E55 KEV

Odd! Why is the rear view mirror white?

IluvS500

Maybe it is a replacement or a mess up. Though I doubt the replacement part. Isnt it usually black in the Espresso Designos, or is it the color of the leather. Still a damn nice car, the mirror really sticks out now though

norb

To match the ceiling?

t-bone

I think that even though it is a Designo E55, the alcantara headliner is still the same light grey color regardless of interior. This will mean that the rear view mirror will remain the same light grey color.

JamE55

That brown wood looks pretty yummy!

Dr Chill

Cream leather with gray dash/trim, white mirror. What the hell was this guy thinking? And he probably spent at least 5 grand more for this too.

Symbolic

I wholeheartedly agree!

That's why I'm so glad that MBUSA finally acceded to my request for my E55 to be built with a 744 Silver (non-Designo) exterior combined with a SOLID CHARCOAL Designo interior (the code for the Charcoal Designo leather is X22). The mixing and matching of Designo and non-Designo exterior and interior options is allowed in EVERY market except ours! MBUSA only offers pre-ordained Designo packages here (i.e. Espresso or Graphite for the E55). My only reasons for insisting on a Designo interior: (1) Designo Nappa leather is softer and more supple than the standard issue leather, and (2) the W68 Brown Poplar Designo wood trim as shown in the first post on this thread simply blows away both the Burl Walnut (731) and Black Bird's Eye Maple (732).

Unfortunately, the interior ends up being clashingly two-tone in both cases. The X14 Graphite Nappa leather (which only covers the seat faces and airbag covers) has a Greenish hue which contrasts badly against the Charcoal door panels, Charcoal upper and lower dash, Charcoal center console, Charcoal carpet. The worst contrast is between the Graphite front seat faces against the Charcoal front seat trim surrounds! Similarly, the X10 Sand Nappa leather (i.e. seat faces and airbag covers only) contrasts horribly on the Espresso package against all of the above-listed Charcoal vinyl items.

At least in the case of my BMW M5, nearly all of the interior surfaces are covered in matching Caramel LEATHER (not vinyl!) making for a nice uniformally monochromatic look (i.e. Caramel LEATHER seats faces, Caramel seat trim surrounds and front speaker grilles, Caramel LEATHER lower dash, center console and center armrest, Caramel LEATHER door panels, door pockets, airbag covers and door pulls/armrests, and Beige carpets. The only Black interior surfaces are the alcantara rear shelf and headliner, the Black LEATHER (not vinyl!) upper dash and upper door caps, and the Black Leather (with wood) shift knob, steering wheel, and shifter and hand-brake boots.

It seems that the Designo option on the CL and S-Class cars costs about twice as much as on an E55 (i.e. the actual price for those models depends if the car is a 500, 55K or 600). At least with those larger cars, the upper and lower dash surfaces, center console, door panels and pulls/armrests, and rear shelf are all trimmed in LEATHER and in either the same exact color as the seats or in some other tolerable contrasting color. I for one would gladly to pay extra money for this color-coordinated extended leather treatment on my E55. IMHO, the E55 has far too many bare VINYL interior surfaces. Even the CL and S-Class non-Designo "base" cars at least have faux leather (with stitching) covering the upper and lower dash, center console and door panels, etc.

Is it me or I'm I just being overly picky/particular?

jmeyers

Gentlemen,

You all have certainly identified the problem, and an absurd one it is! If you want to really weep, however, you just need to travel to Mercedes Benz's primary manufacturing plant in Sindelfingen -- where the Designo headquarters and showroom is. There you will find a color palette of buttersoft leathers, exquisite paints, interesting contrasting stitchings, various woods and even granites available for dashboards and other inlays.

I have tried to come up with an explanation for the generally miserable Designo combinations here in the US, and I cannot. The official explanation is that the NTSB here in the United States has made a true Designo availability impossible. However, that still falls short of providing a reason for such miserable combinations that cost $1,000s extra.

ima55r2

The poplar does look pretty good considering its usually sold as utility boards while burls and birdseyes are sold as veneers.

But the rest of it is probably the worst combination I have ever seen.

Symbolic

What do you mean? I don't understand the above statement.

E55 KEV

that interior should only be on a white or cream or tan colored car. Not on Black.

shoes

I am one of the lucky few to pick up an E55 in Germany in May. I had originally chosen the Designo Mocha package just for a different look. I had previously owned a 2001 Designo Mocha E55 and it was beautiful. At the last moment, I decided to switch to Tectite Grey.

Now that I see these photos of the Designo Mocha interior, I am relieved that I did not get it.

Mercedes had been planning a Designo Center in LA, where customers could custom configure their cars, but for some reason, this hasn't happened.

Check out the Bentley website for some interesting interior choices,

ima55r2

Poplar is usually sold as an alternative to other cheap non-descriptive wood and when reading about it before it surprised me for being on a premium appearance package. The graining on the car does look like a high end product and not like the poplar available at local mill shops usually used as a paint grade wood..

EDWARD CONROY

I'm reminded of the great line by Phoebe on Friends. MY EYES! MY EYES!

Vic

Yuck.

Bux

the flash made it white ...just like the top corner of the drivers seat turns white

Vic

I don't think so. The mirror is too perfectly white for that to be a flash effect. The white even continues at the top left corner where the lighting is different.

I think it was ordered that way, or replaced at some point. Either way, it looks terrible.

amg55

ro0zy's correct.
If you look at the E55 mirror in the sunlight it's a very light gray.
The flash just made it moreso.
You can see the gray tone in the upper left (driver's side) corner of the mirror in the photo.

jco-amg

It is Ash Grey the same color as the Alcantara on the "A" post in the background...that is the spec for the headliner on the Designo Espresso E55

bjonson62

Hi guys,
Just wanted to share this with all of you I know a guy who owns a white E55 with FULL and I mean FULL red interior with black stitching I must say the interior looks absolutely amazing however he paid the price he claims he spent just over 20,000 euros if its true then you really do need to pay the price to get exclusivity lol. Just thought you may find this interesting.


Best wishes,
B Jonson

rroberts

My Dealer, Smythe in San Jose, CA, has been telling me no-can-get on AMGs, which has P'ed me off enough to be considering another make after a lot of loyal years in 5 MBZs.

ray-r@pacbell.net

shoes

This is apparently some kind of dealer secret. About nine months ago, Mercedes began letting each region place one order per month for "niche" cars. This can mean anything AMG or otherwise hard to get. This means that the Northern California region's dealers have to each apply for this right for a customer who may be interested, so it is relatively rare.

Now I don't know about your status with your dealer, but since I have purchased 13 cars from mine, he has been a straight shooter with me. He was kind enough to arrange Euro delivery for me in 2002 for an early SL500 for my birthday, and now this E55.

Perhaps if you explain to your dealer that you know someone in the SF Bay area who has done this with his dealer and if your dealer won't arrange it for you, you will take your business elsewhere. I can set you up in Oakland where I do my business.