P.J.S.

2012 E63 wagon
18K miles
Palladium silver/black with cf trim
performance package, LSD, ceramic brakes, premium leather, premium wheels
Car is bone stock
Found it in Nor Cal via a private party sale, cut a deal, and flew down and drove it home to Seattle -- all about a month ago.
My first MB

Pros:
>devours highway miles... driving back from Nor Cal was a breeze
>engine is quite flexible... making it an easy daily driver... easy to drive in traffic and then when you want, easy to fly.
>ergonomics are superb... everything where I would naturally reach for it with the exception of the seat side controls for massage and bolters and such. Great steering wheel, loads of foot room with a nice dead pedal area, computer easy to operate, etc.
>good amount of rear seat room even though I am a taller guy at 6'3"... cannot feel the kids kicking my seat as much.
>comfortable
>fit and finish are as to be expected in this range... great.

Cons:
>no third row seat option -- I have been lurking on this forum since getting the car and I know a few have installed a 3rd row seat... although there seems to be no definitive parts list... I may consider this (3 kids)... if anyone has access to a complete parts list to get this done, I would be very appreciative. I was advised to buy another wagon with the interior intact, part out the third row seats and seat belts etc.. then button it back up and sell it... this seems to be quite a bit more hassle but it is an idea.
>transmission a little jerky at low speed, but a small price to pay for the superior performance shifts at speed
>ventilated seats -- are they working? very weak fans if so... my GMC truck ac seats feel like a windstorm compared to the MB seats... this particular feature is one where I think you get it right at the manufacturer level or don't offer it. Since I transition from the wagon to a GMC truck, it seems to me if GM can nail it, then it should be a lay up for MB.
>steering overboosted -- not sure I can make this claim just yet but it does feel light to me
>road noise... not the quiet bank vault I expected... easy to live with but at 80 mph on poor pavement, Bluetooth reports are "do you have a window down or the AC on full blast?" Nothing I cannot live with of course
>mpg - but that is the price to pay

Summary:
Not quite perfect, but close! If you want/need a European performance wagon, and you are in the USA, this is the only option. For me, this is the perfect dd... utilitarian and still entertaining. Somewhat of a running joke when I get a new to me car is "how long will you keep this one?"... My reply is simply "there is nothing else offered to fill this niche so as long as I am wagon prone, I have no where else to go... not that I necessarily would anyway"

I prefer the looks of the 2012 to the 2014 that is coming... I also prefer 2wd even though I am in Seattle... bad weather, I take the truck.

I don't have any performance modifications planned... at least while it is in warranty, I will likely leave it alone...

Pics:

dltslk

Perfect car and great color! Though I may be biased on both accounts as I have a '13 Palladium E63 wagon !!

P.J.S.

thanks!
so far so good with the wagon

2012 merc amg

Good thread, I too just got a 2012 AMG E63 wagon around month ago used, they wanted 86K for it, got it for 80 K. It had 11K miles on it and is mint. I agree with all your points except the steering, I like it the way it is, I came from a 2012 CTS-V. I felt the steering in the CTS-V was a little too stiff and no road feel, so I guess it's all what your coming from. I am really enjoying this car. It seems to have a lot more raw power than the V, noticed it right when I first drove it. The V felt like too much torque management or something. The car is a lot more solid than the V. I would say the V road better on bumpy roads, this is my main complaint with this e63, over sharp bumps it rides very harsh, mainly coming from the rear end (air bladders) I almost wonder if there is something wrong with them. When I get out of the car the pump runs to fill them, then the check valve opens and lets em out then they fill again, this cycle continues generally around ten minutes or so. Does your car do this? I thought maybe it was feature to keep condensation out of the air bladders or something? My 2009 Chevy Colorado pickup truck actually rides better than this E63 over bumpy roads, smooth roads the car is like glass and great. I realize a lot of this is due to the very low profile Conti Sport tires which are also very stiff sidewalls, when I replace these tires it's gonna be with the Michelin Pilot Super Sports and hopefully it will ride a little better. No dash lights or anything so I don't think there is anything wrong with the suspension.

Looks like you have the optional wheels on your car too.

The other thing I can't figure out is how to get song title and artist to display on the screen when streaming Bluetooth from Pandora and Slacker. I've got a Android Galaxy S3, I know it's possible because I test drove a 2013 and it worked like it should. Maybe a dealer command system update would do the trick?

The tires and rims were replaced on my car at 9700 miles so looks like I'll be riding out the contis for a while, I've been 3000 miles already in the car.

Do you have the Distronic in your car? Mine does and I really like it, use it a lot. I find I drive safer in this car than any other car I've had, I tend to set the distronic right at the speed limit, I've got a couple of photo tickets in the last few months in the V. Gotta be really careful on the highways these days, they will get you. I'm thinking about that stick on license plate coating so this picture does not show up, anybody tried that stuff? Does it work?

Gas mileage is actually great compared to the V. Get around 23 highway, the V was 18 or 19 plus a smaller fuel tank so was forever putting gas in that car, that's one reason I had to bail on that car.

P.J.S.

I hear the air shocks doing something after I shut the car off... but not for 10 mins... or not that I would know of...

Mine came with new Michelin PS AS tires... which are good.

I do not have distronic or parktronic -- I never use the cruise control so I don't mind... parktronic would be nice but not needed.

Song title while Bluetooth streaming... I have no idea... sorry cannot help on that...

335X-ray

Great looking wagon, congrats! How are the Carbon ceramic brakes?

X

Chocofishez

I was going to ask the same thing... I noticed they didn't show up in either pro or con in your review!

P.J.S.

slipped my mind... they are fantastic
I had ceramic rotors on my Porsche when I first got it but immediately swapped them out for iron rotors as that car is 99% track at this point. The two days I had the ceramics on the Porsche I did not like them on the street... I did not really give myself the time to acclimatize so to speak but they were grabby and lacked feel in my opinion. I am told that they get better over time BUT with frequent wheel changes I was worried about damage and with the high cost of replacement I figured I would keep them boxed up or sell them.
On the wagon they are a touch grabby and occasionally make some noise but all in all, they work very well. I am not sure I would spec them on a new car because I am not sure the cost of the option is in line with the benefit but as I bought mine used I am glad to have them.

Anyone know what the cost is of replacement OEM ceramic rotors? I was told that it is no where near as expensive as the PCCB from Porsche.

vdubpower

new mercedes , whoopdy doo.....we need pics of the gt3 rs 4.0 man


congrats

P.J.S.

2007 RS is a 3.6 when stock
As a result of a needed tear down, while I was in there it became a 4.0

Chris05STi

beautiful cars, enjoy.

2012 merc amg

I'm really liking mine, reminds me of my old sport bike motorcycle days because this is around the fastest thing I've driven since riding those fast bikes back in the day.

To the O/P, you should think about summer only tires when the time comes to replace as you'd probably handle better.

It's strange when I first got my car a month ago, no tire noise at all, now lot's of tire noise especially from the fronts when I stop, sounds like a truck. Must be something to do with when I first got the car the tires only had 2K miles on them, now they have 5K miles on them.

P.J.S.

Thank you... Lots of work hours and 3 kids 5 yo and under... My car time is bliss

Previous owner put on the ps all seasons which are actually pretty good but not what I would have chosen - as it stands I am a couple months away from 9 months of Seattle rain so maybe these are good for me.

2012 merc amg

Definatley get Michelin Pilot Super Sports when your ready to do tires, they are good in the rain too and very quiet, I had them on my last car, they are amazing. I like them a lot better than the PS2 Michelins (wear better too) and the Conti's.

Taking my car in for it's first oil change tomorrow, local garage that specializes in Benz and told me to get my own oil @ Walmart (not bad 23 bucks a 5 quart jug) and they will do the change including the filter for 40 bucks, can't go wrong with that deal. I think the dealers get around 150 to 200 bucks. My monitor says I can go another 4K miles but I figure do it now to be safe and check out the undersides of the car too which I really have not seen yet, keep your fingers crossed for me that everything is good underneath. I did have the dealer who sold me the car take a couple of pictures, but was really hard to see.

vdubpower

wonder if the PSS will ever come in our rear size?

2012 merc amg

I don't know but from what I've read on the forums the 295's will work fine in place of the 285's and then 265's on the front in place of the 255's.

vdubpower

theres mixed talk about the 295s, some say the rears are not wide enough to prevent flex in sidewall....dunno, ams uses them in there 10000hp car with no issues

i dunno if we do 295 in rears that we should or recommendded to 265 in front....i think pss makes both 265 and 255 in fronts

2012 merc amg

I would say the 265's in the fronts would be a good idea to offset the extra height of the 295's in the rear, otherwise if 255's were used it would drop the nose a little more than it is already. By going this route it would raise the overall car height around 1/2 inch. It would also throw off the speedo just a little bit.

vdubpower

by going with the 265s or 255, offsetting the speedo??

whats interesting is the stock 255 have a larger diameter than the 285s
i thought that was a wierd setup, i dunno the rationale for it, as im no expert in tire sizes

Staff@WORLD

Awesome ride.

Those ventilated seats are worthless from Mercedes, they always have been. I don't even know why I turn them on in my car.