I think the black forged wheels look the best too, and $3k for forged AMG wheels is hard to pass up, but I’m in MA where it was below freezing and the tires were not great even in comfort. In your situation you could sell them and get a great aftermarket if they are too harsh a ride and not lose any money.

 

Fully agree. I don't have any CF on my car. It looks ok, but it's not worth the price they charge.

 

100% agree that the black forged looks the best - going with Moonlight White Magno so want more contrast with that in my (okay my wifes) case. Going to use a set of 20" black forged wheels for winter so if the 21s are too harsh I will just leave them on. We had previously ordered an Audi RS6 Avant with 22s and we liked the way that rode - unfortunately the build did not come in as we ordered it so switched over to the E53.

Looking forward to seeing everyones pictures when they come in.

 

was wondering when you put your order in and when the approximate build date is? I put my order in at the end of September and still waiting on my allocation and just curious...

 

Well today we dethroned the cheapest wagon once again, this is the second E53 wagon under $100k in inventory ever.


The first one is in NJ and has been sitting on the dealer lot for over 60 days...... I wonder how long this one will sit in CA. These two cars literally have zero options (one had a dash trim upgrade from the black ash that cost money, and this new cheapest one has wheel locks and a first aid kit and the $200 for the wheel option)

 

This one near me is also low/no options. Weird history as a 'factory demo', or so they say...CARFAX says a lease return but there is no initial transaction. Thought it might be a press car or something, but those are usually loaded up. I drove it...nice car.

https://www.mbencino.com/used/Merced...cec8787abf.htm

 

That's wild. Obviously we know what i'm about to say is true based on my build, but i can't imagine getting this car with almost nothing for options.

 

Interesting, that car's VIN is not in my database so it was never for sale on mbusa.com .

 

So I looked at all the photos and I can tell you it definitely doesn't have
- Superscreen
- Dynamic Package
- Driver Assistant Package
- Night/Night Plus Package
- Leather
- Any expensive trim
- CF pieces
- Ventilated seats
- Neither exclusive nor pinnacle trim
- no forged wheels
- Multicontour seats
- Dynamica headliner
- MANUFAKTUR paint
- sun protection package
- performance seats

So even if I add every other possible option to it (I seriously doubt it would have 3D dashboard) I can't get the MSRP over $98k. The fact that a dealer is asking for $104.5K for it is revolting. But I guess a sucker is born every minute......

 

I think it's another no-option car...dealer said MSRP was around 95k. Not that I was interested in the car, but based on my conversation with them I'm sure it would sell at or below MSRP if someone was serious.

 

I’m only getting leather, exclusive and DA. Not sure heads-up display and 4 zone climate control is worth the upgrade. Would kinda like to have the multi-contour seats but not sure it’s worth the $3k. The wagon has a few upgrades that the sedan doesn’t have that I would have paid extra for like the 4D sound…

 

The people who purchase the "no-option" wagons will be smiling just as much as those who got carried away with extra features every time they get behind the wheel.

 

I think there are two kinds of people.
1) Get as few options as possible
2) Get a car fully loaded

I always got a well optioned car, I never wanted to look at the peasant switch blanks and wish I had that option. But in the rate of diminishing returns I think the base model will always be the best bang for your buck. It's a simple case of price discrimination where two cars that are essentially the same can be sold for substantially different prices and therefore penetrate a wider market. Some, predominantly Japanese, manufacturers offer little in terms of options and do this to a much lesser degree. Then you have Porsche on the other end of the spectrum where everything is ala carte. MB is somewhere in the middle, I think it's a good balance of packages and options to provide that breadth of prices without overwhelming the customer with analysis paralysis.

Having said all this, Here is the price distribution of the 189 non E1 cars I've been tracking:



You can see how remarkably well the actual data follows the normal distribution. Those two no option cars are as much of an outliers as you'll ever have.

 

The driver's assistance package is good to have for the additional safety features and the convenience. The exclusive package improves safety by adding the curve adaptive digital lights which score better on the IIHS test. The standard lights do well on the distance target tests but have some glare for other drivers that the upgraded lights don't have.

The most comfortable car seats that I have had are Mercedes standard sport seats in MB-TEX and Ultrasuede, without massage, ventilation and multi-contour. I have leather, massage and multi-contour seats in a BMW X5. On short trips, both seats are comfortable. For five hour trips, the Mercedes seats are much more comfortable. I'm not sure what makes the Mercedes seats more comfortable, but I suspect that without the massage gear, the internal seat cushion springs are tuned better. Multi-contour seats are cool, but you will be comfortable in Mercedes seats without the multi-contour option. I would get the heated arm rests and rapid seat heating from the multi-contour package if they were available as separate options.

I went for the Pinnacle trim to get the heads-up display showing Apple CarPlay navigation.

 

I first saw a microfiber suede headliner in a 2000 BMW M5. It suited the sportiness of the M5. I do have the suede headliner in my comparatively pedestrian BMW X5. I like the headliner in the X5 and it reminds me of the M5 of old.

The Porsche GTS models which lean towards the sporty side add suede interior bits. I had an Audi S4 with suede seats and door panels, which added to the sporty ambiance.

In a modern S-Class or Genesis G90, a suede headliner adds to the luxury. In the Mercedes E53, a suede headliner goes really well as it has an upscale sporty look as well as luxury look.

When we submitted the order for the E53, I skipped the headliner at $1,600. When the 2026 E53 Wagon was released on MBUSA.com, the headliner had a price of $450. At $450, I added it to the order. When I realized the price on the build sheet was $1,600, I removed the headliner again.

You aren't normally looking up at the roof, but you will see the subtle luxury/sportiness of an inside A pillar, B pillar or visor wrapped in suede. The Dynamica headliner goes well with the character of the E53.

I configured the microfiber suede seats and steering wheel for the E53, so the headliner would go well with that interior.

There are a bunch of people who have had suede steering wheels and don't want another one. This is the first time I've had a suede steering wheel in a car, so I may learn my lesson the hard way. I've already bought a Sonax suede brush and Alcantara cleaner. I have used Alcantara steering wheels on shifter carts, but with those you always wear gloves.

I am toying with the idea of getting custom matching black Dynamica front center arm rests with red stitching for the E53 wagon. I'm sure someone on this forum will dis-suede me.

You can always do a custom installation of a Dynamica headliner. Normally, the designer would need to cut the headliner for the project, but you could order the Dynamica headliner and visor parts. I've seen pictures of Dynamica covered dashboards, but it seems like that would interfere with passenger air bag deployment and perhaps shoot suede at your face during air bag deployment.

 

Sounds like some fun projects! Are you still in the auto industry and bailed on autonomous driving or did you bail on the whole auto industry?

 

Tesla isn't within the 2% yet. The all-camera system is an interesting idea which may win in the end, or not.

Anyway, what scares me isn't the 2% for self-driving cars, it's doing the 0.001% really badly.

 

At first I was going with the Manufaktur Alpine Grey and no Driver's Assist. Then I realized how many different MB's have that color and the exclusivity of it really doesn't exist as I would have thought with a Manufaktur color. I also read up on the safety features of the DA package and realized that the automated safety systems were something that were quite useful. So, I switched the color for the DA with only an upcharge of a couple hundred dollars. And I love ventilated seats, so that is why leather always wins in my book. I don't drive often, but when I do it is either for groceries/errands around town or road trips. That is why the PHEV sounds good to me (plus, I love advancing technology). Which then leads to the messaging seats...I like the idea, but not the price.

But to tell the truth, I am getting quite frustrated with MB. I placed my order with a small, family owned dealership at the end of September. It is now the end of December and I still don't have an allocation. This has been a discussion of late with my dealership of how unhappy I am...I understand it is not entirely the dealership's fault, but still not what was discussed at the beginning back in early September. And why Mercedes won't give an allocation when they know someone wants to purchase a vehicle but would rather send out vehicles to sit on dealer lots is beyond me. The estimated 3-6 month delivery time for custom-ordered, German-manufactured Mercedes is not holding true...

 

Well...I guess if you post something online, the internet gods are paying attention. I just got a call from my dealership that they got an allocation for a late February build...ugh. Which means an early April delivery, right? Excited but disappointed that half of the spring will be spent waiting for a car that I would love to be able to drive in springtime weather.

 

If I had to choose between MANUFAKTUR paint or Driver's Assist, I'd pick the DA every single time. It's actually kind of pathetic that it's a $2k add-on for any Mercedes let alone an E class. I was OK with paying for it as an extra back in 2013 when I got my W212 wagon. The system just trickled down from the S-class and it was revolutionary and incredible at that time. The current system is now essentially table stakes at almost all manufacturer's offering. Sure the MB version adds some extras like auto lane change and I still think it's the best implementation I've seen, but adaptive cruise and pre-sense are essentially ubiquitous now. 95% of E53 wagons have it, which sends a clear signal that it should not be an option but a standard feature. But who will stop MB from artificially deflating the starting MSRP? Also, the uptake of this option may be lower in other markets like Europe which probably make it move viable to keep it an option. But in NORAM it's definitely a must have.

As for paint, the color distribution is kind of sad/telling (not including E1 cars that are ALL Alpine Grey):


I've had massaging seats in my last two cars and I like the feature enough that I ordered it once again even if it's mostly going to be my wife's car and she hates the massaging seats and wouldn't use them.

 

What's your opinion on Exclusive vs. Pinnacle? The dealership was kind enough to offer a little money off the car for the delay in getting the allocation, so I am thinking of upgrading from Exclusive to Pinnacle for the HUD and 4-zone. I can live without HUD/4-zone, but if MB is going to cover half of the upgrade, I should at least think about it...

And I am always reconsidering my decision to go with the Sonoran Brown. I think it looks killer on the wagon, but apparently only one other person from that chart thinks the same thing...I wish the graphite grey was the selenite grey. the graphite is just sooooo dark that it is almost completely black.

 

I left the industry entirely. I had the privilege of building some pretty cool stuff, much of which is now ubiquitous across all brands. For example, we invented Audi Virtual Cockpit, paving the way for highly configurable, graphic and content-rich instruments. It's pretty humbling to still see ideas we had years ago coming to market, either first party or through some of our partners. My time at Walt Disney Imagineering made me focus on making in-car experiences magical and simple. But that's where working in the industry is challenging. Regulatory environments, the never-ending fights with the bean counters, disagreements with designers, etc., all meant that ideas took ages or needed compromises. I hate capacitive controls, but the finance teams wanted them (fewer parts), or the designers wanted no physical controls at all, burying everything in screens, and I just grew tired of fighting that. It's funny, when I look at VWAG's product portfolio, I can see which products came after my departure. And now consumers have revolted, and they're adding physical buttons back.

I'm much happier now, but I do miss it at times. Both the auto industry and Disney. Still makes me smile knowing millions of people interact with things I made daily.

 

I wish MB offered more interesting colors. I *really* wish they allowed custom choices from the MANUFAKTUR palette, because my wagon would have been Northern Lights Violet.

 

I opted for the Pinnacle Trim for the odd chance of rear passengers and the HUD in the latest iteration with navigation integration is actually a really nice feature. If it helps you any, 77% of the cars are optioned with the Pinnacle trim, this is the second highest take rate of all the options with the Driver Assist being the highest. At half the cost of the upgrade it's probably a no-brainer.

On the color front, I personally wouldn't get a brown/gold car, white being the most desirable in resale with silver/grey as second and black third. I never bought a car color based on resale though, I'm partial to blue but the current limited MB palette definitely limits one's choices.

 

Other than the blood red, I think that the MB E class color selection is made by a funeral director. I like the selection of S class Manufaktur colors.