TestnDoc

Is this available in the US?? http://www.mercedes-amg.com/assets/p...st_english.pdf

jmf003

Sadly, no.

I think AMG should open a center (or maybe three) in the US. I think they'd do very well.

jeffreyy

I wonder. If we fly to the design studio, will they build us a car?

J

ItalianStallion

I wish there was a studio like that at Mercedes dealers where you can get performance upgrades that have dealer warranties. GM and other manufacturers have it, so should Benz.

ClayJ

Ummmm...that is exactly how it works....

Sharkster

I'm in Germany and could get you whatever info or product you want. But I think you should easily be able to simply order all that stuff directly in the US and have it installed at your local MB dealer. That's the way it works here in Germany (you get it and have it installed at your local MB dealer incl. full warranty). I'm not sure how it is handled with sophisticated performance upgrades though (since I haven't done anything like that on my ride yet). Where do you get AMG stuff from in the States?

ClayJ

The norm - and AMG's preference - is that the work is done at AMG Manufaktur in Affalterbach.

Parts can be bought here in the USA, and some tuners can either install the parts or obtain the parts and either install them for you or not....

But it does seem to be getting more difficult to get the performance parts from AMG to here in the States; and there has been talk from Affalterbach about stopping the flow of parts and modifications to the USA....

Now with the AMG Performance Studio, they are obviously announcing to the world - and to the USA by extension to some degree - that these mods (and an even higher level of personal-choice performance and other customization) will be readily available through the new Performance Studio....

I have always had my work done at AMG Manufaktur in the past -- but this seems to me to be mass marketing, or mass customization, being taken to a new level by AMG....

sprins

AFAIK the Performance Studio is a Hans Werner Aufrecht (the A in AMG) enterprise. Since Erhard Melcher (the M in AMG) and he sold AMG to the Mercedes Car Group of Daimler Chrysler in 2005 he's mostly been busy with the DTM via Team AMG (HWA-GmbH). However HWA-GmbH was also responsible for the limited edition CLK DTM and the SLK Tracksport (now dubbed Black Edition).

Apparently HWA and Mercedes see room for more 'customizaiton' and special editions together. And apparently AMG isn't exclusive enough anymore for the realy wealthy people (to which I have to agree although I'm not 'realy wealthy' at all).

Props to Hans Werner Aufrecht for selling his company to Mercedes and then basically mounting a new enterprise (joint venture) that does the same as the old company which he will sell to the Mercedes Car Group in the future

tenns5002

IngenereAMG

I would love to get the AMG performance steering wheel with the shift paddles. That seems like a great deal. For 400Euros you can get the paddles, but for $670 you get the leather/alcantara wheel and the paddles!

Vik888

I'd just like to be able to get a 'special instruction' to Germany to not build my SL w/ the SIRIUS antenna .. I hear they don't do that anymore.

jeffreyy

Well, my point is that the US is the only market in the world where we cannot custom order our cars (aka confined to packages/options/colors selected by MBUSA). So, even if we fly to Germany, will they build the car for the US market?

ClayJ

You are wrong about that -

Yes, MBUSA is a major pain in the butt to deal with, and yes they try to - or at least - limit the information that they have or give to you about available customization-- but AMG Manufaktur in Affalterbach is happy to take your money and modify and customize your car for you - be it ROW or US-Spec.

That is how I do my MBZ's coming to the USA: go through a US dealer, and then arrange with AMG Manufaktur to perform the modifications and customizations desired on the car before it is shipped here to the US.

A year or more ago it was ea$y ( ) to get any reasonable mod done. In the last year or so AMG Manufaktur started to hedge on certain performance mods like VMax delimit on a greater range of models....

Now with AMG announcing such as availability of the 030 Packages, with VMax delimit, etc.- and with the new AMG Performance Studio - I might assume that the menu options for modification to US-bound AMG MBZ's might be once again fairly unbounded -- but that is an assumption which would be unsafe to make, at face-value.

I intend to be meeting with these folks in Affalterbach in the very near future to order some more vehicles (both ROW and US-Spec); and fully intend to share and report on my experience with that here on the forums....

Stay tuned....

Schiznick

This is not correct. I visited AMG just over a month ago. The Performance Studio is not an HWA enterprise. Yes HWA collaborated on the design and building of the CLK DTM and CLK DTM Cab but the Performance studio is all AMG.

Your info on the TS is also not exactly correct. While I am not 100% sure that HWA had nothing to do with the project, I was told that most of the Black Series parts stemmed from the SLK55 Safety Car program that was developed by AMG not HWA. They were being built in the Performance studio while I was there by AMG personnel.

Your comments on HWA being focused on DTM are certainly correct but they are not driving the Performance Studio. Mr. Aufrecht has been focused on DTM for quite a while and the initial piece of AMG was old to mercedes long before 2005. I believe the complete deal closed in 1999. Mr Melcher was gone long before that.

The need for complete customization has been a focus of AMG's all along. It appears that they are just taking it to the next level with an expanded offering. Give credit where credit is due to AMG.

Great job AMG, now just bring us all this stuff in the US!!!!!! It is about time!!!!

sprins

I stand corrected. I was genuinly under the impression that HWA had more to do with it. Perhaps this will be true with more subcontracting like with the CLK DTM.

I love what AMG has dome for Mercedes. So the more studios the better

360_iti

7 pilot centers are to open in the US this year. More to follow.
Sweet !!

http://wardsdealer.com/latest/amg_upping_exclusivity/

jmf003

Good eye, 360! Thanks for sharing that info!

BUTCH A

Re AMG's sale to Daimler's Mercedes-Benz division, you are correct that process began indeed in 1999 with 50% ownership and the remainder being completely transferred in 2001 and renamed AMG-Mercedes. I remember it quite well since that was a time when I visited them twice as I was supporting the newly formed outfit HWA team with custom parts for both the DTM cars and the ill-fated LeMans project (remember the CLR race cars that flew and flippped during practice and the race itself?).

In 1999, the HWA team was housed in one building and the new AMG-Mercedes was across the road with separate and distinct management teams. HWA of course reported to Herr Aufrecht who had a direct line relationship to Herr Norbert Haug, chief of Mercedes racing then and now. AMG-Mercedes Affalterbach reported directly to Mercedes-Benz marketing management in Stuttgart.

Previous to 1999, Mercedes road cars were AMG-modified and sold by several select specialty dealerships in the US but not owned or controlled by the MB North America. The AMG authorized dealership here in Southern California was the Beverly Hills Motoring Association owned and run by Andy Cohen.

Of course those were fun days and years for me but now, DTM rules have outlawed use of our parts. However nowadays, I still get to visit and work with the Ferrari Gestione Sportiva team on their F1 car development in Maranello, in the old area where Enzo Ferrari built his race cars. I've also been privileged to visit the McLaren-Mercedes facilities in Woking, the former BAR (Honda F1) faciilites in Bracken and the Toyota F1 factory in Koln. How cool is that?