Is the Leather Package worth the $1700? I can't tell the difference between the leather and Tex. If you had to do it over, what would you do? It's not a bad deal considering 3 rows of leather, ambient lighting. But everything adds up quickly so I am leaning towards staying with MB-tex.

I am considering black interior with Diamond White exterior. I considered Ash but the grey shade is lighter than my current X5 which I am assuming will show dirt and stains -- especially with 3 boys! Let me know if what you guys think.

Other options:
- Premium 1
- Parktronics
- 3 Zone AC
- Lighting
- Blind spot
- Trailer hitch
- Considering Appearance package

 

I chose MB tex. It wears very well and you can use about anything to clean it up. 3 kids here too.

Leather likely breaths a little better, but shows wear.

 

Black shows dirt like crazy! Also hot in summer if you live in the South.

 

I love MBTex since it is so easy to clean. I had leather in my 2008 and it wasn't that special. I have ambient lighting in my S since it comes standard but I saw it on a GL and wasn't too impressed. P1 is great, Parktronic is necessary, 3 zone AC is not needed (I live in L.A. and I have 3 kids but we are really satisfied with 2 zone), Lighting is not nice, but the dual fog/daytime lamps show more chrome, I am fine without blind spot assist, I have a trailer hitch but never use it, and Appearance Package is nice. I had 19" on my 2008 GL and the ride quality was a little better, but not much. For 2011, I like the design of the 19" more, but mine has 20" since on a GL350 Diesel, they come standard. Running boards are okay, but my kids never use them.

Overall, here is what I would recommend after having 3 GL's (08, 09, and 10):

Diamond White (if you like it. I had Artic white on my 08 and I liked the sand beige and iridium silver on my 09 and 10 vehicles better)
Cashmere MBTEX (I miss my beige interior. Right now I have black and I hate it).
P1 (all the necessity and a few extras)
Parktronic (YES!)
Appearance Package
Lighting Package (if you want)

Good luck!

 

Thx for the detailed feedback. MX-tex sounds like the way to go.

I am surprised to hear that 2-zone AC is sufficient with a black interior. But that's great to know. What about in the third row since there's no vents back there?

I was defaulting to black interior since Beige and Ash would show stains and dirt easily. Just curious -- what do you not like about the black interior? Was Beige difficult to keep clean with the kids?

Thanks again.

 

The third row stays ventilated from the second row vents. Although you may not have air blowing on you, the rear quarter panels provide circulation and with the windows closed, the air reaches there in approximately 2-5 minutes, depending on the level of cooling you set. My daughter usually sits in the 3rd row and my 2 sons in the second and all of them are fine with the 2 zone.

I had beige in my 2008 and 2009. It showed more dirt on the carpets, but black literally shows every speck of dust on the dash as well as the seats. Any small crumb on the seat from anything is noticeable and in the beige interior, the seats hide everything and if your shoe scuffs a door or something, it doesn't leave a mark compared to the black interior. The black looks nice with the Burl Walnut trim, but the beige was much warmer and much more welcoming than black. In rain, beige would show dirt easily on the carpet, but once again, not on the seats. Also, in the sun, the beige seats won't burn as hot as the black ones. Black looks sporty and the beige looks luxurious. I also think that the beige interior makes the interior feels larger. Sadly, there were no Cashmere interior GL350's in my area when I was buying a car so I had to settle for black. The minute I got home with the car, my daughter said, "Why are the seats black?" But, I think the black interior is growing on our family. But, my dream color combo is Palladium Silver or Steel Gray with Cashmere or Ash interior.

Don't just take my word for it. Black is the most interior popular color and there are many reasons why. My family, however, definitely prefers Cashmere interior. The GL looks so much warmer that way. In case you noticed, there are no interior pics of the GL with black interior on MBUSA's website. I guess they think Cashmere and Ash look better.

 

Interesting, now you got me thinking about interior color.. Will reconsider the Beige. I have not seen a White car with Ash interior but the combo may be nice as well.

 

Checkout the SL550 in Diamond White and Ash.

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...r-combo-2.html

 

1 vote here for black.

I've had beige leather in the past and my experience has been that color comes off your clothes (like jeans) and discolors it over time. I have black MB Tex and I use the MB interior cleaner on it. After 16000 miles, it looks like it did when I picked it up from the dealer. The only wear is on the driver's seat and ironically, it is just showing slight wrinkles which make it look like a new leather seat with no wear. I have three kids and I don't think the seats show any more dirt between cleanings than beige. Just wipe it down with the mb cleaner and it looks good as new. I also think the contrast stitching looks sharp on the black. The key is using the MB cleaner. It requires almost no effort to completely clean door panels and seats to like new condition. Now the carpet does show dirt more easily than beige but after a quick vacuum, I think it looks better than beige which tends to stain over time.

 

Black MB tex is the way to go. I've had leather in my past four MB's. They all start looking a little rough after 7 or 8 years. If you have ever seen the older Mercedes with MB tex, their interiors look new. I plan on keeping the GL for a long time so durability is the most important aspect to me.

 

Beige MB-Tex has been perfect for me. No color coming off my jeans on to it, no color coming off of it on to me. Black exterior, I will never do again, particularly in Arizona (every particle of sand puts another spiderweb on it). If I had it to do over, I would do P1 (which I have, which included parktronic in 07 and I wouldn't do without), Bi-Xenon lights, and only because I'm in Arizona the three-zone climate control. I've had few problems with 2-zone, and on occassion I've had to turn the temperature two clicks hotter than top center (if that means anything to those of us who have used the system) because I'm kind of cold. The one thing I do wish I had from the 3-zone is the IR glass, but again, south-central Arizona can get a bit toasty for about 11 months out of the year. I mean four, sorry, four. Right.

 

IR glass is a special option on the 2011. Anyone know how much? Is it worth it? I heard there's some issues with cellphone signal.

 

Checkout the two-tone Beige + Black. Could be best of both worlds but not sure if it looks as good as all Beige. Seats and trim are in Beige. Dash, carpet and maybe headliner in black. What do you guys think?

 

I have IR glass (windshield only I believe) on wife's 2010 GL350 Bluetec. Special order and $500 according to the window sticker. I haven't experienced any issue with cellphone signal. I think it's worth it if you are in the hot climate. To tint the windshielf would cost probably more and not necessarily legal and as effective.

If you decide to special order it, I will suggest you to consider Adaptive Damping System ($760) and Multicontour Front Seats ($550 each for driver and passenger) as well. ADS in Sport and Comfort modes are so noticeably different like two cars. We didn't think the seats are that much different and wouldn't have had them if they didn't come with the car already. But I think we will not have our next car without it in the future.

It also came with Leather Seating Package. We compared it with MBTEX and decided we like leather better. Although my wife thinks the smell stinks but I like it. The Ambient Lighting isn't as impressive as they are in S and E class sedans but my wife thinks it really gives her the safe and comfort feeling driving at night so I think that's good enough for me.

 

Thx fs1013,

I am ordering the car anyways so I am definitely considering IR glass. But I did not realize it was just the windshield..

ADS for $760 sounds like a great deal but I may not need it since I will not be driving in the snow much where I can use the added clearance control.

But I am seriously considering the two-tone interior.

 

IR glass is known to cause problems with radar detectors but not with cell phones that I have heard.

 

[QUOTE=dougpark714;4246876]Thx fs1013,

"I am ordering the car anyways so I am definitely considering IR glass. But I did not realize it was just the windshield.. "

On my 2007 GL450 the infrared-reflecting glass is on the windshield and front doors.

 

I have the IR glass and both radar detector and cell phone works fine.

 

If you order 3-zone AC option, does the IR Glass come with it? Or do you need to special order separately.

 

I had the IR glass on my CL600. The V1 radar detector did not work at all unless mounted in a specific spot and only detected from the front. My cell service was sketchy in the car. Maybe the double pane IF glass on the CL makes a huge difference.

 

They are two separated option items. IR reflecting glass isn't even in the option list at the dealers and MBUSA website. It's standard on GL550 though. You wouldn't even know it's available if you didn't do your homework. Most dealers wouldn't tell you "Special Order" items are available if you don't ask.

I got the idea from somewhere (probably the dealer) it's on the windshielf only. I will be happy if they are on the front doors as well. Is there a way to verify this as on the windshield (blank spots)?

Back to the leather package, it seems to me you can't have "Heated and Active Ventilated Front Seats" without choosing "Full Leather Seating Package". And there doesn't seem to have a separated option for Heated Front Seats. This means you can't have heated front seats if you choose MB-Tex. I'm not 100% sure of this, can someone with MB-Tex confirm?

We even have "Heated Rear Seats" that I forgot completely. I've never sat in the back and our daughter is still on her child safety seat. It will be a long while before she will have a chance to use it. Hope the wife doesn't fall in love with some other car too soon.

 

It would be worth ($500 + $250 special order) if IR glass included the two front windows. I am planning to order black interior so IR glass will definetly help (along with 3zone ac). I am even considering adsII ($750) if I special order.

My understanding is heated front seats are standard on the gl including mbtex. Can someone pls confirm. I am not planning to order the leather package but not having heated seats would not be good.

 

Fs1013, what color is your interior?

Do you notice a difference with ir glass?

I noticed ir glass has a purplish tint.

 

My is Black/Black. We do feel the difference it doesn't get as hot inside compare to the other cars we've had. Also, we don't get that "burning" feeling that non-IR Glass cars have when we have our hands or arms under the direct sunlight through the windshield. But no I can't see that purplish tint others talk about. It looks the same as normal windshield to me. And I have to look very hard to find the three radio "permeable" areas.

Below is the description from the online manual:

Infrared reflective windscreen

The infrared reflecting glass prevents the vehicle interior from becoming too hot. It also blocks radio waves up into the gigahertz range.
In order to operate radio-controlled equipment, e.g. toll systems, there are areas on the windscreen that are permeable to radio waves. In these areas, you can install radio-controlled systems.These areas can best be seen from outside the vehicle by observing the light reflected off the windscreen.

Regarding to MB-Tex/Heated Front Seat, you may be right, I didn't think about they could be standard equipment. However, I just had a look at the MBUSA website in the "compare" section of the GL page and found it stated Heated Front Seats are optional for 2011 350 Bluetec and standard for 450 and 550. You may want to verify that with your dealer.

 

I've got heated seats and MBtex.