6 Spec Mistakes We Made With ‘Our’ Mercedes-AMG C43

The Mercedes-AMG C43 we’re running as a long-term test car has what you might refer to as a ‘punchy spec’. And by that, I mean we got carried away and added a fifth of the car’s base price on as optional extras.

After some time on the configurator, we inflated the £51,200 on-the-road cost of a C43 estate to £62,065. Yep, getting on for £11,000 in options, which is surprisingly easy to do on a premium car like this.

We’re mostly happy with the options we’ve added, but if we did it again, there would be a few adjustments to rectify the mistakes we made. Which were…

1. 19-inch wheels

These £595 black 19s look fab paired with the Designo White Metallic paint, but there’s a problem: the ride. Granted, we haven’t had a chance to compare to a C43 on 18-inch rims (an incoming test on a C63 with 18s will give us some sense), but the ride is more brittle than expected, and I suspect the bigger wheels are the main culprit, with the run-flat tyres potentially being a factor too. They’ll look great for our photos, at least…

2. Black seats

There’s nothing particularly wrong with this - the interior of the C43 is a very nice place, and black Artico (man-made leather) seems like a natural choice. But I’ve since been back on the configurator and realised what I should have done is specced it in ‘Saddle Brown’. Doesn’t it look resplendent specced thusly?

3. AMG Carbon pack

As you might have noticed, our car doesn’t actually have this - although we asked for it, Mercedes’ PR people said no, fearing it’d push the price with options rather close to a base C63. They had a point, and in any case, the car looks great without it, so I’m really not sure it’s worth splashing £1260 on, particularly when this is supposed to be the more restrained AMG’d C-Class.

4. Performance seats

I know, I know, bucket seats on something like a C-Class estate is - like a load of carbon stuff - a bit silly. This is another option Merc talked us out of, and I’m glad - the memory seats we have instead are wonderfully comfortable and still plenty supportive.

5. Red seat belts

A no-cost option which is selected as default in the configurator, which I now wish I’d have unticked. They’re just a bit uncouth in a car like this, aren’t they?

6. Carbon and aluminium interior trim parts

Like the seats, I’m not unhappy with the way this option makes the cabin look. But in hindsight, the open-pore ash wood option (above right) is just a little classier and more befitting of the car’s character. At £195 vs £700, it’s also a considerably cheaper option.

What else is specced?

The priciest single item on the menu is the £4995 Premium Plus pack, and it’s worth the outlay - a C43 with this added won’t leave you wanting for much. It includes a parking package, the brilliant Burmester sound system, keyless entry, a panoramic sunroof, mobile phone connectivity, and much more besides.

A driver assistance package was added for £1695, bringing this like autonomous emergency braking and steering assistance into the mix. An AMG performance exhaust was £1000, while the paint is £895 - sounds a lot for white, but it does look great in the metal. Rounding off the spec is £385 for privacy glass, handy in my case as the car will often have a four-year-old sitting in the back who’d rather not be blinded by the sun.

What do you think of the way we optioned this C43? Would you do anything differently?