I am new to Mercedes' as I had planned to get a 3-Series Wagon & my last 3 cars were all BMWs. 16 months & 10 dealers later, I learned today that European Delivery was cut off 3 months ago on the wagon and I most likely will not be able to get it spec'd the way I want. Don't get me started...

So here I am looking at the E450 and trying to figure out the processes for building the car & doing ED. On the BMW side, you had a build sheet with all options as well as a pricing guide. It looks like the DOG is the build guide for Mercedes, where would I get one? Do they give all the gotcha's in term of what options are available with each trim/package? Are pricing guides also available? What are the dealer-installed options? Are you able to get custom colors and/or interiors on the Wagons w/ED? Can you keep your license plates by default or do you need to request them? Are the base roof rails standard?

 

You arrange ED through a dealer. Large dealerships have a staff that specialize in the process. They will answer all these questions. These tend to change often and depend on models. You can get some ideas here, but the latest info is available only at the dealership:
https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/europ...livery_program

 

I feel your frustration having moved from a 5 series wagon (discontinued in US) to a 2018 E400 wagon for which I did ED. My experience was that with MB there were far fewer individual options I could configure compared to building a BMW, with many items bundled into packages. Building the car using the MB on line web site works well for finding out available options and getting MSRP, and as far as I know there are not any hidden options that are not available to build. One annoying difference between BMW and MB is their bizarre decision to limit certain interior color combinations to either the sports or luxury body styles.

ED is a good option; especially because you can build the car to your exact specs. You'll get an automatic 7% off the total purchase price (depending on where you are in US its possible to negotiate a bit more, but some dealers refuse to budge), 2 weeks insurance and road tax for driving in Europe, and in addition don't pay the $1000 delivery fee.

There's a not very active ED forum on this site that's worth checking.

 

I keep seeing ED and thinking I'm gonna be reading about Viagra lol.

 

I forgot to mention. With every European Delivery there's a free vial of pills included in the glove box

 

I found the forums to be very helpful.

Going on the MB website and using the configurator is probably the way to go in order to see what's available in term of options.

When you decide what options you'll want, you can go to your local dealer or try to reach out to some dealers that specialize on EDP - Herbert Haemmer comes to mind and they can arrange for delivery to your local dealership (I placed the order with local dealer).

When you go to place the order it helps to know what you want and what's available since the order configurator is slightly different from the website. There are no special option offers for EDP vehicles other than the Germans drilling your front bumper for the license plate (which doesn't happen if you buy a car off the lot - no way around it).

Some options (not available on euro cars) will be installed at VPC (vehicle preparation center) at the port and will delay local delivery time. I could never get a good answer from my dealer which options are dealer installed and which VPC installed. Any damage in Europe will delay delivery as well (I scraped a rim).

As for the plates; they asked me at the drop off center (in Frankfurt - I don't recommend it) if I wanted to keep the plates and decals (vignettes, D-sticker & pollution class sticker), to which I answered yes so they had a pre-printed form placed on the car and it arrived here with all items in place. Some people will remove the front plate upon drop off and bring it with them just in case. The drop off center folks recommended I take everything removable (triangle, vest, trunk box, first aid, manuals) off the car and haul it with me back to states. I'm glad I did. I left the fragrance in place and car arrived without it but dealership gave me a new one....

Overall amazing experience! Hope that Mercedes will not go by the way of Audi&BMW and have the program cancelled.

One advice from my experience, if you're planning to do it for next summer wait till you're close to your travel date to place the order (4-6 wks). I got pressured by my dealer and ordered in Feb for July delivery not knowing (hadn't been announced yet) that a major upgrade was coming and ended up with an e400 when I could have gotten an e450 if I waited to place the order later.

 

Thanks everyone for their assistance. I like wagons and not SUVs so that has limited my options somewhat now that BMW has gotten rid of the wagon. It seems the lead time for Mercedes is also longer so Oktoberfest is out but the Christkindlemarkt should be OK.

 

You probably already know this. For legal reasons you should order with all season and not performance (summer) tires if you plan to drive car in Germany in winter, and for safety I'd stay out of the high mountains! The E450 is a great wagon, but will handle differently from your 3 series.

 

As of last year, winter or all-weather (not all-season) tires are mandatory for winter driving I Germany, which might be a problem for you if you live in the south. I'm not sure if this affects the EDP vehicles. Knowing german's love for technocracy I'd be surprised if they would make an exception.
MB corporate office would probably be most helpful for information since you technically purchase the vehicle from them, the dealer just facilitates the sale (it's not their car and they're usually quite clueless on details). AnneDoris K. @MBUSA was very helpful with the information I needed and trip planning.

 

We did a European Delivery on a 2019 E450 Cabriolet in April. We really enjoyed it and highly recommend the trip. If you live in the Southeast and prefer to see a sales person face to face I highly recommend Jesse Cannon-Wallace with Atlanta Classic Cars. She knows the EDP inside out.

 

Bundle up. It’s a good time to go, and the Christmas markets are everywhere. Love the gluhwien.
Enjoy your station wagon!