Thanks to those on this board who suggested contacting MarcusBenz. He searched the national inventory, found exactly the car that I wanted, worked out a complicated trade to get it, and arranged to ship it to me half-way across the country. After what I put him through to get the right car ... I can't believe he still offered me his full MBWorld discount!!! There are 4 dealers in my area, and no one came close to MarcusBenz's pricing or customer service.

The new whip:

'04 E320 with no "de-content"
pewter/charcoal
US premium package
full leather
parktronic
bi-xenons
wood wheel

The information on this board was very helpful, and pushed me to grab an '04 before the maintence program was discontinued.

Thanks to all of you who have posted information about the W211.

 

congrats on your new car, have fun with it!

 

You wont be dissapointed, congrats.

 

Congrats! Nice color!

 

Congrats on the purchase! You made a great color combo choice, if I do say so myself!

Bruce

 

how was it shipped to you? open carrier, or closed truck?

 

The car was shipped on a multiple-car, open carrier.

The driver calls you ahead of delivery and asks you to suggest a meeting place where he can easily park and unload the truck.

 

Tell us more about your complicated trade and also, how far did you have to ship?

 

The trade was complicated because there are nearly no E320 with Parktronic in the Western Region and this was a must have item. Since I did not have an E320 with that option to give back, I had to give up an E500 to get his car. This may not mean much to the average car person, but to a dealer that is like giving up a Rolex to get a Timex! But, everything went smoothly and we shipped the car to the midWest.

 

Congrats!!

 

Wow. Comparing E500 and E320 with Rolex and Timex The best you can get out of such a comparison is that the Timex tend to be more accurate then the Rolex

 

We would have taken an '04 if we could have found the right car: premium, heat wheel, lights, parktronic, 4-place climate control. That seemed impossible.

So we ended up ordering an '05. And still couldn't get what we wanted. No more 4-place climate control, no independent heated wheel! Yech!!!