The Mercedes-Benz Evolution tour is coming to Atlantaon August 2nd! Visit the website to sign up for the test drive event that will be held at Lenox Square Mall and register to win tickets to the invite only concert!
The 2014 CLA250 has a new option package! The Sport Package (code 321) has been a hot item since launch and they have now added the Sport Package Plus (code 421) to dress it up even more!A lot of cars in Europe had similar trim packages with the red accents and it looked hot!It is subtly but very eye catching and does make it stand out in the crowd.
Sport Package Plus – 421 – $3900
The red seatbelt C-Classes have become a hot item recently…perhaps the red seatbelt CLA will be the latest and greatest!
I’ll be writing a lot of posts about specific parts of my European Delivery Experience. This is a general overview that myinstagram friend Marc Christiensen is also sharing on his automotive blog – fünfkommasechs.You can read the same post in German there. Ab sofort schreibe ich auch in deutsch! I totally wrote that. No, I didn’t.
Mercedes-Benz European Delivery Program � 2015 S550 for the US
The European Delivery Program through Mercedes-Benz USA is an opportunity for American customers to go to Germany, pick up their new car and drive it around Europe for up to two weeks. The vehicle is then reprogrammed for the US and shipped home, arriving at the selling dealership 6-8 weeks later. As a salesperson, I have been arranging these trips for my clients for more than 10 years.
MBUSA also offers dealerships the chance to pick up 4 cars per year through the European Delivery program that will then come back to the dealership and be for sale as demos.
I was planning to visit family in Italy this year so I requested a company European Delivery and got a slot! We were allowed an extra 2015 S550 if someone could pick it up in June…that someone was me! I booked the trip, along with the Black Forest Alps Package through Mercedes-Benz, and hit the road!
Day 1-
We arrived in Stuttgart and took a taxi directly to the delivery center in Sindelfingen. This is where we completed the paperwork, insurance forms and took delivery of the car. While we were there we toured the factory (and saw the new S-Class Coupe which is not for sale in the US yet!), had a wonderful lunch and shopped in the boutique. When the car was ready we were introduced to Bertha. Bertha is a 2015 S550 in Diamond White. I named her in honor of Bertha Benz, wife of Karl, who is credited with taking the first road trip! The delivery center folks helped me program a few addresses into the navigation center and off we went!
Day 2-15-
Road Trip! The original plan was to visit the 5 hotels booked through Germany and Austria as a part of the Black Forest Alps Package and then stay with family in Italy for a week. However, that plan went out the window! We decided to see everything we could see in 2 weeks!
The hotels that we booked through this package were exactly what you would expect from Mercedes-Benz! The Best! It was also fun to run into other people who were participating in European Delivery and get their impressions of their new cars and the trip. We stayed at two hotels in Stuttgart � the Schlossgarten and the Graf Zepplin. Both were very convenient to the city and took good care of Bertha.
We stayed at the Traube Tonbach in the Black Forest and it was breathtaking! It is a resort hotel off in a little town and had wonderful pools, grounds and access to hiking.
The Interalpen Hotel in Telfs, Austria was certainly a highlight. From the lobby-like garage to the mountain views it could not have been more impressive.
We also stayed in Salzberg, Austria at the Goldener Hirsch in the heart of the city. They took Bertha far away for safe parking and we were able to explore the city on foot.
Other Excursions
The Stelvio Pass � This road from Davos, Switzerland to Stelvio, Italy was featured on Top Gear and was a must see! It is the second highest paved road in Europe and a mecca for cars, motorcycles and bicyclists. We suctioned on the GoPro and drove carefully. Bertha is perhaps not the most maneuverable car out there but the electromechanical steering made the sharp turns a breeze.
Triglav NationalPark in Slovenia- We entered Slovenia from the north and went to Lake Bled. From there we could have taken the highway to Italy…but there was this really curvy road that cut through the forest so we went that way instead. It was very much like the Stelvio Pass but with less traffic and more forest. I would say it was about 150 kilometers of fun! Well worth the detour!
The Amalfi Coast � What could be more beautiful than cruising along the coast from Italy to France? We took a variety of coastal roads and highway and both were gorgeous!
Monaco � As an F1 fan I could not be that close to Monaco without visiting the track. It was like stepping into a race broadcast! The swimming pool! The tunnel! The hairpin! We drove the route several times and took in all of the sights.
Museums – When we weren't driving we had to get some European culture so we visited quite a few museums. The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums in Stuttgart, the BMW museum in Munich, Ferrari, Ducati a
This is Bertha! She is a 2015 Mercedes-Benz S550 that I picked up in Germany and took on an epic European Road Trip! She will be for sale when she arrives back in the US and is looking for a good home. Let me tell you about her.
She has the speed! With 449 horsepower and 519 lb/ft of torque you will love the power! I even took her by the AMG factory in case there was any extra horsepower in the air.
She is very maneuverable. With the help of the Surround View Cameras I was able to park her in some interesting places to get good pictures. Look at those LED headlamps sparkle!
Bertha has visited many Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Europe and made quite an impression! I was inside this little dealership looking at the A-Class and when I came outside their employees were all looking at her!
She can handle anything! She conquered those mountains easily. Great suspension, electromechanical steering and comfortable seats make it a breeze!
She has seen more snow than 90% of the cars in Georgia and never flinched! Her 4matic system is top notch!
She looks right at home in front of the Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich. This is a car meant for a palace. The 20″ multi-spoke wheels are like a crown on the ground!
Even cats love her!
The Silk Beige interior is very photogenic but it is the Distronic Plus with Steering Assist that really impresses! At under 30 mph you don’t even have to have a hand on the wheel as she tracks the car in front of you!
Perhaps she is a bit of a Big Bertha for European parking garages but I am sure there is more room at your house.
Bertha looksher best in flowered courtyards.The Diamond White paint reallyglows in the sunshine!
She was a champion on mountain roads, coastal cruises and simply parking at a scenic overlook. She will arrive in the US in 6-8 weeks with 2400 miles and a photo album that no other 2015 S550 can claim! I would keep her if I couldbut since I can’t it is my mission to find her a good home! Get in touch if Bertha is your next Mercedes-Benz!
You are now getting my Euro Delivery Experience all out of order! This was day 3. We drove from Switzerland to northern Italy to experience the Stelvio Pass! This road is world famous for the twists and turns through the Alps. As you’ll see it is full of motorcycles, bicycles, cars and the occasional tractor. This is a 6 minute video but we really did this type of driving for 3 hours! It was shockingly well mapped by the navigation system. Worth the detour if you find yourself in the area. Just follow the herds of bikes!
Sorry to go dark on you for two weeks but I was up to something very exciting! I was able to travel to Germany and pick up a 2015 Mercedes-Benz S550 through the European Delivery Program and then go on an amazing road trip through Europe! I was gone for 2 weeks and I will now fill you in on my adventure!
Day 1:
I flew into Stuttgart, Germany and took a taxi to the Delivery Center in Sindelfingen. Took the factory tour, had lunch, and took delivery of a gorgeous 2015 S550 named Bertha. (This is not my personal car. She will arrive at the dealership in 6-8 weeks and be for sale as a demo.)
The Delivery Center is where people from all over the world come to pick up their vehicles. I heard this 6X6 was headed to Australia!
It was a busy afternoon and we still had to get to our AMG factory tour…
Mercedes-Benz and AMG have had a long and wonderful relationship redesigning production vehicles into performance vehicles. With the SLS AMG they broke the pattern and let AMG build the vehicle from scratch. The AMG GT is the next vehicle in that mold! Everything is just a rumor at this point but expect to see the production specifications soon!
Does anyone else take their travel advice from Top Gear? I am planning a driving vacation and actually used this video for reference. Stelvio Pass…here I come!
This 2015 Mercedes-Benz S550 4Matic was special ordered for a client months ago. It was especially stunning!
It is worth the wait for the perfect car to be built just for you!
Any press is good press, right? The murder weapon in Stephen Kings’ new book is a Mercedes-Benz SL500. That would be bad for the company image…except he does have some good things to say about the car!
From StephenKing.com:
“The front end of the SL500 was only slightly crumpled―that famous German engineering―but the hood and the windshield were spattered with gore.”
“"How hard would it be for someone to slim-jim a window?" Hodges had asked the mechanic. "Pop the lock that way?" "All but impossible," the mechanic had said. "These Mercs are built. If someone did manage to do it, it would leave signs."”
“The third button was labeled PANIC. Presumably if a mugger attacked you as you were unlocking your car, you could push that one and the car would start screaming for help.”
“"I've worked at Ross since 1987. Must have seen a thousand Mercs go out the door since then, and I can tell you they all go out with two keys."”
A couple of reviews have included a tidbit about the car that is obviously wrong:
“The following morning, during an “anti-dawn, damp and cold as the cheek of a day-old corpse,” a gray Mercedes-Benz SL500 “not just emerging from the fog but seeming to create itself from it” aims for the huddled masses, 12 cylinders screaming.”
Let’s hope that is just from the reviews and not from the book itself!
