Flat bottom steering wheel on the non-sports package?
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2007 C230
Flat bottom steering wheel on the non-sports package?
I really like the flat bottom steering wheel that comes with the sports package, but not sure it's worth the tradeoff of a lessened comfort.
Anyone know if you could buy the sports steering wheel and have a MB dealer install it. Any guesses on how much this would cost?
Anyone know if you could buy the sports steering wheel and have a MB dealer install it. Any guesses on how much this would cost?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2013
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2007 C230
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From: Columbus, GA
'25 MB GLE 450, w/airmatic
I really like the flat bottom steering wheel that comes with the sports package, but not sure it's worth the tradeoff of a lessened comfort.
Anyone know if you could buy the sports steering wheel and have a MB dealer install it. Any guesses on how much this would cost?
Anyone know if you could buy the sports steering wheel and have a MB dealer install it. Any guesses on how much this would cost?
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From: Columbus, GA
'25 MB GLE 450, w/airmatic
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From: Sweden
S213
I hear this all the time, "hey, my car is factory fitted with this option" "hey, my car has been tuned at the factory before I bought it"
I have made dozens of visits to both Bremen and Sindelfingen plant, the only "extra" parts you could choose other than the standard option list are the different Designo options.
There is no way to mix freely between options.
Mu guess is that he has ordered a GLA45 and is swapping the seats with a customer who wanted comfier seats, or maybe ordered them as a spare part installing them that way.
I have made dozens of visits to both Bremen and Sindelfingen plant, the only "extra" parts you could choose other than the standard option list are the different Designo options.
There is no way to mix freely between options.
Mu guess is that he has ordered a GLA45 and is swapping the seats with a customer who wanted comfier seats, or maybe ordered them as a spare part installing them that way.
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Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 457
Likes: 16
From: Columbus, GA
'25 MB GLE 450, w/airmatic
I hear this all the time, "hey, my car is factory fitted with this option" "hey, my car has been tuned at the factory before I bought it"
I have made dozens of visits to both Bremen and Sindelfingen plant, the only "extra" parts you could choose other than the standard option list are the different Designo options.
There is no way to mix freely between options.
Mu guess is that he has ordered a GLA45 and is swapping the seats with a customer who wanted comfier seats, or maybe ordered them as a spare part installing them that way.
I have made dozens of visits to both Bremen and Sindelfingen plant, the only "extra" parts you could choose other than the standard option list are the different Designo options.
There is no way to mix freely between options.
Mu guess is that he has ordered a GLA45 and is swapping the seats with a customer who wanted comfier seats, or maybe ordered them as a spare part installing them that way.
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From: Boston Area
2021 Mojave Silver E450, 2024 Black on Black Jaguar F-pace P400, 2011 335d (RIP), 2010 E350 (sold)
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
A friend in Dallas wanted an ML350 Bluetec spec'ed somewhat differently & Tuscaloosa obliged via Park Place in Dallas. It took 9 months wait and US$93,000 on a base of approx 53K.
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From: Whitefield, NH
2015 C300 Sport: Palladium, Premium, Multimedia, Leather, BLIS
One member here reported that he was able to order the Sport open pore Ash trim with his standard W205, so I guess there is a special order option available in the US. Ask your salesperson about this.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
That is the kind of thing the SA plant would readily accommodate. Tick the box & they will build it.
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From: Sweden
S213
I really do not get why the US market is so limited regarding the available options, Everything seems bundled in packages?
Over here there are a lot more boxes that can be checked, but unfortunately most of the options are far more expencive.
Over here there are a lot more boxes that can be checked, but unfortunately most of the options are far more expencive.
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From: London, UK
S205 C200 Sport
Black ash would have looked good on my sport but in the UK, it's only available on the AMG line.
Member
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 97
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From: London, UK
S205 C200 Sport
More people rock up to a dealer and expect to drive away that same day in a new car!
Having packages make there less combinations I guess.
Last edited by W124-FTW; Dec 16, 2014 at 11:24 AM.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Some of it is building down to a sticker price in the US. The US gets the cars cheaper than any other market in the world other than Saudi where you can buy a Porsche without airbags.
Something has to give. Hopefully with W205 there will be less trimming because they are pushing up prices now that it is no longer the entry level car for Benz.
In the W204 & 203 there was all sorts of trimming under the skin for US models to meet competitive sticker price. Things like Partronic & Distronic were not offered for a long time. An SA car would have a brake wear sensor on every wheel. A US car only on the LHS front. The Auxilliary coolant pump was deleted from many W204's so the heater did not work properly, Most cars were fitted with MBTex & not leather & the list of trimming goes on & on. SA had the W204 build contract for the US with top up from Bremen & Sindelfingen. At first they scratched their heads at the wierd spec on US cars but got used to just building them as ordered.
The US is definitely an instant gratification market where many cars are not ordered but bought off the lot. SA is quite the reverse. People know what they want & are willing to wait for it. Most cars here are built to order & not for stock.
Something has to give. Hopefully with W205 there will be less trimming because they are pushing up prices now that it is no longer the entry level car for Benz.
In the W204 & 203 there was all sorts of trimming under the skin for US models to meet competitive sticker price. Things like Partronic & Distronic were not offered for a long time. An SA car would have a brake wear sensor on every wheel. A US car only on the LHS front. The Auxilliary coolant pump was deleted from many W204's so the heater did not work properly, Most cars were fitted with MBTex & not leather & the list of trimming goes on & on. SA had the W204 build contract for the US with top up from Bremen & Sindelfingen. At first they scratched their heads at the wierd spec on US cars but got used to just building them as ordered.
The US is definitely an instant gratification market where many cars are not ordered but bought off the lot. SA is quite the reverse. People know what they want & are willing to wait for it. Most cars here are built to order & not for stock.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Dec 16, 2014 at 11:29 AM. Reason: typo
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From: Boston Area
2021 Mojave Silver E450, 2024 Black on Black Jaguar F-pace P400, 2011 335d (RIP), 2010 E350 (sold)
Some of it is building down to a sticker price in the US. The US gets the cars cheaper than any other market in the world other than Saudi where you can buy a Porsche without airbags.
Something has to give. Hopefully with W205 there will be less trimming because they are pushing up prices now that it is no longer the entry level car for Benz.
In the W204 & 203 there was all sorts of trimming under the skin for US models to meet competitive sticker price. Things like Partronic & Distronic were not offered for a long time. An SA car would have a brake wear sensor on every wheel. A US car only on the LHS front. The Auxilliary coolant pump was deleted from many W204's so the heater did not work properly, Most cars were fitted with MBTex & not leather & the list of trimming goes on & on. SA had the W204 build contract for the US with top up from Bremen & Sindelfingen. At first they scratched their heads at the wierd spec on US cars but got used to just building them as ordered.
The US is definitely an instant gratification market where many cars are not ordered but bought off the lot. SA is quite the reverse. People know what they want & are willing to wait for it. Most cars here are built to order & not for stock.
Something has to give. Hopefully with W205 there will be less trimming because they are pushing up prices now that it is no longer the entry level car for Benz.
In the W204 & 203 there was all sorts of trimming under the skin for US models to meet competitive sticker price. Things like Partronic & Distronic were not offered for a long time. An SA car would have a brake wear sensor on every wheel. A US car only on the LHS front. The Auxilliary coolant pump was deleted from many W204's so the heater did not work properly, Most cars were fitted with MBTex & not leather & the list of trimming goes on & on. SA had the W204 build contract for the US with top up from Bremen & Sindelfingen. At first they scratched their heads at the wierd spec on US cars but got used to just building them as ordered.
The US is definitely an instant gratification market where many cars are not ordered but bought off the lot. SA is quite the reverse. People know what they want & are willing to wait for it. Most cars here are built to order & not for stock.
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From: WI
17 E43; 21 GLS580
Some of it is building down to a sticker price in the US. The US gets the cars cheaper than any other market in the world other than Saudi where you can buy a Porsche without airbags.
Something has to give. Hopefully with W205 there will be less trimming because they are pushing up prices now that it is no longer the entry level car for Benz.
In the W204 & 203 there was all sorts of trimming under the skin for US models to meet competitive sticker price. Things like Partronic & Distronic were not offered for a long time. An SA car would have a brake wear sensor on every wheel. A US car only on the LHS front. The Auxilliary coolant pump was deleted from many W204's so the heater did not work properly, Most cars were fitted with MBTex & not leather & the list of trimming goes on & on. SA had the W204 build contract for the US with top up from Bremen & Sindelfingen. At first they scratched their heads at the wierd spec on US cars but got used to just building them as ordered.
The US is definitely an instant gratification market where many cars are not ordered but bought off the lot. SA is quite the reverse. People know what they want & are willing to wait for it. Most cars here are built to order & not for stock.
Something has to give. Hopefully with W205 there will be less trimming because they are pushing up prices now that it is no longer the entry level car for Benz.
In the W204 & 203 there was all sorts of trimming under the skin for US models to meet competitive sticker price. Things like Partronic & Distronic were not offered for a long time. An SA car would have a brake wear sensor on every wheel. A US car only on the LHS front. The Auxilliary coolant pump was deleted from many W204's so the heater did not work properly, Most cars were fitted with MBTex & not leather & the list of trimming goes on & on. SA had the W204 build contract for the US with top up from Bremen & Sindelfingen. At first they scratched their heads at the wierd spec on US cars but got used to just building them as ordered.
The US is definitely an instant gratification market where many cars are not ordered but bought off the lot. SA is quite the reverse. People know what they want & are willing to wait for it. Most cars here are built to order & not for stock.
All you said above is correct, one thing though. C on US lots are so inanely optioned that most buyers have to order them anyway. Here Mercedes has to compete with other makers which option their cars much less and use more extensive "packages". I have no idea why MB hasn't figured out that such strategies are a win win for the manufacturer since they dramatically reduce assembly costs (only three or four versions of a vehicle), increase profits while reducing costs to the buyer and increase reliability since, again, there is more commonality of manufacture. They even help dealers since whatever is not on a package can be set out as a dealer installed option, thus fattening their wallets too.
With the C they attempted the package method but its still less than satisfactory. The other strange thing is the dumb keyless go system, why are there 2? One for just the ignition and another for the door opening!!!!
Come on! A 15000 dollar Honda Fit offers a more cogent keyless system standard! Not to mention a back up and side camera! Heck I had to spend the equivalent of a whole Honda Fit to equip the C to the standard of a CRV touring.
I'm not complaining, simply pointing out plain deficiencies that should be easy to correct. Manufacturer eccentricities should not be an answer to outdated practices that cost not only more to the consumer, but that also strangle manufacturer profits.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
You make a lot of sense but the German big 3 all play this options game that very quickly ramps up the price of the car. Cars from the East tend to come fully equipped. e.g. A Lexus in SA really has no options. It comes fully loaded. The German strategy obviously works for them. MBUSA does it's own thing right down to nomenclature. I would love to be a fly on the wall when some of the decisions are made. Why is the Light coloured Fineline Limewood/Linden Wood finish not an option in the US? Less complexity?
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
I am curious as to how some of the trimming you mention can affect the build cost. Sure the pump and sensor are pretty clear, not sure how much savings they provide though. But the parktronic/distronic and MBTex are just options. If you mean it in the "you pay less so you don't get all the goodies" way then ok, but if the customer pays for the options how does that not make money for MB? Sure if they don't need to outfit the plant for distronic I can see some savings, but that is the whole plant, they wouldn't be able to build in these features for other markets. I don't see where the cost savings is once the capability is there. Am I missing something?
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From: WI
17 E43; 21 GLS580
You make a lot of sense but the German big 3 all play this options game that very quickly ramps up the price of the car. Cars from the East tend to come fully equipped. e.g. A Lexus in SA really has no options. It comes fully loaded. The German strategy obviously works for them. MBUSA does it's own thing right down to nomenclature. I would love to be a fly on the wall when some of the decisions are made. Why is the Light coloured Fineline Limewood/Linden Wood finish not an option in the US? Less complexity?
I understand the "Luxury" of getting what you "want" but I think the outrageous cost of doing so doesn't so much "pad" profits, it also increase costs. I bet that the option "catalogue" doesn't increase Mercedes bottom line that much due to the inherent costs of offering it in the first place, however, as you point out, I doubt that our opinion will carry any further than this site
. My guess is that as long as they are making money it doesn't matter much to the bosses.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Inquiring minds want to know
I understand the "Luxury" of getting what you "want" but I think the outrageous cost of doing so doesn't so much "pad" profits, it also increase costs. I bet that the option "catalogue" doesn't increase Mercedes bottom line that much due to the inherent costs of offering it in the first place, however, as you point out, I doubt that our opinion will carry any further than this site. My guess is that as long as they are making money it doesn't matter much to the bosses.
I understand the "Luxury" of getting what you "want" but I think the outrageous cost of doing so doesn't so much "pad" profits, it also increase costs. I bet that the option "catalogue" doesn't increase Mercedes bottom line that much due to the inherent costs of offering it in the first place, however, as you point out, I doubt that our opinion will carry any further than this site
. My guess is that as long as they are making money it doesn't matter much to the bosses.
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From: Boston Area
2021 Mojave Silver E450, 2024 Black on Black Jaguar F-pace P400, 2011 335d (RIP), 2010 E350 (sold)
MBUSA obviously believes that at some point sticker shock will put off buyers. It is a very competitive market. I've looked after the 203 & 204 forums for a long while. I've lived in Dallas & the Bay Area in the US. In automotive mass production every cent you can save means greater profit. Every ounce of complexity you can drive out of plants = greater margin & profit. The US W204's ended up having so much deleted from them that was standard in ROW that they were able to delete the fuse box in the end of the dash. I've only given a few examples. Avantgarde and Elegance models in ROW come standard with leather ~ it is not an option.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
I am with you on manufacturing costs, I am just not familiar with the cuts exclusive to the USA. The rest are just options. Sure things like leather standard would call for a higher base price, and I am confident that this is what they are seriously trying to avoid here. I guess what I am most interested in is what is not available here on the W205 that is available elsewhere (like the rear climate control). I am also curious about the same fore the w204, but more as an interesting point of discussion.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Dec 16, 2014 at 08:49 PM.
