Movement of units to dealers as well as general sales of the E53 wagon have kind of slowed down in the last week.

 

Can you estimate how many E53 wagons have been sold in total so far? How many do you gauge MB will sell of the 2026’s? I only ask bc I am still waiting on an allocation and hoping I get one from the November allotment…

 

Very interesting to see this data.

A couple of concerns about the cars being held for the software update:
1) Timeline. How long until the release of these cars.
2) Battery: Concerns about battery health for both the 12V and the hybrid batteries. The hybrid is shipped in a low State of Charge (SOC) so what, if anything does the VPC do to ensure the health of the battery.

 

^ My bigger concern is how permanent the fix will be. With 30+ days out of service these would already be considered lemons had they been delivered. Not excited about trading a trouble-free car in for one potentially plagued with problems.

 

I think we all know what the port does to maintain batteries. Think about the logistics at play here and the sheer number of vehicles they handle.

 

I managed to track 149 E53 wagons so far and currently 73 of them are still available to purchase. This means 76 of them sold. Of the 48 Edition 1 models (I could only track 42 of them) 18 are still available to purchase.

We had this discussion before about how many I would think they will sell. I estimated in the 250-300 range while someone posted a number that there are already 500 in the production pipeline which is significantly more than what I expected.

My build date is scheduled for end of January and my dealer called this week to let me know that the factory confirmed my order and my order is likely locked where no changes are allowed.

 

^ Are you tracking ordered cars as well or just units that hit dealer lots for sale?

 

I'm only tracking cars that show up on the MBUSA website in the inventory search tool. That's all I have access to.

 

Good to see the data summarized and understand the source. Congrats on getting the build date confirmed. My Dealer has said that I can walk from the car in Baltimore and they will get me a new allocation to start the process over. I'm leaning towards this given how long these cars have been sitting idle at the VPC and no clear timeline for resolution.

 

Would they extend the warranty for free? Would that be something you'd entertain? Well, if you had any changes from your previous build that you wanted / didn't want, this would work out nicely!!! Did the dealer say when the allocation would come? (Asking b/c I am still waiting on my dealership to get an allocation...bleh.)

 

I personally wouldn't consider the delay significant. Note that the E53's high voltage battery capacity is much bigger than the usable capacity so even if it was shipped at low charge it's still well within the usable range with very low chance of any kind of degradation. Abandoning and restarting sounds like a much longer process......for what? What is the guarantee that there isn't another delay or sale stop when that car shows up?

I think it's rather prudent of them not to release these cars with a known software bug and let them get resolved before they're handed over to their owners.

Some "new" cars can sit on dealer lots for months. Also note that most dealers don't even keep the battery charged at all so likely those cars can be in just as much of a neglect as they are at port, if not worse. I have yet to see a PHEV on a dealer lot that was 50% charged. They're all dead or pretty close to it.

Also note that people who will use these cars as hybrids without plugging them in at night will keep the battery in that constant depleted state forever. I just don't think it's a big deal is all...

 

I asked about an extended warranty and that may be possible. As far as allocations go...they have one left in the current allotment = February delivery. After that they need to see what they would get in the next round or trade for one with another dealer.

 

Thanks. Agree and that makes sense and the reason why I haven't pulled the plug or the trigger on a new allotment. Will wait till the car actually shows up and decide then.

 

I found some really weird builds, I wonder who would order these cars like this but to each their own, I guess:

Graphite Grey, Black Nappa interior with the DYNAMICA headliner, multicontour seats, AMG fuel cap, side sunshades and literally no other options. Car has no driver assist, no Exclusive or Pinnacle trim, so reflector LEDs. MSRP: $103k. Truly a wild build.

Another one with MANUFAKTUR Moonlight White, MB-Tex standard seats, no exclusive or pinnacle trim but got CF console and the superscreen, soft close and side shades and the DYNAMICA headliner. Basically spent $1,600 on the headliner, another $950 on the CF center console and $1500 on the superscreen but still getting the reflector headlights and pleather seats. MSRP $105k.

 

Those are probably destined to be rental cars. The first one is quite similar to the one I rent when traveling for business.

 

I ordered a Patagonia Red E53 Wagon with first night package this week. Feb build so it’s a ways off.

Pinnacle, Tonka, multi-contour, black forged wheels, grey illuminated wood, the “advanced” usb package for the kid’s ipads.

I specifically skipped the 3D display and superscreen. I’ve also skpped the dynamic plus package for now. The only thing I’m thinking about is going back to add the Dynamic Plus package just to get the locking differential for snow. This is a GT car for me, maybe some mountain roads now and again but it will never see a track

My wife wants to keep the 450 as hers so I guess we’ll have 2 wagons.

 

Beautiful spec and love Patagonia red. I hope you're experience goes better than mine. It's been 11 weeks since mine was built and sitting in Baltimore since 09/20. No word yet on when it will be released.

 

Thanks, here’s to hoping, at least you know it’s software/firmware related and not something else. Port holds make me worry about shoddy paint fixes, the last car I ordered (not an mb) spent an extra few weeks at port with no explanation only to find out both bumper covers were resprayed badly.

 

And the first Edition 1 is for sale as a used car for $118k with less than 1k miles https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...icle/764395226

It was still for sale as a new car in Tampa, FL as late as Monday (still showed up in MBUSA inventory)

 

If the used price is $118k, what was the original price?! I thought these things are supposed to depreciate $10k just driving off the lot. It has 900 miles and the dealership is discounting it like $2k? That's pretty shady...

I guess Owner #2 will get all the depreciation...

What's even funnier is looking at the pics of it. You'd think the dealership would have it detailed before the photoshoot. There are fingerprints everywhere, the doors / door handles have smudges, every pic has lint/dust on it, the floor mat has debris all around it, cupholders definitely look used, the pic with the open trunk button has some type of gunk near the rubber bumper, etc.

 

The Edition 1 package is listing for $120,450 in the US, so you're spot on that it's $2k off. it being the edition 1 is probably helping on that, and well...look at E63 used prices. rarity helps with retaining value.

 

I hope all the dealerships / insurance companies know this when they are selling GAP insurance...ha ha ha kidding

 

Honestly rarity hurts just as much as it helps. It's kind of a wash. There are few examples to begin with but there are few people interested in these new or used. Luxury vehicles generally lose a LOT of their value in the first couple of years, and the E53/63 is no exception.

There are still 18 of the 48 samples of the Edition 1 wagons for sale brand new and I have seen even a few 2025 Edition 1 sedans linger around for over a year in inventory. Are these E53 Edition 1 wagons rare? Sure. But IMHO they were badly configured and are not as desirable as a custom order. Most wagon owners are very picky and particular and will seldom take one off the lot on a whim.

 

Not sure why it took me this long to realize that in English, the model designations are backwards. S for wagon and W for sedan. Assume it works in German lol.

 

It doesn't work in German either. When I worked in manufacturing for a year long, long ago, a product was assigned a model prefix that related more to the design series rather than product function or style.