I've been going back and forth between the two. My current A8L lease is up in 3 months and of course is 15,000 miles overdue.

The main advantage I see for the S550 is the cool phone dialer. Is it worth an extra $350 per month? And will it work with my Blackberry 7130C. I suppose after reading posts here about the bluetooth problems, particularly by Carlsbad, I have myself almost talked out of the Merc.

S550 pros:
- I love the color combination of the LE, grey / white int.
- The merc. is a little peppier with a touch sportier handling.
- A dial to chage the radio station, brilliant new innovation!
- The aforesaid phone dialer if it really works.
- It's new and different to me.

S550 negative:
- Prestige factor in NJ. Merc. makes a statement that I'm not entirely comfortable with even though it would not surprise anyone.
- Bluetooth issues. If this is a problem I would not go near this car! I have at least several business conversations per day in the car plus I don't want to get the wife mad at me with garbled sound.

A8l pros:
- Rear leg room
- $300 or $400 less per month
- Free no hassle service and loaner car from dealer 5 minutes from home.
- Don't have to deal with a new dealer whose salesman didn't get me warm and fuzzy over the dealership.


A8L negative:
- I have had one for 3 years.
- Less gadgetry than the Merc. I like to play with the toys.

I guess what it really comes down to is whether the phone system is worth the extra money. I laugh as I type this but it just might be true.

 

The way I am approaching the phone issue in my forthcoming CL is by using a dual SIM system, which is very common among European phone companies: you can have 2 SIMs with the same phone numeber, provided you do not use them at the same time.

One SIM will go in my Blackberry, whereas the other will go in a no frill mobile phone which will be permanently docked to the Command module via the cradle.

Of course I will never move the second phone from the cradle, since I will operate it from the car only.

This way I can circumvene the bluetooth problems

 

I use a similar setup in my S550. Only I have two phone #'s and the phone that sits permanently in the cradle forwards all calls to the phone I carry with me if I am not in the car. Been using this for sometime in my prior S430 and it works great.

 

Another factor to consider is that since you're 15,000 miles
over your allowance, Audi will probably hammer you
with the over mileage charge if you get the Benz.

Assuming a .20/mile, thats an extra 3 grand.

If you were to get an Audi, they probably would be
more forgiving.

personally, i would get the benz because I find it
more attractive and think its a better car.

 

Nevada Jack,
This could work for me too. Do you have to do anything when you leave the car for it to forward ie. punch codes to start forwarding, turn something on or off, etc?

Davidegai,
I'll check to see if I can have to sim cards in the US. I wonder if I could still leave the Blackberry turned on so I can get emails while the docked phone gets the calls.

Great input guys. Thank you.

 

You just program the cradle phone to forward calls to the other line/phone. I have a MOTO V557 and I set the forwarding on the phone settings. When it isn't answered it just forwards to your hip phone.

 

I'm coming out of an A8L ('04) as well (April lease end) and have an S550 4matic on the way (finally...see another thread for the crazy ordeal) so can appreciate some of your points.

Perhaps I'm misreading your original post but if you're considering moving to the S550 purely for a phone dialer, then it's probably not worth the penalty you'll have to pay to AF (assuming you leased through AF) for not getting another Audi by working with your dealer.

For me, I decided on the S550 as opposed to another Audi because of two primary factors: I wanted the S8 next but the numbers for an S8 lease made it nonsensical to lease compared to the S-class, and the fact that the S550 is a newer car with updated technologies and since I don't want a 750Li, the desire to have something different meant the S550 was the car for me.

I am fortunate that we have a great local dealer and someone both I and my family have worked with previously for MB products, so that part was not a concern for me. But I concur with you that having a dealer you're comfortable with and who provides the level of service that satisfies your needs go hand in hand with the overall satisfaction of the car; and again, I've been lucky because both the Audi and MB dealers are close to me and both have provided very good service over the years. Again, this is my experience with my local dealers here in Bergen County, NJ and doesn't reflect the experience of all other Audi or MB customers.

The only other point I would like to help address is the one regarding the perceptions of others if you were driving an MB (are you in NJ too?). As I've been fortunate to have either purchased or leased various BMW, Porsche, MB and Lexus automobiles, I understand the anxiety regarding the perception of other drivers or people for owning/driving them. But I've come to accept that no matter which luxury brand you choose, there will be those who criticize or form uninformed opinions of who you are based on the car you drive - it's an unavoidable fact of life. And this is something my wife brought up too when, after seeing the GL450 in the showroom, she became greatly interested in having it replace her current Lexus SUV when the lease ends in 14 months; but she also became concerned about what our neighbors would think of us if we had two Mercedes automobiles in our garage.

It's important to remember that opinions are like a$&holes: everyone has one. So I now choose to buy or lease automobiles, or anything else in life for that matter, that suit me or my family's needs or desires and enjoy the things for which I've earned. And as long as my conscience is clear that I did not come to these things through ill begotten gains and that I remember those who are less fortunate than I and keep up my philanthropic duties, then I/we should enjoy it to the fullest. I didn't arrive at this conclusion easily, mind you, but am now happier having accepted this maxim in my life and work hard to enjoy my life with my family. Hope this helps.

(Soapbox mode now off... )

 

Looks like I'll sign papers tomorrow. Thanks. I'll try the MHI and see how it goes and if it's a problem I'll switch to one of the two above suggestions.

Anyone have any experience with the beige color interior getting dirty looking because it is so light?

 

I don't think that will be a problem. The seating areas are the darker beige (Premium Leather option) and the lighter beige is in areas really not liable to a lot of use.

Congrats when you sign the paper....

 

Glad you chose the S550, it's a superior car to the Audi, plus the Bluetooth works great. The one on my LE CL 550 works just fine, and the sound quality is perfect.

 

 

Glad to read your post on the Bluetooth - I've been somewhat concerned about the quality given some of the difficulties mentioned by other forum members.

I'm going to have it installed when my car arrives and hope it works as flawlessly as your have experienced.

 

I picked up the S550 LE last night. Definitely the right decision!

Here's the funny part. I pair the Blackberry (7130C) hoping that the phone dialer will work and the reception won't be too bad. The reception inside the car is perfect. I made only one call to my daughter who reported that my sound was "no worse" than normal. Normal is with my bluetooth earpiece. So I'm pretty happy about that.

Then a few minutes later I click on "NAME" and my entire address book (Outlook) of many hundreds of names and phone numbers are accessible. My phone wasn't even on the approved list. What a wonderful suprise. I haven't played much with it but it does take a few minutes to load. I'll find out today if I can make calls while it is loading. You can't imagine how smug and pleased I feel since being able to just dial phone numbers was my main worry.

 

That's very cool. I can report that I've asked two people to call me from their bluetooth equipped mercedes (one E and one CLS) and the call quality was fine.