Enough C400 Luxury For The Glance

Even though the C400 is fairly deluxe-looking in its default form, Pebble Beach’s manic car auctions had us adding options with the intensity of bids on a $38-million Ferrari. We dropped $720 on the car’s Lunar Blue paint—it’s among the most exciting colors offered; the rest of the spectrum is limited to Germanic grayscale and dark earth-tone hues. C-class curb appeal was enhanced by opting for the 19-inch AMG multispoke wheels, a steal at $500. To augment the C400’s standard LED headlights, we added the $800 Lighting package so they’d steer with the front wheels; this package also brings automatic high-beam control.

The 2015 C-class’s interior is among the classiest out there—at any price—but still Mercedes leaves room for improvement. To replace the standard (and convincing) M-B Tex faux leather with real hides, we selected the $2300 Interior package, which also adds a cooling function for the front seats, a power passenger seat with memory, illuminated doorsills, and multicolor LED ambient lighting. Because we dig strange but attractive interior color schemes, we specified red leather upholstery and the gorgeous Linden wood trim, both at no extra cost. Buyers can also choose from black or gray leather and aluminum, piano-black, or matte-black wood trim.

It seems a bit silly these days that things such as navigation or a backup camera are optional on $50K cars, but, alas, they are on the C-class. Getting both requires $2690 for the Multimedia package, which also brings voice control for the COMAND system, three years of SiriusXM, and 10-gigabytes of music storage. Finally, we splurged on the $250 Hands-Free Access package for the ability to close the trunk electronically. Yep, Pebble Beach really got to our heads, but we can’t afford a butler, so . . .

Speaking of servants, our C400’s price comes to roughly a year’s salary for a top-notch helper: $56,775. Okay, so maybe that’s the price for an excellent part-time butler. Either way, it’s on the high side of what you’ll pay for a sub-mid-size luxury vehicle, being more or less equivalent to an similarly equipped BMW 335i xDrive sedan. We really, really like the Mercedes-Benz’s panache, though, and its mini S-class looks mean it should fit right in with the Pebble Beach set.