I recenly bought a 99 E320 from Germany and had it shipped here to Dubai. I have lurked on this board to learn more and more about my car. I do so to learn how to do the maint. and mods myself when I get back to the States. However, I have noticed that there are more "toys" on the US versions than there are on mine. Is there a site where I can learn about the various options that were put on the US versions vs. my Avantagarde? I get the feeling that the US models come fully equiped with options while the euro models offer more flexibility? is this so? I was going to add blinking mirrors, and noticed in the thread below that some were asking about memory and such, which I do not have. Just curious and trying to understand more.
Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Peter

 

Hi Peter, so you purchased a German Version E320 and will also ship it to the US? I believe that the Avantgarde version are very close to the versions found in the US. Probably only small differences. It would help if you were more specific as to what type of mods you are looking into.

 

I think you would be much better off selling your E320 and getting another car here.
You car will be grey market and have limited resale value here. In addition, you likely will be missing options that US buyers will expect - memory seats and mirrors, self dimming mirrors, automatic ac.
Get an e320 or e430 in the us - probably much cheaper.

 

Your Euro car will also have to be converted to US Specs and may entail:

Changing WindShied
Upgrading Catalytic Converters for Emissions.
US State licence plates will not fit front or rear. You will need new trunk
Yellow side marker Lights up front

 

Thanks for your responses

As far as selling, I do not plan on selling this car anytime soon. I keep my cars for the duration because I keep them in near perfect condition and they are never really worth selling. There is no market price that will compensate for a perfectly running automobile that has a lot of love in it. As an economist, the original price is a sunk cost. Actually, these care are more expensive in the US. I bought my 99 E320 Avantgarde with 19,000KM on it (now has 24k KM) for 20,000 Euro. The car is in MINT condition. As far as the options go such as memory seats, this car does not have them...which I think is one less thing to break down on them...Plus I am the only one that drives it. It has the self dimming mirrors and heated front and rear seats, phone, nav system etc. But the most important thing to me is the car itself. I have contacted an exporter here as to the changes that I will need to make, and he said that they can be done here (much cheaper) and that the changes were not that much. I will look into this a little more and see if it is worth it.

I plan on adding the blinking mirrors and upgrading the wheels. I have not decided whether I want to move up to 17" or 18". I have two kids and don't want to give up too much confort for sport. Life is full of tradeoffs isn't it.


E55 Kev, I will send you some pics as you requested on the car.

Thanks guys for your help.

 

It looks like you even have an option that was not available in the US and it is the rear heated seats. If someone corrects me otherwise I don't think it was available in the US.

 

Hi Peter,
I drive a German Version too, you miss the front cup holder, the ugly side markers.
But you got a more elegant wheels (five spoke), Chrome on black sexy grill, lowred suspension (Avantgarde only), no annoying warning sound for over-speeding.
So stick to your joy and pride!!

p.s. mine rides on 18" O.Zs

Regards,

 

Haha.. And to think I changed my US spec trunk and side markers to Euro spec. :p

 

Absolutly not!
the Euro plates are rectangular more than the American ones, but they can still be installed on the trunk and front bumper, for the front bumper the plate will not fit neatly but for the rear deck lid it fits perfectly.
BTW the front cupholder that I got from the Merc dealer cost me $48 and it fit like original!

Regards,

 

Hi Mitias,

Some info for you. I had a 2001 e320 in Germany which I
really wanted to bring back to Colorado for all the reasons you
mentioned. I did a lot of digging into it. There are several
hoops you have to jump through

- DOT certification, this has to do with things like replacing headlights, safety features such as bumpers etc. Info at
the NHTSA web site.

- Emissions certification

- Import requirements

Tthe DOT will not work with anyone other than
what they call 'Registered Importers'. These are shops in the
US that are certified to import and convert cars to US specs. Any car that does not have a factory certificate for the US (there is
a term for it that I forget) needs to go through a RI. A list is
available at the DOT web site. Cars older than 1980 or so (I think) do not have to do this but all newer ones do.

The actual conversion (in my case) was going to cost approx.
$6,000 and about six months between pickup in Germany and
delivery in Colorado. (This seems high, but that was what I was told). The clincher for me was that the Customs service would requires a bond equal to 50% of the value of the car to be
posted for import, this bond is returned upon presenting the
certificate from the RI. The value of the conversion could be higher or lower depending on your particular car and R.I.

MB USA would also void the warranty if the car was converted
and would not sell me a replacement warranty.

I even went at talked to the Mercedes US export people in
Sindelfingen where they make the E class for the US and asked
if they would convert it for me and give a certificate - needless
to say, I was unsuccessful.

The bond was the last straw for me;

- $40,000 car + $20,000 bond tied up for up to six months, plus
$6000 in conversion, plus the risk of them screwing up the car,
plus the loss of warranty plus $1000 shipping costs convinced
me to abandon the project.

You can get a list of cars pre-authorized for conversion from the NHTSA web site . If you car is not on the latest copy of this list then your expense could be much higher because the DOT will have to review the application and the conversion.

Good Luck.
Asad