rolling430

Totaled the brand new E350 Sport. Had P2, and Pano and new car smell.

Sigh....

Now I'm waiting for a check, and deciding what to get now. Eating lot of $ to just march back to the stealership and buy a new one. Now that the 2011's are out, I'm thinking of at least upgrading to a 550 Sport 4Matic with at least the same options.

I've been staring at the photos waiting to get back into my E.

Surprisingly also, these idiots at the Benz dealerships are reciting a car manual to me and can't tell me more or less anything I don't already know.

I've been mulling over a few things between the 350 vs. 550, 4Matic vs. non, Pano roof with or without (I liked it on my old car cause it was the next best thing to a cabriolet), amongst other things. Must haves are Premium 2 and Sport Styling.

Can anyone who actually drives a W212 body offer any insight?

Pros:
Maybe get 4matic this time.
Miss the V8 I use to have in the CLK 430.
Will change from Burl Wood interior to Ash Wood (apparently I was too picky last time and most cars came with Burl)



Cons:
I hate the 6 double spoke AMG Wheels

Indifferent:
Parktronic ? How useful or actually funtional is this?
Massaging seat ? Is this THAT amazing of a feature?

TIA... Still hurting from the loss ..

K-A

Ouch! Sucks to hear, though thankfully the car did its job and protected you. How did that happen? Looks like my old Maxima after I spun it out and let it have a make-out session with a little dirt "hill" on a middle-of-knowhere desert road.

I'd say, if you can get into it painlessly, go for what you want, and try and use this unfortunate incident to come out ahead in some way (be it in getting some options you want more, and didn't get on your first one). Either get the 550, and keep the Pano, etc. on, or wait until the new 3.5L V6 comes out, and check that out (or get a great deal on an outgoing 3.5L motor). Just avoid those nasty AMG 6-Spokes!

hyperion667

sorry to hear of your loss..........go fo the 550.....

Ctrl+alt+Elite

ouch!!! that's not gonna buff out

ImInPA

Looking at your photos, I am surprised they are totaling the car. Most of the damage from the photo's looks superficial (e.g. body panels, bummper covers, etc.) In any event, it is a good thing you were not hurt and that you are still around to ponder what to get next.

BudC

I have a 2011 E550 on order. Before I placed my order I checked all the dealers in the Phoenix area and what I found was that there were very few E550s in their inventory and those had been around since the start of the 2011 production cycle.

In other words, not much to choose from and those that were available had been sitting around for months in the hot sun getting dirty and probably also used as demos.

Dealers stock E350 Sport models because that's what people lease.

I was able to get a dealer to change a car he had on order to what I wanted.

Arrie

Yes, that 550 might be nice but after I reset my PCM I noticed I could change the E350 emblem to E550. This car is way faster and stronger after reset. Scared to think what reset does with 550...

But if you want the extra power go for it.

About the other goodies:

Definitely P2 and if I would be buying I would get the driver's assist also. Not all of it is very useful but the speed adjusting radar controlled cruise is. And perhaps blind spot detection too.

Drive dynamic multicontour seat is just awesome. Massage really feels good on long trips and the " kicking wings" keep you on the seat at sharp turns. Of course, you can disable all these if you don't want to use them but for only $660 extra they are well worth the money.

And for the car color, DON'T go with Palladium Silver. This is because I have one and there are not too many of them on the road and I'd like to keep it that way...

peeta123

the 2011 models has the AMG 5 spoke instead of the AMG 6 spoke

i suggest sticking with the rims you had before instead of paying extra for the AMG rims since they are harder to clean

samkimg

Parktronic - wouldn't get again
Drive Dynamic Multicontour Drivers Seat with Massage - Hell YES!

Wig

rolling430 - is there some serious damage that we can't see from the photos causing the car to be totalled?

rolling430

Yeah I mainly just put a few photos to show the overall damage region more so LOL... the suspension and underneath is really messed up + more.

rolling430

LOL .. don't worry I only have and will ever drive Black cars so no worries.

Thank you for your detailed information. Sorry if this is a dumb question, what is the PCM?

rolling430

I would just like everyone to know that I got so frustrated with this car search, I essentially said screw it and went for it all big time.

My new 550 has everything minus Parktronic.

1st day driving - THANK YOU drivers's assist.. sooo useful for the cruise control. Well worth it.

Massaging seat was better than I thought it would be.

Nightview (I didn't care about this option but I was stuck with it), actually scares me. Looks like a scary black and white movie at night.. I won't be using it.

P2, Trunk Spoiler, and the best 5 double spoke amg's...

Wow.. still in lala land.


Thank you to everyone for your input!!!

Now... hmm.. what should I do to it? Tint and flat badge soon to come... can't decide whether to black the rims and/or grill or not.

hyperion667

hehe, I think there is only one other dude with a 550 around here......and he's on here too........there is some guy driving a 550 around my town sometimes.....but it isn't 4matic

from what I can tell they are not that common...........have fun!!!!!
and oh yeah, the nightvision isn't the best thing in our cars.........LOL...

Arrie

I don't know what name MB use for it but I mean Powertrain Control Module, i.e. the box (or boxes) that control your engine and transmission.