I have been an avid reader of this forum since the middle of last year, yet do not frequently post. It has been invaluable in my consideration of what options to get and those that are best left off. After attending the E-Motion event and doing some brief shopping at various dealerships, I spent a good 3 hours at the dealership yesterday so I could make some final decisions and order the car. I'd like to get your thoughts on some of these items before I finalize the order.

E500 - it was down to the 500 or the 320 with the Sport Package. I have an E420 now and thought I could live with the smaller engine to save about $5,000. But after driving it for about 45 minutes, I think I'd miss the V8 too much.

Pewter/Charcoal - was originally thinking about Brilliant Silver, but when I saw Pewter next to Silver in the showroom, I liked the darker nature of the Pewter better. Charcoal, since the stone and ash seem to get dirty very quickly. I have a light beige interior now, and my belts have rubbed off a dark mark all over the seat back, and the floor is impossible to keep looking nice without shampooing the mats every month or so.

E2 - at first, I thought the Panorama Roof was a must-have. After seeing it in person, I decided against it as the portion above the driver is about as big as a regular sunroof and I don't have kids or back-seat passengers often, so I think it would be a waste. Plus in central Texas you try to stay as cool as possible and opening the roof and/or sunshade is infrequent for the majority of the year.

KeylessGo - this is the one thing I want just because it is so unique. Very James Bond.

Wood/Leather Wheel - did not think this was a big deal at first, but so many of you recommend it, and the pictures you've posted show that it is a nice touch to round-out the interior.

Rear Sunshade - for the hot Texas days.

CD Changer - a must-have for a music lover. I'm surprised that it's not standard in a car at this level.

Active-Ventilated Seats - this is the one item I'm still not sure about. I sat in an S-Class with them to try them out. I cannot tell they are on, even at the highest setting. When activated on the passenger seat, you cannot feel the air coming out when holding your hand over the seat. So, for those of you that have this, what do you think? It is a must-have or a marketing gimmick?

E1 - I have xenon lights now and cannot tell the difference, so I've decided to pass on them. In BMW's they are very bright, but in Mercedes they aren't as unique. Maybe they have been improved since 1997?

I plan to take delivery at the factory in Germany in late April. If any of you have experienced this, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what to do, what to avoid, etc.

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

You've obviously put a lot of thought into your options, and I think you've made some great choices. I recently took delivery of an '03 C320 with Pewter/Charcoal, and I personally think it's the best looking color combination--you can't go wrong with that!

One recommendation I would have is to confirm your order with your dealer AFTER he has keyed it into the Netstar system for production. My dealer left off one of my options (even though it was listed on his order sheet) when keying the order into the system. I had no idea until the car was delivered two months down the road!

 

I think most people on this forum like the active ventilated seats. When you put your hand over the perforations you may feel only a slight sensation of air coming out of the perforations. I have this option but since the weather is cold right now here in New York, I use the ventilated seats with the heat on and can't really tell if it is doing much. However, many people on the forum claim that it works very well in the summer with the A/C.

Xenon - I have this option and I think it is well worth the money. They really light up the road, and with the highbeams it is unbelievably bright. Remember these are bixenons. I don't believe bixenons were available until this year.

Sunshade - Also a great option. I recommend getting the rear side sunshades as well for maximum blocking of the sun.

 

Ditto on the bi-xenon. They are super bright. Also consider the rear folding seats if they're still available at the $100 launch price.

 

I can't comment on active-ventilated, maybe JHB from the sunbelt can chime in on his...

but with the straight up heated seats - they fry my butt, I can't stand them being on 3 for very long before I roll it down to 1. :-)

So I'd think you'd *definitely* notice the heat after say 5 minutes.

As a former longhorn, I'd say AVS would be worth it.

Stay away from the 406 multicontour seats (see sig :-) )

 

jposhea3, the settings of the heated seats should self-adjust after a few minutes. This is from the interactive Manual on the UK site:

- 3 indicator lamps on: Automatically switches to setting 2 after approximately 5 minutes.
- 2 indicator lamps on: Automatically switches to setting 1 after approximately 10 minutes.
- 1 indicator lamp on: Automatically switches OFF after approximately 20 minutes.

I can confirm that the above program works on my car.

mallard,

Active Ventilated Seats $1,200 - I don't have it and I'm not sure that you need it for the E500 ... which has 4-zone automatic A/c as standard. My 2-zone A/C works quite well; the 4-zone should work better ... even in TX. Just my 0.02 ...

 

I like your choices. I would get the bi-xenons. They are VERY bright. I would not get another car without them. I also really like the pano roof but i have kids so I can understand your reasoning. I do get a lot of positive comment on the roof. It is something different from many other cars. Anyway enjoy!

 

Does the active venti seats include the same type of heating as the regular heated seats or is it something different. On MBUSA site, it says the active venti seats include the heating function and can not be ordered with heated seats. So are the fans in the seats only used for cooling?? I'm confused.

 

Unsure if they use fans for heat or whatever the traditional method is (hot wires?)

stvir - yeah, I'd believe the thing rolls down in temp, I haven't timed mine. But it gets *hot*, which is a good thing for heated seats, but a bit too toasty for 32 degrees outside. So I roll em down by hand to the lowest setting pretty quickly.

 

I like my AVS so far. It won't get hot for a while here in Houston, so I haven't tried the cool setting. I don't like a lot of heat from the climate control system. The couple of nights it's been in the 40s I've tried using the AVS with the climate control set on 67 and it works great. The high setting can be pretty warm, though. I like to use the lowest setting. I did take my mother to look at Christmas decorations, and she loved the AVS (plus about 75 on the climate control).

I think each seat has 10 fans for circulation, but as jp said, I'm not sure how the heat/cool mechanism works. If the AVS cooling works as well in the Houston heat and humidity, then this feature will be a real winner.

 

Turned in my old lease on Saturday and they asked how much I used 'seat heaters' being in southern CA - he was surprised to know that for a good half of the year, they do get quite a bit of use, particularly from my wife. Sounds like she is really going to love these heaters, if they are THAT hot! Her Audi A6 Avant has tremendous heaters as well, with a variable temperature.

Well, we'll see if she likes them, if I ever get my car!!

 

I'm not a pansy by any stretch of the imagination (i.e.-ain't afraid of dirt under the nails), and even I would have to say that I use the AVS heated seats nearly every morning on my way into work. My wife uses them whenever she's in the car. They work VERY well! And we're in So. Cal!

Someone at the dealership told me the cooling part of the ventilated seats isn't so much that it blows cool air (up your derriere), but the fans *suck* the moisture away from you, thus cooling you via evaporation. Haven't tried them yet, waiting for weather warm enough to tell the difference.

And the drive-dynamic seats are VERY cool! They really keep you centered by bolstering you in corners. I think a gyroscope must sense your speed and yaw, then add or release air to the seats to adjust the proper amount to keep you centered in your seat for maximum control. The hissing of the pump took a little getting used to, but now I miss it if the drive dynamic is off.

I'm not a big sun fan (I've got no sunroof in my car), being the pasty Irish boy that I am, but to do again, I'd go with the pano roof. Just too unique to pass up, and lightens up the entire interior during the day. I'm sorry I missed out on it. Maybe in a few model years the Maybach's pano roof will filter down to the S and E classes. I believe you touch it and it goes opaque, touch it again, and it goes to dark like a regular moon roof, touch it again, and it goes completely clear. Something about energized chromatography, but I don't know. Just sounds way cool!

As for Bi-Zenon's, I like the brigher white of the bmw's or the bluer-white of the Lexi better, but the MB's are definetely made to illuminate well. Clicking on the high beams gives you instant daylight! Very useful, and I'd feel like plain jane with the yellow old halogens like every other car on the road.

PS--Todd, when ARE you gonna get your new hoop?

HTH, YMMV,

EDJ

 

Joe - you are such a pansy.



Regarding sunroof - this will be the first car of mine in 8 years that doesn't have a sunroof, but I thought this time I really didn't need it because in the 4 years I had my previous car, I used it maybe half a dozen times, and now, I have the Boxster S with the top down all the time, so who needs a piddly little box of open air when you can have the ENTIRE SKY!

And Joe, I don't know when I'm going to get this damn car!!! No change in its status yet, and it's really ticking me off. If I was merely waiting for a car I ordered, it wouldn't be so bad, but the fact that I signed papers and forked out the money for a car I don't have is what really gets me...

 

Thanks, all, for the comments. You may have changed my mind on the xenon's. And the comment about the AVS seats eliminating moisture is something I hadn't thought about. I expected that you would be able to feel the air coming through the seats, but maybe that isn't how they are supposed to work. I seem to remember sitting in a Saab that had them and could feel the air coming through the perforations. Even though we don't get much cold weather here, I think I'd use the heat function, though.

Again, appreciate the input. I'm looking forward to being an "official" member of this forum once the order is placed.