Nevada Jack

I have owned this car 8 months now and read the manual pretty thoroughly. Yet yesterday I realized that both the front arm rests lift up and reveal a small storage area. I opened it by accident when I grabbed the handle and it lifted up.... Anyway, thought I might as well let the other owners know unless they are smart asses and already know about it....

Pictures at 11:00 or later...

Chucky300

LOL i knew about those areas! Thats where i keep some extra $$$ in case i need.

Actually - my friend steven thinks i should get a taser or a shock stick and put it there.

vraa

I thought Nevada was finally going to tell us why he went on the cross country trip by telling us he finally dumped out the bodies from his trunk

carsinamerica

In the doors, you mean? Kewl. Up to know, that's been a minivan-only thing, I think.

stardoc

And lets not forget about the handy storage bin in the front of the driver's seat. Makes a good place to put your sunglasses, and to make up for that useless excuse for storage that they have on the roofliner.

04S430

I will keep that in mind, and try it on my new S550 due to arrive next month.
What a wait!
I downloaded from this site (?) the S550 Operating Manual and read it twice so far. One thing is still not clear to me; what do you exactly do to take the car, equipped with KeylessGo, through an automatic car wash? ( ...and not have the Park automatically engaging when opening the door.) I found the manual not to clear on two issues; car washes and Comand! I found a tutorial for Comand on MBUSA; the next revision of the S550 Operating Manual could take a few hints from it.

vraa

You guys have a small sunglasses holder too?
I think these cars are designed for those that don't really have eyes.

In the LS430 the sunglasses holder is incredibly tiny, the SL doesn't even have one (that's a given). The X5? Bah, it's actually like a mold so you can't put in sunglasses that are too big, or too wide, or have any significant variance.

It's not like I have big sunglasses. I'd say they are medium size, I like to have my eyes covered 100%. My eyes are sensitive to rapid changes in light from walking around in my dads manufacturing factory so it's not like something I can just forget about.

I've just resorted to either keeping the sunglasses in the doors hinged pocket (SL) or under the drivers seat in the small slide out area (LS).

AsianML

You leave the car for an automatic carwash?


Wait, let me rephrase that. You plan on taking the car through an automatic car wash?

04S430

Yes, what's wrong with that? Done it with 4 MB's so far; why not with the 5 th one?

newton22

Not ALL automatic car washes are $5 Shell's wash and go.

We have one around here that's $18-40 (depending on service). They carefully run it through a automatic car wash (and those spinny things, they use microfiber or the like instead of cheap material that scratches the paint) and then hand detail and dry. I've seen Bentleys and countless AMGs go through that thing.

kevine310

Hi, are you from Alberta or any part of western Canada? anyway I think you can alway pop out the keyless go button and use the key normally. As for command, I think it'll be very intuitive once you try it out so no big problems there. Are you planning on replacing your keyless go button with the American version? with the words: engine start/stop? I think the Canadian version jus has a few symbols.

TeutonicCarFan

I still think that is harsh, especially if that is a black car. How often do they clean the microfiber spinny things? Then think, how many times would you use a microfiber to buff your car? For me, only once then I wash it and make sure it is on extra wash cycle

MB Fanatic

I took my E55 through a Laser Wash. The wash operated on a simple high pressure washer that took everything off. It was pretty sweet since it had no brushes or anything. Didnt put a scratch on the car, and it cleaned all the dead bugs off right away.

TeutonicCarFan

If I had to choose I would go with the Laser wash, I have used them once to get snow/salt off my car last winter. I still don't like the high pressure because that along with the acid/base wash they use will strip off the wax that we spend so long putting on. But I admit, you don't always have time for a good hand wash

MB Fanatic

Hey as long as it takes the bloody bugs off my front end, I couldnt be happier since I dont have to do it. Scraping those little buggers off is serious back breaking work sometimes, especially if they get caked on.

04S430

Yes , upon further digesting the manual, I concur with you, "pop out the button", ... and probably proceed as with the S430. I do live in Alberta, and I speak English; hence the Start/Stop Version would be more than acceptable to me rather than the Canadian symbol version, or vice versa. Are our lives not complicated enough without debating the Stop/Start or Symbol buttons regarded as "best for us" by our respective policy makers? It only achieves to double a cost born by us all.

///MB

First of all, the only problem I have had with the auto car washes is that at some places the track that your wheel goes into can scratch your rim and pretty bad.

To answer your question about the keyless go, what we do is take out the start button, put the key in. Then I believe you can put the car into neutral via the gear shifter stalk. I have not heard of the car automatically engaging Park when opening the door. Is that a feature?

TeutonicCarFan

On the GL forum they are discussing, under (GL450 issue, GL450 issue continue...,and GL450 gest result; all posted byCedric1031), some of the nuances with the KG with regards to pushing the start button/opening the door/car shutting off and not going into park.
Hope that helps.

harkgar

///MB,

Are those aftermarket or AMG rims on your S550? I have not seen them on the new S Class before.

MB Fanatic

Those aren't AMG rims. They are the stock S600 rims in chrome.

TeutonicCarFan

i know those are 600 rims, but do they come OEM in chrome or are they aftermarket chrome?

MB Fanatic

My fathers came chrome from the factory.

///MB

Those are the stock rims on our S600. I wouldn't call them chrome, but I think they call it "polished." I actually prefer them over chroming, because chrome tends to crack and peel as they get older, often causing air leaks due the seal breaking between the rim and tire.

MB Fanatic

Yes, just looked at the specs and its "Polished alloy."

Still looks like chrome at the end of the day, without the weight and hassle of chrome.

///MB

Actually, I think it's noticeably different. Chrome has a smooth mirrored finish. The polished finish is more rough and looks more like there's a clear coat over a stainless type finish. You can see more of the grooves or swirl like marks of the metal. You can see in my sig pic, the chrome on the escalade is a lot shinier.