HotWheels500

Well, it's been a long wait, but, man was it worth it. Just took delivery this afternoon and managed to put all of 100 miles on it. 900 to go.

In a word, wow! Seems to have very little decontenting vs 04s. Sorry I didn't get the tailgate opener. Would have been neat. Turns out you can work the automatic tailgate by hand if you want to (per the owner's manula). Declined it cause I carry a Springer Spaniel most days and thought waiting for the thing to close by itself would offer an opportunity for pooch to run out. Oh well, next time.

Big surprise with the phone. I had a v60 from an 02 ML500. Dealer just received one of the newer "snap-in" cradles that's compatible with this "old phone," and what do you know, the damn thing works perfectly. Voice command system and all. Very neat and very lucky, considering the ambiguity surrounding the new v710s and their cradles.

Bottom line: this wagon beats the ML in every department, except off road, which I never did, nor expect to do. Now it just needs to keep doing what it's doing and I'm a happy camper.

BMcD-E500

Congrats on the wagon! Best looking wagon out there. Have fun with the break-in period. Good luck!

Bruce

HELL ONA HARLEY

I agree, by far the best looking wagon on the market. Good luck with your new ride Hot Wheel...

MarcusBenz

Congrats on the new "Hot Wheels", sorry for the pun (just had to do that)!!! I am glad you are happy so far with the car & from the small amout of time I have driven the 500 Wagon, it is a very capiable and good looking wagon!! Enjoy

HotWheels500

Thanks all. It's going to take a while to to become familiar with all the toys.

FYI, in case this is new to the 05 MY, the voice command system seems to have a "learning" mode. Plan to get acquainted with "Helga" today.

SCH

Enjoy your car. I have an E500 wagon being built next month. Although I have the same dog issue, I did order the power tailgate. It just seemed like a cool toy and was a cheap option.

Where did you have the satellite radio antenna mounted? MB apparently suggests it be mounted on the roof which requires them to drill the roof and cut the headliner. My car will be black thus I am not that concerned with the outside appearance but I am not wild about them drilling holes in the roof and cutting up the headliner. Dealer has indicated they can mount the antenna elsewhere but I am concerned about reception.

HotWheels500

Sat radio antenna is on the roof, cenetered between the rails, approx. 8" from the back of the roof. I'm told they have templates for all this. BTW, they also have to cut an opening in the healiner (templates for this too), which is then neatly covered with a dark square cover. Looks professional to me. And the reception is fine. In fact, we activated it by phone with the Sirius guys while the car was inside the warehouse/set up area. It worked! Even the Sirius guy was surprised. So that's pretty good reception. Just emphasize you want them to be real sure of a good water tight seal.

Also heard rumor that MB will, at some point, be building the sat radio antenna into the spoiler area so it's hidden. No timing mentioned. Don't know if it's true.

The install doesn't bother me like it does the sedan guys, since the roof rails are black. In your case, it wont be very apparent.

Long Islander

Do you have the third row of seats? The ones I've seen at the dealer all had the third row deleted for $750 credit. Also, any idea whether the roof rails can be deleted? I saw a Cayenne the other day with no roof rails and it looked much better.

HotWheels500

I have the 3rd seat. Didn't know it could be deleted for credit. Similarly, I don't know about the rails. Never thought to ask. I'm guessing that both deletions would need to come from the factory, since without a third seat, you might get an option for the earlier available moving cargo floor. Rails sound like something done at the factory, but this is a guess too.

SCH

I deleted the third seat on my wagon order. The delete option does not seem to appear on any order guides, brochures, etc. that I have seen. The dealer mentioned the delete option when I commented on the useless nature of the third seats. They told me I would get a storage area under the floor but the moving cargo floor was not something available. Not sure if they are right or not.

Never asked about the rails as I actually like them on this wagon. I agree they don’t look good on the Cayenne although I personally don’t care for the looks of the Cayenne anyway despite my Porsche dealers repeated attempts to get me to buy one.