Guest

Mercedes is finally taking a page out of Honda/Acura's sales book -- there are basically no add-on options (usually just navigation) for most Acuras because all of the extra stuff is included in the top of the line model. As usual, you need to compare apples to apples for the cost of ownership of comparably equipped MB vs. BMW to get the real picture. When I bought my 545i, the comparably equipped E500 was $200 more expensive than the MSRP of the BMW, but I was able to get about $1000 better pricing on the MB (since E500s were not selling well and every MB dealer was discounting like crazy to move them off lots). Needless to say, $1000 would not have paid for the aggravation and frustration with poor MB quality....

As noted in several other posts, MB no longer includes the cost of maintenance in its pricing, so you will have to figure out and add the costs of oil changes, brakes, wipers, tune ups, etc. into the MB cost of ownership (this is still included with BMW). Also, to my knowledge, none of the Japanese manufacturers include full maintenance for 4 years (Lexus includes only the first two scheduled maintenance, which occur within the first 12 months, in the pricing).

Lastly, it seems that you are more interested in auto entertainment than the vehicle itself (DVD, MP3, etc.). Perhaps, you should get a Mercury or a Cadillac if these entertainment options are more important than the engineering, engine, drive and performance of the vehicle.

EBMCS03

CTS-V