billycwhatup

OK guys, start the newbie jokes....

I currently have a 1999 CLK cabriolet that I bought new and love. I'm expected my first child and am reluctantly about to jump into an E class. Here are the questions:

1. I live in the northeast and the 4matic is attractive to me. Can't decide between the E350 4matic and the E500 4matic. The maniac in me says go for the E500, but I'm having a hard time justifying the cost difference.

2. What's up with the panaromic sunroof? It's $10 more than the normal sunroof and I'd love to get some pros and cons.

3. The "keyless go" looks cool, but seems mildly freaky. Seems like if someone steals my wallet, they can stroll into my car. Thoughts?

4. I think I'm going to do European Delivery in May/June. Anyone have good/bad experiences?

Again, sorry for the newbie questions. Thanks

alewifebp

1. Where in the northeast?
3. The Keyless Go system is your key, not the card anymore. So just like if anyone had stolen your key anyway, they can gain access to the car no matter what.

pa28pilot

1. I can't speak to the 4matic, because there isn't a diesel one yet. When that happens, I think it will be even more my dream car than my current CDI.

2. I love the panorama roof. It essentially gives both the front and rear pax their own roof window. Only the front one opens, though, in both of the modes you'd expect (tilt/slide). It brightens up my charcoal interior, but the (20% transmittance?) tint keeps the sun from being too bright. I thought it was considerably more than $10 different. Are you sure you didn't drop a zero in there somewhere?

3. Keyless go rocks, except for the annoying beep when you shut off the car. It is a little weird when you give the car to valets, because you'll have to fish the key out of your pocket. The car will, if desired, adjust to your personalized seat/mirror settings. Be advised that there are different memory sets for key-in-ignition and key-in-pocket.

Your wallet concern no longer applies, because they unfortunately discontinued the keys in the card form factor. You now get a smart key that can do quite a bit (opening windows,etc.), but still lives on a key ring.

4. European delivery is a blast, and a pretty good deal (on the order of 7% off). Search this forum for "european delivery", and you'll find a number of our stories/pictures, including mine and TPAbnz's. I did it in Nov/Dec last year, and I think Spring would be delightful.

rickyfanmdr

I love my panorama sunroof. I don't think you could get it for only $10 more than the regular one, though. I think the regular one comes bundled with the HK sound system (at least it did when I bought my car), and if you buy the pano, you need to buy HK separately. The pano is waaaaaaaaaay up on the cool factor!

billycwhatup

Thanks for all of the replies. As insane as it sounds, the "standard" sunroof on the 2006 E350 is $1550 (which includes the rear side sunshades) and the panoram is $1560 (without the sunshades).

Thanks all

TPAbnz

Try a search in this forum for ED or European Delivery for lots of information.