alanedinger

Sounds Predictable and it sounds as it suits you very well.

In fact it sounds like you should take it on a long trip.

Was the MB Blue-Tooth adapter new or used? And it grabbed iPhone Contacts -no-problem?

Thanks,
-Alan

Spud_Racer

The Bluetooth adapter was used from an eBay seller, $125 including shipping. It's the 5878 model. Black with the silver thingy running down the middle and blue LED's at the end where the connector is. The dealer was honest enough to tell me that a new one is $500 from Mercedes and he informed me that I could get one for $100 off eBay. The seller shipped promptly and the device works as promised. Still, the fact that Mercedes sells a car for $64,000 and expects you to shell out another $500 for the Bluetooth accessory is bizarre.

And yeah, the seller has supposedly updated the firmware to be compatible with phone contacts. Sure enough the damned thing grabbed all 700+ of my iPhone 5 contacts including home, mobile, and work numbers. LOL, I sort of wish it didn't do that. I generally only keep a handful of friends and family in our car system contacts. Now I have to scroll through 700 entries to find the person I want to call. Not too much hassle, I just set up voice recognition entries for those frequently used names & numbers.

Spud_Racer

Having owned both cars I'm familiar with their design and history. So, I'm not operating under any misconception about their origins.

The Pacifica and the R Series both came out of Mercedes ownership of Chrysler. The Pacifica came first on a Chrysler unibody chassis using a Chrysler 3.5L V6 and a Chrysler 4 speed automatic (probably the weakest element of the car). The only really Mercedes mechanical design element was the rear multilink suspension borrowed from the E-Class. The Pacifica is basically a front drive platform with a transverse mounted engine and transmission. Its AWD system uses a cheaper viscous center coupling.

Then came the R Series with some of the design team from the Pacifica transitioning onto the R Series design team to produce a conceptual clone of the Pacifica using the Mercedes M-Class unibody chassis and off the shelf V6 and V8 Mercedes engines along with their new 7 speed automatic. The engine and transmission use a traditional rear drive longitudinal orientation and the AWD system uses a center differential, open I believe.

The two cars really are similar in design and execution down to the Pacifica only being offered initially as a very upscale (for Chrysler) Crossover pretty well loaded. The Mercedes influence showed on the Pacifica interior design with things like the seat controls and the Nav system interface lifted right out of Mercedes thinking. Also the two cars had an almost identical styling concept for the wood trim wrapping in a thin band from the dash to the front doors and then carrying through to the rear doors. The Pacifica had the best interior of any Chrysler ever when it debuted in 2004. Far and away better than anything else they offered at the time. That was Mercedes design aesthetic coming through. Both cars have a load leveling suspension. HID headlights. Harman Kardon sound systems (Pacifica is better). And of course the 3X2 seating format in a car like Crossover.

They are conceptual clones from the same source right down to sharing some design team members. That's what led me to the R Series. I love this design concept. Call it a minivan or mommy wagon. It has worked great for us.

As to which car is best.....I will say that both our 2006 Pacifica Limiteds were bulletproof. Nothing but normal maintenance for 65,000 miles. So, I can't really say Chrysler quality is inferior given the well documented teething problems Mercedes displayed with major components on the R Series. The biggest "problem" with the car was an inadequate power train in the form of a Chrysler 250 HP - 250 lb/ft 3.5L V6 designed for lighter sedans and an outdated 4 speed automatic from their minivans. Mercedes put a much better power train for these heavy cars in the R500.

bigben320e

Keep a watch on the airmatic stuff. In my experience with my R500, both struts and pump replaced. Arnott save me a bundle.

Pump replaced under warranty at 20K miles.
Struts replaced about 71K-74K (one went bad after the other shortly)
Power steering pump around 74K

I bought mine, Barolo Red loaded with options and 20's for $35K will 11K miles on her. Great car for the majority, enjoy the ride.

Spud_Racer

Thanks but if you read the stuff above, the front struts and Airmatic compressor on my car have already been replaced with Mercedes parts. Ditto the power steering pump. If my rear struts make it to 70,000 miles, I will have no complaint. That's called maintenance. I just hope Arnott is still around when I need them.

Never seen the Barolo Red. Around here (CT) all I seem to see are silver, black, and white. Was yours loaded up? $35K seems like a great price for essentially a new R500. Mine had pretty much every key option my Pacifica had except the rear seat heaters and seat memory. On the other hand, it's got a lot of stuff the Pacifica lacked.

I love the car so far. Took the kids to see The Hobbit last night and had a chance to drive with the headlights/fog lights on. The car has excellent visibility at night. I'm still having trouble getting used to the column mounted electronic P/D/R lever. I keep reaching for a lever on the console. I was amazed that the cup holders and door handles are illuminated at night. Nice touch. Don't know if all R's are like that or it's part of a package.

xxGenericSNxx

Lighted door handles are part of the trim package. But are you sure the cup holders are lit? Mine aren't.

Spud_Racer

Yup, two little white opaque rectangular lenses on the side nearest the console have either bulbs or LED's behind them It gives a really soft glow. Just enough so that you can find it easily in the dark but not enough to ruin your night vision. Same sort of glow as the door handles. Maybe your bulbs are burned out. Maybe AMG thought it was too sissy for the car and deleted it. Seriously though any difference year to year? Mines an 07, what year is the AMG?

xxGenericSNxx

Mine is an 07 with all options so I'd find it odd that they don't have it. I'll have to check and then get back to you. Maybe it's so dim I didn't notice/ they're burned out.

Thanks for the heads up though!

Spud_Racer

I had a chance to do a short highway trip today. About 110 miles altogether. The R500 managed 20.7 mpg at a steady 65 MPH with the cruise control on most of the time. Not bad. That's more in line with what I'd expect. The EPA 18 mpg highway seemed low for a car with a small V8 and 7 speed transmission. The Pacifica only managed about 22 mpg on the same trip. That's a paltry 6% mileage penalty moving to a V8. Schweet! I'm happier with this move every day.

Spud_Racer

Today was winter prep day. I ordered a set of MB wheels (17X8"). Thursday, I had the Blizzaks (235/65R17) swapped over from the Pacifica to the R500 winter wheel set. Today, I took off the Conti 4X4's and put on the new wheels and Blizzaks. Luckily the Pacifica and R500 can share the same winter setup, my Blizzaks were new last winter.

Then I installed the Thule racks and fitted the cargo box. I didn't go with the factory racks or the Thule Aero setup as every Thule accessory I have is square bar stuff. And I have a lot of stuff. 4 bike carriers. A canoe carrier. A cargo box. And a wind fairing.

Not really happy with the factory or Thule branded solution for the R Series. The Pacifica had a fixed mounting point solution inside a factory rail channel. The Thule feet were a click-on and push button to remove design. I could leave the box on the rack and take the whole thing off, literally in a few seconds.

The R500 Thule feet require a post to be screwed in and then the 460 Podium feet to be held in place with a nut and washer. This whole exercise is probably a 10 minute affair involving little tiny nuts and washers plus a little stamped steel wrench. Not so attractive in the snow at 18 degrees after a long day of skiing. So, it looks like the racks will stay on for the winter with the associated drag and slight wind noise.

As for the box, mine is quite old with eight bolts to loosen or tighten when adding or removing from the car. That's why the former click-on click-off feet were so great. I just left the box on the racks and lifted the whole affair on and off. The old box will be a pain to add or remove. I think I'm just going to buy a new Thule Atlantis 18 cu ft box in silver with the Quick-Grip mounting system so that I can at least lose the box quickly after a day of skiing.

The good news.....the Thule 460 Podium feet provide enough clearance for the sunroof to remain operable.

xxGenericSNxx

I noticed that my car does in fact have lighted front cupholders but the lights don't work. I never even noticed the two white areas that are supposed to be the light windows. So I'll have to look into it and see if it's a wiring issue or a bulb issue. Thanks!

Spud_Racer

No problem. Happy to return the favor after all the information you've shared with this newbie. Hope it's not a wiring problem. And for everyone's sake, I hope Mercedes used LED's instead of bulbs. That doesn't look like an easy to service location.

Spud_Racer

I ordered a set of WeatherTech mats for the R500 a few days ago. They arrived today. The fit is great.

The front set have the Mercedes click-to-connect buttons to keep the mats in place. Everything lined up perfectly. Almost an exact replacement for the factory mats.

The 2nd row was customized for the car to the extent of wrapping around seat tracks and tie down points. Again almost an exact match for the factory mats.

The 3rd row was a 2 piece affair unlike the OEM single piece carpeted mat. But the two rubber pieces clip together to form a continuous mat.

As for color matching, our R500 has the Macadamia leather interior. I ordered the tan WeatherTech mats. The color is neatly between the lighter Macadamia color and the contrasting, slightly darker dash pad and door trim color. It's a nice match.

I've used WeatherTech mats in every car we've owned for more than 15 years. I've never been disappointed and the R500 mats are possibly the best fit I've seen yet. These things really save the interior here in New England winters and on beach vacations.

I also ordered the Lloyd RubberTite mats for the cargo area behind the 2nd row to the tailgate as WeatherTech doesn't have a custom solution for the R-Series. I've never used these before but reviews seem to indicate they do a good job. We'll see after they arrive. The WeatherTech mats I had in the Pacifica allowed 6 years of Home Depot duty with zero impact on the interior.

Spud_Racer

Also picked up a Thule Atlantis 1800 cargo box today. The quick connectors are a huge step forward from my old Thule box with metal plates and 8 bolts to tighten. Ditto for the single keyed latch. No more stretching to release 2 latches 4 feet apart simultaneously. And dual side opening offers a lot more flexibility for getting at cargo. To top it all off, this box has about the same volume as my old box but is about 6 inches shorter. So, no worries about the rear hatch.

xxGenericSNxx

Do you mind sharing photos of the floor mats when you get the chance? Sounds like a good fit for your needs and all the snow you get.

Spud_Racer

Yeah, no problem. I'll get some pics tomorrow.

I won't have the cargo mats until next Friday according to the UPS delivery estimate. For now, I threw the Pacifica cargo liners in the R500 and they actually fit amazingly well. Not a total custom fit but so good that if I don't like the Lloyd cargo liners I'll just order a set of Pacifica liners in the tan color. These are grey. I'll get a pic of the grey cargo liners in place too so you can see the fit.

bigben320e

I read it, but I was just giving the experience I have had so far. The majority of stuff is just routine upkeep, but the first pump burning out at 20K miles was about the only complaint I had. On the options, pretty much loaded with the chrome package. No key-less go or automatic lift-gate.

Yes, that shifter took some getting used to. The wife and I were doing the grabbing for the middle console for a minute as well.

The indy I use, the owner has a white R500 that he tuned and that thing is rather impressive with the extra horses and torque. Glad you are enjoying the R, should bring years of fun.

Spud_Racer

Sorry, no pics today. We got about 8 inches of snow. I was going to lay the WeatherTech mats out next to the factory carpeted mats on the driveway so you could see color and cut then get some pics inside the car but, it's a mess outside.

Spud_Racer

Hmmm......the tradeoffs when switching cars. The R500 has my departing Pacifica Limited beat overall but, for the past week and a half I've been comparing the two feature by feature.

What I lost.....things my R500 doesn't have

• Heated rear seats - nice to have for the kids in winter
• DVD entertainment system - no big deal, I think our kids used it twice
• Auto-dimming rear and side mirrors - I'll miss that. Odd that a $65,000 car lacks this
• Factory racks - no big deal, I used Thule racks anyway.
• 6 disc CD changer in the dash - nice but I find myself listening to satellite most of the time and the R500 has a changer in the glove box
• Edit.....Forgot 2.
• Seat memory - Driver's seat had 2 memory positions linked to the remotes. And the seat would move back when the car was unlocked then move up when the key is inserted. Nice to have but not critical.
• Power lumbar support - another nice feature, the R500 has a manual mechanical lumbar support, the Pacifica was pneumatic and felt better.

What I gained.....things the Pacifica didn't have

• Corner illuminating lights - nice but I'd rather have the auto-dimming mirrors for comfort
• Panoramic Sunroof - not a fan of sunroofs generally but I have to admit this one is cool
• Tilt-n-telescope wheel - nice! I could never get the Pacifica totally comfortable with tilt alone
• 5.0L V8 engine - nice! cars this heavy need a fair amount of torque and power
• 7 speed automatic - big improvement over the 4 speed Chrysler in these heavy cars
• Center console - much more storage
• 3rd row access - much better design for quick and easy access to the back seats
• Auto up windows - nice convenience for the parking garage at work
• Parktronic front & rear - nice for this boat, the Pacifica only had rear sensors
• Interior lighting - nice touches with illuminated cup holders and door handles
• Air suspension - great to have the option to alter the ride.....but the repair cost
• Spare tire inside - Pacifica had a spare slung underneath like a pickup truck
• Rain sensing wipers - cool and helpful
• Turn signals in mirrors - can't hurt to be a little more visible

xxGenericSNxx

Well it's nice to know that 4 of the 5 things that you've lost are still obtainable on the R, albeit they were just all options. (factory racks not being one of them)

But I do agree that it sucks- I just wish more things were standard. If you load up a modern MB now, it's not out of the realm of possibility to add $20k worth of options to your car!

bumpersignal

Geezus. $12k? Mine is the same model and it's @ 86k miles. I better think about trading it soon before I hit 100k because I was considering trading it in for the used R63 some are seeing on here for $33k. I'm just concerned about the long term maintenance on an R63 since there are so few won't parts and specialized mechanic labor be very high? I made this mistake on trying to keep my '05 BMW 745i past $100k. That thing was a nightmare once it's out of warranty. I'm hoping not to have the same issues w/ the R-class.

Astrok

I am also new to a 2006 loaded R500 which we love(Honeymoons are great) but the funny one for me this morning was going out to check oil and finding no dipstick! In my 50 odd years of being inside and over car and boat engines never would have thought I would own a car with no dipstick!!!

bigben320e

It is strange, the new way is to check the oil from the console. My CLS is the same way, you can get a dipstick from the dealer or MB parts online though.