e400 coupe in the showroom a couple of weeks ago and it looked so much more car than a 5 series inside, I'm a sucker for the high transmission and swooping dash...

[teaston]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

I'll admit to being impressed. especially the augmented reality nav. Take the entry level A class to another level.

There was already a thread on this last week

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1487611

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by teaston

There was already a thread on this last week

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1487611

Well I am sorry

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by teaston

There was already a thread on this last week

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1487611

Which looks like it covered slightly different subject matter. You could always ask a mod to merge them if it offends?

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Alex440

Which looks like it covered slightly different subject matter. You could always ask a mod to merge them if it offends?

Where did I say I'm offended?

Just thought it's strange to create a new thread about such a recently discussed subject.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Well I am sorry

It's ok you are forgiven

But in future use the :

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by teaston

Where did I say I'm offended?

Just thought it's strange to create a new thread about such a recently discussed subject.

I'm not sure everyone searches for existing threads before posting, I don't.

And if you didn't participate in the original thread, and it's now on page 3 or something if you go and look for it, why would you know.

Unless you're the poster of that original thread obviously, which was you.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Alex440

I'm not sure everyone searches for existing threads before posting, I don't.

And if you didn't participate in the original thread, and it's now on page 3 or something if you go and look for it, why would you know.

Unless you're the poster of that original thread obviously, which was you.

Of course most people search before creating a thread, that is what the search function is for!