Negotiating price when placing order
 

Your dealer is right that the car hasn't been released and pricing is still subject to change. He has little to no control over that final Invoice MSRP for your built car. But he does control how much off MSRP he's willing to give you on delivery. That shouldn't be a mystery left until the car arrives. You should ask him what percentage off MSRP you'll be getting whenever the car arrives at the price Mercedes sets for it at release.

Most of our cars are custom order and most of the time there is no price available, yet it's critical to set a discount at the time of order. If you try to start negotiating near the time of delivery, the dealer has the leverage. Most customers just want the wait to be over and will pay more to get the car.
We typically set a percentage discount if no price is known. Easy and only an email confirmation is needed...

Exactly what I was trying to say, but I think you said it better!

On all of the MB sales contracts I enter into none have pricing established. What I have in the contract is a non penalty cancellation provision for any reason and a 3 day extended evaluation period before final close. At delivery time the dealer is just as anxious to close the deal as the buyer is. That is when the real negotiation begins. The buyer must be willing to walk away from a deal. Though I've dealt with the same dealer for decades, I've walked away from 3 deals in the past 4 years - a W212, C292, R231.

I'm surprised to see you say this after you've dealt with your dealer for so many years. My deal is simple. I get a beyond incredible standard discount off MSRP for ANY Mercedes I want to buy. It doesn't matter if it's custom ordered or off the lot. The discount applies in all situations. Since my cars are paid for at delivery (not financed or leased), the only negotiation I have to deal with is my trade value, though I'm provided a general trade value up front, pending the actual date the deal closes. This makes a MB car, the most stress free car buying experience imaginable. And it's one I wouldn't give up, which keeps my coming back every 3 or so years for a new Mercedes.

I am so glad that you asked this question, I am going through the same thing in Baltimore. I was figuring that the game was to have the car there that I want and then go up on the verbal price because I can't get a confirmation on that to save my life.
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I always custom an order from the factory, never have a trade in (it's a huge profit center for dealers) and always pay cash (real cash).
The dealer has no ides what the margin will be on a new model before it is priced. I don't play the "under invoice" game because all manufacturers keep invoice prices high while offering dealer incentives/rebates amounting to thousands of dollars per vehicle. My dealer knows me well always deals straight with me.

What is a good discount on an ordered 2019 E450 in terms of percentage off MSRP?

I'm in the same boat. I had one dealer quote me a price of 7% off MSRP for a ~$74k MSRP build but that was including a fleet discount yet to be determined but something that is currently $1500 on a 2018 E-class sedan. Assuming the same fleet discount, then he is really offering me a 5% off MSRP and I could use some advice as to what is a bad deal, a reasonable deal, or a good deal for an ordered vehicle.

NEVER take into account discounts like fleet discounts. It's the oldest sales trick in the book. It doesn't impact their margin at all.

We got 10% off MSRP on a 72K E300 P3 build, our first MB and first time dealing with that dealer. Great experience as far as making a deal, and they even gave us max value for our trade. From what I hear, 10-11% is the norm and some higher end models can net even more.

The DOG are out with the prices for the 2019 E450. You can configure your car and the MSRP. With that information, the dealer should be able to tell you your price.

If you lease as I do, the only "unkown" are residuals and interest rate. The interest rate tends to be stable (over 3 months) and of course the residual decreases with time. The only variables are manufacturer incentives and dealer profit. As I lease I do not have a trade in.

Which one(s) did 7%? Scottsdale just offered me ~5%.

I can only imagine what they'll offer on an E53.

You need to expand your search for bids beyond PHX to include Vegas and San Diego etc.

The advice is based on my experience of broadening the search for bids to a wider area, and contacting the internet sales managers, new car sales managers or general managers to bid on the order. You can do it all over email vs visiting each dealer in person which means you end up dealing with a salesman who now needs his commission protected. I think you ought to be able to strike a deal somewhere between 7-10% off by asking your best offers to compete with one another. If you get what you're looking for you can ask your local dealers to match so that you can keep your business local. Good luck.

Register on this site and get multiple dealers bidding against each other for your business: https://www.truecar.com/

Curious why it won't work for the E450? Is it because it's not currently on dealer lots yet?