My first MB - new 2006 R350 - Good and Bad / Advice needed
Got a new 2006 R350 last week. My first MB.
- Premium package with Navigation / Harman-Kardon sound, 6-CD changer, etc.
- Rear seat entertainment system
- Comfort Package - Heated Front Seats, driver's memory seat, power folding mirrors
- Parktronic
- 2nd Row Center console
- Sirius Radio
I paid $46,400 (excluding taxes). I hope I got a fair deal - what do the experts here think?
Now the bad - after having paid the $$$, as I was taking delivery of the vehicle and the salesperson was going over the features, we tried switching on the rear A/C. As soon as the rear A/C was switched on, we heard a rattling noise. Quickly turned off the rear A/C. Sales advised to bring the car back next day as service was closed. Took the car to the service. They advised blower motor is broken.
I am driving a loaner right now. I am really shaken that such a thing could happen in a new car - doesn't MB actually test cars before selling them? I have a 3 year old Toyota Camry LE V6 with 32,000 miles and ZERO issues so far - ZERO.
I am just hoping that I didn't make a mistake - I could have gotten a nice Lexus for this kind of money.
The good
- In the short one day period that I did actually drive the R350 (with the Rear A/C off, of course and before it went to service), I found it to be pretty easy to drive despite being so loong.
- The brakes are impressive and the driver's seat very comfortable.
- Overall ride is pretty good - I thought I was doing 60MPH on the highway, until I looked at the speedometer - I was doing 85MPH.
- Parktronic is ok, but not very helpful when parking in the garage or close quarters - it constantly beeps when I park in the garage.
Questions:
1) For persons who actually own R350 - do you like it, any major issues?
2) Can someone advise me where can I get a good quality rear-view backup camera installed? I think it is a must for this vehicle.
I got my R-350 back in Oct 2005 and had problems with the transmission. MB offered to buy it back or get a new replacement. I like the car so I chose the have it replaced at no additional cost to me last May 2006. No problems so far with the new one. MB is going to offer a back-up camera viewable at the COMAND screen when you put the shifter on 'R", early 2007.
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2006 R-350 4matic, Iridium Silver Metallic with Black Leather Interior, Premium Package, Rear Seat DVD Entertainment Package, Comfort Package, 18" Wheels, Sirius Satellite Radio, Roof Rack, Mud Guards, and Chrome Door Handle Inserts.
MB is going to offer a back-up camera viewable at the COMAND screen when you put the shifter on 'R", early 2007.
Just to clarify - I know that the 2007 R350 has the back-up camera (comes with the Premium II Package) and is available right now. What I wanted to know was where do I get the backup camera for the 2006 R350. Are you saying that MB will be offering something that can be fitted in 2006 model also?
How long is the repair of the blower motor expected to take? and how did the dealer explain that this was not detected during the PDI?
Is there any adjustment or calibration for the Parktronic for the situation you described?
MBOW - I bought the car on Oct 7th and it went to service dept on Monday October 9th. As of Oct 12th it has not been delivered, yet. I am going to take up the issue of PDI with the dealer and MB directly.
As for Parktronic, I do not know if I can adjust the sensitivity - in my opinion it is pretty useless for garage parking.
You guys in the States are really lucky on car pricing. Gues what I paid for my R350L which has only RSE, Parktronic, no folding mirrors, no Airmatic and no bi-Xenons. The car came to SGD 253,888 which is roughly USD 158,600 !! The taxes here are absolutely killing for car buyers.
My main complaint on the car is the ride since there is an apparent design fault on the rear suspension over bumps or bad roads. It is very noisy when going over uneven roads and bumps. MB Germany are currently looking into this and I will post results when they get back to me.
The standard Halogens are terrible in torrential rain and I really wished I had the choice of Bi-Xenons. I bought one of the few pre-launch cars here in Singapore. Am told the price might actually go up when the car is launched officially here next year.
Anyway, aside from these gripes, I think it is a lovely car and certainly attracts many envious glances all round. I would advice any buyer to consider Air Matic, Bi-Xenons and the Thermotronic airconditioning system.. It is a big car and it needs cooling in the back seats. Oh one other gripe, the air con fan noise is very high and in Auto mode, the windscreen suffers from condensation from the cold air.
You probably wont want to know what the R63 will cost if and when it ever gets out here to Singapore -probably one of the most expensive places in the world to own a car.
The car came to SGD 253,888 which is roughly USD 158,600 !! The taxes here are absolutely killing for car buyers.
I have heard that SG is an expensive place to own a car, but had no idea that it is this expensive! What you paid for your car is more than what I paid for my house downpayment (US $100k in 2003). But then SG has a first rate public transportation and US's public xport is crappy (I have to drive 9 miles to get to the train station and the parking lot is full by 6:20am!).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ycma
My main complaint on the car is the ride since there is an apparent design fault on the rear suspension over bumps or bad roads. It is very noisy when going over uneven roads and bumps. MB Germany are currently looking into this and I will post results when they get back to me.
Agree. While the overall ride quality is good, I did find the noise when going over bumps a bit disconcerting. Please do let us know when you hear from MB.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ycma
The standard Halogens are terrible in torrential rain and I really wished I had the choice of Bi-Xenons.
Can you elaborate more on the shortcomings of the standard halogens in this car?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ycma
You probably wont want to know what the R63 will cost if and when it ever gets out here to Singapore -probably one of the most expensive places in the world to own a car.
BTW - I am getting the car back from service this evening and will test it out this weekend. Will post details of what;s hot and what's not.
Hope you managed to get everything fixed at the service. In Singapore, they do not want to see you back in the service centre until you've done 10,000km.
My car's been booked in next week because there is an annoying rattle coming from the engine when idling. Sounds a bit like a diesel. Think it could be an exhaust mount or something like that. On taking delivery of the car, I also detected a loud whine that sounded like transmission noise when the car was creeping along in idle or very low speeds. Turned out that there was a problem with the power steering that was fixed. The dealer has been ultra efficient on each complaint but it is just annoying that there are these little niggles with the car that's cost so much. There were a few others but a loan S-Class tempered some of my objections.
On the halogens, you will find that the beams are fairly tightly focused on the road in front whilst not throwing much light to the sides. The visible distance ahead is greatly reduced when there is bad weather such as torrential rain. The tilt mechanism does little to improve long range visibility.
Cosmetically, all the new BMs have Xenons fited so why not ours ??
it is just annoying that there are these little niggles with the car that's cost so much. There were a few others but a loan S-Class tempered some of my objections.
I have to say that these kind of issues in a new Lexus would be unthinkable. Even in the "lowly" Toyota Camrys (have owned 2 in the past), I did not encounter these annoying little glitches that I have with my R350.
My main reason for buying R350 was to get a vehicle (non-SUV, non-Van) for six person transporation that would be safe to drive in snow/rain and dense traffic. Hopefully R350 will prove itself this winter here in the US. If not, it will be up for sale next summer.
BTW - I did get my car back and will test it out this weekend and thanks for the observation about the standard halogens.
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