If If you’ve been watching my social media pages (Twitter: My Twitter Page Instagram: My Newly Made Instagram Page), you’ll know that I’ve been posting photos with short captions of cars I got to ride in at RMAP’s annual RMDE event. Well, the time has come for me to give you my quick impressions of all the cars I got to ride in at the aforementioned event (a longer article on the vehicles should be coming in the future). To start off, let’s talk about the Mercedes E-Class 400 Cabriolet.
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It’s Well Appointed.
It’s a Mercedes, so obviously it wasn’t going to be as spartan as a 1960’s super-hero movie is in the special effects department (we all like to pick on how modern super-hero flicks have “too many special effects” but let’s appreciate how much better Spider-Man: Homecoming is than the ’70s and ’60’s attempts at a live-action Spider-man show).
Full-Disclosure: I didn’t ride in the front (AKA I didn’t drive). So I was relegated to seeing how things would fair in the back. From the small snippets of conversation I heard though (this is due to the turbulence, which I’ll touch on later), the car is very very technologically advanced. At one moment the man in the picture (a friend of mine: David Muramoto) put his turn signal on, let go of the wheel and the car moved into the next lane for him (unfortunately I didn’t hear what the procedure is for getting this feature to work). Clearly, the Merc is nothing to sneeze at in the technology department. The interior is a similar story too. With nice, soft-touch materials in about 90 percent of visible areas in the cabin plus the added benefit of really really high-quality looking and feeling fixtures, the E-Class makes you understand the high price tag it comes with (From what we were told, the E-Class we got had a sticker of 89 grand).
“Nothing unusual then. Typical Mercedes, right?” Well… not quite. Remember, I was sitting in the back. So while I was taking pictures and looking around the immediate area, I found one area in this Mercedes which had a particularly nasty plastic surface. I had already found some cheaper-than-expected plastic elsewhere in the interior (specifically, that bit right behind the front doors where the quarter window sits) however, this was far worse.
See the two air vents here? Do you also see the center console storage compartment ahead of that? OK, now look just before that and you should see what looks like a seam that comes before the center storage compartment but seems to hold the air vents in place. That whole surface is plastic and is incredibly hallow sounding. Really, it sounded like a classic milk-carton when I knocked on it. It’s a minor detail but on a near 90 grand luxury vehicle, I honestly believe it matters. I could forgive the plastic usage for that specific portion of the interior if it was the same plastic that was used on the top of the door panel (where one might see a person resting their elbow). Sadly, it isn’t. It’s a cheaper plastic (if you can believe that) than what is used on the top of the door panel.
The air vents on the inside are nice (all of them), the smoother surface surrounding them is nice and the surface surrounding the smooth area, unfortunately, isn’t. Despite this rude discovery, it wasn’t the worst part of the car. Not even by a long shot. Because the plastic rear air vent surround was just disappointing, what I’m about to talk about annoyed me far more than any plastic could.
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The Turbulence In The Back Was Terrible.
Don’t let the picture fool you. Nor should you let the Wind Deflector fool you. We were driving at highway speeds (probably between 55 and 70 MPH) and I could barely hear a single word the two sitting in the front (David and a Mercedes Rep named Ashley) were saying. It really was darn near impossible to understand what they were saying and believe me I was trying to make out what they were saying.
Here’s the thing. Turbulence; on its own, doesn’t bother me. As long as you have the music turned up or you simply ignore it, turbulence is just a part of owning a convertible you have to tolerate. What I can’t tolerate is how difficult it can make hearing a conversation be (specifically when the conversation is between the driver and the front passenger). Honestly, I looked like I needed a vintage hearing aide the way I was leaning forward in my seat trying to hear the discussion being had in the front.
Really, the turbulence was only acceptable (while the conversation was still going) at speeds below 45 MPH. So if you plan on having passengers (plural), don’t try to talk to them unless you are cruising around the city, keeping the speed at below 45 MPH. If you do, it’ll just be a rolling Hulk concert. Which, just so we’re on the same page, includes Red-Hulk, She-Hulk, and that other one I can’t remember. Frodo-Hulk I think? Anyway, you won’t be having a conversation, but a shouting match. Best to avoid this situation by either not allowing anyone to ride in the back, keeping the top up (in which you should just get the coupe), or keep your speed down (everywhere) to 45 MPH. Yes, I know that it will; more likely than not, induce road rage for some people if you do this on the highway… even if you are in the slow lane.
Keeping quiet would also work. No one would be shouting or straining to hear a conversation. Just turn the music up and enjoy the ride… this, in reality, is a suboptimal solution. Because if you have your friends in the car you’re probably going to talk about something. I guess then the best is the one I’ve been preaching for a few sentences now, keep your speed BELOW 45 MPH. Okay? Okay! Let’s move on…
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The Car Itself Was Nice.
It wasn’t anything very ground-breaking. It was, however, a pleasant place to be. The engine makes a good noise (to me) and gets you moving fairly sharpish and the ride was comfortable but not too soft. Nothing remarkable. It’d probably be a fun car to drive, however. Knowing what you’ve got when you spent half your retirement fund on this ‘Benz. All that tech, a sufficiently powerful engine, nice styling, comfortable seats and good handling (we didn’t push it that hard) should make for a very enjoyable car to drive on nice weekends with Phil Collins on the satellite radio.
The Verdict? Convertibles aren’t my thing and after riding in this one, I’m not any closer to wanting one. With that being said, given certain circumstances, I can absolutely understand the appeal and fun of owning and driving a convertible and as convertibles go, this Mercedes is definitely one to keep in mind if you’re looking for a luxury drop-top that’s well-rounded. If a bit expensive.
More articles on the vehicles I rode in will be coming soon. Until then though, thanks for reading! See you soon.