amgrocket

I ve frequented the c32life forum for a while but since now i have an e55 on order i have found this great site. thanks for all the great info. everyone i talk to seems to believe that in march they will release the e55 as a 2003 but i emailed mercedes about the lack of navigation and the clarification of model year, here's what i got. .....

Thank you for your recent internet inquiry.

We do not currently have a definitive date as to when the COMAND system will be
available as an option for the E-Class model. Additionally, The E55 AMG will
be released as a 2004 model.

If we can be of any further assistance, please feel free to e-mail us again or
call us at
1-800-FOR-MERCedes (1-800-367-6372).

Sincerely,

Barbara Gaffney
Consumer Promotions
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC

E55 KEV

2004 model? I would like to see them pull that off! How can AMG build a 2004 E55 today and shipp to the US without the availabilty of any 2004 W211 chassis' to modify. 2004 model year cars, ie E320 (E350?) or E500 will not be built until after June (normally).

The question to MBUSA - Where does AMG and Mercedes get a 2004 W211 when they have not started production?

It will be interesting.

Rich

I don't know all of the rules with regards to what is called a 2003 vs 2004 but when Porsche began producing 993 turbos, they were '96 models and were available during the middle of the '95 model year. With limited production autos, it is advantageous to do it this way. For every model year a certain number of cars are built and then "burned" doing crash tests, EPA tests etc. This is a fixed cost for each model year, so having an extended first model year spreads out this cost over more cars.

absent

In the US, '91 model 300 Diesel was available in January '90,so there is precedence.

merlin

What I got from MB in Europe is that the staff of MB has no official info about the final delivery of the new Command System. Indead there were some problems. This would explain the statement you got.
I got a confirmation today that the system will be shipped in Europe starting April, so any build before this date won't have the DVD Command.

regards

merlin