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Actually the production time in normal circumstances is about 2 days from start to finish. But right now most factories are operating at only partial capacity and only 1 shift, so it's taking longer for a car to finish production.
Take for example the BMW factory in South Carolina, last year they built about 450k SUV/SAV. If you do some math, that works out to about 1250 vehicles a day if they worked 24x7x365 and never shut the plant down. Realistically they shut the plant down a few times a year for maintenance and other purposes, so they more likely build 1300 or more cars a day in order to crank out 450k a year.
Manufacturers these days have a lot of automation, and have it down to an art. They are very efficient at turning out high quantities under normal circumstances.
Here's an example of BMW's online order tracking system.
The blue checks are:
Order Received
Scheduled for Production
Production Begins
Exterior body assembly begins
In the paint booth
Entering Assembly line (currently)
Grey dots:
Assembly in progress
Quality checks
Final Assembly
Ready for Transport
Awaiting carrier assignment
Dispatched from factory
At the port
In transit
At dealer
Delivered to customer.
Here's a video of how the GLS/GLE is built if you want to kill some time.
Well, I will say y’all have convinced me to stick with Audi. I drove a GLE580 and thought it was a contender but it would have to be special order and I am not waiting forever for a new vehicle no matter how good it might be.
Well, I will say y’all have convinced me to stick with Audi. I drove a GLE580 and thought it was a contender but it would have to be special order and I am not waiting forever for a new vehicle no matter how good it might be.
I think if you were to custom order an Audi, you'll be in for a wait as well. Basically any custom order is taking longer than usual.
The 580 shouldn’t take anywhere close to a year either unless the Dealer has other orders or is maybe trying to discourage an order.
Are you looking at the SQ8....looks like an awesome car with comparable power. There should be some GLE 63’s showing this fall if you want the ultimate!
The 580 shouldn’t take anywhere close to a year either unless the Dealer has other orders or is maybe trying to discourage an order.
Are you looking at the SQ8....looks like an awesome car with comparable power. There should be some GLE 63’s showing this fall if you want the ultimate!
The SQ8. I think the 63”s will be more comparable to the RS Q8 which is a bit more than I am looking to get. The SQ8 and the GLE 580seem to be very comparable in most respects with the Audi capable of being equipped with a bit more performance options. There are so many obstacles right now and even if the factories get reopened, can their suppliers keep up with the demand. It seems Mexico is just starting to be hit really bad and MB in particular is very dependent on Mexico. Audi’s factory reopening is going a bit smoother from what I can find and SQ8’s are trickling in to dealerships. I have even seen an RS Q8 at a dealer that they weren’t even expecting. It sold in a couple of hours at full M.S.R.P. and the dealer is now charging a $10k premium for the next unit.
The SQ8. I think the 63”s will be more comparable to the RS Q8 which is a bit more than I am looking to get. The SQ8 and the GLE 580seem to be very comparable in most respects with the Audi capable of being equipped with a bit more performance options. There are so many obstacles right now and even if the factories get reopened, can their suppliers keep up with the demand. It seems Mexico is just starting to be hit really bad and MB in particular is very dependent on Mexico. Audi’s factory reopening is going a bit smoother from what I can find and SQ8’s are trickling in to dealerships. I have even seen an RS Q8 at a dealer that they weren’t even expecting. It sold in a couple of hours at full M.S.R.P. and the dealer is now charging a $10k premium for the next unit.
I thought that the SQ8 was closed to orders now. When it was open the S Sport Pkg was “expect delay”. I messed around with a build a month ago and thought the pricing was about $10k higher with less comfort options. It’s hard to compare since they each have unique features. To me the Mercedes has a balance of luxury and decent handling vs Audi is more of a Drivers car....harder to benefit from the “drivers” features in the US. I love driving my wife’s SQ5 on mountain roads but traffic and conditions are seldom right to enjoy it for very long.
With Mercedes you can configure an I Mode (Individual) with personalized settings but the car currently defaults to Comfort mode each time the ignition recycles. I have my I Mode suspension set to Sport that gets rid of the soft floaty feeling. It’s a pain to remember to toggle back to “I“ so around town I’m usually in C mode.
Two great choices but by the time you load up an SQ8 it looks like the 63 will be a better deal IMO. The RSQ8 seems to be more of a niche vehicle for bragging rights.
I thought that the SQ8 was closed to orders now. When it was open the S Sport Pkg was “expect delay”. I messed around with a build a month ago and thought the pricing was about $10k higher with less comfort options. It’s hard to compare since they each have unique features. To me the Mercedes has a balance of luxury and decent handling vs Audi is more of a Drivers car....harder to benefit from the “drivers” features in the US. I love driving my wife’s SQ5 on mountain roads but traffic and conditions are seldom right to enjoy it for very long.
With Mercedes you can configure an I Mode (Individual) with personalized settings but the car currently defaults to Comfort mode each time the ignition recycles. I have my I Mode suspension set to Sport that gets rid of the soft floaty feeling. It’s a pain to remember to toggle back to “I“ so around town I’m usually in C mode.
Two great choices but by the time you load up an SQ8 it looks like the 63 will be a better deal IMO. The RSQ8 seems to be more of a niche vehicle for bragging rights.
Yes, it is supposedly closed to orders now but dealers are taking orders so not sure how that works! You’re exactly correct; it’s really difficult to do a direct comparison because of the unique features offered by each. I also agree , the Mercedes is more luxury vs, the Audi’s “drivers “ focus. Which MB suspension do you have as the regular air suspension demo I drove seemed quite “floaty” but I really didn’t get an opportunity to play with the settings to see if that could be adjusted. I am not in a hurry and want to wait now for 2021’s especially with the Audi because of the MMI updates and for us, the final decision will be based on overall drivability and creature comforts as fortunately, we aren’t going to be driven by price.
I have the Air suspension, not E-ABC. It’s plush but too soft for me, but then Mercedes caters to a wide range of people so it might be a necessary compromise. If they would get around to leaving the Driving mode as set I would be 100% happy because Sport mode stiffens things up without sacrificing comfort. Less roll in corners and gets rid of the floaty feeling on rollers or traffic calming berms. I plan to move to either the GLE 53 or 63 in about a year and will opt for the suspension upgrade. If the 53 comes with the AMG Active Body Control I will Probably get one and might add a tune. I wouldn’t rule out the 63 but haven’t driven either. In the past Mercedes has had a 63 & 63S so I’m wondering if they might put the 580 engine version in a 63 and the high performance engine in a 63S. It’s not likely but possible.
My wife thinks I should stick with the 450 and less tickets🤭 The State Police have stopped 3 people near Boise driving over 100 last week & one at 119. Bet they were all driving German cars!
Edit-We have 80 on Freeways but the 119 was in town posted at 65.
How has your overall experience been with the 450? They’re great looking and have lots of options but just seems there have been so many negative posts in this forum.
How has your overall experience been with the 450? They’re great looking and have lots of options but just seems there have been so many negative posts in this forum.
I could write a book, I took delivery 13 months ago of my first ever Mercedes and had more than my share of issues. It’s not the engine or drive train that’s been at fault. The vehicle is a very solid build in every respect but like Audi & BMW there were software & component issues. I always buy a new Gen vehicle and expect to have issues. The key is to document them with video or other means to establish facts/credibility with the Dealer-it’s new to them also. Mercedes has been willing and capable to make repairs or tell me that it’s coming later. Some of that is the Dealer but some is taking the time to make sure it’s an issue and not my error-they get a lot of that.
I had two components that caused most of my problems. My 12 volt battery had a bad cell & lost voltage at times erasing settings but the MBUX Controller was the worst when it started going bad. There were software glitches that were fixed early....for example the camera and radar were out of sync causing Driver Assistance issues. Mercedes like all the others designs a product and assembles it but relies on 3rd parties for most components. The E-ABC, Key Fob, MBUX, EQBoost & front Seats are examples of complex components that might be difficult to integrate and produce. The simple key fob was made more complex by adding a safety feature that would prevent theft. The seats were too complex for the first contractor to build in volume. So goes a redesign with lots of complexity. Now we have Covid and components outsourced to several countries.
When I started having problems I went to Bimmerpost and Audi Forums to find much the same kind of things going on. I love my 450 so will stick with Mercedes. The car has good performance and great economy so the range to fill is about 500 miles. Mercedes insists on a linear throttle so you don’t get the Turbo “pop” like Audi. On the highway it drives like a dream....quiet, solid handling and good passing power. There is no logical reason for me to make a change but I think the AMG Model would be fun to try.
Maybe we were just fortunate but my wife bought a 2013 Audi A8L as her company car and loved it so much, we bought it from the company when she retired in 2016. It’s the 4.0 TT with only 28k miles but that thing will pin you in your seat under full acceleration! We have surprised more than one Corvette or Mustang! Other than routine maintenance, it had a vanity mirror bulb replaced and that’s it. Flawless. I will probably have to use it as her casket she loves that car so much. But, our Boxster has shrunk over the years and we can hardly get in or out of it! Plus, the ride of course is a typical sports car so between joint replacements and bad backs, we want to find something that is at least a little “sporty” but more comfortable and versatile. Plus definitely smaller than the A8L! I do envy you being in Idaho where you can occasionally blow out the cobwebs!
Thanks for the overview. I just can’t get past BMW’s styling and their forums are full of problems so I have got a short (very short) list of Audi and Mercedes and will just have to decide which we can live with as we tend to drive cars several years and now that we are retired, travel mostly in our MB Sprinter based RV. You have been very helpful.
How has your overall experience been with the 450? They’re great looking and have lots of options but just seems there have been so many negative posts in this forum.
Aside from some early software glitches that meant a couple trips to the shop, ours (4/19 production) has been near perfect. It's my wife's DD, and it's cushy for her, but I find it quite quick and you can dial up the suspension (E-ABC) for good handling. I think MBUX could be simplified, but you get used to it.
How has your overall experience been with the 450? They’re great looking and have lots of options but just seems there have been so many negative posts in this forum.
There have been many negative posts here and that's not unexpected. People are more likely to seek out information or complain if things are not working out as expected than they are if the truck works as it is supposed to.
For me, reading this forum while I waited months on end for my vehicle, alternately made me question my sanity for waiting and goosed my excitement for my eventual delivery. I was nervous that I was going to spend more time in the shop than on the road. However, since I finally took delivery in November, I have been blown away by how much I love this truck. It's a work of art that function perfectly. I haven't had any issues outside of a scraped wheel because the sensors were inhibited by snow/ice, but I had purchased the wheel/tire package, so it cost me $50.
It's a great vehicle. Best I've ever owned and I never thought I'd say that about an SUV.
As for the wait it sucks but is worth it. I ordered two 450’s exactly the same but from two dealers in different states and ordered them both in the same week in June 2019. The one I bought Got delivered end of September 2019 the other one I ordered still hasn’t arrived to this day......i love my 450 and would wait again for it if I had to
here are a couple of pics.....
Last edited by SoCalBenzGuy; 05-21-2020 at 02:01 AM.
B1 means 13 days to production.. See above link for list of Netstar status codes.
hi there, I finally got an update on my build’s progress from my dealer and am disappointed in its progress. Dealer claims this is a good sign and that things are moving in the right direction, but it’s been at B1 X-13 PROD since may. Does anyone happen to know what DCAG X-10 means?
It looks like you are getting a 2021 if I read it correctly but it also looks like you have a 2-3 month wait. DCAG X 13 is a factory code that also appeared on March 2 In your doc.
I understand that it's now a MY21 and that the code has appeared elsewhere on the record. However, it appeared as X-19 and X-13 in the past, and is now X-10. That is the difference I am trying to understand.
Last edited by RyanNeu; 07-01-2020 at 03:58 PM.
Reason: typo
Maybe someone has the internal factory codes but I haven’t seen them posted. My guess is it’s some kind of pending or scheduling delay code. My logic is because that code appeared previously and there were delays as Covid entered the picture. The different numbers could be anything. Now your order is locked with a September build date so there must still be a backlog and less than full factory production.
A similar situation occurred to those of us that ordered cars at the intro. I ordered in October 2018 and got my car in late April 2019. I was lucky, many others never got their car & some others waited months longer. It’s a great car and the waiting is hell. There’s always a chance that things will move faster for you, let’s hope....
Hi there. It looks like I wouldn’t be getting the car until late October / early November at the earliest, so I’m caving and going with an existing car on the lot. It’s great because on one hand it’s an AMG C43 instead of a C300, however it isn’t equipped with everything I was hoping to have (specifically ventilated seats and the heads-up display. But I convinced myself I’d be fine without those things.
does anyone know if there’s a thread for C43’s? I have some questions about it and I wanna be in the right spot. Thanks!
Originally Posted by Ron.s
Maybe someone has the internal factory codes but I haven’t seen them posted. My guess is it’s some kind of pending or scheduling delay code. My logic is because that code appeared previously and there were delays as Covid entered the picture. The different numbers could be anything. Now your order is locked with a September build date so there must still be a backlog and less than full factory production.
A similar situation occurred to those of us that ordered cars at the intro. I ordered in October 2018 and got my car in late April 2019. I was lucky, many others never got their car & some others waited months longer. It’s a great car and the waiting is hell. There’s always a chance that things will move faster for you, let’s hope....
05-16-2020, 09:45 PM
