[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by akunchala

Thank you, everyone!

Interesting comment! As a religious practice, I always keep the fresh-air mode on. Is there a specific reason why would suggest that?

My cars always run in the re-circulating mode. I do that not to let the outside dust/dirt to get pulled in by the blower (or AC intake or whatever ). When on long-drives, I switch to the 'fresh' air mode for a few minutes or roll down the windows for a few seconds - both, only when I am at a place that is clean(with less dust). Else, let the 'fresh' air in when you open the door for a break. By default, it is always the 're-circulation' mode in my car.

Related thread here : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...-air-mode.html (Car A/C in fresh air mode?)

[RodRowdyBiker]

Do share the upkeep costs with respect to services and other things like protective coats and any after market accessories. Great post!

[akunchala]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

My cars always run in the re-circulating mode.
Related thread here : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...-air-mode.html (Car A/C in fresh air mode?)

Thank you! According to the manual, the re-circulation mode switches off automatically after a while and I saw it in action today! Mercedes recommends that we leave the car on fresh air mode.

Originally Posted by RodRowdyBiker

Do share the upkeep costs with respect to services and other things like protective coats and any after market accessories. Great post!

Thank you! I will write up another post with all the aftersales protective coatings and films I have installed!

[Travel_Feels]

Congratulations! I love the black.

[mkpiyengar]

Regarding the recirculation mode Mercedes might have shared you with the global precedent... Not true for Indian cities
Cheers

[anandpadhye]

Congratulations on the 245BHP, 500NM sedan Wish you decades of fun and trouble free ownership of this beautiful car. I will keep monitoring the thread, I enjoy reading long term ownership reports, how our machines age with us, or we age with them :-)

Did you consider the 330i - another RWD sedan that does 0-100 in 5.9sec?

Cheers!

[akunchala]

Originally Posted by Travel_Feels

Congratulations! I love the black.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by mkpiyengar

Regarding the recirculation mode Mercedes might have shared you with the global precedent... Not true for Indian cities
Cheers

Makes sense to me but the car decides to switch back into fresh air mode by itself after some time!

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Did you consider the 330i - another RWD sedan that does 0-100 in 5.9sec?
Cheers!

Thank you! Well, the interiors of the 330i were completely old gen and I frankly did not like it. BMW offered a great deal on it though.

[akunchala]

Here is a follow up to my initial review. There are a few more pieces that I would like to cover in detail as we go along. One of the BHPian asked me about treatments and films I have installed on the car and I would like to talk about it.

Next day after I took the delivery of the car and got a customary pooja done at a temple, I took my car to the 3M store at Somajiguda. I had spoken to multiple car detailers and PPF applicators in the run-up to getting the delivery. On my previous Octavia as well, I stuck to 3M as they were reputed and frankly Hyderabad did not have a large selection of detailers to choose from back then.

I was well aware of the services and the packages that 3M had and I chose to get a trizact treatment done along with PPF application on some of the key areas - Front and Rear Bumpers, Bonnet, Running boards, area behind the door handles, door edges and the glossy B pillar area of both the front and rear doors.

Though the paint of the car was gorgeous when I got it, I did notice some swirls here and there which were caused during the transportation of the car from the plant to the showroom. I wanted to get those swirls removed and get a PPF installed to avoid any sort of hassles later on with nicks and rock chips.

I chose not to get a ceramic coat on the car as I wanted to do a PPF and frankly ceramic coating on top of ppf was a waste of money. PPF, I feel is much better VFM than a ceramic coat that will just add glossiness and some hydrophobic properties than actually protecting the car from the nicks that you might get driving around in crazy traffic roads of Hyderabad.

Trizact treatment without the usage of any sort of sanding meant that the swirls would be gone and the car's paint would become extremely glossy.



Wash before the start of the treatment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fngDQaFKkz8

Video Grab of the Trizact treatment in progress

On day 2, PPF was applied to the areas I had identified as crucial and prone to nicks.


If you notice, the 3M film does not cover the entire bonnet of the car. their film has a maximum width of 5 feet and my car needed 6. So they used another small patch to cover the rest of the bonnet.


PPF being applied on the rear bumper

3M also has another type of a PPF (I guess it called Venture Shield?) which has self-healing properties when exposed to heat which is much more larger in size and can be applied as a single piece to a longer bonnet. But double the price compared to a normal PPF.

At the end of the day, I wasn't too happy with the workmanship. There were stretch marks on the PPF which started to show up on the bonnet. I discussed it with the store manager but he was unable to fix it in any way shape or form.

After living with it for a few months, I got the PPF on the bonnet removed and replaced with a PPF from another brand Xpel. That, on the other hand, came out wonderfully. All the stretch marks and cuts are gone and it's a single piece that covers the entire bonnet. I got it done at another car detailer called Carz Spa.

As a part of my regular schedule, I wipe the car myself using a Jopasu duster everyday, wash and wax it every weekend. Once in a month, I take it back to Carz Spa for a professional wash and wax treatment.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by akunchala

Thank you! According to the manual, the re-circulation mode switches off automatically after a while and I saw it in action today! Mercedes recommends that we leave the car on fresh air mode.

Originally Posted by akunchala

Thank you!


Makes sense to me but the car decides to switch back into fresh air mode by itself after some time!

Yeah, it does the same in my W124. But I religiously switch it back to re-circulating mode every 15-20 minutes or so. Mercedes recommends it for European driving conditions.

[MuzzledMoose]

A word of caution with low profile tyres. My c300d front left tyre hit a pothole at rather slow 45kmph and sidewall broke. Mercedes approved warranty replacement but tyre takes 5 days to reach

[brraj]

Originally Posted by MuzzledMoose

A word of caution with low profile tyres. My c300d front left tyre hit a pothole at rather slow 45kmph and sidewall broke. Mercedes approved warranty replacement but tyre takes 5 days to reach

I love fast cars but this is what stops me from buying them (Low GC, Low profile tires).
Heard lot of stories of VRS alloy cracks aswell.

I dont know when will they launch these in india with right pricing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HccKHIK2fj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX-MEpGpcvY

It will a boon to supercar buyers in india.

[akunchala]

Originally Posted by MuzzledMoose

A word of caution with low profile tyres. My c300d front left tyre hit a pothole at rather slow 45kmph and sidewall broke. Mercedes approved warranty replacement but tyre takes 5 days to reach

What an unlucky coincidence! The front left tyre on my car had a tyre wall crack as well. I was traveling in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh, about 5-10 km from Kakinada when the disaster struck. Went through a small pothole at a relatively low speed (30-45 kmph) and the tyre went flat within seconds. Got down and realized that the tyre wall had a crack. It was unfortunate that I was not carrying the spare donut wheel as I had luggage to carry. Tried calling Mercedes toll free number multiple times but it wasn't going through. Got in touch with the sales and services folks from Silverstar and Mahavir motors and got to know that Mercedes had decided to change their toll-free number without any intimation to the customers. Google wasn't showing any new numbers as well.

Anyway, finally managed to get Mercedes roadside assistance on call and got them to send a flatbed to take my car to the closest service station which was about 5-6 hours of travel away in Vijayawada.

After reaching Vijayawada, the horror story of tyres not being available anywhere came to my notice. I tried sourcing the tyre from different vendors in different cities across India and nobody had a tyre that was needed for the car. Mercedes finally was able to procure them on special order after about 5 days.

Mahavir Motors, Mercedes dealer who handle both sales and services in Vijayawada town were super helpful all along. They tried pushing for the tyre as much as they could. Finally, the tyre was shipped from Mumbai to Hyderabad and then to Vijayawada.

The next set of tyres I'm going to put on my car are definitely not run-flats and definitely not Bridgestone's. I think I will get one of Michelin's/Pirelli's/Continental's softer rubbers.

[Santoshbhat]

^^ I have a theory about RFTs. Due to their stiff sidewalls and the resulting sharp ride, owners tend to maintain slightly lower pressures in order to increase comfort. No matter how stiff the sidewall is, it is ultimately air that supports the tyre. When the car goes over a pothole, the tyre flexes (like a baloon when you try to squeeze it). The flex is more when you have less air and vice versa. Since RFT sidewalls are thick and stiff, they aren't very flexible and end up cracking. Regular tubeless tyres can flex a bit more and can get away without tearing up in a similar situation. Underinflation also affects tubeless tyres, but the strike rate of cracks on the sidewalls appears to be far greater with RFTs for the above reason

My advice to all RFT car owners who want to protect their tyres : Maintain pressures equal to or slightly higher than what is recommended by the manufacturer. This also means that you pump in higher pressures in direct proportion to the weight you are carrying. Most euro car manufacturers recommend seriously high pressures for load. They are not kidding, take them seriously .

[akunchala]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Most euro car manufacturers recommend seriously high pressures for load. They are not kidding, take them seriously .

I am with you on maintaining recommended air pressures. I very distinctly remember that my tyre pressures were in 250-260 kPa mark (around 37-38 PSI) when this happened. all the other tyres remained at that mark and this one just went totally flat. Bad luck or a bad batch of tyres I guess?

[MuzzledMoose]

Originally Posted by akunchala

I with you on maintaining recommended air pressures. I very distinctly remember that my tyre pressures were in 250-260 kPa mark (around 37-38 PSI) when this happened. all the other tyres remained at that mark and this one just went totally flat. Bad luck or a bad batch of tyres I guess?

Since it happened for both of us it looks like bad batch of tyres