In pictures and in person, the 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class has a beautiful interior, but in an all-too-German fashion, the usability of it might actually stop people from appreciating it.
In KBB‘s video review, Micah Muzio takes a couple minutes to highlight the thing about the new C that would drive me crazy: the lack of an easy way to skip between songs. In the tradition of those sub-menu-obsessed engineers, the C-Class’ new COMAND setup forces you to move out of anything that isn’t for the radio to swipe between songs on the central touchpad or use the thumb wheel to click back and forth.
Theoretically, that would only be a nuisance to a front seat passenger, because the Mercedes has steering wheel-mounted audio controls like any civilized car. But even those force the driver to navigate between submenus and make sure you’re in radio (or media?) mode before any seeking is performed. Madness.
Which is a shame, because Muzio (and I) happen to like the new C quite a lot. It’s a serious looker and now apparently drives a lot more like the best in the class. It’s a worthy contender in this fiercely competitive segment already dominated by the Germans.
Except for the insane radio controls you’d use on a daily basis. While something this stupid might not be a dealbreaker on a great car, they’d put me off of a good, everyday car – which this is.