2MANYCARS

One of the pictures was taken at a weird angle because my parking lot in the backyard is full of cars, thus the screen name.

mannnu81

nice. i love its craftsmanship...you can post pics of ure other cars too, no prob.lol hey whats the diffrence between ML63 and GL45. i thought GL45 was the suv to have..

brt3

Question: can you tell me how the front plate bracket is attached? In California it's becoming more of a struggle to get the dealers to leave off the front plate -- they are worried about ANYTHING that might lead to potential liability. Is the bracket a "clip-on" or does the bumper have to be drilled?

brt3

And -- please-oh-please -- can you post interior pics? I'm dying to see as it sure looks like either Iridium Silver or Alpine Rain will look great with Ash leather...

2MANYCARS

GL450 is the one I think you are talking about. Well, the GL is bigger, got more room in the back, so you can fit the third row seats easily, then, there's the engine, my engine is hand built by the one of the guys @ AMG plant, where the GL450 is a mass produced V8 from Mercedes itself. For more details, visit mbusa.com

brt3,
Check out the other thread you started, already replied with pictures. As for the front license bracket, it's just 4 screws, I don't understand what your dealer is scared about. If they don't feel comfortable, tell them to use two zip ties to get the front plate on for the meantime, and when you are home, you can do it yourself, it's really easy.

brt3

...and here I thought they were made by elves in a hollow tree somewhere deep in the Black Forest...

mannnu81

GL 450. I instantly started liking MB suv's after the 2nd Jurrasic Park, when that nerdy guy used the all wheel drive to pull Goldlum from over the edge. and then he got tore in half and eaten. Anyone remember that scene or what model they used?. ( i wouldnt take the "hand-built" to heart, becasue on Top Gear, Jeremy C. was pointing out that AMG claims to hand built a couple ten thousands engines a year, which would mean every AMG employee had to built around 1000 engines/year - that comes to around 3/day)

brt3

Thanks; got 'em! I tried to delete the above post (as I found your other pix immediately after you posted them) but somehow it didn't stick.

After seeing your car I'm ordering Iridium Silver w/Ash Leather. What a great combo!

What is a realistic discount on an ordered vehicle? So far the dealers in Northern California aren't getting beyond a token $1,000 discount. Seems to me I should be able to get at least $3,000 off given that they won't have to inventory/floorplan the vehicle. Though this vehicle is much more common than the E55 wagon I had (only 200 in the US) it seems they are built in batches; most dealers told me their next available production slots were for March build dates. Guess they build a bunch every quarter...

brt3

Do they run the screws through the bumper or are the attachment holes hidden?

I also don't understand the big deal in CA about having a customer choose whether to run a front plate; I've never run one in the 20 years I've lived here and have only gotten a single fix-it ticket.

However, some dealers are making this difficult. About two months ago we bought a LS460L for my wife (ordered it a year ago) and the *&##%! dealer drilled the front bumper for the plate bracket, even though I'd told them not to. Though they've offered to fix or replace it I am not thrilled at the prospect; a lot of times shops never get things back together perfectly, and I don't want to solve one problem but create three more...

2MANYCARS

brt3,
Sorry to say, they have to drill through the bumper. Amazingly, only some cheap Japanese cars don't require drilling where they have holes designed for the brackets to be bolted on. I'm sure you can get more than a thousand dollars in discount, I've gotten my wood steering wheel, heated rear seats, blue tooth module, and tinted front windows for free, but the trade off is I bought five MB's from MB Manhattan in the past 1 and half years.

brt3

Man-oh-man; I can't believe these companies can't come up with a more intelligent solution on cars at this price point. The last BMW I had (an E46 M3) had a bracket that clipped into place; it could easily be attached or removed without a trace. Given that the ML63 is a solid $30K more expensive than the BMW, I think they should be able to figure something out that doesn't involve power tools...