Exdee

Hi agent_dess, Please post the link for the sensors. Thanks

Interesting responses guys. I test drove a Leaf today and thought it was quite fun to drive like ganzoom mentioned. It looks a bit weird though but I've been told the next gen model will look more like a normal car.

Mercedes generally is more expensive then all its competitors. The base price of the c350e is higher than the IS300h but i suspect that the difference in price will come down to £3Kish when looking at fully loaded ones. It's nice to see the hybrid side of the car scene get a little hot. It will be interesting to see how BMW and Audi respond. Apart from that we've got Tesla too coming with a vehicle in the small luxury car segment. Overall I think we got a few intriguing years ahead of us in the Automotive World.

A few things id like to mention: 1) What do you mean by highly customizable? The C350e is only available in Sport trim so actually is not customizable at all. Buyers who are interested in the IS300h F-Sport wont be looking at the Sport Merc C-class as it doesnt hold a candle to the IS F-Sport looks. Its not available in AMG-Line spec and looks pretty "average" in sport spec 2) 7-speed gearbox - its not exactly very smooth. It wont match the IS300h for smoothness. 3) Combined figures of 134.5mpg - id be surprised if it managed to get 50mpg in the real world. 4) Ive driven the C200 AMG Line and the engine isnt exactly very refined. Its too loud and represents a diesel which is a bit odd in all honesty because it could have been much better. I cant imagine how noticeable that engine would be when it kicks in. 5) HOLY PRICE! £38k? Wait till you add options, itd be on £45k with ease. Now the real question is if you want to spend £45k on a car which looks like the basic version to pretty much everyone else out there. 6) I think my dealer mentioned a vibrating accelerator pedal which gets harder to press when the car switches from electric to engine mode. I dont know if he's pulling my leg but isnt that a bit annoying? 1) Things like Headsup display, panoramic sunroof, motorised boot, 360 camera etc. 2) I agree, CVT will probably be smoother. 3) I am primarily interested in the battery only operation of the vehicle. it would be interesting to see how cheaper charging is in comparison to fuel though. 4) I don't think Mercedes will ever have an engine as refined as Lexus do. They'll need to do a heck of a job at insulating the cabin instead. 5) The technology actually interests me more than the car itself which will find its way to the rest of the lineup eventually. I would prefer a similar version of the CLS. 6) Feedback from the peddal; i think it's actually better than looking down to see how 'green' you are driving. Intrusive to some I agree. The fact that it doesn't come in the AMG trim would be a deal-breaker but I hope it will change with other models. The S500 Plugin hybrid for instance comes in AMG Trim as well.

Fair comments. I have driven the IS300h multiple times, mainly in Germany where the roads are more forgiving. I quite like the car except for the rear diffuser on the hybrid models. Not to mention the exhausts on the IS250 actually look even worse to me.

Right then, I found this: http://blog.lexus.co.uk/how-does-lexus-hybrid-drive-work/ IS300h - The engine does charge the battery when it's running and then obviously you've got regenerative braking. You are right there so it uses two ways to charge the battery. I think you've misunderstood my comment re plug-in charger. I was trying to say that this an additional feature that the Merc has. We have a CT200h in the household which I drive occasionally. I can do about a mile in it if I stick it into EV mode but the engine kicks in if I go around 25-28MPH. The issue obviously is that the battery may not be fully charged and there is no way to charge it to its full capacity manually on the Lexus.

Hi John, The motive was to create awareness. I know the MB forums will probably be more resourceful as far as the technical side is concerned. Cheers

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/09/20140915-s500phev.html This link contains info re the S500 Plug-in hybrid and tells you about the different modes and such. I believe the C class will be the same. As per my understanding the Lexus technology relies on regenerative braking alone to charge the batteries. It can do a mile or so on battery alone in EV mode as long as the speed is kept under 25MPH. The Merc has regenerative braking too (which they are calling electric boosting), the plug-in option and the option to use the engine to charge the battery. I've also read that it is not limited to a low speed like the Lexus in battery only mode. Pricing will be around 40K for the base Premium Plus which is the equivalent of a Premium IS300h. I guess we'll have to wait and see once it's launched. On paper it definitely looks like a decent alternative. I hope Lexus see it as a threat and react to it. Their version of Hybrid technology hasn't really evolved since the Prius which is a 15 year old technology as of now.

Well guys, I started researching the IS300h last night as I fancy a change and stumbled across the Mercedes c350e. It really has got my attention: 2 Litre turbo petrol with an electric motor 275bhp and maximum torque is 600Nm 0-60 is something like 5.7 secs Air suspension is standard High customization unlike Lexus The best bit is that it is a plug-in hybrid and can do 18 miles on batteries alone. Re-charging the car will take 2 hours using the normal Mains and you can operate the aircon/heating before entering the car like Tesla. I do a 10 mile round trip in London everyday and theoretically it fits the bill perfectly for me. I could potentially be on batteries most of the time. I hardly do motorway miles so that doesn't matter. It's coming out in June and I am a bit excited to test drive it. Is anybody else aware of this and has contemplated this over the IS300h?

Yeah Normski, for a moment there I thought, well this is it. The car is 8 years old now so I was expecting the worst and I admit I did go to the Lexus website to see what would be a good replacement. But all's well that ends well. :)

Hey all, Just wanted to share an experience I recently had with the car. Driving normally around town a few days ago and had the check VSC light come on along with the engine management light. The car drove fine so I just ignored it till I got home. Did some googling and the best piece of advice seemed to be to use a code reader as it could be anything. I also stumbled across a few weird posts one of which suggested that people had this happen when the fuel cap wasn't tight enough but didn't give it much thought. It also mentioned that the engine had to be restarted 3 times before the warning lights were reset for a non-current fault. The following morning I started the car, let it idle and then did 3 restarts to see if the warning lights would clear. They did not so clearly the fault was still there. I was a bit skeptical but decided to check the fuel cap too and it was loose indeed. It wasn't falling off but could have been tighter. Tightened the fuel cap, restarted the engine 3 more times and the lights went.

Weird

I get 23-25 MPG on mine in Winters as I do a lot of short trips and drive on congested roads. I also have a BMW 335i (3.0 litre) and get the same mileage from it so looking at it from that perspective, the Lexus is a bit thirsty. The servicing is also more expensive in comparison to the BMW. The back seats are cramped, probably has the same amount of leg room as the BMW which is a coupe. The Lexus however is still my preferred car of the two for reasons which have already been mentioned here.

+1 Being tail-gated too often pretty much suggests this. Going with the flow of the traffic is the name of the game. :)

Impressive. You just took DIY to a whole new level! I am very pleased for you and hope your post will help others who encounter a similar problem.

Did some research on this back in the day. Arma have a kit but it's really expensive and throws too many errors on the dash. I could not find any reviews for it either and the general consensus on the US forums was that it would not be reliable in the long run. IS350 engine swap should be relatively plug and play but Transmission, Rear Axles and ECU's are also required. Third option - Import an IS350 from Japan - Not sure how much that would cost. Fourth option - Buy a different car. This is probably the most wise choice.

It's a typical plastic over metal noise which car audio people are familiar with. Just to test, you should be able to stop it by placing your hand on the number plate when it is rattling. Certain bass frequencies cause panel resonance at higher volumes. The number plate constantly looses contact with the metal when it vibrates and hence the noise.

Sounds like the number plate is rattling. It needs to be put on with double sided tape instead of screws.

The following video will probably answer both your questions.