shanelewis79

is production date the start date or finish date? Mine is 3/13, just wondering when I can expect delivery in SC?

E55 KEV

Very odd. No regular running boards? Only Option 846 - Illuminated Running Boards? Not that I don't like them but I have a feeling some owners will de-activate or disconnect the lights.

Ron.s

I'm taking it as both ie very close to it. Since it's assembly a car should roll through in about a day.

JoeMa

I don't actually know so I'll go with Ron on that one.

GregW / Oregon

That's the only running board option I've seen. I believe the lights only come on when entering or exiting the vehicle, so I don't know why you'd turn them off.

venkyszone

I was wondering how long it would take to get a car delivered if I ordered one today.
Also what are my chances I might find a car in a dealership which is very close to what I want( I have some uncommon requirements like 3rd row, multi contour seats, black exterior with espresso interior etc)

Ron.s

I would start with a Dealer. It’s not likely that preconfigured ones will be third row. A dealer may be able to check nationwide on what’s in the pipeline.
As far as timing for a new order, a dealer might better answer that too. I would suggest that you inquire at a large volume dealer.
I think someone earlier posted that his Feb. order was scheduled for June. You might look at early Feb. posts on this thread for his info. This is very likely going to be a sell out for some time so wait times could stretch out.

venkyszone

Thanks.

GregW / Oregon

I think production takes much longer than that. After the body is assembled it has to go through paint before it merges with the line. VINs are not assigned until production starts and I had one a week ago with it to be finished this Wednesday.

Ron.s

I've seen a several factory Assembly videos that had pre painted body parts. I believe one was Mercedes but could be wrong. You may be right but they have to be running 20+ a day on average, maybe 30 at full production. That doesn't seem plausible with taking a week to complete.

Ron.s

Greg,
We are probably looking at it differently. I’m not counting the component assembly that may come from different suppliers and are generic until they begin to become part of a specific vehicle. I believe the body is produced by a 3rd party on or near the factory. There was a news article about them adding about 650 new jobs as they expanded. There are several other model body shells that they produce besides the 4 GLE ones. (Coupe, AMG, new 2020 GLE & AMG ) As I understand the process these then go to the Mercedes paint booth probably in bundles by color. Some more popular colors like white may have a dedicated paint booth while others might be changed periodically. They probably do a batch of the same body since painting is done robotically and might require subtle programming changes for the various shapes. Then the painted shell goes through a bake oven. How these fold into the production line so that they don’t build a stockpile is part of the Factory Assembly plan. Other components have different processes of a similar nature. Steel suspension, air or E-ABC for example.
My description may be off a little but that’s my idea for why I count Assembly as about a day. After the car is assembled there are still several things left such as QC, protective wrap and delivery for transport. If you count from when a component may start getting added from the supply chain it’s much longer. That longer time period may start soon after the order is Locked. When do you start counting for the engine?
I’m not defending my “day” estimate it’s probably longer than that. It all depends on when you start counting for the component.

JoeMa

Greg, what is status B4?

In fact, can you repost all of the MB status codes and their meaning? Thanks

turko

From: https://www.billsden.org/mercedes/sl...duction-codes/

A4 FINAL SUPPLIER ORDER/SCHEDULED NOT PRODUCED
B0 19 DAYS TO PRODUCTION
B1 13 DAYS TO PRODUCTION
B3 NO CHANGES POSSIBLE
B4 2 DAYS TO COMPLETION
B5 PRODUCTION COMPLETE
B7 AT PORT/READY TO BE SHIPPED
B8 ASSIGNED TO SHIP
C1 SHIP DEPARTED
C2 SHIP NOTIFICATION/ON WQTER
CS SUMITTED TO CUSTOMS
C3 CLEARED CUSTOMS
C4 AT PORT
D1 VPC RECEIVED
D2 SURVEYED AT VPC
D3 POTENTIAL DELAY
D4 READY TO DELIVER
D5 RELEASED TO CARRIER
D9 WHOLESALE/CONSIGNMENT PENDING
F1 WHOLESALED AND INVOICED
I1 RETAIL

JoeMa

Thanks turko for the NetStar Production codes.

My build dates are as follows:

02/25 - VIN Change
02/27 - Production Started
03/13 - Est. Prod. Date

I think this means my build required 11 production days, not counting Saturdays or Sundays.

Skizz

Anyone have any idea what the dynamic is between the order being "locked" and turned red (or pink, I guess, wherein you can't change options or colors) on netstar and the production code "B3, no changes possible"? It seems like the order locks quite a bit before it would go to B3 status.

Of course, I may be looking at it all wrong.

GregW / Oregon

My larger dealer in Portland area still does not have even a demo. Expecting one end of this week.

GregW / Oregon

I thought locked means what it says, order cannot be change. That's the way mine was.

Ron.s

I didn’t spend much time but found some articles that point to a very short Assembly time. I’m guessing that some of the timelines are scheduling ones.

“The process of making a car can be roughly divided into stamping, welding, painting, assembly and inspections, which takes about 17-18 hours in total. (It varies according to the number of cars made by a factory.”

MERCEDES-BENZ TO CUT PRODUCTION TIME, HALVE NUMBER OF VEHICLE ARCHITECTURES

MARCH 28, 2012
Mercedes-Benz is restructuring its global production network to cut the average production time for its models to 30 hours by 2015 from 43 in 2008.

"We have increased productivity by 2 percent a year over the last few years. We will be accelerating our productivity efforts," Mercedes production boss Wolfgang Bernhard said during an investor conference that was part of the automaker's plant opening in Kecskemet, Hungary, on Thursday.”







Read more: https://autoweek.com/article/car-new...#ixzz5ht5AvyCz

JoeMa

I wonder if builds that include low-volume options (E-ABC for example) are partially built and then pushed to the side awaiting those options to arrive at the plant? Have no clue, just spit-balling. We all need to take a trip to Vance and see for ourselves what goes on. Besides, Greg and his wife need to move closer to Vance so his GLE arrive before Fall.

No demo's yet! The dealerships in my area all have several GLE's for sale now.

Ron.s

They are just starting to arrive in the West, slower than normal. Good bet that Mercedes prioritized by proximity for fast delivery. They need to show some results for March.

On the subject of E-ABC, it won’t take any longer. As factories moved to JIT following the lead of Japanese factories they changed production techniques. Now most components are preassembled in packages. This is how it might be done.
They will have the frame and suspension components already put together in 3 types for the new GLE. One for steel, one for air and one for E-ABC. Those will roll to the line as needed for the vehicle spec.
Here’s a C class vid that might help put the line into perspective:

GregW / Oregon

I went on a tour or the Mercedes plant in Stuttgart in 2014 and saw S-Class cars being built. I could watch those robots all day - fascinating!

GregW / Oregon

I was looking for the 22" RXS wheels in Germany. I didn't find them, but did find this site, one of the few with the V167 listed, that does have other wheels including the 22" GLE 53 style for €2,119 a set, which is a pretty good price. Doesn't look like they ship to the US, though.

https://www.kunzmann.de/shop/en/tire-wheels/rims/

JoeMa

Impressive Germany factory. I'd want to be the person at the end of the line who looks it over and rubs it with a diaper before driving it outside to the storage lot for shipping.

On another topic, does MB have a program similar to BMW where you can take delivery of your car up in Vance and drive it home from there?

Ron.s

That would be something to remember forever. I am fascinated by the Videos and you lose a lot watching on film vs real life. Audi had one 2 years ago on the new Plant in Mexico and Tesla has a good one.
If I ever get near Alabama that will be something I would try to do. The Assembly line is probably the most important part but all the supporting things going on and how they bring everything together at the right time is amazing. I toured the local HP Plant 30 years ago and watched robots moving materials to assembly stations-at the time it was cutting edge tech but now just a part of every large warehouse.

skw

When we ordered our GLS, I was told that the production date is the finish date.

I inquired about that as well as I have picked up my last 2 BMW's at the Performance Center in South Carolina. They said no, MB does not allow any deliveries at Vance.