Model 3 Cockpit vs Mercedes E400

[Austindude]

So both my sister and I got new cars this year. She is leasing an E400 convertible and I got my 3 about three weeks ago. I originally thought the Model 3 dashboard and cockpit would be too minimalist but that certainly hasn't been true. I was in her E400 the other day and I couldn't believe how overcrowded the cockpit felt. I don't think they could have fit another button or vent or bezel! My brother and I almost couldn't figure out how to drive the darn thing! See the attached pictures.

 

[kablammyman]

i dunno, seems fine to me. Nothing looks confusing or out of place IMO

 

[m3snowy]

And Mercedes E class has this rainbow-color dash lighting right? Could use that in the Model 3 as some are saying it's too dark in the cabin at night.

Did she get the Mercedes version of Auto Pilot? How is it?

 

[xav-]

People can criticize tesla as much as they want.. the user interface on the 3 is magnificent.

I still don’t understand considering how cheap touch screens are that automakers don’t simply mimic tesla. It has to be more cost efficient than adding all these physical knobs everywhere.

I guess it’s the same as with autopilot, EV technology, and superchargers, they are in denial.

 

[kengchang]

Do those jet turbines have fan blade in there?

 

[Henry82]

Could use that in the Model 3 as some are saying it's too dark in the cabin at night.

I agree with this... it remember reaching for my cell phone flash light to look for stuff.

 

[outie]

Different stokes for different folks. The cockpit of Mercedes is just fine and classy. Thank you for sharing your own opinion.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

To me there is a balance between too few buttons/switches/knobs, and too many.

Neither car really fits the right balance for me personally. I like buttons/switches/knobs for common things, and things you need right now. Like I'm pretty happy with the balance in the Model S except for steering wheel heater. It's a little annoying to hunt down two levels on a screen to turn it on/off. With the latest update I've been just leaving it on since it allows for that. I'll turn it off when summer hits just like I do with my heated toilet seat.

The MB has buttons/switches for things you hardly ever use. What's the point of that?

 

[skitown]

The older I get the more acutely aware I am of people who embrace what they currently know and are comfortable with. We can all point to plenty of product revolutions that have occurred in our lives that were initially resisted. Keyboardless phones are the classic. A good friend of mine (who is older) simply can't deal with any pickup that has a crew or club cab. It can't have that - and it has to have an 8' foot bed. I think this is hilarious, but it's the exact same resistance to change. Tesla's Model S nosecone was to help people used to ICE "deal" with the design and not see it as a weird mobile. Now it's weird to me having it. I want the new front end. Any car with a grill seems weird and stupid to me. Same with a bunch of buttons in the cockpit. Another (older) friend has TWO Porsche Macans and a Jaguar F-Type. I just gave him a hard time about "all the buttons" in his Macan. Seems ridiculous to me at this point. Also told him his F-Type sounds desperate. LOL.

 

[nvx1977]

The older I get the more acutely aware I am of people who embrace what they currently know and are comfortable with. We can all point to plenty of product revolutions that have occurred in our lives that were initially resisted. Keyboardless phones are the classic. A good friend of mine (who is older) simply can't deal with any pickup that has a crew or club cab. It can't have that - and it has to have an 8' foot bed. I think this is hilarious, but it's the exact same resistance to change. Tesla's Model S nosecone was to help people used to ICE "deal" with the design and not see it as a weird mobile. Now it's weird to me having it. I want the new front end. Any car with a grill seems weird and stupid to me. Same with a bunch of buttons in the cockpit. Another (older) friend has TWO Porsche Macans and a Jaguar F-Type. I just gave him a hard time about "all the buttons" in his Macan. Seems ridiculous to me at this point. Also told him his F-Type sounds desperate. LOL.

As I get older, I catch myself sometimes resisting change. I once told myself I would never be stuck on the oldies station like my parents, and that I would embrace new music and stay current. I can't stand a lot of the music coming out now. I fight the urge to call it garbage because that's what every generation says about the younger ones' music. Change is hard. It's even harder to be self-aware and realize we're resisting it.

 

[skitown]

As I get older, I catch myself sometimes resisting change. I once told myself I would never be stuck on the oldies station like my parents, and that I would embrace new music and stay current. I can't stand a lot of the music coming out now. I fight the urge to call it garbage because that's what every generation says about the younger ones' music. Change is hard. It's even harder to be self-aware and realize we're resisting it.

I didn't bring it up in my reply, but yeah - music is a total leading indicator of this phenomena IMO. I think getting stuck on old music is the first sign of your mental arteries hardening. Reality I suppose is it just gets harder to discover new music as we age and lose touch with friends who used to introduce us to cool new stuff - and with so much out there it's a lot of work to wade through the shite. Dunno what you're into but listener powered KEXP out of Seattle does a good job of helping me try to stay relevant. Sorry for the off-topic folks.

 

[ebmcs03]

I actually like the jet fighter row of buttons all over. A la Porsche Panamera style.

But I’m willing to give the model 3 simplicity a try.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

As I get older, I catch myself sometimes resisting change. I once told myself I would never be stuck on the oldies station like my parents, and that I would embrace new music and stay current. I can't stand a lot of the music coming out now. I fight the urge to call it garbage because that's what every generation says about the younger ones' music. Change is hard. It's even harder to be self-aware and realize we're resisting it.

Thankfully my mother set such an unprecedented level of not changing the station that I'll never match that.

In her car it's on an Elvis station because she assumes SeriusXM is suddenly going to stop working if she changes the station. It's been like that for well over a year, and she'd never paid for it.

I think I'm pretty good at adapting for new things. Going to an electric car was pretty easy, cutting cable was pretty easy, giving up a landline was pretty easy. I did online dating, and heck I even checked out snapchat.

It's not so much the music these days sucks, but the entre genre of whatever the heck they're calling this decade sucks. But, honestly how could it not? I'm a kid of 80's music, and it all went down hill after. In fact I feel bad for anyone who didn't grow up with 80's music. The only decade that could have possibly been better to grow up in was the 60s with LP's.

Music is so bad now days that half of it could be written by AI, and no one would know the difference.

 

[Mr X]

Thankfully my mother set such an unprecedented level of not changing the station that I'll never match that.

In her car it's on an Elvis station because she assumes SeriusXM is suddenly going to stop working if she changes the station. It's been like that for well over a year, and she'd never paid for it.

I think I'm pretty good at adapting for new things. Going to an electric car was pretty easy, cutting cable was pretty easy, giving up a landline was pretty easy. I did online dating, and heck I even checked out snapchat.

It's not so much the music these days sucks, but the entre genre of whatever the heck they're calling this decade sucks. But, honestly how could it not? I'm a kid of 80's music, and it all went down hill after. In fact I feel bad for anyone who didn't grow up with 80's music. The only decade that could have possibly been better to grow up in was the 60s with LP's.

Music is so bad now days that half of it could be written by AI, and no one would know the difference.

I recommend all of their music if you love 80's music. My Dad loves it and listens to it in his Model S all the time.

 

[Teslie]

Nothing can beat a turn knob for temperature control and a turn knob for the radio volume.

But then, I am above 60 ...

 

[T34ME]

It's not so much the music these days sucks, but the entre genre of whatever the heck they're calling this decade sucks. But, honestly how could it not? I'm a kid of 80's music, and it all went down hill after.

I said the same thing about '80's music when it came on the scene!

 

[Sportstick]

I was completely ready to move into the 21st century and buy an M3 (different thread), but as for music, I've scoured the decades and can't find anything which beats what was written in the first half of the last century (yes, before I was born) for energy, complexity, arrangements, beauty, just plain great to listen to......certainly not the array of howling cats and dogs which show up at major stadium venues and on SNL's music guest list over the past many years....and, when I listen to the first one below while driving, the speedometer somehow oddly climbs!

 

[Austindude]

I am thoroughly enjoying the music aspect of this thread but I think it has somewhat been hijacked. So to add to my original post, my nephew, who is 32, and the son of my sister that owns the E400 told his mother that her Mercedes looks like it was designed for old people. I think what this thread has devolved into along the lines of music maybe proves that out. I think the simplicity of the Model 3 dashboard is great and may represent the future for other automobiles (more touch screens, less buttons). Anyway, as pointed out by others on this thread, each person is entitled to their own opinion. Enjoy!

 

[nvx1977]

We frown upon people perpetually with heads down in their phones. Whatever happened to social interaction? What will happen to people who email instead of writing letters? What will happen to people who use the phone instead of meeting face to face? What will happen 2 ppl who are 2 lazy 2 write out whole words?

Nothing. Society isn't doomed. It's just different from how it operated before. Either you can accept it, or you can't. And there's no moral high ground either way. It's just different. The Mercedes represents the old guard. The Model 3 represents the new.

 

[Kano]

Nothing can beat a turn knob for temperature control and a turn knob for the radio volume.

But then, I am above 60 ...

Do the scroll wheels on the model 3 not do both of these things?