ozy

we ordered a decked out ml-350 for my better -half,in nov. 2011, to include the lighting package.#319.
i'm aware it was not gonig to be available unitl january of this year.

does anyone have or know of its status? i keep getting the b.s form the dealership. now with the u09 on back order and the dhp in short supply, should we ditch this and go back to the drawing board?

appreciate any input.

RJR

There is whole big thread on the lighting package delay. Do a search and you will find a lot of information on the delay. They are shipping 350's to Canada with the lighting package and 550's here in the US with the package. Our ML350 with the lighting package is being built on April 16th

rush1169

I ordered last year - then came the delays. When I cancelled, it would have been July delivery, ergo I'm waiting for MY13

ozy

Thank you both very much.
i'm thinking of cancelleing my order.. kind of ridiculous to bring the carriage before the horses are ready.......
i was actually gonig to give a much more colorfull analogy....

GregW / Oregon

Yes, it's been frustrating with delays on many options. I ordered 10/30/11 with Lighting, Handling, MBTex dash, Sport interior and Panorama, among others, and am scheduled for 6/5/12 build (so far). Here's the main lighting thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/new-m-cla...age-delay.html

ozy

Greg- i ordered mine on 10/29/11, with just about every option avaialble ,expet for the panorama roof. ilike to order all my cars fullt equiped to the tilt.~70k srp car. so far ,very little communication form the dealr(what else in new?).

so the question remains- stay or go to another maker, and if so which one? i really like my 2010 e63- mb overaal is a lot better today then it was when i had a cl500 that was worst then a yugo.....
(again, i'll save the colorfull analogy elsewhere.....)

GregW / Oregon

Only other ones I'd consider are the X5 and Cayenne. I want a mid-size without 3rd row. The Audi Q5 is too small and Q7 too large (Q6??). I'm still not that comfortable going American, though I know quality has improved greatly. Just not my style, and dealer service tends to be poor. The X5 is due for replacement in a year (MY 14), so I wouldn't buy one now.

I'm not that up on the Cayenne, but a quick run through the build sheet shows the comparable base price jets skyward quickly. For example, leather seats with memory are $5,380. vs. $1,620 for ML. That's over 3X the price! MB's Dynamic Handling Package is $5,150. To get comparable in Porsche you need Air Suspension w/ PASM @ $3,980, Dynamic Chassis Control @ $3,510 & 20" wheels @ $3,120 min. = $10,610. That's 2X the price! Porsche just kills you on options, but they do give you lots of choices.

ozy

GREG- thanks alot for the feedback.
we ar coming off our 5th x5 and my betteer half wants something beter and different. the ml, imho, should be different for sure, and with the updates and options(if they ever get them built) should drive better(?).
sorry, we are not much inot the cayenne thing. dito for the cadi.
and noone shoul buy a car that starts with an "au""... sign of things to come... from expereince. i'll keep you posted on the out come of my conversation with the dealer tomorrow.