The Bottom Line A luxurious four-door with the looks and handling of a coupe
I spent one the finest nights of my life in Paris in the company of my late accountant, Marty Sigman. He had offered me a lift home after a party, and by a series of digressions I won't go into here, at 2 p.m. we ended up at a restaurant called Au Pied de Cochon ("At the Pig's Foot"), consuming a prodigious number of oysters and glasses of chablis at Marty's expense.
Marty drove a dark blue Mercedes (DCX) he had purchased when he felt he had achieved a certain station in life. He mentioned several times that evening how much he loved it.
SOLID NICHES. I wonder if Marty would buy a Mercedes were he alive today. The German carmaker offers a huge variety of models, including the drop-dead-gorgeous new CLS500 I just tested, the new top-of-the-line S-Class due out in early 2006 (and billed as an '07), and smaller sporty two-seaters such as the speedy SLK 55 (see BW Online, 6/6/05, "Lithe Tiger"), and the more affordable SLK 280 (see BW Online, 11/23/05, "A Mercedes That Speeds the Heart").
U.S. sales of Mercedes passenger cars have fallen 0.9%, to 192,900, through the end of November, 2005. But for niche products, the CLS models (which include the speedy CLS55 AMG) are selling very well. Mercedes introduced them in the U.S. in January and has sold 13,600 here so far.
However, many worthy alternatives to the Mercedes exist. The company says the competitors to the CLS are the BMW 645ci and 545i, Lexus (TM) GS 430, Audi A6, and the Jaguar XK8 and S-Types. However, I would also benchmark it against the Infiniti (NSANY) M45 (see BW Online, 12/14/05, "Infiniti M45: Almost a Giant Killer").
GOLDEN SILENCE. Meanwhile, Mercedes cars have earned a reputation for expensiveness and quality problems. J.D. Power & Associates rates the overall quality of Mercedes as merely average, and Consumer Reports usually ends its reviews with "reliability has been poor" or "subpar."
Still, Mercedes make such beautiful machines it's hard to give up on the idea of owning one. The company bills the sporty, four-passenger, rear-wheel-drive CLS500 as a "four-door coupe," an oxymoron given that coupes, by definition, have only two doors.
But the marketing slogan carries some validity, because the car has the curvy, low-to-the-ground look and tight steering and suspension of a coupe. It also boasts the upper-crust features of a luxury car, as well as the solid feel and muffled, nearly silent interior typical of a Mercedes.
COSTS MORE THAN COMPETITORS. The CLS500 takes a lot of components from the new Mercedes E-Class sedans, including its 302-horsepower aluminum engine, which propels the car from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a bit more than 6 seconds. That's plenty fast in my book, but if you want blinding speed, you can spring for the CLS55 AMG version of the car, which has a 469-horsepower engine and starts at $87,375.
The garden-variety CLS500 is expensive enough. It starts out at $65,675 and rises fast when you add options: $4,950 for a premium package including superfancy power seats, a navigation system, and a Harmon Kardon sound system; $1,240 for a navigation system; and $690 for heated seats if you buy them à la carte; $1,100 for parking assist; $1,080 for keyless starting; and $699 for Sirius satellite radio. With the premium package, you'll pay $15,000 to $20,000 more for a CLS500 than for a loaded Infiniti M45 or Lexus GS 430.
Whether you opt for the Mercedes will depend on taste and how greatly you desire the car's prestige and proprietary technology. This is an exceptionally good-looking auto, at least to my eye. Everyone will instantly recognize its distinctive grill and hood emblem. But the rest of the design qualifies as pretty radical for Mercedes. The windshield is raked forward, and the curved roofline cuts sharply downward in back.
FENG SHUI ON WHEELS. The disadvantage of the CLS500's distinctive styling: The doors and side windows in the rear are unusually small, and headroom in the backseat is limited. But otherwise, the front and rear bucket seats feel surprisingly roomy, and the back provides more space for you feet than most small luxury cars do.
I love the feng shui of the CLS500's interior. It features wood trim in a dark, burled walnut. The dash forms an oval curve that continues around the cabin. It's almost as though you were seated in a large, stylish hot tub. The car measures a fairly long 194 inches, nearly 5 inches more than an E-Class sedan -- but stands only 54.7 inches high, more than 2 inches lower to the ground than the E-Class. You sit really low down in the CLS500, adding to its sporty feel.
The controls are thoughtful and easy to use. For instance, the car comes with glow-in-the-dark light rings around the ceiling controls for both the front and back passengers. The front-seat controls come on the doors so you can actually see them -- rather than on the side of the seat, where you'll find them in most luxury cars. The steering wheel both tilts and telescopes, and the adjustments are motorized, making them effortless to use.
SEVEN SPEEDS. The power seats do everything but change your kid's diapers. They feature independent heat settings for the seat back and seat bottom. Put them on high, and they automatically switch to low after 5 minutes, and turn off after 10. For summer driving, the seats provide ventilation to keep your clothes from getting sticky.
You can adjust the curvature of the seat back. Side bolsters inflate automatically during sharp turns. The seat cushion's depth can be adjusted, and inflatable air cushions provide extra lumbar support. The car even has a massage feature. And, as in other luxury cars, the seat, mirror, and steering wheel settings for different drivers and passengers can be stored so they instantly revert to your preferences at the push of a button.
Unfortunately, Mercedes doesn't offer an all-wheel-drive version of the CLS 500, as it does with the E-Class and the less expensive C-Class lines. But the car has lots of other performance technology.
It comes comes standard with a high-tech 7-speed (as opposed to the usual 4- or 5-speed) automatic transmission. In theory, that improves mileage, though the CLS500 is rated to get only 22 miles per gallon on the highway and 16 in the city.
OVERZEALOUS AUTO? Mercedes provides a manual shifting option, but it offers no true stick shift in the U.S. Change the setting from "comfort" to "sport," and the steering grows noticeably tighter. Then there's Mercedes' dual-control air suspension with active damping, which automatically adjusts the suspension to reduce pitch and roll. That system has two "sport" settings for those who want a firmer ride.
Indeed, as with the Infiniti M45, I sometimes felt the car was doing more for me than I really wanted it to. But the CLS500 is the same sort of car as the Infiniti: hot, with heavy emphasis on style and ease of use.
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