pdxe550

Just nailed down 2010 E550 4Matic for March 1, 2010 European Delivery:

- Palladium Silver
- Black Leather
- Burl Walnut
- Sport Package
- P2
- Driver's Assist Package
- Parktronic
- Split Rear Seat
- Illuminated door sills - my wife insisted ;-)
- Drive Dynamic Massage Driver Seat

Already counting the days! European delivery made a HUGE price difference as did living in Oregon where there is no sales tax

Has anybody done the Black Forest Rally offered by Mercedes? Any tips would be appreciated.

silberrosa

Congratulations!! That sounds like an awesome car. Your gonna love that one. And Euro Delivery is supposed to be a great experience.

DHI

Oddly, February will become your longest month of the year! Hang in there.

Congratulations! I'm sure the experience will be memorable.

pdxe550

How right you are! I'm already counting the days. I'll post a rundown of the entire process for those that are interested.

okc329

back in 1997 with my family. Great experience. The package still includes the Interalpen hotel in Austria which was my favorite. I recommend trying to book two of your nights there and passing on Munich. These hotels are all first class. You'll want something other than jeans and a sweatshirt if you dine in them. The Mercedes museum is a must. We left the car in Paris. PM me if I can provide further assistance.

okc329

if you drive in Austria in the winter (includes March) you must have winter tires or else you can get a really large fine. I don't know if Mercedes has a solution for this or not.

pdxe550

Mercedes is pretty good about providing you this type of info. As a result of this limitation we've decided to forego Austria and do the Black Forrest Rally entirely in Germany. You have your choice of hotels and that allows you to do a bit of customization. We'll do Austria next time we pick up a car in Europe!

okc329

Germany also requires winter tires. Recommend you double-check with somebody at MBUSA headquarters who is expert in European delivery. Hope things work for you.

jbean114

I live in Germany and have an E550 with the 18" AMG wheels (also did the on-site pick-up... review under: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...beautiful.html).

The tires that are included from the factory are all season (M+S). They are not "winter tires" since they do not have an official snowflake symbol, but German law allows for all season tires to be used during winter months (Oct - Mar)... As long as the weather is mild. You should be fine. The only thing to look out for would be if they put on summer tires on the vehicle, but I don't think this is even an option from the factory.

I have been forced to drive through the snow quite a bit this season and found that even with rear wheel drive and all season tires, the car handles very well.

I cannot speak too much about Austria, but I do know they have strict rules about tires AND that you will need to buy an autobahn sticker at the border to use the autobahns in Austria... Kinda like a permanent toll.

If you like, I can put you in touch with my dealer here (German, but speaks English) and you can ask her directly. Just send me a PM and I will give you contact details.

Here's hoping for no snow in March!