Ok i happened to go to my local MB Dealer yesterday 2 things he conformed. 1) 2004 E500 or E320 will be avilable with 4-Matic option for around $3000. 2004 will come out nearly in the summer. 2nd thing he conformed was that DVD Navigation for E500/E320 will arrive in May/June... So i guess thats a good news for the people who are looking forward to that! Well i went to the MB dealer to clarify all the details about DVD Nav and 4-matic.. and it looks like i will be placing an order for my car soon......

 

hey nyck, when you said nav will come out in june/may, does that mean the retrofit, or what? thanks

 

to tell u the truth i dono if its retrofit or new cars but i think it will be both depending on u r number on the waiting list but again i am not sure, i will conform when i go to another dealer for a quote for E500.

 

o, i see, well thanks a lot

 

This just confirms that the lack of any official word from MB leaves us in the dark. Several new posts from other dealers have said that there will be no nav ( new or retrofit ) until 2004 models. I think we are all being treated like the proverbial mushrooms by MB ( kept in the dark and fed BS). Don't beleive anything you hear from a dealer until you hear it officially from MBUSA.

 

trust me man this dealer knew what he was talking about.... I was waiting to get 2004 4-Matic but then he explained its not worth it for $3000 while E500 has all other stuff that makes up for 4-matic so there is no need....

 

 

I think that it is just a matter of interpretation and/or the communication chain syndrome (one person tells another, that person, tells another, by time it gets to the tenth person the statement becomes absurd). Multiple threads (I count around 5 now) of the same subject doesn’t help either.

The information based on consensus is:

- 2003 pre-wired E-class cars will NOT receive navi retrofit
- Factory built 2003 E-class cars with navi will soon go into production, but if you were to order one today, you would not likely take a US delivery before June/July
- 2004 E-class cars WILL have navi option available and are on schedule

Based on the above, I chose to order a 2004 E500 because I most certainly wanted navi and I do not want to buy a MY2003 car in July.

 

I don't think a consensus based on dealer statements is worth anything. Until there is official word from MBUSA, I think all this is unsubstantiated rumors. I would not make any decisions based on these rumors.

 

That's true MCO,a lot of dealerships are trying to cover their a*r*s*e*s, plus the situation may vary from country to country.

Until it's official from MB Germany or in your case U.S.A we are not going to know for sure.

 

The dealership where I bought my car has consistently claimed MB does not communicate with them. The dealership rarely communicates with me either so silence is golden. However, German is not that difficult to learn. Meanwhile, with the German economy going down the tubes lately perhaps MB can no longer afford to communicate!!!

 

I'd also be suspect of a dealer who told me that things like ESP and ASR do the same thing as true 4-wheel drive (4Matic) and render it a complete waste of money...time to find a new dealer.

 

Wow.... we might wanna break the news to Audi and every other company with AWD or 4x4...
Nnykillaseal, i hate to break it to you but he is just trying to get you to take an E500 asap instead of the W211 4Matic which you want to order and wait for.
ESP, ABS and Sensitronic braking are astounding achievments but they cannot match the behaviour and grave of an all wheel drive system in inclement weather.
Keep in mind that the 4Matic car has all those other systems too so you can imagine how sure footed it must be in the snow or rain or in that turn that turned out to be tighter than you remembered.
Good luck whichever way you go but please take everything a dealer says with a very large grain of salt.

 

Well, since I moved down to the southern part of SF bay, I have decided that I can get a car without quattro or 4matic... but the truth is, there is very little that can match a 4wd vehicle even in just simple, light rain, never mind snow...

I've been driving an Audi A6-2.7T with quattro for the last three plus years, and the confidence and comfort it inspires in bad weather is so unbeatable, that I almost wanted to wait for a 4matic now... but it really is overkill in the south bay... it just doesn't rain enough to justify it... But if you do get a bunch of rain or snow, no other ESP, or traction control, or any such other nicety, will come close.

Truth is, in the rain, these cars with 4wd will beat the hell out of any other sedan out there... by a lot... I've pulled manuevers in the quattro that would send any other 2wd car spinning down the freeway, and that includes all the Bimmer 2wd cars constantly heralded for performance in all the auto rags... The quattro (and the 4matic I am sure as well, though I've never driven an MB 4matic car...) is unbeatable as soon as you are talking about anything other than a smooth, dry, hard surface...

-NavNut