Hello all -

First post, but have been trolling these forums for a while. Hopefully this question is in the correct place. If not, let me know and I can move it. Also, I searched for this specific topic and didn't see it, so sorry if this has been asked 1000 times and I just missed it. Here we go

My wife and I are looking to do ED next April on a 2020 C63S coupe. We're excited for the experience, but also want to make sure we understand the car we are getting. Some of the MB website is a little unclear in its detail, specifically concerning the extra body packages. As an example, we have decided to get the following body packages on the car:

• B26 = AMG Aero package
• DC1 = AMG Night Package
• DC4 = Exterior Carbon fiber package

At one point we were thinking about also getting the DE7 - Carbon Fiber II package along with the above-mentioned packages, but were concerned there was a lot of duplication in getting all 4 of the packages? We are hoping that the three packages we've chosen above include all the pieces noted in the Carbon Fiber II Package, but just in black?

Our second concern is making sure that the 3 body packages we have chosen also remove all the chrome pieces noted on the car (front end, windows, etc.)? Based on what I am reading in the 2020 DOG, and on MB's website, I think we are good. But I just wanted to see if anyone might have some recent experience with these packages and the ordering process, and if I am missing something?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Great choice. European Delivery is the way to go. I did it earlier this year. Picked up at the beginning of May and stayed until the end of June. Dropped it off in Bremerhaven and it arrived about 10 weeks later here at the West Coast. I'd recommend you consider moving it to May or even June, though. There can still be snow in April and many of the great mountain pass roads will still be closed. I didn't get to drive most of the pass roads I wanted until June. There was a lot of snow in the mountains this year and it didn't wanna melt. Just something to consider depending on what your plans are with the car. Also, I recommend you request delivery at the Center of Excellence. It's a special delivery only available to AMG, S-Class and CLS buyers and the spots are limited. It's in a smaller facility next to the delivery center and the experience is much more personalized including a catered 3 course meal.

I've got all 4 packages on my 2019. Yes, you'll get all the parts, but if you don't get the Carbon Fiber II package, then the rear diffuser and front A-wing will all be gloss black. There's been a huge confusion about the side sills and unfortunately even with the 2020 the side sills will always be gloss black if you get the Aero package. I'm still in discussion with MBUSA on how they want to resolve this, because the package price doesn't change if you get the CF packages and the Aero package, even though you don't get all the advertised carbon pieces. Everything in the package description is indeed carbon, except the side sills in conjunction with Aero package. I believe the latest DOG actually clarifies this now.

Yes, if you get the Night Package, there is no chrome, except for the door handles. The keyless-go option, which is standard in the USA makes the door handles chrome instead of body color. I don't mind it too much, but it's a bit odd.

Here are a couple of shots of mine from the delivery day. It shows all the pieces. So if you don't get DE7, then the front is all gloss black instead of the carbon A-wing that I have and the rear diffuser will also be all gloss black. As you can see with Aero and CF II the main part of the diffuser is carbon, but the more aggressive lip is still gloss black.




Couple of more shots with better light to show the CF in the front and back. BTW, as you can see the front plate gets removed cleanly, so if you live in a state with no front plate requirement or just don't want to mount a front plate either way, it is still clean when the car gets to the USA.

 

Hi superswiss -

Thanks so much for the great detail and pics. Your answers were great, and really helped us a lot. We are getting slow and non-detailed responses from the dealerships on these questions, so it was nice to get some clarity from your response.

Man, that is a gorgeous car. If I am understanding what you are saying correctly, it seems strange that buying all 4 packages seems to eliminate some of the carbon pieces for the car, versus black gloss? If I am correct, I am surprised MB hasn't fixed that yet in their ordering process? But maybe I am misunderstanding something? If you don't mind, I have a couple more questions:

1. Based on where everything landed with your car and the 4 packages, are you going to keep the side sills as is in gloss black, or replace them with carbon at some point?
2. Based on the Carbon Fiber II package being the rear diffuser and front A-wing when getting the other 3 packages, do you think the carbon is worth it versus how the gloss black looks? We are the getting the Graphite Gray Magno paint, and are curious if the carbon in those 2 areas will be very noticeable.
3. Thanks so much for all the detail concerning ED, and the things to start scheduling. We are going to start setting dates for picking up at the Center of Excellence in Sindelfingen, doing a MB museum tour in Stuttgart, and then visiting Affalterbach for a private AMG factory tour. I am curious if there's anything else you would recommend during those days? We were curious if there were other things such as tours to do in Sindelfingen, or possibly other tours to do at the AMG factory in Affalterbach.
4. If you really have the time, are there any other tips or advice you would have around MB, AMG, or that area in Germany? We are thinking of staying 3 days in Stuttgart to use as a base while we pick up the car in Sindelfingen, and visit Affalterbach. From there we are thinking about going to Cologne and Nurburg, and then possibly dropping off the car in Amsterdam.
5. How long did it take to get the car in California once you left it at the port Bremerhaven?
6. Concerning the front licence plate did they drill holes at all, or was it just held on by tape? I am curious if you had to request this in order for that to happen, as I have read other posts stating that they drilled holes and owners had to get plugs to fill them. We don't legally have to put a license plate on the front of our car, so we'd prefer to avoid any holes to the front if we can.

Again, thanks so much for your time and the information. It really has helped a lot in our decision making.

 

Thanks and you are welcome. Yeah, the Aero package is really the one that screws things up. For some reason the Aero design side sills aren't made in carbon fiber. Don't know why. The gloss black ones are actually quite cheaply made, unfortunately. My passenger side one is already falling off in the front and I'm gonna have to get it fixed. I'm almost due for my 10k service, so I'm gonna have it addressed. Don't get me wrong, visually the Aero package is awesome and changes the car's look so much that I would get it again, but it'd be nice if the quality was better.

As for your questions.

1. I actually like them in gloss black. It works with the rest of the car, basically everything down low is gloss black and then as you go up higher it has the carbon accents. It optically works I think. As far as I know, there are no Aero side sills in carbon, but this is what I'm still working out with MBUSA. The two options that we discussed is for MBUSA to replace them with the same design side sills but in carbon fiber if such a thing exists, or otherwise get a partial credit on the package. Not sure where it's gonna end up. I'm actually no very happy with the lack of response from MBUSA. I'm working with one of their managers there, and he hasn't even returned my last voicemail. In all honesty, though, it's not very high up on my list, so I haven't really spent time on it.
2. In all honesty, I'm not sure I would get the carbon packages again. You have to be really close up to the car to actually notice that it is carbon fiber. I still kinda feel with my car being black, that it does add some contrast, even though you can't really tell that it is carbon unless you take a close look. So, frankly I'm torn. With the Gray Magno paint you have contrast either way. The gloss black actually looks awesome with Gray Magno. There's a video on YouTube with one. Search for "Will Motivation C63S". However, I would seriously rethink the idea of getting a Magno paint. It adds significant lead time to your order, and puts it much more at risk of getting delayed. There have been numerous delays due to Magno paint for the 2019s and the last thing you want to happen is find yourself in Germany and given a loaner because your car isn't ready.
3. So I'm kinda the wrong person to answer this. I'm originally from Switzerland and I have an acquaintance in the Stuttgart area. I didn't really do much touristy stuff. I was basically living in Europe for 2 months (sort of a sabbatical), visiting my family and friends and partially working. There's lots to see in the Stuttgart area and over the years I've been to many places, but a few come to mind that are worth seeing. The town of Heilbronn is worth seeing. It's on the river Neckar. The Technik Museum in Sinsheim. They have one of the Concords you can go inside and a bunch of other stuff. The Motorworld Region Stuttgart/V8 Hotel. It's a sort of museum of cars. It's actually a privately owned exotic car storage place. The cars are all behind glass to see and there are some classic cars etc. You can spend the night at the V8 Hotel next to it if you want. There are some other places, but the names aren't coming to mind at the moment. As far as Delivery, Museum and Affalterbach is concerned, they are all in different locations, 45 minutes to an hour drive from each other. The museum is closed on Mondays. My delivery was on a Monday, and I arrived on Sunday. Actually I arrived in London on Saturday and spent the day with my sister-in-law and then continued to Stuttgart. On Sunday, my acquaintance and I went to the Black Forest. There's a nice area where you can walk along the tree tops on human made structures (https://www.stripes.com/lifestyle/pa...istas-1.497065). As I mentioned earlier, April/May can be tricky weather-wise and it had actually snowed that day in the morning, so I was walking in my sneakers in the snow, not expecting to need winter boots. Was still a nice place to see. Then on Monday we did the delivery in the morning, had lunch there and then the factory tour in the afternoon. Next day we went to Affalterbach for the private AMG tour and then the museum afterwards. That was pretty much two full days. For me it was visiting family and friends and doing a big road trip through Europe essentially. I drove about 6300 miles in 8 weeks, went as far north as Copenhagen and down to Italy. My wife joined for the last two weeks. She's not a car person, and doesn't like driving fast or on twisty mountain roads, so it wouldn't have been enjoyable for either of us if we had gone together, but we met up in Copenhagen, which was honestly a surprisingly great city to visit. We both enjoyed it very much. Spent 3 days there and then drove down to Bremerhaven where I ultimately dropped off the car. Bremen is a nice place to visit. We then rented a car and drove to Hamburg and spent a couple of days there before flying to London to spend a week with her family before flying back home. So that's just a few highlights.
4. Much said above already. If you are going to Nurburg, I assume you are planning to stop at the Nurburgring. Obviously something that must be done on a trip like this. I recommend going during the week. The track is open from 6pm to 8pm if I remember correctly. You can see the schedule online. The weekends are nuts and more expensive. Way too many people and more likely for the track to be closed due to accidents. If you ask most Germans, Cologne is not high on the list of places to visit. I've only driven past it. Regarding dropping off in Amsterdam, see 5
5. Ok, so first off dropping off at any of the locations outside of Germany adds up to 3 weeks to the shipping time of the car to the USA. I would not recommend that unless you wanna wait longer to get your car back. The car will be shipped from Bremerhaven, so it has to be first transported to Bremerhaven. Within Germany that's not so bad, but transporting it from another country back to Germany is a different story, hence the 3 extra weeks. That's why I dropped it off in Bremerhaven. No need for the car to be transported to the port first. It was immediately assigned a vessel when I dropped it off, and it was on its way a week later. BTW, they gonna ask you to get the car washed before dropping it off. If it's dirty, the shipper may refuse it and it will have to get washed on your dime, adding additional time. I found a great place in Bremerhaven to get it washed. My front was caked in dead insects from the drive up to Copenhagen and back. You will kill tons of insects at that time of the year, especially when going fast on the Autobahn. It took about 11 weeks until I was reunited with it in California. It spent over three weeks at the VPC in LA. They say 2-4 weeks at the VPC, so mine was about average. ED cars go through a thorough inspection and get restored to factory conditions. They also need to be reprogrammed. The engine is programmed for European octane levels and has to be programmed for US octane levels and the US navigation maps have to be loaded. Mine was most likely on the longer side, because I actually incurred some damage while driving in Europe. I scraped the rear bumper and one of the front wheels slightly, so it definitely had to go to the body shop at the VPC.
6. Yes, I'm pretty sure they drilled holes. I have the license plate holder with the EU plate on it, and there are screws pertruding at the back that clearly went into the bumper. So yes, I'm pretty sure they filled it and repainted the front bumper at the VPC. Not sure if they did that because my car was in the body shop anyway for the aforementioned damages, or if they do that with every ED cars. It was certainly a nice surprise. California requires front license plates, but since the bumper is all clean again, I decided to risk it. Had no license plate in the past and got a fix-it ticket after 8 years of not having one, so I had front plates on my last two cars. We'll see what happens this time. If I get another fix-it ticket, I'll probably get a tow hook mount and get it signed off, and then just remove it again.

Hope that helps. There will be a lot of information in the Welcome package that MBUSA will send you. There are even pre-packaged trips through their travel agency where they book hotels and everything for you. That's something to consider if you want more suggestion of where to go. The MBUSA ED people are very knowledgeable and responsive. I was pretty much in constant communication with them throughout the process. The problem are the dealerships. Most know nothing or very little about the process. Luckily this was my second ED, however, my first one with MB. The previous one was with Audi, but they are similar enough that I could help them along. I would say plan to place the order as early as you can, especially if you are going through with the Magno color. The more lead time, the better to avoid production delays. I placed my order at the beginning of last November for a May 6 delivery.

 

Hi superswiss -

That was all great feedback. Thanks again. We put our order in last night for the car, for an April 9th ED date. We don't have much flexibility on our dates, so will plan accordingly if the weather precludes us from going all to all the places we want to visit. We are planning on a week in Germany, and then another week in London to visit family and friends. It looks like we are prolly going to drop the car off in Stuttgart once we're done, but we'll see if those plans change at some point in the coming months.

The dealerships seem to be a little lost on ED, as we started asking questions last night about how we sign up for the various tours to start making our reservations. We specifically asked about picking up the car at the Center of Excellence, and the dealer stated there's no reason to ask for that as all the AMGs are delivered there. Based on what you mentioned, and other things I have read on the forums, I think he is mistaken? He mentioned he is going to start a 3-way conversation between us and the person who runs the ED program for North America, so maybe that will be the best way to get our questions answered, and start booking the things we want.

Based on your feedback, I think we are going to hold off on the Carbon Fiber II package, and just get the other 3. We can buy those pieces individually later if we don't like the look of the gloss black, but for now it appears MB needs to adjust their ordering process around those packages in order for it to make sense to get all 4.

We'll prolly be doing the Nurburgring on a Monday or Tuesday, which sounds like the best plan based on your feedback. We won't be driving the car on it, but we are thinking about taking a ride with a driver, and then taking a few laps in a rented car. We did a BMW ED years ago in Munich, and removed this from our itinerary at the time. Based on that constant regret, we'd love to fit that in this time so we can experience it on some level. Have you done either of those things there? I was going to post to the forums for some advice on the best ways to do this, and any advice for people/companies to go through.

Anyway, thanks again for all your help. You really have helped us get some clarity on this process, and given us some great insights to maximize our experience. Now here is to hoping we can get it all sorted with MB so that we can take advantage of everything on the trip. Hope this finds you well, and have a great weekend!

 

Are you planning to drive to London? Be aware that you are not allowed to drive in the UK with the headlights adjusted for LHD, because it blinds other drivers. I was planning to drive to London as well, and was trying to figure out if our cars have the tourist mode that is available in EU spec cars. What it does is it adjusts the headlights for RHD, so you can legally drive in the UK. After back and forward with the ED folks and then finally confirming once I took delivery of the car, the US spec cars don't have the tourist mode. One option is to buy stickers at the border that you can put on the headlights to cut off the beam, so it doesn't blind the other drivers, but I ended up just not driving to London and instead drop off the car in Germany and then fly to London.

Yeah forget about the dealership helping you much with ED. Pretty much everything is gonna get organized by the ED department at MBUSA and they know what they are doing. Once you hear from Anne Doris Korallus, she's the one running everything, you can arrange all the details with her. The dealership can make changes to the order etc., and collect payment etc. and handle registration once the car gets here, but that's about it.

I've always taken my cars on the Nurburgring. I've never rented a car specifically for the Nurburgring, but I always wanted to do the Ring Taxi, but haven't so far. Renting cars for the Nurburgring is very pricey and the insurance for regular rental cars doesn't cover the Nurburging. The EU insurance for your car doesn't cover the Nurburgring, either, so yes it's definitely a risk doing it in your car and if you crash it, it's gonna make for one bad trip, but you only live once, hehe . I didn't go ***** out or anything. It took me about 9-10 minutes for a lap. I was using the Track Pace app, and did actually get faster and more confident with every lap. But if you don't feel comfortable taking your car, I can understand. The Ring Taxi is definitely a good way to experience it. They say you need about a 100 laps before you have the track memorized and experiencing it as a passenger is a good way to start.

 

We aren't planning on driving to the UK in the car. We will stay mostly in London, so no real need for a car between the taxis, train and walking. Thanks for the heads up though. We are actually talking about changing our itinerary a little more, based on feedback with you and others. I'd be interested to see what you think about these tentative plans based on your experience with the traffic and weather that time of year?

• Tues, 4/7
  • Fly to Stuttgart

• Wed, 4/8
  • Pick up car, tour, etc.
  • Stay in Stuttgart
• Thurs, 4/9
  • Affalterbach tour
  • Stay in Stuttgart
• Fri, 4/10
  • Drive to Dresden (4.5 hrs) and stay in Dresden
• Sat, 4/11
  • Dresden
• Sun, 4/12
  • Dresden
• Mon, 4/13
  • Drive Dresden to Cologne (5.5 hours)
  • Stay Cologne
• Tues, 4/14
  • See Cologne
• Wed, 4/15
  • Go to Nurburgring for day (1 hr from Cologne)
  • Stay in Cologne
• Thurs, 4/15
  • Drive from Cologne to Stuttgart
  • Drop off car

Yeah, I am really excited for the Nurburgring, but can imagine the feeling from myself, and my wife, if something happened to the car. hahahaha, Jesus, that would make for a depressing day. Anyway, we'll for sure do the Ring Taxi, and then decide from there. We are just starting to look into all the options available. But it's such a famous and storied track we have to at least go there and see it, and get on the track in some way. You make it sound awesome, so I am excited to get there and do it!!

 

Yeah that looks doable, unless the weather doesn't play ball. The car does come with summer performance tires, so if you get snow that week, you'll be toast. You can risk it, but I would not. If you get caught driving on summer tires with snow on the road, you'll be paying a steep fine. Hope for nice April weather. This year it would have been bad. April was bad and May was raining most of the time. I was glad I stayed through June. June was the complete opposite of May. Sunny pretty much everyday and temps in the high 70s to low 80s. It was too hot if anything.

The Nurburgring is awesome indeed. You can take it easy. It's technically a public toll road, so normal traffic rules apply including driving on the right. Technically you are not allowed to drive the racing line, but many do. However, you can just stay on the right and signal to others with the blinker that you saw them and that they can pass you. I would say plan to do at least one lap in your car, but don't exceed your own comfort level.

 

Thanks for the feedback again. You are spot on though with your suggestions. If there's any hint of snow or bad weather we'll plan accordingly. I have owned rear wheel drive cars in snow and other bad weather and it just isn't worth it. We spoke to the dealership about it on Thursday and they shared the same concerns as you. We're going to make contingency plans based on the weather.

Your last response inspired us!! You do only live once. We figured we'll have close to 1000 miles on the engine by the time we get to the end of the trip, so we contacted the Nurburgring about getting a driver to drive a few laps with us in our car. I have watched videos of drivers acting as guides around the ring in people's cars, giving advice on when to slow down and the next turn, etc. We're going to try and schedule that for 3-4 laps. It'd be fun to let them do a lap too, so we can see it done with more competence that I am going to bring to the table

If you don't mind, I wanted to ask one more question about your car. I am thinking about doing a Suntek PPF wrap on the front part of the car. I am curious if you have wrapped your car? If so, what type of PPF did you use, and how much of the car did you end up covering? Any car I have owned has gotten beaten up mostly in the front end, so I figure this will supply a modicum of protection. Having said that, after a few years paint is going to get beat up, so I will just have to deal with that reality. I just wanted to see if you have any thoughts or feedback concerning this and your car.

As always, thanks again and hope you had a great weekend!!

 

Yes, I've wrapped it. I went w/o any protection in Europe, but the roads are much cleaner there and I didn't get any chips. Once the car got here I had it wrapped. I did the entire front (everything from the windshield forward, including headlights), mirror housings, door handle cups (protection against finger nail scratches), door edges and rear bumper. I did it all with XPEL Ultimate. This is a pretty standard package to protect the high impact areas. I had the same done on my previous car, but with 3M at the time. Held up well for 6+ years.

 

It's off-topic, but I have to say this - superswiss - your answers are just amazing . Many thanks for your time!

 

That's great. Thanks again for all your feedback. Once again, it has helped us immensely in our build and planning process.

 

superswiss, I've poured over this entire exchange with you and Perrin and found answers to some questions/concerns I have about my ED and additional info of which I wasn't aware. Particularly the POC for MBUSA ED Program. I've been dealing with a guy at a dealership in El Cajon, CA who has been quite helpful and well versed in the EDP. I stumbled upon him on a search for EDP info about a month ago and I will be headed over to get my E63 in June. I'm already scheduled at the Center of Excellence and will be taking the AMG tour as well.

Should I contact Ann or MBUSA at this point?

I loath that bloody front plate holder and was hoping I could take a jack mount over with me to forego those blasted holes as it isn't required in my State but I'm sure it won't be allowed. The info about drop off locations as it relates to shipping time and the pre-wash requirement is extremely valuable, thanks again. My guy has mentioned the dealership possibly assisting with the filling and painting of those holes and with time and therapy I'll get over it.

This was the first thread I found about the EDP so I'll close and continue my quest for info. Cheers RB

 

Congrats on doing ED. Have you received the Welcome email from Ann/MBUSA yet? She'll normally contact you with a ton of information. It's a lengthy email with several attachments including your order confirmation/invoice which you will need to pick up the car. W/o it they won't hand over the car to you in Germany. You'll get a final order confirmation once the car is paid for or the financing is arranged (You have to pay for it about 30 days before your delivery date). There are also several forms in that email that you have to fill out and send back. One has to be notarized. It's things like power of attorney, so they can import the car on your behalf, customs stuff and registration information etc. This all needs to be sent back to them no later than a month before delivery I believe or it might be earlier, because they have to arrange the insurance and registration for the car etc. They also need copies of your passport etc. You should definitely be in touch with Ann and her team at some point. You still have a bunch of time with a delivery in June, so if they haven't contacted you yet, then they'll probably do it soon. I'm not sure how you can be scheduled at the Center of Excellence already, because that's what Ann and her team does.

Regarding the front license plate. As I mentioned above, my car arrived with the front Euro plate removed and the bumper restored to factory condition. My car was at the VPC for a little over three weeks. I actually had some minor damage I incurred in Europe and it was all fixed at the VPC, including restoring the front bumper. Here in CA, the front license plate is required, but since they restored the bumper I'm currently doing w/o one. There's a bunch of stuff that takes place at the VPC like loading the North American maps, reprogramming the engine for our octane levels and in general they are supposed to restore the car to factory conditions. When you drop off the car, you'll go over it with the person there and they'll fill out a condition report. Point out any damage that you want fixed and as long as it is on the report the VPC should take care of it. I didn't mention the front license plate at all. They restored the bumper of their own accord.