On the '22 EQS450+ - at least on mine, ordered in April, '22 and delivered to me in late December, '22, Ambient Lighting was a standard included item.

On the '23 EQS450V4, it is shown as an add-on option, priced at $590.00. I asked the dealer to remove it as it's not worth $600 to me. His response is, "Unfortunately, Mercedes-Benz will not allow me to remove the Ambient Lighting. It appears they are forcing the option. This might change before the car is locked is built."

C'est la vie.

 

I see your standing order, Cardinal Red will be another beautiful example!

My thoughts are that changes were made to a car that completes production very soon. At times that will leave an allocation with some options that can not be added or removed from their original configuration.

 

Perhaps... but Chris told me the car would go into production "in April."

 

Isn't ambient lighting is a standard feature? If the issue is active ambient lighting, then the build configurator for an EQS 450 4matic is currently showing it as a no cost option.

 

For “active” ambient lighting, I didn’t see it that way, but…

Can you se send a screeskot or link, please?

 

https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/bu...tegory=options

 

Thanks.

"Is a puzzlement," said the King of Siam

The difference is that your post identifies the model as a 2023 450-4matic, while what appears in the Order Guide is for a 2023 450V4.. If you look at the first post on the 2023 Order Guide, and go to the updated link, under 450V4 Factory Options, the next-to-last listed option shows "Active Ambient Lighting" as a $590 option, contradicting your photo.

I think the first designation, and build contents changed along the line.

Who knows?

I'm sending your photo to my dealer Sales Mgr.

 

You are buying a 4matic correct? What's also strange is that the active ambient lighting option doesn't even show up on the non 4matic option list.

 

Excellent question...

The dealer's "Build sheet and buyer's order"shows "for your 2023,EQS450 4matic.", His pdf on page lists the "MODEL: 2023 EQS450V4", priced at $107,400.

The 2023 Order guide, last one posted here, shows two 450 models available -
1. EQS450V, (297.123) two wheel drive,
2. EQS450V4 (297.124) dual motors.

No. 2 is what I want,

His list of options includes, amongst the items I specified, Option 878, Active ambient lighting, priced at $590. This I did not specify, and the SM says he cannot delete it.

 

For clarification:

876 Ambient Lighting and 878 Active Ambient Lighting are two different things. The regular ambient lighting is always standard. It is not possible to get an EQS without it in the US. The active version I believe has all the same locations and power of the lights, it just adds a number of responsive “active” features using it, such as changing color when the voice assistant is active, changing color in response to climate control inout, changing color in response to safety interventions, etc. I believe most of not all of these features can be turned off, as can the ambient lighting as a whole if they are not desired.

The Active version was originally meant to be standard on the EQS and all pre production and early production cars have it, as at that point it was planned to be standard for the US. How we when they went to finalize price and begin building regular customer and dealer specced cars in late fall 2021, they were beginning to feel serious effects of the chip shortage, so decided to delete the active part from standard features and make it a $590 charge on any car that did have it. But it wasn’t something you could order. The car had it if possible, which for most of the model year it wasn’t but there were certain weeks where there were enough chips, especially towards the end of the model year. So those cars would just come equipped with it.

I believe that has remained for the 2023 model year -
it is not a standard feature as there may not be enough chips for it, but any car that is built when there are enough chips, which has basically been the entire 2023 model year so far, will have it. So there’s no way to specifically not get it or get it, it’s always there if the option is possible to be equipped.

This is different then the 2023 S Class. The S Class had it standard originally on 2021s but due to chip shortage many cars had a “credit for missing standard” where it wasn’t equipped. For 2022 it was like the EQS where it was “equipped when possible” which was essentially only the first few weeks of production in July 2021 and most of the last few months of production in late spring/early summer 2022. But for the 2023 model year it was made “orderable” I.e. you get to pick if you have it or not. The EQS may move to this next year or may just make it a standard feature. Also on the S, the option is $200 more because it actually adds lights and setting in addition to the “active” part.

I hope this is helpful. So as far as I know there’s no way to not order that, it’s going to be equipped Bur cause the parts are available for it and MB wanted to have it be a standard feature. So unfortunately, you’ll have to pay that $590.

 

Without questioning anything you've written in what seems to be an authoritative post, can you provide any source or sources for your information?
Are they readily accessible to such as us ?

But the bottom line is I'm forced to spend over $625 after taxes on something that can be excluded but won't be, and that I don't want. Of course, this is nothing new. On my 2018 S560 I had to accept rear seat stuff I didn't give a hoot about, to get something I did want. It's a way of plussing a sale with no recourse for the buyerl

 

So does this offer an explanation of the "$0" option. ie the $590 is baked into the MSRP on the configurator but shows up as an add on the OP's order?

 

The $0 is just an error on the mbusa website, the mbusa website is notoriously poorly updated and full of errors. It should never be trusted.

 

I don't have a singular source for my information but have religioulsy followed the ordering guide and as many wondow stickers and buils sheets as I could for the EQS, paying attention to production weeks and exact options etc., and I have learned a lot through this forum following it closely. So my knowledge is an amalgamation of all of that.

 

Thanks.

 

I believe this is because the 450+ on the mbusa website is still showing the 2022 model year, not the 2023 model year like the 450 4matic.