HI all,

I've decided to get a new E63S wagon, and I'd love some opinions from all of you (I realize that many of the items I'm having trouble with are subjective in nature):

• Exterior color: Having trouble deciding between Selenite Gray metallic (992) and Cardinal Red metallic (996).
• Wheels: Forged cross-spoke, matte black (RTS)
• Interior upholstery: I'm not wild about any of the choices, to be honest. Brown seems a bit too dark, beige seems too light, and I'm concerned that a black interior will make the interior seem too dark (I've always had interiors with lighter-colored upholstery). I'll probably end up going with the black (with silver seatbelts) or the beige. I wish there were a gray upholstery choice...
• Carbon fiber interior trim (H73). The matte silver fiberglass trim looks nice in photos, too, but the E63 (sedan, not wagon) I test drove had the carbon fiber trim, and I thought this looked fantastic.
• Driver Assistance Package (DA2)
• Advanced Lighting Package (DA4)
• Sun Protection Package (DB9)
• Night Package (DC1)
• Multicontour seats with massage feature (432). Not quite sure about this one. Seems a little gimicky, but I can see how this feature would be really useful on longer trips.
• Head-up display (463)
• 115V AC power outlet (U80)
• Silver seatbelts, if I get the black interior (Y04)
• Performance steering wheel, in Nappa leather (L6J). I haven't tried a steering wheel in DINAMICA yet, but I thought the Nappa leather wheel felt great.
• AMG drive unit steering wheel buttons (U88)

I'd particularly like to hear any opinions on exterior color (again, realizing that this is a totally subjective question), interior color, and the massage feature for the seats. Also: are there any options that I've listed above that you would *not* recommend that I order, based on your experience? Alternatively, are there any options I've left off that you think I *should* consider?

Thanks in advance for your help. I've found this board to be a fantastic resource and truly appreciate any responses!

-TA

 

Have a sedan, so not totally familiar with the wagon options. Assuming you're ordering a 2020 which I believe comes standard with the Performance Exhaust option now. If not, highly recommend it unless you're planning on swapping to an aftermarket exhaust already. Would recommend skipping the Sun Protection Package and just get some ceramic tints later instead, at least that's what I did. Also, the option that passengers get most excited about in my car is the dynamic bolstering when taking corners, which I believe requires the Multicontour seats that you're on the fence about. I find the actual massage option to be pretty useless for what it's worth, but people, myself included, do love the dynamic bolstering. The lumbar adjustment in the seat is great also, but I'm not sure whether or not that's part of the Multicontour option or if it comes with the standard seats. How comfortable the seats are in a car is extremely important to me, more so than most other options so recommend you go to a dealer and test all of the various configurations to see what you like best. I originally was going to order the Performance seats as they look much better in my opinion, but really disliked how they felt. Good luck with your purchase!

 

Get the sport seats forget the heads up display. Nut brown seats look great with the carbon fiber interior..and get everything else..

 

Thanks for the reply - appreciate it! Yes, the 2020 comes standard with the Performance Exhaust. I don't know that I would have ordered this as an option, so it's good to hear that it's a worthwhile feature.

Good tip re: the dynamic bolstering and the lumbar adjustment on the seats - I will look into whether those are part of the standard seats or need to be ordered with the multicontour option

Thanks again!

 

I test drove one with the dynamic multi-contour seats and they are great. I think the massaging feature is great for longer trips to combat fatigue. If you are planning to take longer trips with the car I'd stay away from the performance sport seats. They look awesome but they are pretty uncomfortable. I just placed an order for 2020 sedan and got the black interior with carbon trim and carbon steering wheel. I think it looks spectacular.

I say definitely get the heads up display. Sun protection package is required if you get the DINAMICA headliner. Also getting the sun package means you won't have a blank switch next to the steering wheel LOL

 

See answers above

 

Congrats, and please see my inputs below.

 

Depends on your likes, but if you want it to be quieter look into the acoustic package.

 

I am with you on lackluster interior (and exterior) color choices. A light brown/tan interior with that green exterior (that disappeared at some point) would have been awesome.

For another data point on seating: I did select the comfort seats, but decided against the active features. I went to test drive the active seats in an E63s sedan and both the massage and the active bolstering felt like a gimmick, with the latter seemingly created as a curiosity for auto journalists to mention in their reviews. I was annoyed with it by the end of the test drive, and there was hardly any cornering going on given my location. I was temped to get the massage function to appease the Mrs. but even she thought it was bs.

Speaking of auto journalists, Matt Farah always raves about the S-class massage seats, but they have got to be different than the program the E-class seats run because it really was not anything special.

Definitely go with a leather wheel on any daily driven car. Have you ever seen an over-used alacantara steering wheel?

 

Thanks for your responses!

I love the matte gray paint, but I'm concerned about upkeep. I test drove an E63S sedan in matte gray, and it looked absolutely fantastic.

Are the Multicontour seats not ventilated? If so, I'll have to reconsider.

Re: the AMG drive unit steering wheel buttons, they're definitely a no-cost option, but I'm not sure whether they're standard. I saw a spec sheet on a 2020 E63S wagon that had the option (U88) specifically listed, so I'm not sure whether it needs to be specifically requested or not. Might be worth asking your salesperson about.

 

The Selenite Grey Magno paint is the easiest paint to keep up with I've ever had on a car.

The tech in Germany going over the car with me at delivery time said this was super good paint and I was going to love it. He was right. Just soap and water, no other care needed.

I pressure wash rinse first, then use a soap cannon (not required, but fun) to hose down the car. Hand wash and rinse with de-ionized water.

Used to towel dry, but recently have taken to using the air output of my shopvac to blow the water off the car instead. Water runs off the paint and windows fine.

A plus of the Selenite Grey Magno is that it doesn't show dust that much. It can actually have a fairly good coating of dust and still look clean.

I have the multi-contour seats and am happy with them - they are ventilated. Also have the HUD (love it), sun protection package, and acoustic package.

 

I'm less worried about the cleaning, and I'm a little more worried about repairing / repainting scratches, including blending the paint properly. I live in the city, and it never ceases to amaze me how many knuckleheads think nothing of dinging/scratching/scraping your paint with their cars, shopping carts, etc. I've had to repaint the rear bumper of my BMW twice, and now some idiot has scraped my front bumper.

 

I like you was really up in the air about the colors when I ordered my AMG Wagon a couple of years back, it was between the Cardinal Red and the Selenite Gray. I actually changed the order twice. i thought the Red with the nut brown int would be really cool. For whatever reason I got tired of the Red really quickly and was really sorry I got it. To make matters worse when I went to trade in the car about 11 months ago come to find out a red AMG is a lot harder to get a decent selling price. A lot of people just don't want Red. Basically I figured it cost me around 3 grand with the lowered trade in value. Looking back on it I just wish I'd gone with the Magno grey for the extra $3900.00, ya it's a lot of extra money but the AMG is a special car and deserves a color that is really different. The Magno grey I'm sure gets a lot more interest than the red or even the selenite. I remember the sales manager at the dealer saying "if this car was anything but Red I could give you more money for it, Black, White, Grey, anything but Red". They use Red for their promotion cars and all but a few people really want Red and will easily take a Black or White AMG over Red, the demand for the Magno would be even higher.

Edited to say, just read your post above about the Magno. How about Diamond white? I have Diamond white on both my E's now and nothing not to like about that color plus easy to maintain and would show scratches and scrapes less. The white on White on my AMG line Cabrio looks awesome, no regrets. I like my AMG Cabrio a lot better than I liked my Red AMG wagon, it was this car I traded the AMG in on, that plus 15 grand in my pocket, so can't complain.

Agree with you on the lack of interior Colors. From direct experience in currently owning two 2019 E class Benz's right now a Wagon and a Cabriolet and getting into each car at least a few times a week I do like the Beige interior on my Cabriolet much better than the nut brown int on my wagon. The inside of the wagon especially with the really dark wood trim just makes the car a little too dark inside. I feel a pick me up when I get into my Diamond white Cabrio with it's light bright and white beige interior and the beautiful light Elm wood, looks almost like birch tree wood. Too bad they don't offer that on the AMG. So if it were me I'd go Magno, Beige int. black seat belts, flowing black lines wood. That really would be something special.

All your other options, I agree with. I don't really car for the heads up myself though, I have it in my Cabrio and hardly ever use it, I find it distracting. A lot of people do like the performance seats, if you can get in and out of them ok you may want to consider them, they just make the car more AMG like. For me they would have not worked. I have the Multi contour seats in my AMG line Cabrio.

 

Comments in red. Just, like, my opinions, man.

 

Not entirely true. You don't need the warmth & comfort package for massage seats. I just placed an order for a 2020 and I got the drive unit buttons and massaging seats. Heated steering wheel will omit the drive unit buttons. So that's the only trade-off you have to make.

 

Beige upholstery with a black headliner sounds like a nice blend. I didn’t even notice the difference in color among the A, B, and C pillars until reading your comment - thanks for pointing that out!

 

This is helpful - thanks!

Related question: what are your dealers telling you in terms of a delivery date for MY2020 orders placed now?

 

I requested the same - drive controls instead of the heated steering wheel.

But from the web configurator you get this:


... so I won't be too surprised if something goes wrong somewhere and I end up with a heated wheel and no controls.

 

Keep in mind that the configurator has not been updated yet for the 2020 model year. Based on the DOG you don't need the Warmth & Comfort Package. Adding rapid heating front seats will be sufficient:

 

^^^ This is correct. The configurator, for example, still lists the Performance Exhaust system as an option, but this is standard for the 2020 model year.

 

The configurator on the website is for 2019.

 

Which is ridiculous since you can't even order a '19 anymore...

 

No kidding, they didn't get it up until mid March...so just a few months before the orders switched over to 2020.

 

Found this thread - many members were really upset
https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...eb-site-3.html

My order missed few options I wanted...

Since 2019 configurator is up and running for only 6 months by now, don't expect 2020 too soon.

CAVEAT: Just based on the past experience, did not want to cause the panic.

 

I only found out about the new 2020 configuration (std perf exhaust, matte silver interior trim) from my dealer, who pulled up an internal order form.