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I believe that :-). My local dealer had 3 sold orders and one allocation that went before I could get it. It'll be interesting how well these cars will sell in the US.
I envision a few custormers:
1) Budget minded M5/RS6 shoppers who are OK with a tad less ludicrous performance for some elevated luxury and significant money saving
2) All Terrain customers who are willing to spend $15k extra to get a few extra goodies and a PHEV power train
3) AMG wagon fans who are rejoicing over another AMG wagon even if it's not a 63
4) PHEV customers who are genuinely interested in a sensible range PHEV but despise SUVs.
I wonder how many of these customers will be "net new" to MB and not cross-shoppers of GLE or the All Terrain.
I don’t understand buying one off the lot if you can wait. So many fun decisions to make and you can get it just the way you want. Just need to be patient.
Just don’t want the trade in value to tank. This way I could shop around instead of being locked with a dealer.
I don’t understand buying one off the lot if you can wait. So many fun decisions to make and you can get it just the way you want. Just need to be patient.
Sure! If you can't find what you're looking for then absolutely, special order one. Not everyone is as particular about their cars and are OK with many different options.
I have special ordered 4 cars and I also purchased plenty off the lot. There really isn't a wrong choice if you can find what you're looking for.
With some cars they're so ubiquitous that you can practically find one in your preferred option/color within a few hundred miles. Like you're looking for a GLC there are over 9k of them available right now to choose from. On other cars the options are so limited that it doesn't really matter, like on Audi you can pick between 3 trim levels and that's about it, ordering doesn't really matter. Then there are cars like the GT3 RS where you get what you can when you can for as much as you can, options are a don't care.
It's this particular car and manufacturer where the amount of options and the limited supply kind of lends itself to be the perfect "made-to-order" car. But dealers will always have inventory and they will always have some cars that are "good enough" for a few who are OK with paying for options they don't want or forego options they do want. My local dealer offered to get me a car from another dealer, it had $5k worth of options I didn't care for but more importantly it missed a few of my must-have options.
Interestingly, of all 126 samples that I gathered from the inventory DB, E1 notwithstanding every single car is unique, not two are identical, not even in options, let alone colors.
I just apply Graphene Ceramic coating on my car, and in theory, it should last 10 years or so. Graphene is supposed to be harder than steel. Around a 120 bucks, give-or-take, but takes a while to put it on (3-4 hours of prep-work), and it cures for around 2-3 weeks. Of course I apply the Graphene coating myself.
Having said that, if this is a vehicle you intend to keep for the long haul, I'd not look at the depreciation aspect. I would just enjoy keeping her in a pristine state (mechanically and cosmetically).
My current Mercedes is a 2011, so she's officially 15 years old, I'm in it for the long haul. The investment is definitely about maintaining the pristine look over a long time horizon.
I believe that :-). My local dealer had 3 sold orders and one allocation that went before I could get it. It'll be interesting how well these cars will sell in the US.
I envision a few custormers:
1) Budget minded M5/RS6 shoppers who are OK with a tad less ludicrous performance for some elevated luxury and significant money saving
2) All Terrain customers who are willing to spend $15k extra to get a few extra goodies and a PHEV power train
3) AMG wagon fans who are rejoicing over another AMG wagon even if it's not a 63
4) PHEV customers who are genuinely interested in a sensible range PHEV but despise SUVs.
I wonder how many of these customers will be "net new" to MB and not cross-shoppers of GLE or the All Terrain.
I cancelled my order on an M5 touring when this car was announced, so some #1 applies to me.
I was never a #2 due mostly to the body cladding.
#3 only a little.
I am also a #4 because my last car was an X5 PHEV and I loved the plug in part but hated the SUV part (was my first and likely last SUV)
I think your 4 key demographics are pretty spot on. For me, I was net new - my first MB.
My current Mercedes is a 2011, so she's officially 15 years old, I'm in it for the long haul. The investment is definitely about maintaining the pristine look over a long time horizon.
I guess I just don't care enough about a tool, certainly not about its appearance.
My W212 wagon is 12 years old, had over 35k miles per year put on it in its first 6 years then it dropped drastically once it became my kids' school going car and first ride. I meticulously changed the oil myself every 10k miles with full synthetic, I swapped air filters, spark plugs, brake pads and calipers, had replaced air springs and struts as needed and put on new tires and aligned the wheels every time. But I couldn't tell you the last time the car was washed and it definitely only seen wax that came from a nozzle at the automatic car wash years ago.
My wagon was definitely not a garage queen, it lived its life to the fullest and was well taken care of where it mattered. It has spent all of its life in Texas, so the chassis is clean and rust free. May 2024 it got seriously dinged up up a hail storm. I took the $3,500 and never got it fixed either. At $10k of value I wasn't going to spend $3,500 on superficial dings that make no difference in usability. We're keeping her around as a "back-up" car because it's worth about $7k as is and I couldn't find a better, more reliable and better maintained used car for that price. It's worth more to me than to anyone else.
I believe that :-). My local dealer had 3 sold orders and one allocation that went before I could get it. It'll be interesting how well these cars will sell in the US.
I envision a few custormers:
1) Budget minded M5/RS6 shoppers who are OK with a tad less ludicrous performance for some elevated luxury and significant money saving
2) All Terrain customers who are willing to spend $15k extra to get a few extra goodies and a PHEV power train
3) AMG wagon fans who are rejoicing over another AMG wagon even if it's not a 63
4) PHEV customers who are genuinely interested in a sensible range PHEV but despise SUVs.
I wonder how many of these customers will be "net new" to MB and not cross-shoppers of GLE or the All Terrain.
I think I will be "net new" as I have never owned a MB or AMG before. I am a bit of #2 and #4. I was previously contemplating an E450 AT until I saw the "coming soon" section on MBUSA that showed the E53 wagon. So I decided to wait to see pricing. But I also wanted a PHEV and really don't like SUV's personally.
Totally random, but tonight I found the cheapest E53 wagon in the database :-). MSRP $95,300 with the only two options being a light silver metallic fabric trim and black accent 5-spoke wheel for a total of $700.
Totally random, but tonight I found the cheapest E53 wagon in the database :-). MSRP $95,300 with the only two options being a light silver metallic fabric trim and black accent 5-spoke wheel for a total of $700.
I believe that :-). My local dealer had 3 sold orders and one allocation that went before I could get it. It'll be interesting how well these cars will sell in the US.
I envision a few custormers:
1) Budget minded M5/RS6 shoppers who are OK with a tad less ludicrous performance for some elevated luxury and significant money saving
2) All Terrain customers who are willing to spend $15k extra to get a few extra goodies and a PHEV power train
3) AMG wagon fans who are rejoicing over another AMG wagon even if it's not a 63
4) PHEV customers who are genuinely interested in a sensible range PHEV but despise SUVs.
I wonder how many of these customers will be "net new" to MB and not cross-shoppers of GLE or the All Terrain.
The first "twin" officially has been entered into the MBUSA inventory database :-)
It's an MSRP of $116,240 with Manufaktur Moonlight White Magno exterior, Neva Grey/ Black Nappa Leather interior and the following options:
DA2 Driver Assistance Package
DB8 Multicontour Seating Package
DB9 Sun Protection Package
DX2 Pinnacle Package
732 Center Console in Carbon Fiber
H73 AMG Carbon Fiber Trim
RWB 21" AMG cross-spoke forged wheels
One is in Tampa, FL and the other is in Paramus, NJ.
So out of the 87 Non-E1 cars two are exactly the same. This is remarkable considering the vast number of options available. It's kind of the same thing as the birthday paradox.
I noticed that this E53 comes with those nasty reflector LEDs, that no Honda Accord should be equipped with, let alone a 95K Mercedes.
Yeah, every single one that does not have the Exclusive or Pinnacle package will have the reflector. That is a total of 5 E53 Wagons (3.9%) so far. My daughter's GLC has the same reflector since we didn't go for the Pinnacle package.
Yeah, every single one that does not have the Exclusive or Pinnacle package will have the reflector. That is a total of 5 E53 Wagons (3.9%) so far. My daughter's GLC has the same reflector since we didn't go for the Pinnacle package.
They started switching to the reflectors, in the E-class, the GLC, the GLE, the GLB, the GLA etc., starting from 2024. In case of the GLE etc., they did the switch, via a "refresh" in 2024. To me, it is totally worth it, to pay the extra cost to get the "Digital Lights" (Multi-beam LEDs), since it is a massively better performer in lighting up the the road, especially in curves.
Continuing with my data collection, we're up to 87 tracked E53 Wagons. The only ones that I don't have are the ones which never showed in MBUSA inventory. I have tracked 29 of the Edition 1 models and 58 of the regular ones so far. Since E1s skew most of the results I have two columns one with and one without the E1 cars in the stats.
Notable findings:
1) Alpine Grey continues to be the most popular color with the two other MANUFACTUR colors being close second and third.
2) Napa black is the most popular but the other two leather choices are very close too
3) Only 5 cars were ordered with the MB-Tex so far
4) 2/3 of the non E cars have RED seatbelts while the rest has Black,
5) 3 out of 4 cars have Pinnacle Trim level and the rest has Exclusive trim. Only one car was ordered without either
6) CF on the inside is very popular
7) More than half the cars have the 21" black forged wheel
8) Every non E1 has Driver Assistance Package
9) Most popular Options are Driver Assistance Package, Pinnacle Trim, AMG Night Package Plus, Soft Close Doors, and the Multicontour seats
10) Only 3 non E1 cars have the AMG Performance Seats
If I take all options that are over 50% (non-E1) the car would be:
Alpine Grey
Black Nappa Leather
Pinnacle Trim
Piano Black Trim
Carbon Fiber Center Console
21" Forged Black Wheels
Heater Rear Seat
Soft-Close Doors
MBUX Superscreen
Driver Assistance Package
Multicontour Seats
AMG Dynamic Plus
AMG Night Package Plus MSRP: $118,590
Your E53 wagon analysis is interesting. Do you have an application that goes through the MB USA inventory on the web and stores the configuration data in a database?
Your E53 wagon analysis is interesting. Do you have an application that goes through the MB USA inventory on the web and stores the configuration data in a database?
I have a python script that runs every 15 minutes and pulls down the latest data and I store the results in a CSV that I import for analysis into google sheets. Since the data from MBUSA is pretty junky I have to do some gymnastics to figure out what actual options each car comes with. Some of the options and packages are correctly reported, others are not. So I have to work backwards from the MSRP and known options and known omissions and then try to figure out what other option combinations would match the MSRP. Surprisingly, the algorithm works really well, for most cars it comes out unambiguous. On some cars you end up with two or three option combinations that would be valid for the sticker price, in most cases if you know whether the car has night, night plus, or neither, the option list becomes unique. Unfortunately the night/night plus info is not in the json data so I manually have to look at the car's render and check if it has the night or night plus package.
The only other ambiguity is both 872 (heated rear seat) + P53 (Energizing Air Control) and 21U (Dashcam) + 401 (Ventilated Front Seats) cost $650 together. Fortunately most cars can't have the 401 option as the Multicontour seats (64% of the cars have this) include the ventilated seats already so there is no charge for it, only the standard seats or the AMG seats need the ventilated seat option as a separate charge.
I have a python script that runs every 15 minutes and pulls down the latest data and I store the results in a CSV that I import for analysis into google sheets. Since the data from MBUSA is pretty junky I have to do some gymnastics to figure out what actual options each car comes with. Some of the options and packages are correctly reported, others are not. So I have to work backwards from the MSRP and known options and known omissions and then try to figure out what other option combinations would match the MSRP. Surprisingly, the algorithm works really well, for most cars it comes out unambiguous. On some cars you end up with two or three option combinations that would be valid for the sticker price, in most cases if you know whether the car has night, night plus, or neither, the option list becomes unique. Unfortunately the night/night plus info is not in the json data so I manually have to look at the car's render and check if it has the night or night plus package.
The only other ambiguity is both 872 (heated rear seat) + P53 (Energizing Air Control) and 21U (Dashcam) + 401 (Ventilated Front Seats) cost $650 together. Fortunately most cars can't have the 401 option as the Multicontour seats (64% of the cars have this) include the ventilated seats already so there is no charge for it, only the standard seats or the AMG seats need the ventilated seat option as a separate charge.
Wow! That is cool. I was guessing Python with Pandas and saving to persistent storage. Perhaps some Anaconda and Jupyterlab. I was in the ballpark with Python, but I would not have guessed Google sheets. Do you do a significant amount of data cleaning like determining options by matching the MSRP in Python before you export via csv to Google sheets? I would imagine that google sheets is more for the display of the tables and the equivalent of pivot table analysis and Python is doing the bulk of the data transformation.
So how do you get the json data? I was guessing that you were using Beautiful Soup to screen scrape. Pulling json data sounds much better than screen scraping, even if the data is messy.
After building your algorithms, you are probably the foremost expert in USA E53 wagon configuration.
From the customer and dealer configuration and pricing systems, it is easy to see that Mercedes-Benz doesn't have good control over master data such as product and pricing. The price for the USA market should be entered in one location which then flows into both configurators. Mercedes needs to hire you to get their data under control.
Wow! That is cool. I was guessing Python with Pandas and saving to persistent storage. Perhaps some Anaconda and Jupyterlab. I was in the ballpark with Python, but I would not have guessed Google sheets. Do you do a significant amount of data cleaning like determining options by matching the MSRP in Python before you export via csv to Google sheets? I would imagine that google sheets is more for the display of the tables and the equivalent of pivot table analysis and Python is doing the bulk of the data transformation.
So how do you get the json data? I was guessing that you were using Beautiful Soup to screen scrape. Pulling json data sounds much better than screen scraping, even if the data is messy.
So this data is pretty basic, just a simple table, so I store it as a dictionary with the VIN as the key and the options and values as list elements for each car then export it into a CSV. There is nothing fancy about storing ~100 rows of data, no need to build anything more elaborate. Then before each new query, I just load the existing CSV into memory (again, we're talking about 100 rows of 20 fields, not exactly rocket science) and run the query against it. If I have seen a car once on the website DB, it gets loaded and saved. The only thing I keep track of is if the car gets removed from the website so I can keep track of how long a car was on the site to estimate daily sales metrics.
The only problem is that the MB database is really legit garbage. You can make a query 15 minutes apart in the middle of the night and sometimes you get 60 cars back, on the next one you get 72 then another 15 minutes later it only shows 54. Then back to 70 again. It's like they have some kind of load balanced DB that is not consistently replicated between instances and depending on which one you hit, you get a different result. It's just bad design/implementation. I have no idea how their infra works but historically car manufacturers are not exactly famous for their software engineering prowess. I mean I'm no expert but I've been a SWE for a few decades primarily working in the cybersecurity space now.
I was going to use Beautiful Soup but after inspecting their page and realizing it's doing JSON fetch of the data for the pagination I just connected to the same endpoint that their own page uses. It lets you download 25 vehicles at a time but I just fetch in the same 12 vehicles/page as their own page does and paginate import.
As I said, the options that are listed for a given vehicle are not complete in the JSON. For example it does not store the L6H for the carbon fiber steering wheel but it does store the code for either L6J or L6K, which are the Nappa and the Dynamica steering wheels. So I go through the options and if I see either L6J or L6K I know it's one of those wheels but if I see neither, then I know it must be the carbon fiber wheel by deduction. Also, if either of the steering wheels show up, I know that the car cannot have the $900 option for the CF steering wheel, which limits the option combinations at that point. Same with, if the car has DX2 (Pinnacle) I know it can't have DX1 (Exclusive) Same goes for Iifthe car has multicontour seats, it can't have the 401 ventilated seats option (it's inlcuded) and it can't have the AMG sport seats either. Also if the car has Superscreen, it can't have the Carbon Fiber dash as an option, but it still can have the CF center console. And with center consoles, unless it's specified to be one of the woods, I know it has to be either the CF or the piano black, but I may not know which one, as the CF costs money, so I have to see which one fits the MSRP of the car.
The JSON lists a total of 82 different options, but most are don't care in terms of price of the car, and they are either standard options or dependent on another package/option being selected.
The output of the python is a CSV that I ingest into google sheets. Here is an example line:
The last item starting with "Night_Plus" is the solve for the MSRP and the known options from the database.
For example, on some cars you can have multiple valid solves:
Then in google sheet I do some validation and checks and put all the data into tables. It took a while to get the entire workbook working and automated but now it just does its thing. I've been expanding on some of the features, like I just started tracking if the car is shown as reservable on the MBUSA website, which likely means if it's non-reservable then it was a customer order. I'll have to validate whether that assumption is correct. I also don't have this particular data for the cars that were sold before today.
So this data is pretty basic, just a simple table, so I store it as a dictionary with the VIN as the key and the options and values as list elements for each car then export it into a CSV. There is nothing fancy about storing ~100 rows of data, no need to build anything more elaborate. Then before each new query, I just load the existing CSV into memory (again, we're talking about 100 rows of 20 fields, not exactly rocket science) and run the query against it. If I have seen a car once on the website DB, it gets loaded and saved. The only thing I keep track of is if the car gets removed from the website so I can keep track of how long a car was on the site to estimate daily sales metrics..
Thanks for the nice description of your application. I can visualize the design from your succinct yet informative explanation. Saving to a flat file keeps it simple. For this app it is easier than using an object or RDBMS store. I almost forget the days of flat files.
The only problem is that the MB database is really legit garbage. You can make a query 15 minutes apart in the middle of the night and sometimes you get 60 cars back, on the next one you get 72 then another 15 minutes later it only shows 54. Then back to 70 again. It's like they have some kind of load balanced DB that is not consistently replicated between instances and depending on which one you hit, you get a different result. It's just bad design/implementation. I have no idea how their infra works but historically car manufacturers are not exactly famous for their software engineering prowess. I mean I'm no expert but I've been a SWE for a few decades primarily working in the cybersecurity space now.
That definitely looks like inconsistent replication across horizontally scaled instances behind a load balancer.
I was going to use Beautiful Soup but after inspecting their page and realizing it's doing JSON fetch of the data for the pagination I just connected to the same endpoint that their own page uses. It lets you download 25 vehicles at a time but I just fetch in the same 12 vehicles/page as their own page does and paginate import.
That is a nice find to be able to fetch the JSON rather than having to go the Beautiful Soup route.
As I said, the options that are listed for a given vehicle are not complete in the JSON. For example it does not store the L6H for the carbon fiber steering wheel but it does store the code for either L6J or L6K, which are the Nappa and the Dynamica steering wheels. So I go through the options and if I see either L6J or L6K I know it's one of those wheels but if I see neither, then I know it must be the carbon fiber wheel by deduction. Also, if either of the steering wheels show up, I know that the car cannot have the $900 option for the CF steering wheel, which limits the option combinations at that point. Same with, if the car has DX2 (Pinnacle) I know it can't have DX1 (Exclusive) Same goes for Iifthe car has multicontour seats, it can't have the 401 ventilated seats option (it's inlcuded) and it can't have the AMG sport seats either. Also if the car has Superscreen, it can't have the Carbon Fiber dash as an option, but it still can have the CF center console. And with center consoles, unless it's specified to be one of the woods, I know it has to be either the CF or the piano black, but I may not know which one, as the CF costs money, so I have to see which one fits the MSRP of the car.
The JSON lists a total of 82 different options, but most are don't care in terms of price of the car, and they are either standard options or dependent on another package/option being selected.
The output of the python is a CSV that I ingest into google sheets. Here is an example line:
The last item starting with "Night_Plus" is the solve for the MSRP and the known options from the database.
For example, on some cars you can have multiple valid solves:
Then in google sheet I do some validation and checks and put all the data into tables. It took a while to get the entire workbook working and automated but now it just does its thing. I've been expanding on some of the features, like I just started tracking if the car is shown as reservable on the MBUSA website, which likely means if it's non-reservable then it was a customer order. I'll have to validate whether that assumption is correct. I also don't have this particular data for the cars that were sold before today.
Nice. There is some logic in deducing the configuration. I hope you post statistics after more cars have arrived.
So ummm.... Any more photos of people getting their new babies? Love the stats and database discussion, but anyone got cars they can share yet? I wanna see more configurations! More wheels!
Congrats one the E1! My god, she's gorgeous. . How hard is it to stay gentle in the break in period? Really impressed by the self control they expect from us.
Ordered mine in July and still don't have date yet. Hoping for early Q1 but who knows these days?
I picked mine up a week ago today! I had her for one day and she’s currently getting wrapped in EXPEL PPF.
My configuration:
manufaktur alpine gray, 20” AMG twin 5 spoke on all-season high performance tires
AMG night package plus
black MB-Tex/microfiber w/red stitching
natural grain black ash wood
all-season rubber floor mats
exclusive trim
rear-side window sunshades
energizing air control
drive assistance package
amg dynamic plus package
For some reason my car never showed up on the MBUSA website inventory.
I LOVE IT. Thank you for sharing! I ordered the identical spec, with tonka brown being the only difference. Do you have any interior photos? I'm so curious how the ash looks in real life.
I live in a city, so the 21 inch wheels just felt like they were going to be too harsh on the bumpy roads. Great choices, holy smokes these cars are beautiful.
Congrats one the E1! My god, she's gorgeous. . How hard is it to stay gentle in the break in period? Really impressed by the self control they expect from us.
Ordered mine in July and still don't have date yet. Hoping for early Q1 but who knows these days?
Thanks! HAH - I'm solving for the break-in by having my wife drive it for daily kid duties pretty heavily right now so we can tack some miles on
Hopefully they've got the production line in full swing and yours lands sooner than expected!
. How hard is it to stay gentle in the break in period? Really impressed by the self control they expect from us.
