I'd appreciate your thoughts re the 580 vs 450. Please ignore the differences in acceleration. I'd be buying the GLS for my wife and she's so disinterested in acceleration that she drove my E63 just once in 7 years and has not driven my M5 in 2 years. Thus, I'm leaning towards the 450 but would appreciate knowing if there might be other reasons to get the 580. Thanks.

 

I think the main question is what options do you want? I'd start out by configuring your ideal spec 450 and then see what the MSRP comes out to. If you're no where near the 580 MSRP, then the 450 is for you. Also potentially relevant is if you can find a suitable 450 in stock then you have more bargaining power and the amount you could have over a 580 increases. My .02.

 

Agree with Wolds but would add that there are some things available on the 580 that aren’t available even as options on the 450, so you also need to do the compare the other way around. Configure a 580 and then see if you can match it (other than the engine) with the 450. For example, the 580 comes with some AMG bits on the exterior that aren’t available on the 450 even as an option.

 

2 reasons to buy the 580
1 The engine
2 The AMG appearance pkg.
If neither of those matter get the 450.

 

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Also the Off Road and E Active might only be available on 580.

AND, the plastic wheel well trim on the 450 vs. painted on the 580.

You might look at the options that are ‘standard’ on the 580 vs. 450 to see if those matter to you. If you option a few of those, the cost diff of the 580 is less.

 

Wolds, Great advice. The way we'd configure them there's a 17.5k difference in MSRP. That's probably too big to justify horsepower she's never going to use.

 

Makes sense. Thank you.

 

That's the way it's looking. Can't justify 17.5k for the engine.

 

You're exactly right. That said, I miss the old school brochures where the last two pages had a chart showing what's standard, what's optional and what's NA by model. I'll check the Dealer Order Guide to see if they have something similar. Thanks.

 

The only thing that I wish our 450 had is the front AMG bumper. That’s really it. The power of the 450 is more than plenty for everyday life. It’s smooth, it’s lighter feeling, it’s quiet. In my opinion it’s about as good as a 6 cylinder can get for a vehicle like this and it’s 9 speed gearbox. I’m sure the V8 is amazing, but we are more than happy with the straight 6 and it’s turbo and battery boost. But the AMG appearance package on the front lower bumper would be nice, not going to lie. $17k nice? Nah.

 

A couple of things - to summarize what I think you said - your wife is not a Car-Gal/Car-Guy - I would suspect she will be most happy with "smooth & quiet" driving - in cases like this standard/smaller wheel options are considered best fit to give that feel...

1. If you plan to surprise your wife before the New Year (and possible before Christmas) then pick a GLS450. that a dealer already has on order - as the ONLY way to surprise her before Christmas.
If you choose to Build-Your-Order - factory GLS450 Production Slots are "locked down" thru 1st Decade Dec Going into Monday the earliest the factory will have as a custom-order slot 2nd Decade December Production (Dec 10-20) - and being in San Diego you
will have your Build-To-Order rig in SD by end-Jan.

2. On GLS580 - again you would need to pick one a dealer already has on order - that has not been pre-sold yet - and GLS580 production is so limited thru year-end - you would need to start calling Calif MB dealer's - starting with SD and moving North - until you find a MB Dealer that has a unsold GLS580 on order - and one that has the right specs to make your wife happy. At this moment there are a "few" MB Dealer's that "might" have a unsold GLS580 on order - so that your know "most" MB dealers have already pre-sold their incoming GLS580 thru year-end. On the GLS Maybach - there may be a "few" unsold out in Calif - there the mystery on the Maybach is how much it will be !



slots that are changeable. 2nd Decade December is factory build 12/10-12/20 - so it can be "possible" to order what you want for a GLS450

 

All she really cares about is looks. In particular, she wants a black vehicle with black wheels. I'm laughing because I just saw in the dealer order guide that the only way to get wheels with black accents is to buy the 580. It's not going to be worth 17k over a 450 but I'm probably now looking at a 580 or a Cayenne.

 

Great info Terry. I didn't know that an ordered GLS would be so far out re delivery. Thanks.

 

You might look at cars.com. I see a few - then have your dealer pursue it. 580’s come well equipped and black on black is fairly common.
You can also search inventory on MBUSA but they don’t distinguish between cars already sold. Your dealer should be able to search for you.

The size of a 580 doesn’t compare to the Cayenne.

If you can wait, then just get your order in. When choosing between dealers for an order, you might find out when they expect to have an allocation.

 

A-freaking-men! Just came from a Cayenne to a GLS450. As a mid-size SUV, the interior space is smaller than an X5, Q5 and GLE, let alone the GLS. Loved the driving dynamics, hated the lack of cargo space!