LasVegasMike

Picked it up on Valentines Day from the local Carmax here in Vegas (since I'm single I figured buying a car would be more fun then buying roses and dinner).

It's a Palladium Silver E350 P1 Sedan. It had 11,083 miles on it, clean Carfax, and the sale price was $34,996. I sold them my 2005 Hummer H2 that I had bought from them about 2 years prior. Here are some pictures.

This is the car on the lot prior to me driving it off:


Since then I have done the following:

-Tinted the side and rear windows
-Switched the amber side marker lights for white LED lights
-Switched all interior lighting to white LED
-Switched front running lights to LED
-Added color matched rear spoiler
-Connected Mods4Cars Navigation in motion module

Here is how it looks 2 weeks after purchase:


Picture of the LED lighting:


Picture of the real spoiler:


Interior shot on the dealer lot:


It still has one more year left on the factory MB warranty (4 years or 50,000 miles). I took it to the local MB dealer just to get the 'A' service done and to try to build a relationship with them.

In addition to doing the service I also got them to activate the bluetooth streaming, and they ordered all new wood trim to replace the fading trim in the car. Both at no cost to me.

An HID kit should be arriving tomorrow so I'm going to tear apart the front lights to wire those in and at the same time upgrade the fog and DRL to either LED or 6000k color lights.

Next month I'll shop around for some wheels and tires, more then likely from some of the vendors I've seen post here.

Airmousam

Looks good! Where did you get the led side markers?

LasVegasMike

Ebay. Bought them from this seller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEPO-2010-13-MERCEDES-W212-4D-WHITE-LED-CLEAR-BUMPER-SIDE-MARKER-E350-E550-E63-/151234443604?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AE350&hash=item2336467954&vxp=mtr
The hardest part was taking out the stock ones. I ended up breaking the lens on both sides taking them out. The LED ones went in easy and did not trigger any errors.

imaphaetonguy

I'm jealous ....bought mine just before Valentine's Day, and it had only 18k miles.

I bet your low mileage example still smells NEW.

LasVegasMike

Aside from the fading wood, it's basically brand new inside. When I was at the MB dealer he did a history check and only found one service entry for it. Our best guess is that is was either a loaner car, or used by the dealer as a runner/errand car.

OnlyGerman

Glad they didn't hassle for the wood trim

LasVegasMike

I gave the service adviser a print out of the notice from the thread in this forum, he looked and agreed it was faded and wrote it up on the work order.

I was kind of expecting a hassle because he was trying to make me feel like buying from Carmax is not a smart thing to do.

With the new wood it's going to make the car look bran new inside.

bob2011

Congrats on the new ride bro! Enjoy it!!

Raymond Lee

Wow! The car is new. 11,000 miles is nothing. You'll love it to own and enjoy.

mleskovar

I got the same color but in Sport trim with 27K miles a year ago for the same price. Wood is on order I'm happy with it so far

phreeeeek

where did you get the front running lights, i love the color

LasVegasMike

Thanks.

The front running lights are error free LED's from iJDMtoy:

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Canbus-Euro..._t10_sku26.htm

These have to be error free or you will get an error message.

tk9

congrats! the low mileage is fantastic.

LasVegasMike

Thanks. I've had good luck with Carmax. The Hummer I sold them I had bought from them about 2 years ago. It was a 2005 with only 28,000 miles and in immaculate condition. When I sold it to them 2 weeks ago it only had 38,000 miles on it. Still in great condition.

ph350

Congrats mike really nice deal. The dealer is replacing all the wood in the car including the steering wheel?

BenzV12

Congrats, your car sounded familiar with me ,I think you already posted a pic of it .
I was gonna ask same question as ph350 said .That's a tricky one .
I am not a wheel guy but your lovely car screams dandy Designo or AMG wheels for it

blazium

Congratulations and nice low miles. Keep us posted with the DRL and Fog light LED upgrade

LasVegasMike

We didn't discuss the streering wheel and honestly it doesn't need replacing. Not all the wood needs replacing, just certain parts. or instance the parts below the arm rests on the door are fine as well as the sliding door for the cup holder. Some parts are pretty bad like the two pieces on either side of the cup holder and the upper dash piece on the passenger side.

And yes, some AMG or replica 19" or 20" should be in place in the next month. Just waiting for Mr Annual Bonus to arrive into my account!

ph350

I would go ahead and verify with your service adviser that all of the dash gets changed at once so that they fade evenly over time. You don't want to be out of warranty and find out that one of the pieces that didn't get changed, started to fade badly. Did you check your steering wheel very carefully? In the Vegas heat, it doesn't take much for the wood to separate from the clearcoat. I could be under the clearcoat and can't be felt at first, but will crack eventually. You should protect the wheel from sun exposure and recheck it in very good light to make sure there aren't any stress cracks that could develop over time.

blazium

I'm also taking my E350 into the dealer for faded trim on both sides of the cup holder. Is the new trim suppose to be revised? I read somewhere that the original trim wasn't manufactured correctly by one of third party suppliers.

LasVegasMike

Good point about switching out all the pieces. The work order doesn't specify which parts they ordered, it just says interior replacement kit. I'm assuming it means all the dash parts but not the steering wheel.

The steering wheel looks great, and I haven't seen anyone mention it having the same UV issue as the dash pieces. But ill keep an eye on it. My windshield is getting tinted anyways, so that will cut out 100% of UV entering the car.

ph350

I have 70% crystalline on the front windshield but the top of the wheel gets really hot even in the California sun. I had to start using a sunshade and cover the top of the wheel with a towel to keep it from getting too hot.

El Cid

Congratulations - great car. I have the same car for 2010. BTW, assume you know it is the Luxury version. Much more comfortable ride. Absolutely love mine.
Happy Motoring!