I've watched many car review videos. I like the way you personalise yours. Thanks very much.

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, that means a lot. Cheers.

Very useful for thinking about getting one of these. Cheers

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

Glad to help, thanks

I liked the annoyed look at the when he concluded there was one option missing… the seat ventilation, haha. Good review, thanks! I’m thinking about getting either a Volvo V60 hybride or this Merc C350e estate.

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

Ha ha, yeh its one of my gripes but hey ho!

Some points overall (I've owned one, and a BMW 330e, E350e and E300e and before them a full EV, now I'm back to pure ICE): -Driving a PHEV like this is in no way more environmentally friendly, except maybe a fraction of a percent in some very rare cases. It's just a fact that even with that small battery there is increased CO2 emissions during manufacture. And during driving a PHEV's electric drive system is nowhere near efficient enough to bring that back. It feels like it would be efficient because you're not using as much gasoline, but in fact you're using so much electricity in addition to that. Much of it goes to waste for heating the battery, heating the cabin, cooling the battery, preconditioning superfluously, and into actually pretty big charging losses. Above all even with the ok heating and cooling system the PHEV simply can't keep that battery at optimum temps which means massive increases in consumption in very many scenarios. -Don't worry about the environmental stuff, take advantage of the tax systems if you can, and be happy driving what you want! It's still a great car. As everyday cars hybrids are really nice. I'll never go back to a full EV, and though pure ICE cars make more sense than PHEVs for very many people the tax breaks/subsidies make them a great choice, and most of all they're just interesting at least in the beginning when they fell like a 'new thing', and pleasant to use. Well, when my home charger started having issues (they don't always last long at all) and that circus got expensive and I noticed that for my personal use case PHEV is more expensive than pure ICE...and I also cause less emissions with a lightweight pure ICE car... I personally now after many years after selling my C350e am looking back at it as an excellent car, it wast just a really nice car to drive and own! I loved the air suspension, low noise levels with my optional acoustic package, the great audio system, and how different it could be between comfort and sport+ modes, both ends of the spectrum being really well set up by the engineers! Great acceleration too, with there clearly being a hidden 'launch control' making it the opposite of the BMW 330e which was impossible to launch optimally. The BMW was far more sporty (I had mine with the M-Sport package)but in the end the Mercedes felt more pleasant overall: the Merc's sport mode though not as sporty had its own really nice feel to it. And then the Merc could do something the BMW can't at all: completely transform into an über-comfortable and soft cruiser...which was much quieter too. I actually prefer the C350e to the E-class hybrids!! Despite the C350e still having the ancient-looking user interface it isn't _that_ bad to use (BMW's system of any generation is massively better), especially as the E-class and newer C-Class user interfaces aren't really any better to use, only nicer looking. The C-Class hybrid has air suspension as standard and a different feel which I preferred compared to the E-Class...which actually feels like the more compact and nimble car, and C-Class feels bigger and more luxurious! -In cold weather it really does make sense to force the car into ICE engine use to heat up the car and all the systems without using the cold battery and wasteful electric heating systems. Heat up the car and then if you want you can switch to full electric. Sure, if you're only going to drive a very very short distance and you can bear being in the cold for that time stay in full electric and then you can avoid firing up the ICE engine, and wasting a lot of electricity isn't really that bad. -For anything but very short journeys I _always_ heat up the ICE engine right away, and I often even do it in 2 phases: first turn on the engine right away when taking off, let it gather up some heat, then I go to full electric again and let that initial heat soak into the engine properly, then after a while I turn the ICE on again to heat it up further. This is so that if I need the ICE boost at some point I'm not firing up a stone-cold engine. And also since talking about longer journeys as I said earlier heating everything up with the superfluous ICE heat rather than very inefficient electric heaters using the battery it is far more optimal. And since I'll use the ICE engine at some point anyway it's better to have it warm. -Always put your destination into the sat nav. The car will use the sat nav maps, including in most countries the mapping data actually has info on hills! The car uses that data to automatically optimise its use of the hybrid system. If you're not using the sat nav it does NOT use the mapping data to optimise! It absolutely does make a difference at least in the countries where the mapping data has topographical data included, as the car really does take the hills into account when using its systems! Also note that if you're driving a round trip without a charger in the middle of the journey, punch in the full round trip, not just way there! If you don't also put in the return journey that will make the car think you're only going there, not back, and it'll drain your battery on the way there as it thinks you'll be charging at the destination. You'll then have a very sub-optimal journey back with an empty battery. -For anyone thinking of buying: get yours with the optional extra sound insulation (including double pane windows)! That optional package (in Germany called Akustik Komfort Paket, I don't know what it's called in other countries) makes the car _clearly_ quieter!! Huge difference in luxury!

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

You need to create your own channel! 😄👍

@jgtemperton

11 ай бұрын

In my case it does work, because I only live seven miles from work. I can do a 14 mile round trip on the battery and it takes 2.5hrs to charge in the evening. It can struggle in the last two miles in the hard winter, but otherwise great. I could get a bike but I live in a village with a single lane national speed limit road road into town. This is not safe for anyone lacking confidence. On occasion I will do a longer journey at the odd weekend.

@pistonburner6448

11 ай бұрын

@@jgtemperton Any savings from a 14 mile round trip commute are completely meaningless. Your commute is so short that ICE is lower in CO2 because you are doing so few miles. EV manufacture causes a huge CO2 "rucksack" which the car carries along for its entire life, and the effects of that initial CO2 emissions "rucksack" are only counter-acted over time during its use IF it emits less CO2 per mile...and then finally over a very long distance, an EV *_might_* claw back the effect of that rucksack. But not in your case as your miles are nowhere near enough to do so. ALL the research papers on ICE vs. EV lifetime CO2 emissions, even the totally fraudulent pro-EV ones CLEARLY PROVE that ALL cars that are driven only small amounts of miles per year are cleaner as ICE than EV!! The pro-EV lobby's own research proves it! Then there's the cost equation: the EV-push costs Europe TRILLIONS, while ICE cars bring in tax revenues of trillions while also being cheaper for consumers... The EV trillions that the EV push costs destroys our nations' ability to invest in other actually effective CO2-reducing projects and therefore EVs actually INCREASE CO2-emissions! Much better to buy a lightweight ICE car and write to your politicians to fund biofuel and e-fuel production. Or buy a CNG-equipped ICE car and you are cleaner with that already even when filling it up with natural gas according to research by Ffe München (a mostly EV-industry funded research institute), and if you find biomethane to fill it up with (which CNG cars also run on as it's the same stuff as natural gas but only zero-emissions from a sustainable source) then you're MASSIVELY cleaner than EVs could ever be.

@jozsefgerjak5292

9 ай бұрын

FYI the newer E300de has an electric heater which is on right away from the start and heating your engine even when you go on fully electric so you are not using a stone cold engine when it needs to turn on

@pistonburner6448

9 ай бұрын

@@jozsefgerjak5292 That's interesting. And also covers up one issue with another: it's insane to heat up an ICE engine using electricity! Especially using a small, cold battery! Try using a PHEV in cold weather: In the cold your battery cools down, but it needs to be at a certain pretty high temp in order to function properly and not be damaged. So it is heated up using electricity...very inefficiently. And remember: many times your car will NOT be plugged in so you can drain much of your battery just to heat up your battery (that is, if your car model even pre-heats your battery when not plugged in). Then you use your now nowhere near full electrically heated up battery to heat up your ICE engine, draining the small battery even more.

Thanks for the videos on the C350e, I'm looking to buy one and your videos is helping a lot. The difficult part is to find one Premium Plus with the Driver Package here in UK. All available are without the Drivers Package.

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Happy to help, good luck with your search.

@pistonburner6448

Жыл бұрын

Does the UK Premium Plus have what in Germany is called the "Akustik Komfort Paket"? That has the additional sound insulation (and heat insulation...not that it does much) and double pane windows! Absolutely the best option ever!! It makes the car massively quieter, turning it into an even more luxurious machine! Searching for that package can be difficult as so many sellers fail to accurately and fully list the options, so here's a tip: it is not available at the same time with the factory tinted rear windows. So if it has tinted rear windows it will not have the optional acoustic package.

Looks a lovely car , was thinking of buying one next year when I retire,just wondering about reliability

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

Mine has been faultless, despite me doing a video on common error codes and reading horror stories nothing has gone wrong.

I am confused does the hybrid factor work as you drive without plugging in ?

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Yep

Am considering getting one but really wished it could reach 50km electric on one charge

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

don't overthink the EV part. The battery range although low is still decent, treat it like a hybrid more than a phev

@pistonburner6448

Жыл бұрын

Irrelevant. It literally doesn't make any significant difference to the environment or the wallet either. First of all cars are very efficient on ICE when at constant speed, and second of all the PHEV system's electric drive isn't as efficient as you think, nor is driving on electric as environmentally friendly as the propaganda makes people believe. The Merc's PHEV system makes it clearly more efficient as it uses the best parts of both the electric and ICE. But mainly the benefit is avoiding tax due to the fake-science-based, fraudulent and corrupt bureaucracy. Sure, it costs society more in the end, but we can't change the crazy taxation and subsidy systems at least yet, so best to just take as much advantage as possible. We're all going to have to pay for the massive costs of the subsidies, electic grid works, charger networks, and all the absolutely massive corruption no matter which vehicles we choose, so we might as well take advantage of it all when we can.

Considering one of these myself, or maybe a 330e, have you tried one of those before?

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Tommy, no sorry have not tried the 330e.

@bigfarma6757

5 ай бұрын

I tried them both back to back yesterday . The Merc is very smooth and luxurious, whilst the BMW feels more sharp and punchy. I loved the way the BMW drove, and preferred the look of it , but I have decided to go with the Mercedes; it just feels like a higher quality car . I also put it in Sport ++ mode for the last few minutes of the test drive and it then felt more like the BMW to drive .

@tommyhartman7920

5 ай бұрын

@@bigfarma6757 thanks for the info, what years were both the cars?

@bigfarma6757

5 ай бұрын

@@tommyhartman7920 The Mercedes was 2016. The BMW was a similar price so I’m guessing it was around the sane year .

@tommyhartman7920

5 ай бұрын

@@bigfarma6757 what sort of range are you getting on electric only?

I tried to find the Audi on all the usual sites and couldn't find it. Has it sold?

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Yes

Whats the fuel consumption like after the battery is on 0% on a highway?

@damos_cars

6 ай бұрын

Varies heavily based on ambient temp, tyre pressure, weather, hills etc. It can be a low as 32 UK MPG (27 US MPG) but that's really making progress at Autobahn speeds or as high as 55 UK MPG (46 US MPG) that's in the warm, tyre pressures high, travelling at a smooth constant 55mph.

I bought a 2016 c350e aswell. Trying to get android auto, is that even possible?

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

Think it might be but a lot of work and expensive. Have a search on the c350e Facebook group. Cheers 😁👍

hows the electric range holding out over time?

@damos_cars

5 ай бұрын

So far so good. Degradation seems slow. Its really poor in winter but hopefully come spring/summer it'll be back up. Really have no complaints. For a now 8 year old HV battery its still performing well.

I am now considering e350e as well, however, after I see a news that the replacement cost of Mercedes hybrid battery is £15000 , yes fifteen thousand pounds , I have to reconsider. Any ideas about the hybrid battery replacement cost ?

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Don’t know sorry, not heard of anyone replacing it.

@pistonburner6448

Жыл бұрын

Get one with a long warranty, and sell it with about 1 year warranty left (so it's still easier to sell). I'd never get a PHEV without warranty. Mercedes PHEV systems seem to be very reliable, but it doesn't take much to cause _incredibly expensive_ faults: my BMW 330e had its charging control module break, probably simply due to a surge from a faulty charger. The result was first of all having to wait several weeks just for a mechanic with the necessary electric systems qualifications to be available (none of the other mechanics are even allowed to touch the car before that), then a long time and lots of expensive working hours diagnosing the problem, then they found that they have to replace the whole massively expensive module, and naturally that also took a week... Mine was under warranty so I had to pay nothing, but I would've been bankrupt if it wouldn't have been under warranty! As far as I know Mercedes should be able to give you a report on the battery's condition? Not sure about that, I've had so many EVs and PHEVs I can't remember which cars that applied to exactly. Anyway, AFAIK Mercedes had 8 years of guaranteed battery condition of over...70 or 80%?? Well, in any case I'd never buy any car at all that isn't under the manufacturer's used car warranty for the whole time I own it. I don't know how it is in the UK, but at least in Germany you can buy used Mercs and BMWs with 5 years of warranty which is great as you can then own it with peace of mind plus have time to sell it with some warranty which makes that process so much easier as the buyers can trust your car.

What is the MPG when on a motorway

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

48mpg

Looking at buying a 2016 350e do I need to be concerned about the battery

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Mine has been ok so far. The 12v is not expensive to replace. The HV is.

@cjjames645

2 жыл бұрын

@@damos_cars sorry should of been more specific was on about the HV battery seen a lot about having to change it after 6 years

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

@@cjjames645 get it checked for capacity then make a call anything less than 70% forget it

@cjjames645

2 жыл бұрын

@@damos_cars that's the advice I was after many thanks

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Also joint the Facebook group and take a look at my other c350e vids. Good luck. They’re lovely cars and my 2016 one has been fabulous since sept last year and I’ve taken it from 34k to 44k miles.

Hello I can't open the flap to charge my car . Can someone help please. Thank you

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

Actuator inside could be broke. Fairly common, requires the bumper to come off to fix though…

@monikazajacova5741

2 жыл бұрын

@@damos_cars thank you , I am really fed up with the car at this stage . The engine light came up this morning when I was this I want change it for just petrol car . I don't like the charging part . I only get 20km range on a good sunny day in Ireland very rare . Usually I get 18 km and it's gone very quickly . Sorry for moaning.

Is there any point buying this if you're not going to plug it in?

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

yeh, it has a charge mode, economy and overall cost will be better if you plug in for short journeys though.

Great car shame about the battery range, waste of time after 2 years

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

Depends how you look at it. Up to 10miles leccy only for small local journeys will be ok for a lot of people then the convenience on longer range for those bigger journeys. Its kind of a neat party trick really.

Ebeneezer Goode 😃 ⬆️⬆️⬆️🕺

@damos_cars

2 жыл бұрын

😄👍

You don’t have the HUD…sorry 😂

@damos_cars

11 ай бұрын

Meh 😒 didn’t know they did one!

@ping2084

11 ай бұрын

@@damos_cars I was fortunate to get one with it and it’s brilliant. Very clear and you really never need to look at the normal instruments

@damos_cars

11 ай бұрын

@@ping2084 niiice! Now I'm jealous ha ha!

But the E mode can get you around all over, and only put on the diesel when you go on long trips

@damos_cars

Жыл бұрын

no diesel here fella. only petrol for the long trips and you're exactly correct.