Count me in!!

Can't quite tell for sure from this photo, but it looks like the dash is covered in full leather. Very nice!

No matter how many times i see these pics keeps me droooooling!!!!!!!

I love that ash trim!!

It may come that way......but the dash is not leather covered in the above photo.

It looks like the steering wheel controls allow you to upshift or downshift like the Formula 1 cars do. I know Ferrari has this on some of their cars but this is the first I've seen it on a Mercedes. Do the new SL 500's/55's have this as well?

this is available on the SL55, E55, CLK55, CL55 and I believe the S55. Only AMG cars

Hey! They better put some wood on that darn shift knob!

I would much prefer carbon fiber over the black burl wood/plastic. It think the black burl:

1) does not look like any REAL wood you ever see in nature or on fine furniture, ect. --- yeah, I know, maybe in the "black forest."

2) and this in turn causes it to look like phony plastic wood or, as I have been told by a good friend, scratched plastic.

I think that wood trim should look like real wood grain and feel like wood, not plastic marblized wood-like products.

My $0.02 on it.

I'll second to that!

And third and fourth and...

Black Burl Walnut:

I agree with HMRDWN.
I have this on my current AMG and I really don't care for it.
It's so dark you really can't tell it's wood at a glance.

Why is wood desirable for furniture, walls, car interiors? Because of it's rich grain and apparent depth. The black walnut nearly eliminates this effect (unless sun is shining on it directly).

Brown burl is much richer looking.

Mercedes actually uses two different black wood finishes. One is black burl, which is used in the ML55 (and C32 in some markets). The other is black birds eye maple, which is used in the E55 and CLK55. I really like black birds eye maple. Especially with the sun light on it, it's so rich, beautiful, and quite exotic. Every other car has brown wood.

Black burl on the other hand is too dark, and does look like black plastic even in bright daylight. Mercedes does not use carbon fibre, except for their F1 saftey cars. I suspect that an aluminum trim might be the other option. Actually, I like the designo woods the best of all.

I couldn't agree with you more! Specially on the last two sentences!

The black burl wood is nasty.

will have wood on it. the reason that one didn't is because its the special know for the Keyless Go system and then have to incorporate the button on the top. I personally think it looks aweful and would not get this option.

Definitely!

Natural birdseye or burled wood has a beautiful grain pattern. Its too bad that too much black stain is left on and conceals most of it.
I got a black birdseye maple shift knob that isn't as dark as the car's and the wood graining glistens in the sun.

I suppose it depends on the lot you get, as the wood pieces are matched by grain and color. My center console is more grey than black, and I can see the grain even at night. But my rear doors are a bit darker, and the grain is not as visable compared to the dash.

But again, I need to point out that the E55s have black birdseye maple, not black burl walnut. I test drove an ML55, which has the black burl, and did not care for the wood as much. To me, the black woods do give a more sporty feel to the interior vs. the brown woods, and thus are better suited for the AMGs. I'd also take black birdseye over aluminum or carbon fibre look, as it has more class - IMHO. Now if AMG were to use "real" carbon fibre pieces, that might be a different story.

You think they will get a wood steering wheel for the AMG cars?

Don't know but that would be nice!