mava350

Hi folks,

Well the title says it all. I picked up a 2010 MB E350 last week and wow am I impressed. Long time BMW M series owner I wanted to get my wife some of the creature comforts she likes. After test driving various brands we ultimately selected the E350. It's just absolutely beautiful to look at.

It's fully loaded based on the dealer comments and referencing against the other E350's they had on the lot. Here's the options list:

Palladium Silver
Natural Beige Leather
Black Ash Wood

Accessory Styling Package (Read Deck and Roof Spoiler)
PARKTRONIC with Parking Guidance
Split Folding Rear Seats
Rear Side Airbags
Panorama Sunroof
Drive Dynamic Multicontour Driver Seat w/ Massage
P2 Premium Package
Sport Package
Driver Assistance Package

It'll be interesting to see how she holds up with all of the electronics (something I'm somewhat concerned with). However the car has been a pleasure to drive. Ask the wife; she won't let me borrow the keys!

Here's the proverbial pictures:





I love the P2 package front... Distronic panel in grill



Panorama roof



Triangle is the blind spot indicator


Comfort seats


Wife displaying her school pride!


Regards all, Mac

DHI

Looks Nice! Great color.

Kar don

Looks great! Looks like you are in SoCal, did you end up leasing or buying?

Congrats, love the interior color!

mava350

Thanks DHI and Kar don!

Yes in Socal. Leased the car through MBUSA. Traded in my family '07 Acura MDX (technology and sport packages) that had a good chunk of equity. Wife only drives ~ 10k/year.

Told the wife if the MB is good to us I'll pick up an E63 AMG to replace my BMW M Coupe. It'll serve as double duty for family hauler and uber sport!

So far so good; 750 miles on the odo and counting.

rs1985

nice ride !!!
hey I am wondering, there is a little board thing right under the star
is it the distronic thing ?
nice ride and congrat

mava350

Thanks rs!

The thingy is the panel for the Distronic. Behind it are the radar sensors. Here's a closer pic:



Here's the interesting thing about Distronic. Unlike other manufacturer's with adaptive cruise, MB, as I understand, is the ONLY one that STOPS the car. Yes.... I've used this in stop and go traffic in both city and freeway driving. It works! Of course I only did this a couple times because I'm scared sh**less that I'll crash. My wife swears by it though much to my dismay and trepidation. I never expected her to tinker like this but man... she's tinkering left and right with this car and making suggestions on what to improve!

LaicepsYdobon

That is one good looking car; congrats !

MBNUT1

Great color.

Kar don

Mava, FYI E63 will be going away very soon and will be replaced with a 5.5L V8 turbo.

mava350

well then MB better give out some better residuals and money factors on the existing E63! I just want a better payment than $1,500+/month with just drive offs. I already went to my dealer and ran some "what if" scenarios.

Its ok... I have time. Still have the M for this:

icelandicmax

congrats! got the same color as well. picked it up less than 2 weeks ago.

DHI

Infiniti FX has the feature as well.
Auto journalist testing the Infiniti was also spooked out by the device... but it works. Really freaky (and practical) in bumper to bumper crawling traffic.

rs1985

lol
hey you know what, I think Volvo have teh saem distronic Tech
but ya
of course is not as nice as ther MErc

220S

Congrats on the new ride. Enjoy.

As was already mentioned, the E63 will get a new motor. It's out to compete with the new F10 M5. So, I'd wait. And compare the E63 and the new M5 more closely.

Also, since you're new to MB and won't notice, the E63 has been decontented. They had to make up for the 9% price lowering and so they no longer have Napa leather (instead it's the rougher pebble grained E350/550 leather) and no more alcantara for the headliner (it's the C Class material.) There are numerous other changes that have been noted on the AMG boards.

All that may or may not be a concern for you. I was at Beverly Hills MB yesterday and the sales staff all agreed and are not happy either (they knew I wasn't shopping for a new car and so they were being up front about it.) They said that first time owners won't notice but previous owners have noticed and are disappointed.

Eric@PYSpeed.com

Great color, love the roof....

ipp

No longer have? It's just that it's not standard features, you can still order them as extra options.

220S

Um, I said "they had to make up for the 9% price lowering and so they no longer have Napa leather (instead it's the rougher pebble grained E350/550 leather) and no more alcantara for the headliner (it's the C Class material.)"

What's so hard to understand here?

But aside from that, these "options" are not available. At least not in the US. The only alcantara to be found is on the steering wheel and that is with the $8950.00 performance option or the $500.00 stand alone steering wheel option.

The car has been decontented. It's straightforward cost cutting. Believe it or not. That's your choice.

ipp

Ok, I just referred to what you said in another thread about the Alcantara roof https://mbworld.org/forums/3883205-post103.html. You said that it came with a package then, and now it seems like it doesn't. THAT's what was hard to understand...

I also can't understand why MBUSA is taking away the possibility for at least order these as paid options. I don't think a E63 buyer cares that much about the 9% off, it's probably more important to get the car as he/she wants.

K-A

Wait wait wait, the E63 doesn't have NAPPA Seats? I know about the cheap headliner, and other decontenting, but the seats are standard Leather? The C63 even has Nappa correct? How can M-B hold a straight face with that.

Sorry O/P for going further O/T. Congrats with the Benz, I'm sure you'll love it, and once you go Benz, it's usually hard to find a Luxury Sedan to top it.

220S

You're right, in that post I had said it was an option, but I was wrong. And at that time I was following your post where you said you had seen one with alcantara headliner(?) Somebody here also mentioned it and then found out it was incorrect, too. It's only found on the optional steering wheel.

After spending time at MB of Beverly Hills (I think the largest MB dealer in the US?) and talking to a MBUSA rep, alcantara is no longer available either here or in Europe(?) So, now I'm curious as to where you saw one. [edit]: btw, the pics of the Euro E63 don't show Napa leather either. I'd like to know if any of this is available as an option in ROW models. Maybe you can find out? Thanks!

Anyway, yes it's unfortunate that these aren't at least options. At MB-BH they were frustrated because their repeat customer base isn't happy. New owners will not know the difference. But the staff and repeat customers immediately noticed. It's very disappointing on a car of this price level.

No, no more Nappa leather. It's the standard E350/550 leather (option on the E350 of course.) The car is very much decontented and an honest salesperson (who is passionate about MB) will be up front about it. At least they were to me at MB-BH (they knew I already had bought an E63.) It's sad, frustrating and disappointing. MB has been hit (like all mfgs) with a bad economic cycle and so wham, they cut cost sharply. I guess they feel they need to in order to stay afloat. But it's disappointing to see a company that used to pride itself on innovation and detail do this kind of thing.

I know a lot of people will brush it all aside and say so what. That's fine. But to many of the MB base it's disappointing. Check the AMG boards (where members tend to be more critical of their cars and their car's performance and details.) Sure, if you're coming from a very early W211 or W210 and then jump in a W212, you'll notice the performance improvements right away and probably disregard everything else. That's understandable. But if you come from a 2009 W211 E63 you'll notice the W212 E63 is less in respect to materials; it's painfully obvious.

As IPP says, a 9% price reduction is not that meaningful for a car already in this price level and most would just as soon pay the extra to get what they really want, and expect.

ipp

You made me worried here... I was completely sure that I'd seen Alcantara headliner in that E63 AMG. It for sure wasn't the black headliner that I've ordered for my car, it was black Alcantara or soft cloth. I'll bring my camera and I'll go there tomorrow and snap some pics.

I can't understand why Alcantara wouldn't be available for the E63 when it's available for E200 -> E500 here in Europe. But I will check it up, I'm interested in knowing it too.

As you can see, a MBworld member's E350 T has the Exclusive package, with nappa leather and alcantara headliner. https://mbworld.org/forums/3829555-post1.html

In Sweden at least there is one package called 'AMG Exclusive package' for the E63, which i _think_ contains alcantara headliner... It costs $6.000 here. Sorry the screen dump is in Swedish.

ipp

Btw. Sorry to the OP... The thread is very borrowed now, but it is for a good cause , especially since you are interested in buying a E63... Your E350 looks fab as well, love the interior color and the dynamic seats!

mava350

No worries on the thread hijack. I'm learning more about MB cars and that's a good thing. Heck I want to replace my M Coupe with an AMG. The question isn't if but when.

220S

Which "M Coupe" do you have? The 3 or 6?

The new F10 M5 will be the W212 E63's main competitor, esp when the AMG TT motors are out. But no AMG E coupe (unless you get a CL63/65 ); and no more CLKs. I'm probably going back to BMW with the F10 (4 doors is fine with me.)

mava350

Neither. Here's a quick and dirty pic:



Z4 M Coupe. This is my weekend fun car with the wife; purposely two seats so no kids can ride with us!