I've had a new loaded 500 for about a month and have put on about 3000 miles. I would like to be able to discuss this car as it gets more use, and exchange exchange information about any problems that this first-year auto might develop. So far it has been an enjoyable car to drive although it's gearing is such that unless you floor it, the pickup is a bit slow. anyway, I will monitor this forum for responses and will provide my input should it become necessary.
Happy Motoring
Baldeagle

 

Congrats on your R500, and I think all of us would love to hear your likes and dislikes with the car and of course PICTURES!

What color inside and out is it? What options you get?

Thanks again and congrats!

 

Of course we want to hear all about it....

 

This is a bit lengthy, but here's my experience with my first MB.

Buying the R500 was interesting. Living in southern California, we have many dealers in the area. I went to the local dealer before the first R series was received and they promised to call me when they arrived. They did and I told them that I wanted -- an R500 with almost everything -- and wanted to split the difference between MSRP and wholesale. I didn't get a call back so I called and he said he would get back to me -- which he didn't. I then went to the largest US dealer and had a salesman that was arrogant. With a silk suit and shiny cuff-links, the guy played the price game with us and told us that a demonstrator with 1400 miles on it would be sold as a new car. He wouldn't deal, so I went on the Internet and found Simonson in Santa Monica. It is a scrunched up dealership as they don't have much land, but they are courteous and were willing to deal on the price. I told them what I wanted and the saleswoman got back to me in 15 minutes saying she had exactly what I wanted. So I bought the car. The sales person was very helpful and efficient. If anyone's looking for a car, you might contact Karnit at Simonson.

The R500 has everything except the DVD and the light package. The color is pewter/macadamia. We got the car to tote around 2 Giant Schnauzers. The last car, an Infiniti QX56 was a fine auto, but the first-year model had some chronic problems which couldn't be fixed -- so I got rid of it. I ordered a new one, but they "lost" it at the factory. My wait, since I had sold the QX56 was 8 weeks -- too long. I had looked at other SUVs, and boiled my choices down to two - Range Rover and the R500. My wife thought the R500 was easier to drive, so that's what we got. We have had 6 Infinitis in the last 10 years, so it was a tough choice to change. My wife still drives a new M35 which is a very nice auto. Anyway . . .

After driving it for a month, here's what I've found. The car is solid, comfortable and peppy when you mash the pedal to the floor. But at a normal take-off from a light, it's rather slow and reminds me of the 1950 Buick Roadmaster with Dynaflow that my folks had.

We have both satellite and AM/FM radios. The satellite is fine, but the AM reception is not good for certain local stations -- even when they're broadcasting a full power. I'll see if this can be fixed when I take it in for service.

The electronics are clunky when compared to the Infiniti. Integrated Bluetooth, some voice activation and a much better nav system are available as standard equipment in the Infiniti. Bluetooth has been available on Chrysler products for 3 years, so I don't see why MB couldn't have a well-healed voice-activated bluetooth system integrated into the car. Bluetooth should be available first quarter for about $1500 installed.

The MB joystick, used for moving around the electronics, is a pain in the a__ when trying to program street names and addresses. pushing and moving it has to be very precise. When looking for information, whether on radios or nav system, there are so many buttons to go through to find what you want that it distracts from driving. In comparison to Infiniti, it is subpar but I do get to where I want to go in comfort.

On the freeways in CA, I have a tendency to drive about 80 which gets me almost 19 mpg -- much better than the QX which got about 15 max at that speed. I am installilng 2 after-market items. Because of my heavy foot, I am installing a K40 radar/laser detector front and rear. And for the dogs, I'm having an insert made to fit between the backrest of the 3rd row and the front seats.

There' no sense in posting pictures of the car as they would look like all the others. I will post photos of the insert which should be ready in mid-January, and I'll show the installation of the radar detector.

Baldeagle

 

The slow take-off in the R might be a symptom of having the transmission in "comfort" mode, which is a 2nd gear start, vs. "sport" which uses first gear to take off. Several friends who own MB's also complained about this, until they switched, and have been mostly happy since. Even with that, the R will win few stoplight duels.

 

Pewter and Macadamia -- nice combo.
Will look forward to future updates as you get more experience with it.
Thanks.

 

I've put over 3,000 miles on my R500 so far and have really enjoyed it. I live in Denver and haven't found acceleration to be sluggish even at 10,000 feet above sea level. As a matter of fact, just the opposite is true, I find it to be very quick for such a heavy vehicle. Make sure that your driving in sport mode as it makes a big difference. 0-60 in 6.7 seconds is not slow for any SUV.

Colorado has had record snow fall so far this year and my family and I have a ski home in Beaver Creek so we head up the mountains every weekend. The roads have been terrible most weekends this year and my drive is about 140 miles each way. The R is the best vehicle that I have ever driven in the snow and I've had every SUV that you can think of including 2 G classes, a Hummer H1 and a Range Rover. I believe that the combination of a long wheel base, four wheel drive, and a low center of gravity (compared to SUV's) make this a great snow vehicle. I can't think of a vehicle that I'd rather have my family in when the weather gets rough.

So far I have no problems, rattles, etc. The car feels very solid and the build quality seems to be excellent. I enjoy driving this vehicle more than my S class and find myself stealing it from my wife a couple of times per week. It's an extremely comfortable vehicle to drive and commute in.

The issues that you point out with the GPS and Command in general plague all Mercedes and are not unique to the R. I agree that Infiniti, Acura, and the Lexus systems blow the Mercedes system away. Hopefully Mercedes will correct this soon.

If you read some of my early posts you'll see that I was not overly impressed when the R was first released. Well after 3,000 miles I've been won over. This is the ultimate family hauler.

 

I drive in sports mode all the time, but it doesn't start in first. If I want first, I have to floorboard the pedaal. I'll have it checked out when I take it in for service. Thanks for the tip.

G55K
You sure have put yours through the paces. I'll be watching the forum for your experiences. I'm thinking about driving to Boulder in February for our grandson's first birthday. Glad to hear it handles the snow well. Do you still use chains? On all 4 wheels?

Baldeagle

 

Have you had adults in the back seats? What's your opinion of the roominess of the second and third row seating?

 

I haven't needed chains but I do have a great set of Pirelli 19" snow tires. Hopefully they'll figure out your acceleration problem because it sounds like something might be wrong.

 

The second row has as much room as the back seats of an S class and are very comfortable for large adults. The third row is tighter but still has as much leg room as the backseat of my G55.

 

And the third row seats are as comfortable, or more comfortable, than the rear seats in a G55?

 

It's close. There isn't as much shoulder room but there is almost as much leg room. I'm 6'4" and I could sit back there and be fairly comfortable for a couple of hours. However, I'd much rather be in the second row.

 

Yeah, I think that I have pretty much figured out the R. Your comments on 2nd row and 3rd row seating are what I have expected.
I am now searching for an R500 for an "extended test drive" prior to ordering up R63's for a couple of residences....
I am pretty sure that you're going to enjoy the heck out of yours -- I was an early fan of the R concept and became interested real early-on; and have stayed a fan despite a bunch of folks' disparaging remarks about size and plastic once they hit dealer showrooms. The thing is big, isn't it? I do think that they are just a little bit on the homely side...but, oh well.....
Function is far more important to me than looks.

 

We've had ours for a few weeks. R500, Alabaster/Charcoal, very well equipped (MSRP 68k) although I forgot the Xenon lights

We absolutley love it. I experienced a problem with sluggish acceleration that seems to have cleared itself. I am 99% certain I had it in S mode all along, but who knows. The acceleration now is excellent. We also came from a QX-56 and to me there is no comparison. The R500 drives like a luxury car and just beats the Infiniti in all categories. Having KeylessGo is a huge luxury. The SAT controls in the QX were horrible. The MB is much better. The sound system is excellent. The pano roof is very cool. With 4 kids, we have plenty of room.

I installed a 2 zone DVD system....Barney in the 2nd row for the babies (FM modulated) and Madagascar for the 5 & 6 year old via headphones. Went with the Vizualogic system and it is great.

The column shifter is fantastic and leaves a lot of room for storage. The rear A/C works very well. Build quality is MB all the way. No issues of any kind (since the acceleration is OK). Anyone thinking of making the move should do so without hesitation. We love ours so much, that I am stepping up to the R63 AMG as soon as it is available. That will be very cool!

Our only gripe is the lack of bluetooth. Hopefully that will change with the R63.

 

Jkrutch: if you don't mind sharing, what model of the Viz DVD did you get? I am considering the A1000 - their top loading dual dvd system. Also, what did dealer charge to install? Are you happy with the headrests?

Thanks and Happy Holidays to all from NYC!

 

We got the A1000 system...it is great. I paid $3,400 for 4 headrests (2 DVD players/2 slaves) installed. It included 2 remotes, 4 headsets, a remote eye for the 2nd row system (so my wife can operate the 2nd row system from the front) and an FM modulator for the 2nd row. We are having the remote eye done after the new year with an IR blaster. We went through Sound Advice which is part of Tweeter Inc.

What we love about it is how the system has memory. When we turn the car back on, the system resumes play without intervention. This makes things a lot easier. The headrests are a perfect match to the MB leather down to the grain. The system is great and I highly recommend it.

 

I have the same system. It's works great.

 

no pictures..... :-(.... if you have some time can you plz post pics.. thanks

 

Here is how MB designed the R-Class Seating

Front row - equivalent to S-Class
2nd row - equivalent to E-Class
3rd row - equivalent to C-Class

I assume they mean compared to front row of all those cars. I sat in all three rows. It was acceptable.

My dealer called me in October when they got their first R350 in town. We promptly went down to drive it. Not overly impressed because of its imposing size. It's longer than a Town and Country! It was sluggish because of its weight/power ratio. I'd imagine the R500 is much better. There was some clips loose and carpet lifting in corners, I had visions of the first MLs and its cheapness problems. We ruled out this car in favor of waiting for a E550 wagon for 07. Even though the W211 wagon will have a much smaller 3rd row seat, it's much more maneuverable. We try not to keep upgrading to bigger cars. It gives us a reason to keep our tushes in check by going to the gym. I didn't want to buy bigger cars because my *** got too big for it!

BTW, the dealer wanted $65K for this R350. Time will tell if they can get this premium. I think given the exchange rate and how DC is getting hurt by the Euro-denomination cars in the U.S. The Alabama made cars will represent a huge profit margin for DC. Personally, after looking at the R, ML and E classes side by side, the E class looks better build with better material. Even if it was designed in the late 90s.

 

I just drove from Vail to Denver in a blizzard. This thing is awesome. There is not another vehicle that I'd rather have my family in especially on a road trip in bad weather.

According to my salesperson at Glauser Mercedes in CO the R is finally starting to really move, especailly the R500's. I hope so, it's a great vehicle.

 

When winter weather sells a car because of its surefootedness? Good stuff.
Thanks for another report.

 

It is simply a matter of time for sales to improve....the R is a 1st class vehicle. We couldn't be happier.

 

I think the incentives and lease deals helped. I don't know what's in place now, but clearly MB needed to adjust pricing for the R to fly.

I, too, couldn't be more satisfied. (until something goes wrong, of course. :p )

 

Hey, what do you mean no pics?? We want em. Even if it does look stock!!

How easy is getting in and out of the second and third row seats??
Also, are there Child seat tethers on the third row?