fullymooned

I just placed an order with the dealer. Build details below. The dealer was unable to add Driver Assistance Package due to supplier issues. Would have really liked to have the DISTRONIC feature, so that's a bummer. Build date is end of May with delivery in June.


Paint:
992U Selenite Grey

Wheels:
60R - 20" 10-Spoke Wheels

Upholstery:
135A Macchiato/Black MB-Tex

Trims:
H22 Natural Grain Brown Walnut

Packages:
DX1 Exclusive Trim

DB4 3rd Row Seat Package
DC5 Acoustic Comfort Package

Factory Options:
413 Panorama Power Tilt/Sliding Sunroof
PAV Winter Package
550 Trailer Hitch
581 4-Zone Climate Control
846 Illuminated Running Boards
872 Heated Rear Seats
883 Soft Close Doors
U09 MB-Tex Dashboard and Door Beltlines
21U Dashcam

VPC Installed Options:
D07 Wheel Locking Bolts
D08 Chrome Door Handling Inserts
D26 Load Sill Protection
D49 First Aid Kit

manbeing

Honestly, for this configuration, you really don't have to build one and you can easily locate one in the dealer's parking lot right now and negotiate the price. I have found any 450 that MSRP is above $75,000 is moving very very slow. Conversely, any 450 that below $75,000 , particularly something around $70,000 is sold quickly. I have seen one $70,200 (premium pkg and some accessories ) and $71,000 ( just 20 inch wheels, green color, walnut trim and amg appearance) sold in three days. Dealers have many 450 msrp > $80,000 that have stayed in the dealer's lot for months. For a base price $66,000 car and adding more than $20,000 options is insane.

fullymooned

I have been searching on CarGurus and cars.com for the past couple months for this combination and I was not able to find any. Third row seat with Machiato seats and soft close doors is very rare.

I cancelled the order after putting some thought into it. Driver assistance package is a must have option and I don’t want to purchase without it. So I will have to continue to wait.

manbeing

i don't understand why driver assistance pkg will not be available due to the supply constraint. All Japanese cars are equipped with the similar safety package as standard. honda, acura, lexus and toyota.

mikapen

​​​​​​There may be other reasons for ordering, such as timing.
Plus, I don't think your area is typical, with actual unsold 450's on the lot. Not something we see in the Rockies. Were these physically there, or shown pn the website?
(A lot of cars shown in a Dealer's inventory appear as soon as they are built, automatically placed by Corporate. Many, probably most, are presold ordered cars. It's a weird way that MB pre-posts inventory. Dealers have to go in daily and delete those units, and many aren't good at purging.)

IMO the 450 becomes a really nice car in the $80,000 plus range. It's not insane - it's actually a bargain versus its competitors in that price range.

mikapen

I don't think Distronic is standard on any of them. That's the missing option that caused him to cancel.
Deal-breaker for me, too.

manbeing

He said 'driver assistance pkg' was a deal breaker ---- "I cancelled the order after putting some thought into it. Driver assistance package is a must have option and I don’t want to purchase without it. So I will have to continue to wait."

BenjaminKohl

However a lot of those brands don't make blind spot warning standard while MB and other euro brands do, and to my Blind Spot is a much more important safety feature then adaptive cruise, which is more a convenience thing. That being said, I think you were right to cancel the order and should try again in a few weeks - MBs distronic is one of the absolute best in the industry and I think is an absolute must have, and it's frustrating that they're having parts difficulties on it.

No, adaptive cruise control is now standard on pretty much every Honda and Toyota (I believe only the BRZ and Supra don;t have it standard). They were absolutely correct.

manbeing

In the entire driver assistance pkg, I just need DISTRONIC. All the other features are just bells and whistles to me. It is shame that MB doesn't offer an individual option for DISTRONIC, otherwise I would add it to my build order.

BenjaminKohl

Well most of the "extra bits" are sort of baked in with the long distance radars sensor and stereo cameras, but if all you want is a simplified distronic, the car already comes standard with a shorter distance radar for the auto emergency breaking and I know distronic can be coded in third party.

fullymooned

You cannot get DISTRONIC just by itself. I just had the dealer check on that.

mikapen

​​​​​​I didn't know that. Thanks.

BenjaminKohl

no, not on the GLE in the US. In certain markets you can, and in the US, you can on the new C and GLC. But what I said is that it can be coded in by a third party. There are people you can pay to send you a new steering wheel with the correct controls and a USB stick with new code, and you can change the car to now have distronic. I don’t have any experience with this but some people on the forum have done it.

manbeing

I assume coded by third party and replacing the steering wheel will void the warranty?

manbeing

can I know how much difference between MSRP and invoice?
Thanks.

PLINYELDER

it’s about 5 1/2 - 6%.

manbeing

I just ordered one today.
$3,000 off msrp.

stephencs601

I ordered one in Oct, waited 6 months and recd 4K disc off pricing. I love my dealer, great service, always recd great pricing. Southampton Mercedes in NY, as for Anthony the Mgr. John is the service mgr and a Porsche guy too.

ddeliber

Congrats! Great work too, I see so many people just dive in and go without much effort at all. IMO this type of purchase requires some research. Don't need to spend too much time but understanding the market, the features and some comparison etc. Regret is a a horrible feeling and so much of that can be avoided by just talking it out even if the discussion is just with yourself.

BTW, what did you end up deciding about the Drivers assistance pkg? As many have stated, MB's implementation of this feature set is by far the best in the industry. I absolutely love it every time I turn it on, I even find myself turning it on on when I am not on the highway - an outstanding driving experience. Care to share any other build details? Regardless of my opinion, I wish you the best of luck through the build and delivery process (and what I would expect to be an excruciating wait ).

manbeing

Thank you!
This 450 will be for my wife. Initially, we considered a 350, but after test driving an X5, we were impressed with its performance and handling. However, we were not fond of its interior, which led us to opt for a 6 cylinder engine 450. My wife loved the illuminated star that she saw a couple of times on the road, but unfortunately, it's not compatible with the driver assistance package I wanted to add. Despite my insistence that we add the driver assistance package and give up the illuminated star, my wife refused as she felt she wouldn't need adaptive cruise control on long trips, given that we have our MDX. Ultimately, since this will be her car, my priority was to ensure her happiness.

BTW, do you know if the illuminated star is always on? or just be on when turning on the headlights?

ddeliber

I hear you. My wife and I had a similar discussion when we bought our F-Pace (her car). She won of course (but Jaguars comparable automatic cruise turned out to be a relatively poor implementation contained significantly fewer safety features and was more expensive at the time so I didn't feel too bad ).

Not sure about the illuminated star but I thought it was set to the same circuit as the LED DRLs. However, I would think that this should be easily configurable. Also, I believe the illuminated star can be added after delivery (edit - but not with the Drivers Assistance P as they are in-compatible). It may cost a couple hundred more at the dealer but not much - plus it can be added to any vehicle already in stock if that matters.

BTW, I expect the incentives to change significantly very soon. The market has spoken and manufacturers need to move product (look at Ford and GM as examples - thousands of mid spec'ed trucks listed for MORE than a GLE, sitting collecting dust). Not sure when incentives will be announced but usually it comes a few days after the start of the quarter - to prevent dealers from playing with dates to collect incentives on recent end of quarter sales. If you can live with a 23 that meets your needs, you might be able to say something like: "If you can match the price with the Illuminated star, I'll take that one right there (even though it has one or two additional options) and you can give my build to someone else". There are 121 GLE-450s at dealers in the Boston - NYC area.

GregW / Oregon

The issue with the illuminated star and Driver Assistance is that the location is in conflict with the radar unit, so it cannot be added after if you have DA2.

ddeliber

Yes, I should have been more clear on this point, thanks. Unfortunately you can't have them both.

fullymooned

I was able to find another dealer in my area yesterday and create an order for the 2024 GLE 450 with Driver Assistance Package. So now I do have a build (same build as above plus driver assistance package) with a tentative delivery date of June.

fullymooned

It seems like you're saying that you were able to place an order for a 2023 450 and get a discount off the MSRP. However, when I called several dealers in the Chicago and Midwest areas since February, they didn't have any allocations for the 2023 model, and they told me that ordering for the 2023 model was already closed. They recommended that I wait for the 2024 model to open up for ordering, which is what I did, and I placed my order yesterday. I would have been satisfied with the 2023 version, so I'm surprised that you received different information from your dealers.