mrjoe

Just did a test drive in a E550 Coupe. Super car, fantastic engine.
Had P2, appearance pkg,wood pkg.
Now for the gripes.

1) Mbrace while standard in the E sedans is now unbelievably a $640 option on the E coupes. Salesman could not explain what was was going on, but seems illogical to me. Coupes start at same base prices at sedans.

2) Biggest dealbreaker for me the "leather". Now I have 2 vehicles with leather, so I know what it is. The MB website & brochure state E coupes have standard hand fitted leather. But dealer confirmed both e350/550 have MB tex - which is of course fancy processed vinyl.It feels stiff and artificial. If you want real "leather" it's another $1400 option. This is outrageous. The E550 starts at $57,000. Every other car in this price range (sans BMW I guess) gives you real leather. Car I drove stickered at $67K - and I am supposed to eat vinyl seats - no way. Besides the fact it's actually false advertising to call vinyl leather- something that it's not.

When salesman calls to followup, I will tell him only way I will buy is if they
add the "premium leather" and eat the cost, or I'm going with the Infiniti M56

nauticalx

I can understand your concerns on the MB Tex. The grip about the cost of an option on a Mercedes should be all but expected. Lastly, your request to the dealer to do a no cost swap of the interior of the vehicle is downright laughable and absurd. I hope you enjoy the new Infiniti I see in your future.

mrjoe

We'll see who's laughing if I drive the M56 up to the Benz dealer.
If we accept this crap what's next - back to steel wheels and alloys a option, or maybe
crank windows with power a option. As it is to get a 57K e550 up to the features of a Infiniti M56 you need to add the $6400 premium 2. I mean give me a break, you don't get HID headlights without a upgrade? Check the competition. A sucker is born every minute.

Dueclaws

No offense to anyone: I believe vehicle choices are personal, subject to perceived value, opinion, etc. Competition is great and helps drive improvements.

But, I owned an Infiniti "once": never again.

threeMBs

To O/P:

The dealer, who informed you that E coupes have MB tex instead of leather, has misinformed you. (Maybe he/she was thinking about recently introduced C coupe, which does not have leather as standard equipment).

E coupes infact come standard with leather. The extra charge of $1,370 is for Premium leather (a finer grade leather which is not as durable as standard leather). The only car that does not have leather as standard equipment in the US E class line up is E350 sedan.

LawRens

It's how badly you want the badge, and therefore how much you are willing to pay for it. Mercedes can demand price premiums for those options (premium leather, bixenon lighting, etc) because the public knows that it's a Benz.

But if you don't buy into all that hype, then bang for buck the Infiniti is your choice. But then why buy an Infiniti when you can have a Mustang 5.0? Faster, leather interior too, cheaper... Catch the slippery slope now?

mrjoe

Three MBs,

Wow, I can't believe the dealer/salespeople could make such a huge mistake. I actually wrote them and included exact wording of leather seating from MB website for the E550 coupe. They are telling me standard seating is MB-Tex. Have to say it certainly didn't smell like leather, and seemed pretty stiff when I drove it. Have to look into it further.

And thepinoc, your point is well taken, however in my case German or Japanese only,
and I am looking for a high quality, luxury car, something IMO the mustang is not.

threeMBs

OK you could do the following:

Take at look at E350 sedans at your dealer as well as C class sedans. You will see and feel what MB tex looks/feels like. Then take a look (and feel) leather in E350/550 coupe/cab or E550 sedans. The difference in look and especially feel between MB tex and standard leather is obvious. Premium lether is just a finer grade of the leather in E coupes already.

I have '10 E350 sedan with MB tex and '10 E550 coupe with standard leather. The difference is as described above.

mrjoe

Thanks for the advise, I will do that. Teach me to expect correct info from a car salesman.
Interesting twist, since In this case they are telling potential customers Leather is MB-tex - not too smart !

BigErnie

New guy and previous Caddilac owner. Just took delivery of my 2012 E550 cp! Worth the wait. Real leather and real fast. The Distronic package works great. Seats are great. No complaints just real eager to go drive.......

Germancar1

Hilarious, people still don't know real leather from MB tex, the latter of which is very convincing.

Even more hilarious is the misinformed salesperson.


I gotta ask that if you can't tell the difference between leather and vinyl what difference does it make which one you have????? LOL.


M

mrjoe

What is hilarious is that we are even discussing vinyl seating in a $60,000 car.
Last time I checked plastic does not smell or feel like leather

BenzMan369

Welcome to the forum and best wishes for safe and enjoyable driving. The stares you will get are almost as much fun as depressing the accelerator.

Please post pictures if possible, if you can let go of the steering wheel for a bit.

begone

What did you end up buying? And I was wondering how you were comparing the E550 Coupe to the M56 Sedan?

I feel you on the Leather vs MBTux, but I've driven almost every Infiniti and many cars in the Mercedes lineup - including the 2011 E550 Coupe. The Merc is an amazing machine and the only satisfaction you'll get from driving the Inifiniti is that you got a better price.

mrjoe

Hi,

I have not pulled the trigger yet, but am pretty much settled on the Benz. I like them both, to be honest a big deciding factor in favor of the Benz is I have a dealer 15 minutes away while the closest Infiniti is 2 hours.

babycheeks

i used to work at an infiniti dealership and i own an e550 coupe. driven both cars, a loaded m56 doesnt compare to the coupe..

mrjoe

Do you have the 2012 e550? If so how do you honestly like the new engine?
I am also having a tough time deciding between Premium 1 and 2. Like the ventilated seats/keyless go in P2, but it's a $6400 option.

babycheeks

yeah i got the 2012 coupe and i love it! quick car, extremely responsive and handles great. the m56 has a little lag when u step on the gas. i got all the options besides the driver assistance package. IMO that was the only thing that wasnt worth getting. i like having all the bells and whistles on my cars.

babycheeks

also in response to your question about the engine, i havent driven the older one to compare.

BenzMan369

Just to be clear, the P2 Package is $6,450, which is $2,450 more than the P1 Package you are also considering. You get some really nice toys for the extra cost over the P1 Pack in addition to those you mentioned, not the least of which are the Bi-xenons and the additional lighting enhancements that come with it.

I would have been the first in line to put down the Keyless Go feature as an unnecessary expense I would never use. Now that I have it, I never want to be without it again.

P2 is definitely worth the additional cost, IMO.

sinape62

I'll never own a japanese car after my infiniti I30... never again. I've got two Mercedes a C Class and E class coupe. Mercedes Benz build fine automobiles. Infiniti is just a car.