mcdohl

Your dealer is lying to you. I have a print out from Navstar with an order number for a car I am order back in Feb which went into production decade 3/3 which was last friday.I know the order number is accurate and correct, as the reason I needed the order number was to extend my current lease which expired in Jan as well and MBF extended my lease till June as Mercedes USA claims my car will arrive at my dealer between May 10th till 20th. My car was a custom built car, E550A with special order Black Nappa leather seats and black ash wood trim, and black roof liner as the only way to get black ash wood trim is by ordering Black Nappa leather seats. My car will include a $250 custom order charge as my dealer confirm that with MB USA and advised me about it before the order was changed back in the middle of Feb when the wood trim option opened up. He was also able to get MBUSA to confirm there would be no extra charge for Black Nappa Leather upgrade beside the special order charge on 550A.


My Navstar print out includes all the codes for all the options I ordered which I listed above in the post.

I also stated my dealer claimed I was getting the first custom order built car, which I highly doubt and more than likely the first custom build car for his dealership. I am in Los Angeles so it is possible that dealer got higher and better allocation than your dealer as MB sells the most convertibles in So Cal worldwide and my dealer is the 4nd largest dealer in the US for MB as well. So it is very possible that smaller dealers got lower and later allocation dates.

Btw not sure if you noticed, I posted the online manual for the E-Class Cab in another thread, and my dealer email me that link today. So my dealer seems to be on the ball honestly.

srice

The "Launch Edition" cars are already on the ground at the ports, or will be there in the next couple of days. They will be held at the ports until closer to the launch date; then they will be shipped to the dealers. They are all E550's. (So much for "E350A will be produced first.) I have my order for a Launch Edition car and it looks like this:

E550A
Paint: 786 Olivine Grey
Uph: 254 Natural Beige
Options:
P02 P2:Premium II
P88 Launch Edition
R01 Tires
104 Rear Deck Spoiler
16P Launch Vehicle
318 318 Wood Trim Package
359 mbrace
409 Multi-Contour Seats Front
731 Burl Walnut Wood Trim
740 Black Soft Top
786 18" AMG 6-twin-spoke Wheel

As far as I can tell, the only thing it doesn't have is Distronic Plus. I have it on my S63, and I like it, but I'll live without it on the Cab.

BogeyGolfer

More details on the "Launch Editions":

http://mbgtown.wordpress.com/2010/02...rtible-orders/

srice

So here's an interesting one. The "Launch Edition" units, as well as the first "stock" E350 Cab's have been sitting at the ports for three weeks already and they won't be sent to the dealers until the first week of May. That means the cars will sit at the port for seven weeks.

The official release date is May 10. While that could change (the dealer launch meeting is this Wednesday), it makes you wonder if they are holding the launch so production can catch up with expected demand.

mcdohl

My dealer claims the only car at the ports are "Launch Edition" E550A and Dealer Demo E350A currently. And the dealer demo can not be sold for 90 days from May 10 either. All the custom order cars started to be build as early as decade 3/3 and some are on boats to US as well and those are expected to arrive around launch date which is why my car is supposed to arrive at the dealership between 10-20 of May depending on how fast it gets processed at the port as my car is expected to arrive in port of Los Angeles around May 2nd (as long as their is no delays on the water as my car is on the water already left Germany on april 6th) according to my dealer. Of coarse cars going to East Coast and Texas will arrive about 10 days sooner than cars going to CA so those cars should have no problem reaching dealers by the 10th I assume unless car destined for CA where produced before cars headed to the East Coast and Texas because of the added shipping times.

mcdohl

I got a call from the dealer, my local dealer got the dealer Demo in over the weekend, it is a White E350A, P1, Appearance package. He let me drive it, the Aircap is kinda of neat and so is airscraf too.

Very impressed with the car, can not wait till I get mine in 3 weeks.

srice

And no pics??!!!

mcdohl

Sorry did not even think of taking pics of the dealer demo, LOL did not want to look like too big of a dork.

He told me that by default all the 2011 E-Class start in Comfort mode which means the cars starts in 2nd gear and you have to manually put them into Sport to get the car to start in first gear, even on the E550 as MBUSA did that so they could pass the minimum MPG requirement so they would not need to pay a fine.

So he said every time I start the car, I need to hit the sport bottom if I want to get some performance out of the car. That is the only bad thing about the car that I could see honestly. The seats were super comfortable compared to my CLK seats and It seems to have a little more leg room too as I do not need to have the seat all the way back in the E class like I did on the CLK but I do not think those 2-3 inches are going to make the back seat usable anyways.

BogeyGolfer

Did my test drive of the E350A this morning. Very impressed with the voice commands. Noted more room in the drivers-side footwell.

One thing I didn't like is that all dashboards are black and not color-coordinated like my CLK500.

I was told MB is considering a new larger 4 seater/4 door Cab tentatively called the "Ocean Drive" which will be on the S chassis to come out next year. This was shown as a concept car last year.

Expect to have my E550A on release date which is currently scheduled for 21 May although MB may change that date by a day or two.

Looking forward to a trip down to the Keys after I take delivery.

Germancar1

Sales people are so hilariously clueless. The Ocean Drive was a concept S-Class from a few years ago that will most likely NOT see production until the next generation S-Class arrives for 2013. It def won't be next year.


M

Txhurdle

Top up and top down. Couple with the Air Cap engaged as well.

1908

Mcdohl, I am trying to find a dealer to take an order. I sent you a PM.

christiaan

changing your E550 for the conv?

1908

Trying to!

srice

I spent some quality time today with the E350 Cab Demo. My dealer handed me the keys and said, "See you in a while." I put about 25 miles on the car, with a nice mix of both freeway and city streets. I was pleasantly surprised.

For a frame of reference, my wife has a 2007 SL550, which I drive a fair amount. My daily driver is an S63.

Some high points:
The AirCap really does work. There is a noticable difference on the freeway when it is deployed.
The A/C is more powerful than my wife's SL550. I was a little warm driving to the dealership in her car, but I was very comfortable while driving the E. (It was about 82 degrees today.)
The Stereo is at least as good as the SL, and maybe a little more powerful.
There is a single button to raise or lower all the windows, which is very convenient.
Fit and finish were typical Mercedes quality - very nice.
The seats were supportive and comfortable, and these were not the "Multi-contour" seats.
I noticed no structural rigidity issues. It felt very solid on the road. The SL feels a little "loose" with the top down. Not so the E.
With the top up, it was very quiet inside. Not quite as quiet as the SL, but pretty close.
Being able to open and close the top while driving (up to 25 mph), is really convenient.

The lows:
The E350 is a little underpowered for my tastes. I expect the E550 will be better.
The trunk space is nothing to brag about. It seems to be a little less than the A5 Cab. They swear to me it will hold two sets of golf clubs. (I forgot to take mine - my bad ) My guess is one set, with the driver out of the bag.
The color combo on the demo was odd. With the Tan Leather interior, the dash is dark brown leather. It looks strange with the black top. Why not a brown top to match the dark brown leather trim?

My S63 lease is up this month and I was a little worried about stepping "down" to the E. Not so any more. They tell me the Launch Edition will be there between the 10th and 15th and it's mine if I want it. I think I want it!

christiaan

Nice write up!... i think you will have to go with the 550

sheepdog

In reference to the golf clubs - no way on 2 bags. Was at the dealer last week with my clubs and a 3.5 pound carry bag. It just squeezes in (with the driver). Seemed actually a little tighter than my current clk cabrio. It would have taken the designers little or no effort to alter the interior of the trunk to easily accept one set of clubs and maybe could have changed it to accept 2 sets with carry bags. It is obvious that this is one of the things that MB and other cabrio manufacturers don't even think about. A real disappointment in a brand new model.

mcdohl

My dealer just called me to let me know my car arrived yesterday at Long Beach VPC and depending on how fast they process my car will determine when it arrives at the dealership. He is hoping they are able to process it by Friday and delivery it at the same time as 550A launch car which is supposed to arrive at the dealership on Sat. So they can delivery my car to me on Monday 10th official launch date for the car.

But he think more than likely it will not clear the VPC by this Friday and should arrive at the dealership some time next week and then the dealer will need 3-4 hours to prep the car before they delivery it to me but he is sure I will have my new car by Friday the 14th.

Very excited.

1908

Good news.
Living vicariously so I am excited for you!

I am also amazed that you are able to get this at most, one week after the launch car.

mcdohl

I ordered the car about 14 weeks ago, as I ordered my car on Feb 4, So at the end of the day, my car will be delivered to me about 15 weeks after ordering it.

The only reason why I am getting my custom order car so close to launch is because the dealer allowed me to customize their first 550A allotted car back when the order banks opened up.

But if you figure from time I ordered till the time I get the car, it will end up being around 14-15 weeks but that is an unfair way to look at it, as even tho the order bank was open, they did not start to produce this car till decade 3/2 for US production and my car was a decade 3/3 production. And from the time the car went into production till time I get the car is about 8 weeks which is about how long it takes to order a car from Germany till it is delivery to my local dealership according to my salesman anyways. Even tho people in Canada claim a car can be built and delivery to Western Canada in just over 1 month even tho cars going to Western Canada have to take a 21 day train ride.

Pennetta

I test drove the E350 and I brought my golf bag. With the drivers out it looks like you would get two carry bags in with the top down without a problem. I put my one bag in and saw the room that was remaining.

Germancar1

You really don't know that. Designing a convertible to fit golf bags is very low on their list of priorities. Structural rigidity and space for the top along with crash space have to factor in long before trunk capacity in a convertible.


M

sheepdog

Of course those are major concerns BUT there are simple things that could have been done simply by slightly adjusting the positioning of components such as the position of the first aid kid that hinders the available width of the trunk. Also making the trunk opening approximately 3/4 of an inch larger would have made putting a golf bag in the trunk so much easier. MB engineering is some of the most advanced in the industry. They certainly could have applied their expertise to overcome this shortcoming if they wanted to.

BogeyGolfer

Saw a Launch Edition yesterday. The proud owner picked it up Thursday, 13 May, and was raving about it.

I hope to have mine this next week.

Anyone get theirs yet?

mcdohl

I picked up my 550A Black/Black special order with black ash wood and black roof liner last night. I really like the car.