German Car Zone

Yeah our order has been resubmitted without the AMG steering wheel. What an annoying mess up, but I'm glad in a way because i've heard and read nothing but praise for the diesel and a few complaints about the petrol.

Are you sure on that pricing? Ours is pricing up to about 150K on road, without the panoramic sunroof offcourse. Did you negotiate a discount?

Yep, the list price is $131K + AMG KIT + Upgrade Panoramic Roof + Vision Pack DOW was $161k. No dealer would negotiate due to the waiting list and I would have to wait to order until around Mar 2010 and then they would only drop it around $5k so at paying $160k I think I will wait for the new CLS.

Fair enough. Our dealer was willing to negotiate and prioritise our order given that we've bought several cars from them over the last few years.

What complaints have you heard about the petrol engine(s)?

I just test drove both the E350 coupe and sedan on the weekend.
The coupe was more responsive and enjoyable to drive which is expected since it's lighter.

I was surprised that Mercedes has reverted back to 2nd gear starts unless you put it into Sports mode. Our current W211 E280 Sports Edition and previous ML430 start in 1st gear. Prior to that our 280SE (W126) was a 2nd gear starter.

Quite a number of reviews have stated the petrol V6 is slightly harsh at the upper end of the rev range. Many have said the diesel is a better pick, offering superior driveability and even refinement.

The dealers I've spoken to have also said the E350CDI is very special and an easy pick over the petrol. Haven't had a chance to compare them for myself because the diesel doesn't arrive here until September.

I would agree with the comments. My dealer stated the E350d is the best out of all of them (before the AMG arrives). So if you can go for the diesel before the petrol.

Car was built yesterday.

I seriously can't wait for it. After how good the C has been (in ALL respects!) over the last 14 months, my expectations for the E are massive.