Hi,

First by way of introduction I'm a Mercedes newbie. I'm a long time BMW and Porsche owner, buying my first Mercedes. (Other than the 190E that was handed down to me).

So I need to finalize my S550 order this week and I'm stuck on the AMG package. My other car that I'm keeping is a GT3 which I track so that will be the car for performance driving that I'm not stupid enough to do on public roads. In order words, I get that out of my system on weekends.

So the purpose of this car is definitely comfort and quiet. It will be daily driver on my 50 miles round trip commute and our weekend family car. So comfort and quiet are the main priorities.

However, I'm not willing to totally sacrifice handling which is why (a) I'm not buying a Lexus and (b) I am ordering ABC. It's my understanding that ABC improves handling without any sacrifice in comfort or noise, so that's why I'm choosing that (please, MB veterans, correct me if I'm wrong)


But I'm not sure about the AMG pack. I doubt 19" wheels will do anything to improve handling. And I'm afraid they will add noise and harshness especially since the only available 19" tires seem to be max performance summer tires which I know get loud after a couple of months of wear (or a couple of track sessions. ) BUT, my wife absolutely loves the look of the AMG pack and thinks we should get it.

So, for those of you with the AMG package, how noisy do those tires get after a couple of months?

Also, with BMW it is possible, if you are persistent enough, to get a dealer to order certain options that are not on the normal order list (with permission from BMWNA, of course). For instance I was able to get a power rear window shade on an E46 M3. Are there similar options on the W221 that are not on the official lists, but are possible?

And one other question, my dealer says I can order night view assist even though it's not on the online configurator. But I can't order night view and the dynamic backup camera at the same time. Does that make any sense? I've seen cars with both.

And lastly, I know the online configurator is probably not the last word on available options. Does anyone have the offical MB of North America order list with every available option? (Like the one Porsche and BMW publish)?


Thanks for all the help! Sorry for all the questions at once.

 

By the way, here are the other options I'm probably getting. I'd appreciate any comments. (I'm in the US)

P2A package

Rear Seat package (because apparently that's the only way to get heated rear seats??? My wife sits in the back a lot with our son)

Power rear side window shades (for the kid. Well actually for me because I hate those stick on shades)

ABC (for reasons above)

Night view assist (safety)

Drive Dynamic Seats (I like the width adjustable BMW seats. And the dynamic feature sounds interesting.)

Heated steering wheel (hate cold)

Electronic Trunk closer (I'm lazy)

(MAYBE) AMG package (wife loves the look)

And at this point I'm leaning towards Andorite with Grey.

I'm leaning against the premium leather because I don't like the way my friends and neighbors' W220 S500 seats wear. It seems their S430's were better. I'm assuming the standard leather on the W221 is similar to the W220 S430 and the premium is more like the W220 S500? (Again, please veterans, correct me if I'm wrong).

Thanks again..

 

You could get 18" AMG rims instead, about the two parts I'm assuming it's only b/c they can't supply enough parts. I remember a while ago quite a few cars were being sold without Night Assist because they didn't have the parts for it.

 

You can specify this as part of the sport package? I didn't know that. I wonder where I can find pictures of a W221 with the AMG bumpers, sideskirts and 18" wheels.

I had heard that they were having problems with parts supply on night assist. That's why I was happy when he said I could still order it. However I can't understand why if I order night assist, I can't order the dynamic rear view monitor. But if I don't order night assist, then I can order the rear monitor. Do these two systems have anything to do with each other?

 

eddietr, ABC you hit it spot on.

As to regards of getting an options list, sit down with your dealer and go through NetStar and see what they have down, other than that you dont have much room for options.

As to the leather, get the premium leather, you will love it. It is worth the few extra thousand, trust me on this. Nevada jack will tell you too. Its soft yet durable and unlike regular leather which is standard, its much more supple as well. The S500 and the S430 had the same type of leather, which was not that great. Only the S600 got Napa.

Get the AMG package. The ride is not harsh and the tires are not loud at all. The S is well insulated.

 

Thanks.

Are you certain about the S500 and S430 leather. Our next door neighbor on our left has a 2003 430 and our neighbor two doors the other way has an 04 500 and the leathers seem very different. The 430 has worn much better. So my wife and I went to the pre-owned lot at two dealerships and looked at 500s and 430s and we felt that the 430s consistently had less supple leather which seemed to wear a lot better. I don't know.

Speaking of Nappa, I asked my dealer (who isn't very knowledgable unfortunately) about the premium leather. And he showed me an AMG SL and said that was the premium leather. Then later he showed me a W221 with premium and it was not the same. I loved the AMG leather. Very similar to premium Audi leather I've had and the Nappa on my M3s.

But the W221 premium was not as nicely fitted it seemed. Seemed like excess material which was wrinkled.

 

My previous car, an S500, had Nappa leather. It does not last. It gets that worn shiny look very quickly and also fills up with creases and cracks rather quickly. For that reason alone I went with standard leather on my S550 and couldn't be happier. It's very soft and comfortable, and feels sturdier than the Nappa did, which makes me happy. And I'm the kind of person who prefers sturdy and less prone to wear over super-soft. I hate visual defects in my cars and the excess creasing and shiny wear on the Nappa drove me nuts. I'm glad they let us choose the standard (aka "S430" leather) instead of making the premium standard.

My car has both night view assist and the rear view monitor, but I ordered way back in January when they were orderable, and waited eight months for the car. It was worth it though. I really enjoy both options, but if I had to choose one over the other I'd go with the night view assist.

The standard S550 wheels are 18" so I don't imagine going to 19" would make much of a difference. Interestingly, I had the 18" AMG on my S550, and the 19" AMGs on my S500, and the S550 drives much, much smoother and quieter than the S500 did (and I always keep mine in sport mode).

 

Here's a pic:
http://www.cars-club.com/w-p/wall-10...AMG-1024-2.jpg

Its the european version

 

So there was a difference in the 430 leather versus 500 (in the W220)? It wasn't just my imagination.

And the shine and creasing is exactly what I don't like in our friends' 500s. My Dad has a W126 that he maintains religiously and the leather was never glove soft but it has aged nicely and most importantly it fits properly. That's what I prefer. I hated the gathered look on the headrests of the earlier W220s for instance. What happened to the art of cutting leather to make it fit???

 

I never liked the look of the Nappa leather on the S500 either, I hate when leather looks shiny. The only advantage of the Nappa leather I could find on the S500 was that if you ordered without Active Ventilation, there were no perforation holes at all. That is because the higher quality leather will breathe and has no need for the perforations. The S430 always had perforations no matter what becuase it needed them to breathe.

 

on the W220s S500 and up had Nappa. The S430 had standard premium leather with perforations in the middle section of the seat. I beleive it is true that the Nappa does not hold up as well, at where I work it is not uncommon for a person to trade their W220 in on a XJ and the S430s have always had the nicer leather in the long run.

 

Yep, S430 was standard and S500 was premium Nappa.

At the time I traded my S500 for the new S550 there was a hole worn clear through the leather on the left side of the driver's seat where I got in and out of the car ... lol

 

I agree with your post MB...

As far as the seats go...order the Multi-contour with Massage and the Premium leather. They are the most comfortable going.

 

Be sure that you ask your dealer about a delivery date. The options that you have listed may cause the production date to be pushed back. I currently cannot order a car with those options for the next production run.

 

I just placed my order a week and a half ago for Feb/Mar delivery in Black Opal on Savanna Cashmere premium leather, I ordered the premium leather because my wife and I both liked the softer feel of the surfaces.

I also ordered almost everything on your options list, except for the Night View Assist and the Rear Seat Package.

And I also have a dedicated track car, a stripped and caged '99 E36 M3 that I use for instructing at schools with the BMW CCA AND the FCA that is 3/4 of the way to becoming a club racer, so I share your sense of the need to 'drive' a car...even if it is a car with a curb weight of almost 4,500 lb.!

Having said that, I ordered ABC for the very reason of giving the car a more 'sporting' handling and feel behind the wheel as it made a difference on the SL500 I'd just traded.

As for the AMG Sport Packge, I'll be the first to admit that I ordered it for the aesthetics and do not expect the bigger wheels/tires combination (or indeed the exterior cosmetic changes!) to make much of a difference in making the car more like an M5.

My wife, however, took a totally different position than yours on the issue of the AMG package: she felt it made the S550 look slightly odd and disjointed on what is supposed to be a luxury saloon. But in the end, I ordered the car with the package since I'll have to live with it for 39 months and liked the appearance. But make no mistake about it, for me it was purely aesthetics and not any pretension to making the car a much better drive in the twisties.

The car I test drove on two occasions did not have ABC nor the AMG package and I was already pretty impressed with its behavior on the roads and in the turns, so I'm sure it'll be fine for your purposes given our shared enthusiasm for driving on the tracks.

BTW, did you order the car in RWD or 4matic? I ordered mine in RWD configuration for if I wanted an AWD, I would've gotten another Audi A8L - they've been at the Quattro game a LOT longer.

 

Agreed on the multi-contour. It took me a couple of weeks to get it just right (there are about a million possible combinations of seat settings) but once I did it's just perfect.

 

Thanks. That's my next call today to get a handle on that. The dealer has been a little evasive, frankly.

 

With my car I don't think the dealer even knew what was happening with delivery date. It seems that the factory is evasive with the dealers when it comes to that.

 

Roy, sounds like you and I are probably looking for the same things in cars.

I had an E36 M3 also. What a great car.

So, I decided to go with RWD because of the ABC. If not for the ABC, I might have gone 4matic.

 

The ABC is worth every penny. Combined with the Multi-contour seats you can not find a finer ride anywhere! My 5000 mile cross country treck was the most pleasant one I have had...drove 12 hour days and got out refreshed as when I started. The car will not squat, dive or lean...just pure fantastic handling.

 

Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice here.

My wife and I met at the dealership today and looked again at the W220s in their pre-owned lot. And the 221s in the lot of course. I think we agreed that the premium leather was better up front, but we have concerns about it bothering us a couple years down the road. But there is no doubt it is softer, more comfortable, etc.

So we decided to go with the AMG package (purely because of the looks) and pass on the premium leather.

Now I'm trying to nail down the delivery timeframe. Hopefully I'll be able to join you guys in the S550 club around March (maybe April?)

The dealer said there is no badge-delete option like Porsche has. I assume the S-class badges are still glued on like BMW? So I can easily take that off after delivery?

 

Add on a hair dryer plus some dental floss to that list, and you're all set.

 

Well duh! I forgot that minor detail about the ABC and 4matic being mutually exclusive. That would've been a deal breaker for me too if I was considering the 4matic, the ABC would've been priority for me.

Glad you've made a decision on the car. My dealer is also being slightly non-committal on the delivery date, but promised me I wouldn't be car-less by March as the lease on my A8L ends on 10 April.

Good luck!

 

I would suggest that you get the premium leather. It looks much nicer and is different then the nappa leather you saw on the 220s so to say you based your decision on that is not a fair comparison.

The "premium" leather on the V221 is Semi-Aniline leather which is higher grade than nappa and wears better. If you take care of the leather it will not have the "butt polished" look or severely wrinkle.

 

See now my dealer explained that the premium leather is standard leather that's gone through repeated chemical treatments to soften it, resulting in weaker leather that doesn't last and gets "butt shine". Who knows what the reality is.

In the end it's personal preference, I prefer sturdy over soft, and quite honestly I can't tell the difference with clothes on ... and I never drive naked