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OP, I just remembered two more tips for presets. Other than the button I disclosed in my previous post, swiping up with two fingers on the touchpad will bring up presets in any menu. Also to skip between presets quickly, swipe left or right at the top of the touchpad (above the small ridge on the three icons), this also works as a seek/track gesture without having to bring up the radio/media menu.
THANK YOU. I will play this weekend when I next drive.
For curiosity sake, how many like the cladding and how many do not?
I must say that you did a good job of disguising it on your car.. Enjoy your new ride.
I'll go first...I don't like the cladding even on an Outback, so, on a Mercedes...fuggetaboutit!
Thanks I tried to pick a color that maed it less noticeable. It is growing on me. I have no choice If I did I would not opt for clading
Also you have to have permission from a New Yorker to you the term fuggetaboutit!. ( I give you that permission Smile )
If you notice I picked a color that makes the cladding less noticable. The look is growing on me. If I could remove the cladding I would.
I got the exact same color for the exact same reason.
After driving my new one for a week, I have to admit that it's growing on me. The air suspension is excellent and comfortable about town, and taut in sport mode. The 1" higher ride height was noticeable at first but sport mode brings it back down nicely.
The engine feels responsive and equal to the task when compared to the old model. If anything, it seems to strain a little less.
The brakes are good, but they are a little mushy if I'm honest. You have to push down on the pedal more than I'd like.
MBUX has turned out to be much better than I expected. Indeed, the Here Maps navigation is actually terrific. I "almost" don't use waze except during rush hour traffic. I do miss the comand wheel.
All in all, it's been a nice purchase. Frankly, the design is actually growing on me. If I have one criticism, the bumps on the hood are a little too AMG poseur. As for the cladding, I've shifted from hating it to not really caring anymore. The graphite grey helps.
OP, I just remembered two more tips for presets. Other than the button I disclosed in my previous post, swiping up with two fingers on the touchpad will bring up presets in any menu. Also to skip between presets quickly, swipe left or right at the top of the touchpad (above the small ridge on the three icons), this also works as a seek/track gesture without having to bring up the radio/media menu.
I was just curious, as I would be amazed if more than a small percentage of AT drivers ever take their wagons anywhere that required more off road ability than a standard model.
I'd say that the Base 2 parking lots at Blackcomb (Whistler) count as off-road. The potholes in those lots could swallow a moose.
I also recently took delivery of my built-to-order All Terrain in Diamond White Metallic. I had been vacillating for months about whether to buy a 2020 E450 Wagon or the 2021 All Terrain. It took awhile, but the All Terrain grew on me. While in general I'm not crazy about the cladding, I like the contrast of the dark cladding against the white car.
2020 S560 Sedan, 2019 SL450, 2019 E450 Luxury Trim Wagon, '24 BMW I7 on order...
If MBUSA felt a need to go the AT route with the E Class Wagon, they should have made it a “package” option. Instead, they threw the baby out with the bath water and decided that anyone who wanted a wagon and didn’t want the AMG monster, MUST have an AT. The AT appears to be a fine vehicle, but I truly believe that if the AT package was optional, only a very small percentage of wagon buyers would opt for it. Folks that really have a need for the attributes of an AT vehicle, most always go for an SUV. The E Class Wagons were just SO beautiful.
Somehow, white and all-terrain send mixed messages to me.
The only off-roading I'll be doing is if when inadvertently back over my neighbor's lawn when I'm backing the All Terrain out of the garage.😀. I suspect that's about as much off-roading as most All Terrains will get.
Two weeks ago I traded in my S class for my new All Terrain after waiting for for nine months. I'm happy to say a friend of mine purchased my 2015 S class (with 105,000) after I traded in.
If you're totally bored and need an alternative to counting sheep this review could be just the thing.
$88,600 was the MSRP $2300 for the wheel and tire insurance $2399 in PPM and $2500 for XPEL film on the front hood fenders mirrors and bumper. It was not recommended for the headlights because of some special film that Mercedes puts on the headlights now similar to what Porsche does.
In my opinion, and for me, the all-terrain compares favorably with the S class.
Ride and Handling: The all terrain comes equipped with a air suspension and the ride in my 2021 all terrain, in Comfort mode is as good or better than my 2015 S.
I admit that my S was six years old, It could be that the 2021 S will ride better, still the AT insulates the driver and is very smooth in Comfort mode.
In Sport Plus mode it is quicker then my S 550 and handles better. I have not pushed the car to the limits yet but it handles as well as my 2001 E55.
You can individually adjust the steering, the suspension and the engine.
You can set it up as a custom configuration so I set up the car to have sport steering and sport suspension but still operate the engine on economy because I drive a lot through back roads in the country and that works for me. I take the corners without needing acceleration.
I can switch to Sport mode instantly.
When you get in the car and turned on it lifts the car up. I sure hope in the future I don't have a problem with that technology or that one of the airbags or whatever makes the car lift up fails.
Acceleration: the new AT in Sport Mode is definitely faster than my S550 no doubt about it.
Fuel economy: I On the highway I get between 30 miles per gallon and 31 miles per gallon. On the back roads I get 28 miles per gallon. I haven't driven much in the cities I don't know yet what that will be.
Obviously this is better than the S class.
Size and Comfort: the wagon is 9 inches shorter than the S class and all of that room is missing from the back seat. If I have company in the car I'm going to have to move my seat forward since I'm 6'4" but that will only be temporary between the house and the restaurant or something like that.
I think that the seats are slightly narrower than the S class and the center console is also narrower. The wagon is smaller than the S class both length and width and I'm okay with that because it's easier to park and easier to maneuver.
I am completely comfortable in the car just as I was in the S class. I think the seats are more comfortable but that's probably because the car is newer. If the seats are not as wide they are just as comfortable.
This AT is equipped with air inflated seat bolsters (I think called Dynamic Seats). I haven't used the massaging feature yet but I think that technology has improved over my S class and is simpler to use if not hard to get to.
There is plenty of legroom and headroom in the AT just as there was in the S class in the front.
Fit and Finish: so far I have not found any flaw. The car is perfect.
Interior storage space: I am disappointed with the center console and glove box both are small. However the doors have cup storage which it nice.
I will never use the 3rd row seat. I an using that for storage. I plan to buy a Euro replacement kit so I use it for storage.
Lots of room in the back and you can put the seats down but you all know that.
Phone: This AT has wireless charging but that is useless if you use Car Play or Android because you have to plug in anyway.
NOTE: I have a cover on my phone and the room where you place the phone is tight. The Car Play port should be in the center console. Heaven forbid you have a cup of coffee in the center and need to pull out you phone... worse if it has a cover.
My phone and cover fits better if I remove the rubber non skid provided panel. I will try to find a short phone to USBC connector with a right angle so I do not have a long cable to contend with which gets in the way of the coffee.
I have a never had a car that has Apple car play installed and I have to say that while I very much like Apple car play I think I like the Mercedes navigation better. If I want to listen to music on my iPhone I can use the Bluetooth media connection and I think I'm going to get a cup holder to hold my phone for Waze.
Maybe I don't how to use Apple car play in connection with the Mercedes interface I'll have to play with that seat which I like better but I definitely like the Mercedes navigation better than looking at navigation on car play.
Tech: I'm not sure where to start on this one. Remember that I had a 2015 car so some of the things that are available on this car are much better.
Let's start with the steering wheel. A lot of people have complained about the steering wheel controls. There just a little bit tricky to get the hang of but the more I play with them the better I get. I think that the wheel or switch worked better but I find these to be effective most of the time. I'm getting the hang of using them and I'm comfortable with them.
I suspect that because it's new and different people are going to complain until they get the hang of it. It doesn't always work the first time but it seems that it always works. If I had the choice I'd prefer the old way but I have no choice and I'm going to make the best of it.
Remember that you can do some of the same things on the steering wheel on the center touchpad and on the large screen. Depending upon what I'm doing I've used all three.
I think the touchpad is the best or easiest to use only because you don't have to reach to touch the screen.
I'm still getting the hang of this but I suspect that just about anything I want to do I'm going to develop my own institutional memory on how to do it and in a month or two it will become second nature.
Radio: the radio the AT is not as good as it was in my S. I'm surprised because supposedly it's the same radio but it's definitely not as good. If you like to listen to music especially if the windows are open I recommend spending the money on the fancier radio.
Another thing I don't like about the radio is you can only have 20 presets. What kind of nincompoop came up with that idea in today's day and age. I had something like 50 presets in my S. Also I could scroll from preset to preset on my S very easily. There is a way to do it but it is has several steps and thus is harder in this MBUX interface. There may be a MBUX shortcut but I haven't found it yet.
I definitely like that better in the old car for sound and interface. (20 Presets What a joke!)
Mercedes Me verses M-Brace... I am disappointed with Mercedes Me.
I've owned Mercedes since 1977 and I remember a time when you called roadside you had the feeling there was some fellow chewing on a cigar who was a real mechanic and could walk you through whatever problem you had.
Then they went to a phone tree and the person who answered didn't know the car at all and had to send someone or get someone to call you back.
Now they've split it up into help with the phone app and help with the car and roadside assistance which is only good for a limited period of time.
I find dealing with Mercedes Me to be complicated and inefficient.
If you have a question about the car you have to call on a weekday between 9 AM and 9 PM. And then those people don't seem to know anything.
You can no longer call and ask directions to be sent to your car. I miss that a lot.
There is no more concierge service.
If you're having trouble with the phone app those people are more together and they seem to be around all the time.
Send to Benz works just as good if you can get your act together before you leave but if you need directions on the fly you really have to rely on the MBUX which doesn't always work very well and wont work when you are out of cell range.
It's nice that Mercedes me remembers my seat position and the steering wheel position and my radio presets and that I can have a similar profile for my wife and her seat position and so forth.
MBUX:
MBUX Voice commands:
I may have to learn how to talk to the car but the car has asked me "Can you replete that" MANY times.
I find the car doesn't understand what you're asking it. Sometimes they don't understand a person's name when you're trying to call them and other times they do understand the same name. I'm not sure if it's the way I'm speaking or background noise or what.
The voice command system to me so far is frustrating.
It's also frustrating because there is no list of commands anywhere. You can say to Mercedes "hey Mercedes, what can I do?" And then it will give you some options from 10,000 feet in the air but if you ask it for additional help it gives you the same message all over again.
I looked at the online manual and I looked in the manual and so far I haven't found a page with the list of available commands. At least if I had the list of available commands I might be able to get the hang of things.
If someone sends me a text I can't figure out a consistent way to get the car to read the text message to me.
If I say hey Mercedes, please text Barbara Jones the answer is who do you want to text?
Hey Mercedes for navigation is also hit or miss.
I'm hoping that just like Dragon dictate in time it will learn my voice but it seems to me that there must be a list of commands somewhere hidden away in some vault that no one wants to share that would make the process easier.
Things I miss:
I miss the windshield washer fluid coming out of the windshield wiper. I miss being able to control the seat. I miss not being able to have an unlimited number of radio presets. I miss not being able to easily move from preset to preset. I miss not being able to call and have someone send directions to my car.
Things I hope for:
I hope like Tesla, Microsoft, Apple, and a Siemens MRI that if Mercedes improves the MBUX interface that they update the car software than force you to update the car.
If you've read this far you deserve a little humor:
A Roman soldier walks into a tavern and says to the proprietor give me five beers and holds up two fingers; I hope you get it
Here are photos. It looks black but it is grey
Thought you might like to read this recent review of our All Terrain.
2019 E 450, 2016 E350 4matic (retired), 2018 Ford Edge Sport, 2008 Porsche Boxster
Originally Posted by Streamliner
If MBUSA felt a need to go the AT route with the E Class Wagon, they should have made it a “package” option. Instead, they threw the baby out with the bath water and decided that anyone who wanted a wagon and didn’t want the AMG monster, MUST have an AT. The AT appears to be a fine vehicle, but I truly believe that if the AT package was optional, only a very small percentage of wagon buyers would opt for it. Folks that really have a need for the attributes of an AT vehicle, most always go for an SUV. The E Class Wagons were just SO beautiful.
You are no talking about "Bespoke" cars:
The number of E Class wagons sold is only a fraction of the E Class cars sold. Now you want to divide the wagon even further.
Not enough volume to justify all the effort! At some point, slicing the model further and further, makes no sense economically for Mercedes.
The number of E Class wagons sold is only a fraction of the E Class cars sold. Now you want to divide the wagon even further.
Not enough volume to justify all the effort! At some point, slicing the model further and further, makes no sense economically for Mercedes.
No JTK44, You're misunderstanding the point Streamliner and others are making!
Look at the demographics of the traditional wagon buyers that made the iconic model so popular!
The majority have no interest in low profile wheels (rough rides and flat tires) and comical SUV wannabe black cladding.
Leave the traditional, luxury wagons for wagon people and SUV's for the the rest. There are plenty of choices for that demographic group.
Note to MBUSA: Don't bite the hand of your niche wagon owners and market! Bring back that traditional luxury wagon with a 3 pointed star on the hood!
I've never liked the station wagon concept. It is nothing more than a scaled down truck. My first exposure to a wagon was the '47 Ford wagon. It was almost identical to the'47 Ford panel truck. Things have not changed much. GM and Ford both produced trucks that were similar to the wagons they made. When I see a MB wagon, I think it is a disguised truck. The epitome of ugly! Ugh!
In the US, Mercedes SUV's outsell wagons almost 50 to one.
With this small volume of sales, be thankful for whatever E class wagon Mercedes offers!
I agree with you, JTK. Americans just don't like or "get" wagons. MBUSA is trying to find a hook that will connect with American buyers; ergo, the All Terrain. Did MBUSA pander to the masses? Yep, I guess they did. I hope it works because, if not, we may not be able to get a MB E450 wagon again in the U.S., unless it's pre-owned. Sad but true.
05-07-2021, 09:08 AM
