Looks like I'm up for build in December and delivery in January. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's a 50/50 chance I won't get the command II. So, do I delay a month to guarentee the DVD, or do I roll the dice?

Breeze


2000 S 500 Designo Expresso

Breeze,

How can you delay by one month? My dealer claims this is not possible. I would definitely wait if it would insure receipt of Command II.

How did you come up with the 50:50 figure? I have only seen rumors that '03 deliveries would be equipped with Command II. My dealer has not been able to confirm Command II information.

It's possible that my dealer isn't sure exactly when I'm getting my delivery (late Dec. or early Jan.) They're going to FAX an inquiry to the factory tomorrow. I was alerted when they asked if I wanted the $145 CD GPS pack option. I asked, "why would I need the US/Canada CD's if the car had command II?" Possibly the car is coming sooner than expected (it's the first SL55 they're getting, other than the VIPs) That's when they mentioned that it might be best for me to to take delivery a month later. I can't imagine any SL55's not having the latest equipment.

Actually, it is not possible at all to delay a build.

No offense but AMG is not going to hold your car up because you want to get Command II and your dealer does not have the option of even submitting such a request since your dealer actually never speaks to the build group at AMG.

There is a whole process flow from the time a request for a vehicle comes in till it reaches production and get to the foor of AMG, it is especially guarded for privacy and security reasons. Speak to the owner of any MB dealership and they will tell you the same.

Think about what you are asking and that should give you the answer - if everyone decided they wanted to wait for Command II, would you expect AMG just to stop building and wait? Never happen. What your dealer should have informed you is that if you do get your SL55 prior to Command II, you will be able to "upgrade" to it within 6 months to a year of it coming out. The reason for the delay is there is ample training time needed to remove Command I and replace it with Command II since the mechanics of both systems are different and integrated within the main computer system.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news...

If your dealer is offering to delay your car its simply because he knows that then he can sell the car to someone else for over sticker and pocket the difference instead of selling it to u for sticker. They will then tell u that your car is still delayed because of command 2 and u will not have a car in the near future. Do not fall for that line of ****! Get the car when u can is my opinion.

Agree absolutely with mookie and SL55 NYC.

You can't delay the production or change the spec of the car this close. The hugely complex supply chain is already programmed to deliver the parts your car needs on the date they are needed. It's to Mercedes credit that the production schedules are being kept to; my car was, if anything, ahead of schedule.

Besides, does it really matter? There's far more to this car than the Sat Nav. It's a bit like the thread which claimed that because the Lexus SC430 has a better stereo, it should be of interest to us here. Errrr... No! There is so much in this car which sets new, revolutionary standards waiting to delight you that you should not even think of delaying. Even a month after getting my car, none of the thrill has disappeared, the car is stunning in most every respect and I'm actually quite happy with Command 1. Granted, I don't have to change CDs to go out of state, but how important is that, really?

I'm actually surprised Mercedes are introducing it in the middle of a model year, with all the documentation, service bulletin and other changes which will go with it. Do we even know, for example, whether it fits in the same panel aperture? If it doesn't that means lots of co-requisite changes

My advice is to keep to your production slot, don't let the car slip from your grasp (the dealer would love to sell it at a premium). If you get Command II, fine, if not, I wouldn't loose one moment's sleep about it.

BTW SL55 NYC, did you pick up your car on 25 October? How is it???

I agree completely with BlueSL. Ive done 1800 miles in my SL and loved every minute of it. In serious danger of getting some nasty speeding ticket though - because it accelerates so smoothly and quickly from the top of the UK speed limit, upward ...

As to COMAND - Id be suprised if we see COMANDII for a while on the SL - its a totally different set of systems needed in the car (it uses MOST fibre optic, not D2B, so everything changes, amps, phone controller, vcs, teleaid, cd ...)

I think we'll probably see the 16x9 COMAND from the MY2003 S/CL class, which should fit in the same size hole, and just be plug compatable. (ie, its based on Comand 2.0)

I think we'll see COMAND II in the E-class first (which has the MOST bus stuff in it from day 1), before it makes it into the rest of the range.

I may be wrong of course ...

R

BlueSL

Going tomorrow morning was out of town on biz and just got the call that it is there waiting for me

Will post pics soon!

Great news, enjoy!!