Purchase experience, headlight and tire upgrades. Just some feedback.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11
Likes: 2
GLS450
Purchase experience, headlight and tire upgrades. Just some feedback.
Hey guys - I learned a ton from this forum as a new MB owner so I wanted to try and give back in the way of feedback regarding my purchase and upgrades. We had been an Audi family for many years and when it came time for the 3rd row vehicle, a new 2017 GLS450 edged out the Q7 and the rest of the competition for us. Found a great deal on one at MBlynnwood.com - see the finance director, Mindy Cannon if you are in the area and shopping.
The vehicle we found had every option and color scheme we wanted but was missing one, the lighting package. I'm not a fan of the MB procurement process as I'm spoiled by the Audi version: pick your car and options, get 6% Supplier discount, couple thousand loyalty or conquest, gets built and shipped to the dealer in 8-10 weeks. That said, I wanted my wife to have the 3-row she preferred so I happened upon one that's super close in config. Worked a great deal with Mindy, signed the papers, bought the extended warranty (MBUSA 7yr-75k miles) from Jeff Jackson at Tafel Motors in Louisville Kentucky for $1900 and I'm off to the races.
Like some, I was surprised that the standard headlamps weren't xenon (again, coming from audi's standard headlamps) and I immediately went into buyer's remorse. Started perusing forums looking for LED conversion options and saw a bunch of negative reviews in that it's not quite there yet as a quality conversion. I got in touch with Michael from aznoptics@ gmail.com and he quickly sent me the 5500k xenon bulbs and canbus kit. Michael warned me I would need to pick up a set of the bulb/ballast adapters that holds the ballast to the projector housing so I picked up a set of these: (full transparency, Michael pointed me to a set that didn't look like they'd work for the GLS, but possibly for other mercs, but these certainly did). Michael was right, couldn't have been more plug and play. You do have to crimp your hands like a fetus to get it somewhat into the housing but grab a long screwdriver and a good flashlight and you'll get the adapter/clip into place. Used a few zip ties to hold the canbus and wires to existing holes and wires already attached to the vehicle so no drilling nor taping/Velcro. If you aren't drinking wine while doing this, it will likely take less time than it took me, super simple. The color of the light matches the LED DRL's perfectly and light up the road/signs without any issue. They are just a touch dimmer than my audis but outstanding. Drove now for months on them, through the winter, into the mountains for a week-long resort trip, absolutely no issues. Will chime back in with longevity but so far so good and I have a set of spare bulbs just in case. Thanks Michael!
On my wife's Q5, we went from continentals (OEM) to Michelin Premier LTX tires and I thought we had purchased her a new SUV. It handled better, had far less road noise, and a more compliant ride. Amazing tire. So I replaced her stock Pirelli Scorpion Verde All-Seasons on her merc with a set of Premier LTX at 500 miles. To be honest, it does feel more compliant but the handling and road noise seem about the same? The key here though is that it feels far less squirrelly in the rain which I have an abundance of in WA state. I would have kept the OEMs if I lived in San Diego or something. Love these Michelin's as they also seemed to work quite well in the snow. Would recommend. It also just so happens I have a set of Pirelli Scorpion Verde's with 500 miles on them sitting in my garage waiting for a buyer. The 275/50R20 is an odd size around my area and are different than older model GL and ML SUVs so getting bites on these are tough right now. If you're interested let me know.
Anyway, I thought I'd share my experience and the upgrades I went through in case it helps anyone out, or potentially a new buyer to this forum. Thanks for the help from this forum!
P.S. I loathe having to push the auto-start/stop button every time I'm in the vehicle. Other gripes, built-in nav is terrible, and the fact that I have to hold down the seat memory button and wait for the gizmos to reposition was solved years ago. Other than that, wife is happy, got 17mpg out of the last tank (hope it continues to climb during break-in), love sport mode for throttle response and quickness, my kids call the LED merc symbol approach light "the bat symbol".
The vehicle we found had every option and color scheme we wanted but was missing one, the lighting package. I'm not a fan of the MB procurement process as I'm spoiled by the Audi version: pick your car and options, get 6% Supplier discount, couple thousand loyalty or conquest, gets built and shipped to the dealer in 8-10 weeks. That said, I wanted my wife to have the 3-row she preferred so I happened upon one that's super close in config. Worked a great deal with Mindy, signed the papers, bought the extended warranty (MBUSA 7yr-75k miles) from Jeff Jackson at Tafel Motors in Louisville Kentucky for $1900 and I'm off to the races.
Like some, I was surprised that the standard headlamps weren't xenon (again, coming from audi's standard headlamps) and I immediately went into buyer's remorse. Started perusing forums looking for LED conversion options and saw a bunch of negative reviews in that it's not quite there yet as a quality conversion. I got in touch with Michael from aznoptics@ gmail.com and he quickly sent me the 5500k xenon bulbs and canbus kit. Michael warned me I would need to pick up a set of the bulb/ballast adapters that holds the ballast to the projector housing so I picked up a set of these: (full transparency, Michael pointed me to a set that didn't look like they'd work for the GLS, but possibly for other mercs, but these certainly did). Michael was right, couldn't have been more plug and play. You do have to crimp your hands like a fetus to get it somewhat into the housing but grab a long screwdriver and a good flashlight and you'll get the adapter/clip into place. Used a few zip ties to hold the canbus and wires to existing holes and wires already attached to the vehicle so no drilling nor taping/Velcro. If you aren't drinking wine while doing this, it will likely take less time than it took me, super simple. The color of the light matches the LED DRL's perfectly and light up the road/signs without any issue. They are just a touch dimmer than my audis but outstanding. Drove now for months on them, through the winter, into the mountains for a week-long resort trip, absolutely no issues. Will chime back in with longevity but so far so good and I have a set of spare bulbs just in case. Thanks Michael!
On my wife's Q5, we went from continentals (OEM) to Michelin Premier LTX tires and I thought we had purchased her a new SUV. It handled better, had far less road noise, and a more compliant ride. Amazing tire. So I replaced her stock Pirelli Scorpion Verde All-Seasons on her merc with a set of Premier LTX at 500 miles. To be honest, it does feel more compliant but the handling and road noise seem about the same? The key here though is that it feels far less squirrelly in the rain which I have an abundance of in WA state. I would have kept the OEMs if I lived in San Diego or something. Love these Michelin's as they also seemed to work quite well in the snow. Would recommend. It also just so happens I have a set of Pirelli Scorpion Verde's with 500 miles on them sitting in my garage waiting for a buyer. The 275/50R20 is an odd size around my area and are different than older model GL and ML SUVs so getting bites on these are tough right now. If you're interested let me know.
Anyway, I thought I'd share my experience and the upgrades I went through in case it helps anyone out, or potentially a new buyer to this forum. Thanks for the help from this forum!
P.S. I loathe having to push the auto-start/stop button every time I'm in the vehicle. Other gripes, built-in nav is terrible, and the fact that I have to hold down the seat memory button and wait for the gizmos to reposition was solved years ago. Other than that, wife is happy, got 17mpg out of the last tank (hope it continues to climb during break-in), love sport mode for throttle response and quickness, my kids call the LED merc symbol approach light "the bat symbol".
Last edited by whyjay; Feb 15, 2018 at 02:33 PM. Reason: typo
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 4,524
Likes: 1,181
From: WI
17 E43; 21 GLS580
Hey guys - I learned a ton from this forum as a new MB owner so I wanted to try and give back in the way of feedback regarding my purchase and upgrades. We had been an Audi family for many years and when it came time for the 3rd row vehicle, a new 2017 GLS450 edged out the Q7 and the rest of the competition for us. Found a great deal on one at MBlynnwood.com - see the finance director, Mindy Cannon if you are in the area and shopping.
The vehicle we found had every option and color scheme we wanted but was missing one, the lighting package. I'm not a fan of the MB procurement process as I'm spoiled by the Audi version: pick your car and options, get 6% Supplier discount, couple thousand loyalty or conquest, gets built and shipped to the dealer in 8-10 weeks. That said, I wanted my wife to have the 3-row she preferred so I happened upon one that's super close in config. Worked a great deal with Mindy, signed the papers, bought the extended warranty (MBUSA 7yr-75k miles) from Jeff Jackson at Tafel Motors in Louisville Kentucky for $1900 and I'm off to the races.
Like some, I was surprised that the standard headlamps weren't xenon (again, coming from audi's standard headlamps) and I immediately went into buyer's remorse. Started perusing forums looking for LED conversion options and saw a bunch of negative reviews in that it's not quite there yet as a quality conversion. I got in touch with Michael from aznoptics@m gmail.com and he quickly sent me the 5500k xenon bulbs and canbus kit. Michael warned me I would need to pick up a set of the bulb/ballast adapters that holds the ballast to the projector housing so I picked up a set of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (full transparency, Michael pointed me to a set that didn't look like they'd work for the GLS, but possibly for other mercs, but these certainly did). Michael was right, couldn't have been more plug and play. You do have to crimp your hands like a fetus to get it somewhat into the housing but grab a long screwdriver and a good flashlight and you'll get the adapter/clip into place. Used a few zip ties to hold the canbus and wires to existing holes and wires already attached to the vehicle so no drilling nor taping/Velcro. If you aren't drinking wine while doing this, it will likely take less time than it took me, super simple. The color of the light matches the LED DRL's perfectly and light up the road/signs without any issue. They are just a touch dimmer than my audis but outstanding. Drove now for months on them, through the winter, into the mountains for a week-long resort trip, absolutely no issues. Will chime back in with longevity but so far so good and I have a set of spare bulbs just in case. Thanks Michael!
On my wife's Q5, we went from continentals (OEM) to Michelin Premier LTX tires and I thought we had purchased her a new SUV. It handled better, had far less road noise, and a more compliant ride. Amazing tire. So I replaced her stock Pirelli Scorpion Verde All-Seasons with a set of Premier LTX at 500 miles. To be honest, it does feel more compliant but the handling and road noise seem about the same? The key here though is that it feels far less squirrelly in the rain which I have an abundance of in WA state. I would have kept the OEMs if I lived in San Diego or something. Love these Michelin's as they also seemed to work quite well in the snow. Would recommend. It also just so happens I have a set of Pirelli Scorpion Verde's with 500 miles on them sitting in my garage waiting for a buyer. The 275/50R20 is an odd size around my area and are different than older model GL and ML SUVs so getting bites on these are tough right now. If you're interested let me know.
Anyway, I thought I'd share my experience and the upgrades I went through in case it helps anyone out, or potentially a new buyer to this forum. Thanks for the help from this forum!
P.S. I loathe having to push the auto-start/stop button every time I'm in the vehicle. Other gripes, built-in nav is terrible, and the fact that I have to hold down the seat memory button and wait for the gizmos to reposition was solved years ago. Other than that, wife is happy, got 17mpg out of the other tank (hope it continues to climb during break-in), love sport mode for throttle response and quickness, my kids call the LED merc symbol approach light "the bat symbol".
The vehicle we found had every option and color scheme we wanted but was missing one, the lighting package. I'm not a fan of the MB procurement process as I'm spoiled by the Audi version: pick your car and options, get 6% Supplier discount, couple thousand loyalty or conquest, gets built and shipped to the dealer in 8-10 weeks. That said, I wanted my wife to have the 3-row she preferred so I happened upon one that's super close in config. Worked a great deal with Mindy, signed the papers, bought the extended warranty (MBUSA 7yr-75k miles) from Jeff Jackson at Tafel Motors in Louisville Kentucky for $1900 and I'm off to the races.
Like some, I was surprised that the standard headlamps weren't xenon (again, coming from audi's standard headlamps) and I immediately went into buyer's remorse. Started perusing forums looking for LED conversion options and saw a bunch of negative reviews in that it's not quite there yet as a quality conversion. I got in touch with Michael from aznoptics@m gmail.com and he quickly sent me the 5500k xenon bulbs and canbus kit. Michael warned me I would need to pick up a set of the bulb/ballast adapters that holds the ballast to the projector housing so I picked up a set of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (full transparency, Michael pointed me to a set that didn't look like they'd work for the GLS, but possibly for other mercs, but these certainly did). Michael was right, couldn't have been more plug and play. You do have to crimp your hands like a fetus to get it somewhat into the housing but grab a long screwdriver and a good flashlight and you'll get the adapter/clip into place. Used a few zip ties to hold the canbus and wires to existing holes and wires already attached to the vehicle so no drilling nor taping/Velcro. If you aren't drinking wine while doing this, it will likely take less time than it took me, super simple. The color of the light matches the LED DRL's perfectly and light up the road/signs without any issue. They are just a touch dimmer than my audis but outstanding. Drove now for months on them, through the winter, into the mountains for a week-long resort trip, absolutely no issues. Will chime back in with longevity but so far so good and I have a set of spare bulbs just in case. Thanks Michael!
On my wife's Q5, we went from continentals (OEM) to Michelin Premier LTX tires and I thought we had purchased her a new SUV. It handled better, had far less road noise, and a more compliant ride. Amazing tire. So I replaced her stock Pirelli Scorpion Verde All-Seasons with a set of Premier LTX at 500 miles. To be honest, it does feel more compliant but the handling and road noise seem about the same? The key here though is that it feels far less squirrelly in the rain which I have an abundance of in WA state. I would have kept the OEMs if I lived in San Diego or something. Love these Michelin's as they also seemed to work quite well in the snow. Would recommend. It also just so happens I have a set of Pirelli Scorpion Verde's with 500 miles on them sitting in my garage waiting for a buyer. The 275/50R20 is an odd size around my area and are different than older model GL and ML SUVs so getting bites on these are tough right now. If you're interested let me know.
Anyway, I thought I'd share my experience and the upgrades I went through in case it helps anyone out, or potentially a new buyer to this forum. Thanks for the help from this forum!
P.S. I loathe having to push the auto-start/stop button every time I'm in the vehicle. Other gripes, built-in nav is terrible, and the fact that I have to hold down the seat memory button and wait for the gizmos to reposition was solved years ago. Other than that, wife is happy, got 17mpg out of the other tank (hope it continues to climb during break-in), love sport mode for throttle response and quickness, my kids call the LED merc symbol approach light "the bat symbol".
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11
Likes: 2
GLS450
Thank you though.
Although I have the airmatic and can set sport vs comfort, snow, individual, I’m missing the feature that enables me to turn that off. Pretty limited in my settings. I appreciate the response though. Thank you!
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 6,130
Likes: 1,117
A gaggle of MB's
No need to whine about Eco-Start-Stop - $140 takes care of that... smart plug...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-ca...19.m1438.l2649
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-ca...19.m1438.l2649
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 897
Likes: 94
From: at the mercedes dealer next to you
2020 GLE350 2020 Toyota Rav4H AWD XLE
In terms of the lighting package, ya i just think its mercedes being mercedes, in such that they offer all the other packages, price the car at 80k and offer at halogens. I see GLE's out there that have the 20 AMG's, the illuminated rails, the HK7 system, the pano roof and guess what? the halogen lights.. wowww.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11
Likes: 2
GLS450
In terms of the lighting package, ya i just think its mercedes being mercedes, in such that they offer all the other packages, price the car at 80k and offer at halogens. I see GLE's out there that have the 20 AMG's, the illuminated rails, the HK7 system, the pano roof and guess what? the halogen lights.. wowww.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 4,242
Likes: 628
From: Chicago burbs
2015 S550
I had "standard" HID lights in my 1999 Lexus GS400. I find it amazing that all of these years later, MB would still make halogens the standard lights in a super expensive SUV.
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