donbiz

I just drove my CLK cab for the first time in a month the other day and I was amazed how small it is. I was equally amazed how well I have adjusted to my s63 as a daily drive. It's been a few months and a few thousand miles but I thought I would share my impressions

>>> Options I wanted the most but have used the least or have been disappointed with

Night vision

It's really cool to show people but other than that it's just a distraction. I was thinking it would be helpful on a foggy day or in the rain but to date I have found no use for it really


IPOD interface

Check my previous posts for my huge disappointment with the IPOD hook up. Hopefully someone at Mercedes reads these posts and will fix it

Seat Massage

My passengers just love it but the novelty has worn off and I rarely use it.



>> Options I thought I would really like and I actually do really like

ABC and Drive Dynamic Seats
This car rides on rails!

AMG Seats with Premium Leather
Awesome

The Alcantara Headliner
Bling!

Navigation with Traffic
Awesome and the i-drive gizmo actually works great in this car

Parktronic and Blind spot assist
I doubt if I would ever by another car without these features

>>> Options I could care less about when I bought the car but I now can't live without

Keyless Go
It amazes me that not having to take the key out of my pocket would be such a big deal, but now driving cars without this feature is just annoying!


Disctronic Plus
I often drive in LA rush hour bumper to bumper or at high speeds that suddenly slow to a crawl. This gizmo allows me to get in the fast lane and take a nap while my car rides the brakes for me. The first few weeks of using this feature scared the heck out of me. It was defiantly a white knuckle thrill ride until I just started trusting it more. It took about 4 weeks of dally use before trust overtook fear and now laziness has trumped both. Now I am looking for Mercedes to come out with Steertronic plus!

SIRIUS Satelite Radio
Within the first week I decided to prepay for the rest of the year

>>> Overall Impression of the S63

No regrets, I love my car.

Glad I stepped up from the planned purchase of an S550. The only other car I was considering was the Maserati Quatroporte which is a beautiful car but too much of a hassle to drive and have serviced.

I have had some issues with the s63. The wiper motor went out the first time it rained, the command phonebook tops out well before it can sync with my blackberry’s 2800 entries, the PC card mp3 reader should really be 1TB hard drive, my sunglasses won’t fit in the sunglass holder (considering I have never had a sunglass holder before I have no idea why this upsets me so) and the voice control should be able to change satellite radio stations by saying the name of the station. None of these issues are deal killers and all in all this is a awesome car that the valets always park in front!

blazinginder

Glad to hear you're enjoying the "investment" haha...and I hear you on the keyless go...it's a pain not having it on the other cars after you've gotten so used to it on one car

Bsmooth65

Well said, I agree 100%

srice

Great post! I have 10,000 miles on mine, and I think you are pretty much right on target.

The only item on your list where I disagree is the seat massage. Mine is on 24/7. I'm barely out of the garage before I turn it on, and I just keep it running as long as I am driving. I have never driven for 3 or 4 hours and felt no tightness in my back - until now.

My wife's SL550 has a weaker version of the massage (like my old E55), and it is a poor substitute.

Z356

srice: I have a question for you. The manual says that the massage function will run for 5/10 minutes or so...and then turns itself off. Is there a way to program the massage function so that it can be 'on' for longer periods of time, or do you have to keep repeatedly setting it via Comand every 5/10 minutes or so? Z356

WSH

Nice summary

Seat massages: am an addict....so much improved over prior MB iterations (e.g., '07 SL65) of this feature (as is the seat ventil feature)....would like an auto-repeat feature to save me from constantly re-activating feature....is it true that 65s incl a "special" massaging feature???

Keyless Go...IMO, an utterly useless feature....always throw KG button in my owner's manual case upon deliv of a new MB....for me, when I first used KG when it was the cool feature yrs ago, MB key seemingly always fell out of my pocket and got lost in seat struc....

DistronicPlus.....have never had need/desire for cruise ctrl (SF Peninsula has some of world's fastest fwys, but realize LA fwys can be rather annoying), but highly value the active safety element of the DistPlus-BrakeAssist coupling....BTW, another reason I don't use cruise ctrl (even if traffic is slow/gridlocked) is I closely monitor rear-view mirror to anticipate how inept is the driver on my rear bumper.....if driver appears clueless, will change lanes/make adjustments to reduce odds of being rear-ended.....generally, drivers of lower value cars drive as expected....Darwinian selection....human risk/reward judgment is a larger factor in safety than any computer system....

NtView....agree largely worthless in most decently-lit urban/suburban settings....but colleagues in more leafy suburban places like Woodside CA or Greenwich CT tell me it helps them spot the errant deer a bit sooner....and I suspect the DistPlus radar is another layer of advcd warning....

srice

I find that the massage function stays on for about 20 minutes. It is a minor annoyance to have to re-start every 20 minutes, but it's better than my old E55 (5 - 7 minutes). If I could find a way to turn it on when I start the car, and leave it on until I park, that would be great, but my SA says there is no way.

With everything being software controlled these days, I can't imagine it will be long before someone will figure out how to "hack" the command system, and give us features we want, even if MB doesn't make them available. I would think we will buy an upload, to make changes, as easily as we can buy a "chip" for the engine management system.

In the meantime, it's still a sweet ride!

Eddie Knopp

Kinda agree - but I find the KG very useful. More importantly the NtView also is exceedingly helpful in neighborhoods with dog walkers - regardless of the color - a Black Lab with someone dressed darkly they will appear white or lightly colored. I do agree that it takes getting used to - but useful I think.

Z356

WSH suggested that he "....would like an auto-repeat feature to save me from constantly re-activating feature (massage seat function)". Some might be surprised that Mercedes doesn't provide 'Programmable buttons' like BMW offers on my current '07 650i Vert and my previous '04 745i. In my 650, the buttons limit the pre-sets to just 'Navigation voice instructions', 'air recirculation on/off', 'mute on/off', 'monitor on/off', 'telephone list' and 'next entertainment source'. In my 745i, it also pre-set the auto-brake function (e.g. so you don't need to 'ride' the brake at a stop light), which is an extremely convenient feature now present on the new S & CL class. If MB wanted, such programmable buttons could instruct Comand to auto-repeat a function like 'massage seats'. An S or CL driver could just press that button every time he wants the 'massage' to continue, rather than look around to re-set the whole thing again. It would also serve to keep driver's eyes on the road, which has positive safety & liability considerations for the corporation. But perhaps someone at Mercedes Benz doesn't want the 'massage function' easy to program for their drivers. Let me explain.

I am intrigued with this whole subject since I see the mysterious hand of 'legal counsel' at work here. As you know, Lexus doesn't provide massage function on the front seats of their cars because lawyers have told them it might lull super-relaxed drivers into an accident...and then lawsuit(s) against Lexus. Instead, Lexus supplies (on their top model) a veritable massage table for one of the passengers in the rear. Great for those being chauffeured, but not for us drivers. BMW attempted a bizarre form of driver massage on their 7 series which involved a wave-type action for your 'derrière' and not your back. It moved only ONE side of your 'gluteus maximus' at a time. Most who have tried this BMW massage seat find it weird...except for certain citizens of the Castro in San Francisco where it was declared 'macho erotic'. Audi does a massage similar to the previous generation MB S class on their current top of line 8 series, but it's rather tame in comparison to the current generation of super-energized S/CL seats. I am still wondering if MB legal advisers determined to minimize 'sleep liability' for the corporation by limiting the minutes this massage feature can be 'on' as set at the factory via Comand...and then making it very 'deliberate' that if you want more 'relaxation', you need to reprogram it all over again. If you 'relax' too much and fall asleep as a result, well, that was your decision to 'over do it', Mr or Ms S/CL Driver. Food for thought. Z356

srice

Z356:

I have no doubt that the "liability factor" plays a part in some of the decisions auto companies make. Last I checked, Infiniti requires an active acknowledgement (push a button), at start up, that you will not allow their navigation system to distract you; then it is still not programmable while the car is moving. It's a real pain when even your passenger can not run the system.

Of all the cars I have driven, or seen, MB is probably the most "liberal" in what you can and can't do while driving.

To paraphrase Shakespere, The first thing we do, kill all the lawyers!

Can Drive 55

Nice write up and I definitely second your comment on the keyless go.

donbiz

After seeing the picture of the AMG flighted door sills I am wishing I would have ordered those as well. Is that an option intalled by the dealer and if so how much?

phonetics

yes

jeffreyy

There is a programmable button in the S class, the * button, but it only has like two or three rather not very useful possibilities like "monitor off" or "rear sunshade down....the most useful of the 2-3". I can't recall the last option. Anyway, I agree, continue/start massage for driver and possibly passenger would be wonderful!

J