Let me know if I am missing anything. It reads:


MBUSA

Re: Attachment - Mercedes E500 Comments

As a virgin Mercedes Benz owner, my initial experience has been great so far. The car is beautiful, solid and a pleasure to drive. However, there are some items that should be given reasonable consideration. Although small, they contribute to the whole driving experience. A vehicle at this price range should really have the edge on competition when it comes to the details:

§ Rain sensing wipers: erratic control. They over-wipe, and wipe at random, leading to unnecessary noise and visual distraction. BMW offers adjustable sensitivity and they work great. They are otherwise annoying under the auto-sensing mode.

§ CD Text, RDS Radio Text: very cheep to integrate, but not included. Every other German car I have owned (VW, Audi, BMW) all included at least RDS. Great feature, and sorely missed.

§ Navigation System: very disappointing. The reasons should be obvious when comparing to BMW, let alone any other Japanese make. The issues:
1. Touch-screen should be the standard
2. Cannot navigate to a specific address, only a range.
3. While general COMAND graphics are good, map graphics are poor.
4. No street names unless in highest zoom mode. Map is useless without seeing street names! I found most people use general map mode over direct destination input.
5. Cannot search for a specific store by name, only by address.

§ Folding Rear Seat package: should be standard on this car

§ Radio Preset Steering Wheel Control: needless to say, this is extremely annoying and strange. The Europeans have this option.

§ Panorama Sunroof: one-touch open, but must hold for close. Cheap and simple fix to annoying problem

§ Rear Seat Room: I would much rather have a smaller trunk to accommodate rear passengers. Otherwise, both front and rear seat comfort is excellent.

§ Wood Steering Wheel: not only was it not available with my ’04 order (appearance package), it should come standard. This piece really makes the interior.

Again, I must say that I truly love the car. Coming from BMW, I have been convinced with the new E-Class, as I had never considered Mercedes-Benz in the past. Addressing these items would make the driving experience that much more enjoyable, and I believe I speak for hundreds, if not thousands of other enthusiasts and owners.

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Probably won't change anything, but at least I feel better for ventiing. And maybe 05 or 06 models will get some changes.

 

:werd:

So when the retrofit comes around as I am told it will in the next couple of month, you don't reocmmend getting the Nav installed? Should I just go with an aftermarket nav?

 

You should definately get it, if you might use it at all. The system works. And for 04, it is only a 1200 option, not to mention its included in the premium pckg now, with AVS, Drive dynamic seats, etc. for a huge savings. I'd order nav again. Its just that other systems are more advanced.

 

i would say go with an aftermerket nav, but the only problem is that it wont really look from the factory, if they can fit real nice, and make it look luxurious as if MB had gaven it to you, i would do it, but im not into the screens popping out, especially on a high end car

 

As I understand it these nav systems work in conjuntion with an information disc (cd)..... Does this provide the only source of info this unit gets???? What I'm getting at is perhaps a better or updated cd from mercedes will make the unit more advanced or user friendly ie street names, business names, etc.... My brother inlaw drives a lexus and I found the nav system in it awesome. I live way out in the country and could'nt believe the accuracy of the damn thing.... Every street name showed up immediatly after turning on to the street... Or is it that I'm just easily impressed as I own no vehicle with one (yet)....










still waiting for my 500...........

 

Lexus is by far the best. Acura is right behind them. My folks have an LS430. Its a land yacht, but great nav; very intuitive

 

Man, I keep hearing how great this Lexus Nav is. I hope this is the only area Benz lags behind Lexus cause that car looks like a p.o.s compared to my E.

BTW, any word on when they can retrofit the 04s with Nav? I already have comand will I need to replace THAT too?

 

BTW, any word on when they can retrofit the 04s with Nav? I already have comand will I need to replace THAT too? [/B][/QUOTE]



Maybe I missing something, but the 04 I ordered already has the nav in it..... Do you mean the retro for the 03???

 

Brav, out of the good points you make, the only one I actually think is really an inconvenience is the lack of sensitivity adjustment for the wipers. The rest of them I have not found to be particularly important (for me, anyway). One thing I would add to the list is the manual transmission mode, which I found to be pretty useless. Everything, from the horizontal direction of the gear selection (very counter-intuitive), not having a "manual" 5th gear (it goes from 4th to the "D" automatic mode), and not downshifting as the car slows down (it actually downshifts, but it's not reflected on the display, but then it upshifts automatically), makes the system to be pretty pathetic, compared to, say, BMW's.

 

as for the NAV, my folks have an '03 TL with the navi, and although I didn't see it at work myself, after riding in my E320, they tell me that MB's NAV is by far superior to theirs.

 

I have the 04. I didn't get the option on the car when I got it. I am wondering if they can just install it for me or do I have to wait until they have the parts sometime in the future.

 

and there cell phone suck too shout have more choose for us

 

I would think they would be able to do it now.... Of coarse I'm assuming your prewired for it.... Just wondering if it wasn't available when you originally ordered your ride or at the time you opted against it and now have had a change of heart....

 

Sorry I have to do this but, next time using the Honda nav, make sure the car is on

I'm just messin with ya though, but seriously, MB Nav is worst of the worst, IMO it's Honda, Toyota, then another 32975 companies, and then we get stuck with Mercedes.

 

I agree the touchshift is kind of disappointing, but if you read the manual carefully, by using the touchshift, you are not actually selecting the gear for the car, you are selecting the "max" gear the automatic transmission can use. This is why on your 2003 it goes from 4th to "D" since after 4, the max gear is "use all 5" which is the same as normal automatic drive mode (on my '04 it goes from 6th to "D"). So if you start at 1st gear and then shift to 2nd, the car will not necessarily upshift at that point, but it will upshift when it feels appropriate (all you have done is to say that the max gear is 2nd). If you shift to 2nd at approximately the same rpm that the transmission would shift to 2nd, then the transmission shifts around the same time as you telling it to, so it feels like you told it to shift into 2nd.

On the c-class loaner I had, you actually feel like the touchshift is simulating a manual shifter much more than on the 7G transmission, which it is very hard to figure out when the transmission is shifting gears specially around 3rd through 5th gears.

 

I agree, I have a 2000 Honda Odyssey with Nav and this Nav is 3 years old and I feel it is still more useful than the '04 MB Nav. With the Honda Nav, for example, you can get the exact street number address (not a range), you can type in the name of any business and get the phone number (My own company is in the database), which is nice, for example, if you want to call ahead to a restaurant or a store, but don't have the number. Also, the Honda Nav can display you the step by step directions (like a mapquest printout) so you can anticipate where you are going, and it is touch screen. And finally, in the Honda you don't have that Hitler-esque women telling you to "turn left NOW!!", it is quite a pleasant women...

In defense of the MB system, I like the way it switches from light to dark backgrounds from day and night mode, and also I like they way they lower the volume of your radio instead of muting it to say the navigation prompts...

 

This, I have to say, is a tough argument to make. The vast majority of US customers neither know what RDS and CD-Text are, let alone want them as features. RDS support has been around in various receivers (home, car, etc) for a long time and it still hasn't caught on in the minds of people in the US. As for CD-Text support, so few commercially produced CDs include it and so few customers know how to include it on their own burned CDs. It's no surprise to me that either would be a high priority. Personally, I do think that both are cool when they work.

 

If by CD-Text you mean that the name of the song shows up on the display assuming the CD is programmed properly with the name....this is there on my '04.

 

I disagree with you on folding seats. They are another potential source of rattling and buyers should not be forced to take them as standard.

I disagree with you on trunk vs. rear seat. I would guess that most of us carry things in the trunk more often than we carry a full load of passengers. I would prefer the trunk as is. If you want more rear legroom there are larger cars that offer both (S class).

I think the Panorama roof close function is a safety issue. I am guessing that is why they programmed it this way.

I totally agree on the NAV system, though it is better than the last generation. I've seen the BMW and Lexus systems and they are both superior to MB.

I agree with all your other comments. Just proofread before you send. There are some spelling errors and you want to make the right impression.

 

those are good requests... what kind of response did you get from MBUSA??? anything?

 

The trunk size was a significant factor in my purchase decision. I was going to buy an S class but found that the trunk couldn't hold 4 golf bags. The E does hold 4 golf bags.

 

Christ, how many clubs do you lose? I use range ***** with all those I go through, but clubs?

 

Maybe rgbyhkr is making his E double as the golfcart on the fairway.... Now that would be a sight... Just be sure to tell your golf buddies to watch those spikes on the carpet or else

 

The point about RDS is that its very common now, at least on the far left and right coasts, and its inexpensive to integrate.

I guess the trunk/rear seat issue is a matter of preference. For a full size car, should be more room (probably because I'm 6'4 and put the seat far back

The rear seats do not rattle whatsoever. Not a concern on this vehicle.

If I recall correctly, the regular sunroof will close with one touch, but not pano. There is nothing really different about the two, just slight size and cosmetic changes.. if there is a safety issue with the pano, there is one with the standard.

Again, all of this is not the end of the world, it would just make my car that much more perfect!

I honestly love the car and am very happy about moving out of the M3. The only gripe I have is not ordering an E55..

 

Hell, wrecklessly driving carts around the course is my favorite part of golf. That and hitting tee shots.