LINKBXQ

Hello everyone,


New Guy and I am posting to ask for help with a purchase decision. Had Acura and Toyota before and wasn't happy. I am planning to get an E class 350 or 400 model year 2014 to 2016. I found some in the range of less than 30k for 2014 and between 35-40k for 2015 and seeing some deal in the mid 40s for 2016, 2016 are used. I am searching within a 300 miles radius to try and find the best price and paying cash due to closing on a new home and any new credit is bad. Previous car was a 4runner but decided to sell instead of fixing since the cost to fix was about 60% of the whole present value. Never gave me problem but I think I killed it during the move.


I have been lurking and searching the forum and found some information but would like clarification on a few things.


I would like real leather but it appear MB Tex is fine since the quality is comparable to real leather. Among forum member it is almost a 50/50 split. I am located in NYC, does it really makes a different given my location? I read some members saying it stick and smell a bit in the summer heat. The tearing issue with the MB tex, is it something I should be worry about?


I would like keyless go package and premium package. I would like keyless go but would like to hear the experience from some member if it is something they use often. From my search it appear power folding side mirror is only available on 2015 model and up. I am leaning to 2015 and up for that reason because I park in the city and I had truck hit my mirror a couple of times.


Power rear shade, does the 2016 have it standard with the P1 package, I found some post where member say it is extra in 2016 but standard on the 15 with the package.


Lane package and attention/assist I am not too interested. It seem it help with lane change and parking but unless it self park I really don't need it and find all the warning sound annoying. Any member have it and found it useful? Again not something I am particularly interested in.


My big question is the lighting package. Beside turning headlight to the driving direction if I understand it properly, what other real benefit does it offer? I am confuse here, MB say lights are LED but I am seeing members saying it is halogen. I want LED since my previous car headlight was dim that I could hardly see at night. Does the E class come standard with halogen but taking the lighting package will upgrade all my headlight/backlight to LED or, all E class are LED and the lighting package just add some features.


Finally, I saw a post where members are saying they are getting up to 25% off a new 2016 model. I emailed and call some dealership around my area but best I got was about 17% on an E class that had over 5000 miles on it already from Smithtown Mercedes. I was planning to wait until new model drop and see how much more price can drop but due to moving and dropping kids at daycare, it appear I need to make a purchase sooner than expected.


Any insight/information is greatly appreciated.

unr1

Welcome to the forum.

I can only comment on a few things you asked but it's a start...
Keyless go is very convenient. You will love this and I strongly advise getting it.
I have a 2015 and yes the mirrors do fold. But they don't fold a lot. By that I mean if you look at the new C-class or S-class, you will notice their mirrors fold more flush. Just take a look at it in person and see if it's what you're looking for.

Do you drive in traffic a lot or long drives on the highway? Checkout distronic plus. It will greatly reduce driver fatigue. I love it.

I have the lighting package and it's great. But the stock lighting is not gonna be dim by any means. It's best to go to the dealership at night and compare. But I'm sure you won't feel that the non-lighting package isn't enough. The stock lighting package has LED DRL but the headlights are no LED. They hare HID (if I'm not mistaken).

Continue to negotiate. Don't give up... you can get a good deal. Good luck and I hope other members here can answer all your questions.

cetialpha5

If you like all the options, it's easier to find on an E400 than an E350 but it will cost more and there weren't that many of them. If you are just looking at 2014+, I believe all of them have LED, the curve illumination came with a package. The last year for HID was 2013. Technically HID are brighter than LEDs, but they cost more money which I guess is why they got rid of them, HID lights on pre-2014 models were hard to find. Oh and be careful in NY, some of those used car dealers are pretty shady, many reviews say that those prices have you paying a few thousand extra for doc fees and not doing dealer financing.

thefisch

Leather is going to be hard to find on an E350. It would likely have been a special order. Not sure if that was standard on the E400 though like it was on the E550 but it may be common with that model (if you can find an E400). I wouldn't let others opinions on the leather/tex argument sway you - try it for yourself. My coworkers car has it and I find it comfortable. What is miss though in his car are the vented seats that come with leather but that's more of an issue down here in Florida than it will for you in NY.

Options are the best part of these cars and those tend to get overlooked in used car pricing compared to age and mileage. Hold out for what you want if you can.

LINKBXQ

Thank you. I drive mostly in NYC but once a month or so I will be heading to either DC or Boston. I didn't even consider distronic but will look into it. Keyless go and P1 are the 2 packages I definitely want and it appear if I do go for an E400 it comes with it. I am heading to Manhattan Mercedes to check out what they have. I saw how the mirror folded on an SL model and loved it, kept reminding me of how I got my side mirror broken. Also appear the lighting feature wouldn't have anything I really need to help with visibility at night.

teksurv

Just to clarify, on the 2014+ the base lighting is static LED low beams and halogen high beams with a small horizontal area for DRL in LED. With the lighting package, which I highly recommend, you get the adaptive full LED (high and low beams) which automatically raise and lower the beam at night based on road conditions and cars ahead of you. The DRL on the lighting package is much more pronounced and I like it quite a bit, may not matter to you. I don't have Distronic but I do have the passive systems, which alert in the wing mirrors, vibrate steering wheel, beep, etc. and while I think of myself as a good driver, this system has helped me out a time or two. Good luck on the hunt!

lay3r3

I would like real leather but it appear MB Tex is fine since the quality is comparable to real leather. Among forum member it is almost a 50/50 split. I am located in NYC, does it really makes a different given my location? I read some members saying it stick and smell a bit in the summer heat. The tearing issue with the MB tex, is it something I should be worry about?

I haven't had a issue with mine. not a deal breaker. Don't carry you metal combs in your back pocket like in the 80's so you don't scratch the seats too badly. Typically the wear and tear is the sliding in and out of the seat. where you rub against the left side fo the back support and the left side of the seat. what I hate about is why ins't leather standard. it's more of I got cheated.


I would like keyless go package and premium package. I would like keyless go but would like to hear the experience from some member if it is something they use often. From my search it appear power folding side mirror is only available on 2015 model and up. I am leaning to 2015 and up for that reason because I park in the city and I had truck hit my mirror a couple of times.

Keyless Go has been around for a long time now... it's almost standard option on many cheaper standard car like Toyota Camry or Ford Fusion... I am thinking of all the rental cars that I get these days they all got it. Its convenient. and not having everything hanging off your dash is clean too.

Folding mirror- ah... to fold or not to fold. my last 2 cars of last 10 years all had them (BMWs) I swear I was surprised my 2014 didn't have it. However, this particular model, it only fold in by about 2 inches so hopefully that's enough for you not to get taken out! you should see it yourself.. it's kinda useless, but then again I plan to retrofit because I have had them for so many years now I am used to it.

Power rear shade, does the 2016 have it standard with the P1 package, I found some post where member say it is extra in 2016 but standard on the 15 with the package.


Lane package and attention/assist I am not too interested. It seem it help with lane change and parking but unless it self park I really don't need it and find all the warning sound annoying. Any member have it and found it useful? Again not something I am particularly interested in.

Lane assist just tells your how bad of a driver you are when you a) ride on the lines or b) you change lanes without signaling. it doesn't beep contrary to what you thought. What it does is that it vibrates the steering wheel. so think of it as a hand massager. probably can do without

You didn't mention blindspot warning. I like that feature quite a bit. when you signal to change lanes, if a car is in your blindspot, the car beeps and red triangle in the side view mirror flashes RED.

with that, under the sideview mirrors, there is camera which also ties into the feature of parking assist pkg. You're can do auto parallel parking or back the car into a parking spot perpendicularly. Its more of a gimmick. Cool to show off :-) certainly you'd park your own car much faster.

because of the side cameras when combined with the front one and the back one, your car stitches together a top view 360 surrounding view. it helps when you're parking and such in tight spaces.

My big question is the lighting package. Beside turning headlight to the driving direction if I understand it properly, what other real benefit does it offer? I am confuse here, MB say lights are LED but I am seeing members saying it is halogen. I want LED since my previous car headlight was dim that I could hardly see at night. Does the E class come standard with halogen but taking the lighting package will upgrade all my headlight/backlight to LED or, all E class are LED and the lighting package just add some features.

Someone already said it. Lighten pkg is awesome! it defines the car, it has the double hockey stick LED around the lens of each headlight. (not the little horizontal ones, nor the pre-facelift kind that's in the lower grill) not only it looks cool, functionally, the LED and internal mirror moves the light around, and has very useful lighting patterns, like when you signal the somewho the light deflects with a internal mirror and lights up your left side. Also when your just driving, the headlight follows your steering wheel direction so the LED light actively move with your steering. Then if you have it set on auto brights, the brights auto turns on when it's dark but shuts itself off when it detect on coming traffic. Certainly if you have a car in front of you, through its filters, the light shines/bends all around the car infront except the rear view mirror so they guy infront or you never feel the brightness of your lights. it's pretty cool. I'd get it. it's sets your car apart.

Finally, I saw a post where members are saying they are getting up to 25% off a new 2016 model. I emailed and call some dealership around my area but best I got was about 17% on an E class that had over 5000 miles on it already from Smithtown Mercedes. I was planning to wait until new model drop and see how much more price can drop but due to moving and dropping kids at daycare, it appear I need to make a purchase sooner than expected.


MB has the largest margin of markup 12 1/2 percent is whatg I was told. (I can use one of my vendor who can get me 12 1/2 discout no haggling) So for 17 is just additional 5 percent. certainly you should shop around.

Good luck.

thephantom

I wish I had held out for Distronic and the Lighting Package.

pamiboy

1+ to that. My suggestion to the OP is to get the most loaded car you can get with all options. You would never wish that you got a car without an option but the contrary is mostly true. It's good that you are asking these questions before purchase and now are better prepared. When I bought my car in 2014, I didn't care much for those options, but you'll really notice those deficiencies later on. Especially as many of the cheaper brand cars come with some of those features standard. I really miss the lighting, parktronic and distronic features.
P1 package is mostly standard. You won't find an E class without it. There is no P2 package since 2014. Everything else is "A la carte".
My other advise is to rent a car for the next few months (you won't lose out much that way in case you need a car urgently). Wait till the new E class is released and the prices of used ones drop, then move in for the kill .
Good luck with your search.

reckrab

I have keyless go on my 2014 (and on my 2010 before that) and love it. As for the headlights it's already been covered except to say that the base LED lights which I have could never be described as dim. I had the lighting package on my last car and I do miss the auto dim and cornering lights but for most of my straight line driving in traffic I find the low beams to be excellent.

I have the p1 with mbtex and have had no issues. I really like my blind spot assist and lane assist as well. Can't remember if I have the rear window power shade or not on this car, shows you how useful it is to me lol.

Good luck and hold out for what you really want. There are lots of these cars around so chances are you will find it.

JediJD

Don't have a lot to add, mainly agreements.
MBTex is fine (we've had several with leather over the years and I thought it would suck and it doesn't)
Keyless go is convenient...we also have a 2008 GL 450 that doesn't have it and the lack is noticeable when we happen to do car shifting.
Blindspot, lane assist, distronic all rock. Distronic has me spoiled rotten on the expressway. Blindspot is handier than I thought.
Lighting package is so flippin' cool at night...the first time I used it, it was an accident and I thought the damn high beams weren't working and was going to take the car in for a new stalk...then it started working itself, and I just started drooling over the cool new trick the car would do.
Pricing...we're not the ones to ask. I shop relentlessly but price checking sometimes isn't the highest priority for She Who Must Be Obeyed (although she isn't completely oblivious to it...just won't let me squeeze every nickel).
Autofold side mirrors are a must for us, if for nothing else than the garage and the visual of knowing I locked the car.
Rear shade is critical in the Atlanta summers. Must have.
Good luck, good questions.

BlankProc

Good answers here.

I actually prefer MB-tex as I think it's generally more durable, but the leather is a bit softer and nicer. Good to note that on leather, denim jeans will have some color transfer with lighter colors. Regardless, anyone that isn't a Mercedes driver will get in your MB-tex car and probably think it's leather anyway.

Keyless-Go is a must IMO. The lane assist and collission prevention features are helpful and not annoying.

One feature that came with my E350 that I didn't know existed was the "Comfort Box," this box that goes in your trunk and you can put groceries and small items in it so they don't fly around the trunk. The trunk, by the way, in the E350 is huge compared to smaller Benzes. Pretty cool and easily removable if you have big items.

The only feature that I wish it had was the active headlights only because they have that cool "eyebrow" look. The headlights are LED standard with the exception of the high beams which are halogen - that is true. For me it seems mostly aesthetic, as the standard lights are very bright and the only time I've had to use the brights is to get stupid people sitting at lights texting to move. I don't do a lot of night or highway driving.

The rear shade is also kinda cool. Makes your car look all fancy-schmancy. I've driven other MBs for years but after one month in my new E350 I'm in love with the E class. I think it'd be pretty hard for you to purchase one and then be disappointed.

LINKBXQ

I recently checked out two that I like and had a good talk with the salesman. Both 2015 but new car which are still on the lot. I consider myself a value shopper and am looking to get as much out of every cent so don't mind driving a 2015 if I get my money worth it. One is a Black on black E400 that has keyless,lane/driver assist, P1 and lighting. Another was an E550 coupe rear wheel drive two tone red/black nappa leather that has everything. E400 was asking 55 from 69 but he was anxious to negotiate while E550 was 59 from 71 and again he was willing to make a deal. Practicality is the E400 but oh that E550 is so damn sexy and has all the features in it. Rear wheel not an issue since as much but 2 door hard to justify to the wife and 2 newborn twins. Test drive and somehow the coupe just felt more satisfying. It was raining so I got to feel how it handle wet road and a real good feel of the lighting package.
Thanks to all the advice on this board and from all of you, he was impress of my knowledge of the car. Something I just learn recently researching and all of your input. Definitely feel good to be an inform buyer and salesman didn't try to push on me as hard once he knew I been doing research.


If all goes well, I am hoping to pick one up within this month.


So far everyone been a big help.

lay3r3

No Parking assist pkg? meaning the 360 mirror view?
This is actually one very important feature that I use all the time is to set a customizable button to quickly go to the front camera view when I pull into a parking spot with the concrete barrier.


the front end of the 2014+ models are so low, it will scrape most of the concrete threshold in parking lots.


I turn the camera on so I know exactly when to stop without hitting it. I have done it before and it has yanked of the silver plastic lip loose (btw, still don't know how to fix it.. if I look closely, I can tell there is a gap. :-(