Owner Review: The sleeper ‘sports-car killer’ - My 2019 Mercedes-AMG C43 3.0 FL

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Basic information

2019 Mercedes -AMG C43 3.0 FL

The reason why I bought this car

A car for daily use as well as for outstation travel to cater mostly to me and my wife. To find a car that will be fun to drive to replace my 7-year old VW Golf 1.4 TSI which was starting to give problems.

Car selection process

• I had a budget of RM 300k
• Models that I have considered include the Mercedes A35 hatch, Mercedes C300
• Reasons why I chose this car

A35 hatch was my preferred choice to replace my old VW, but the Edition 1 models available in Malaysia had AMG bucket seats which wasn’t comfortable even just sitting in the car in the showroom.

AMG rims and brakes

Ordered the C43 in December 2020, attractive rebates for a 2019 manufactured vehicle, and ready stock to be entitled to the SST exemption. (prior to the announcement of the extension of SST rebate). Got hooked to this car when the helpful salesman told us this is likely the last generation of non-electrified C43. Car was registered new in January 2021.

User Experience

• I have already driven 4,200 km. My average fuel consumption is 13litres/100 km.

Having a history of driving hatches, from a Suzuki Swift to a VW Golf, switching over to a saloon was indeed a little cumbersome, especially in narrow roads and underground car parks. Here is where I am grateful the 360-degree camera that came with the car, which greatly help with manoeuvring tight spots.

One main issue to get used to when driving a Mercedes from recent years is the missing gear shift on the centre console. Switching between a Japanese car and a Mercedes is an even bigger issue to get used to, tendency to shift the car into neutral when turning on the indicator (signal).
Having Waze displayed on the wired-Apple Car Play is also a handy feature which wasn’t present in my previous car as well as the occasional voicing out of WhatsApp messages that the COMAND system could do. No complaints with the Burmester sound system that came with the car, despite reading online reviews that Lexus has a much better sound system.

Looks no different to a standard C300 except for the BITURBO 4MATIC emblem on the fender

The memory-powered seats for front seats are quite handy when there is a switch of the driver between me and my wife. However, guess this is quite standard for premium vehicles.Despite its fuel consumption, it is quite hard to rev the car beyond 2500rpm on a daily drive. The engine revs at only 1,200 rpm in the 9th gear if you are crawling at 75km/hr on the Federal Highway. The car is quite stable even taking corners at speed, probably helped by the weight of the car.

The 64-colour ambient lighting is nice to have especially when you want to entertain your young nieces and nephew.

For this 2019 model, there is only a Mercedes Me Adapter, which syncs to your phone of your driving history, i.e petrol consumption, distance traveled, petrol stops, and also a driver score, which can be informative.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Would consider this a silent “sports car” killer. More than sufficient power with the 385hp from the 3.0 twin-turbo, at the same time, fitting 4 comfortably.
You won’t notice the car moving through the 9-speed automatic gearbox as it accelerates.

No AMG engine assembler plaque on this CKD car.

The additional side blinds for the back seats, the rear shades, and the panoramic roof is one of the reasons why I wrote off BMW 330i when I compared it against the C300 initially despite being a newer model.

Cons

The 19-inch wheels are bumpy for city driving, especially with all the potholes and manholes all around KL roads. Going through speedbumps in underground car parks is an uncomfortable experience.
Unfortunately, fuel consumption is actually quite high. Since collecting the car, I have averaged around 13litres / 100 km (7.7 km per litre). My worst experience was being stuck in a KL traffic jam for an hour and the dashboard showed 50 litres / 100 km. All while pumping RON97 petrol which seems to be going up almost weekly.

Lack of compartment to put phones, smart tags, and other small items, which I solved by buying a “storage box” that is designed to fit the holes in the front internal door handles. 
The annual road tax was a significant jump to RM 2,120 as compared to my previous VW of only RM 70 per year.

Ratings

Total score 3.8 / 5
Performance 5
Quality & Features 5
Space 4
Ride Comfort 3
Fuel Economy 2
Price & Cost 4

Summary

An unintended switch from a hatchback to a saloon. No regrets on this purchase, can’t wait till MCO is lifted and inter-state travel will finally be allowed for the car to stretch its legs.

Alternative AMG Supersport Display Layout

Something interesting is that I had a replacement of the “smart camera” that controls the safety features (lane departure, auto-braking, etc) in the first 3 months of ownership. Cycle & Carriage PJ was helpful to provide a courtesy car, an almost new A250 sedan which has only done 200km while they replaced the camera.

Happened to meet another C43 in the 1MK shopping mall. Notice the different grille and the different headlamp layout in the pre-facelift model.

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